Someone shook her arm vigorously, and she slowly opened her eyes.
“How did you manage to doze off while serving the dishes?” Song Yan looked at her and smiled gently. “Go freshen up in the restroom. The guests will be here any minute. It wouldn’t look good if they saw you like this.”
Wen Nian said nothing. She simply stared at the man in front of her.
Wasn’t she dead?
Why was she here?
“What are you spacing out for? Hurry up and freshen yourself up. Did you hear me?”
With that, he quickly turned around and instructed the waiters to get back to work.
Wen Nian sat frozen in her chair, then suddenly dug her fingers hard into both of her arms.
Deep red marks immediately appeared on her fair, slender skin.
“Ah…”
It hurt.
This wasn’t a dream!
Had she been reborn?
The man standing before her was the husband she had loved for ten years.
Yet this very man she had loved so deeply…
For the sake of his own interests, he had personally pushed her into the arms of his superior.
Afterward, he and her mother-in-law had relentlessly manipulated and belittled her, making her believe that she was incapable of having children and that she had failed the husband who supposedly loved her so much.
Every word they said carried the same message:
She was unworthy.
She was dirty.
Eventually, it drove her into a mental breakdown. One day, she ran across the road without thinking and was struck and killed by a car.
Only after her death did she learn the truth.
The reason she had been sent on a business trip with that superior had been entirely arranged by Song Yan.
He had secretly embezzled more than ten million yuan from the company. When he realized he could no longer repay the money, he learned that his superior had taken an interest in Wen Nian.
Without hesitation, he had offered his own wife as payment.
After ten years of marriage, it wasn’t that she had been unable to conceive.
It was Song Yan who had been secretly sabotaging her all along.
And she had never realized that right under her nose, he had been carrying on an affair with his adopted younger sister—and the two of them even had a child together.
The overwhelming hatred had made it impossible for Wen Nian to rest in peace.
Yet she never expected that when she opened her eyes again, she would find herself back on the very day Song Yan had invited his superior to dinner.
She drew in a deep breath, stood up, and walked into the restroom before locking the door behind her.
Leaning against the sink, she gasped for breath. The unbearable ache in her chest still brought tears to her eyes.
After several seconds, she finally began to calm down.
Slowly, she raised her head and looked into the mirror.
“Heh…”
The love she had once been so proud of in her previous life had ultimately dragged her straight into the deepest depths of hell.
How utterly ridiculous.
She wiped away her tears and stared at her reflection.
Because of the invitation to that man, Song Yan had specifically hired a makeup artist for her that day and bought her a qipao worth more than two thousand yuan.
In her previous life, she had been secretly delighted, believing that this meant Song Yan respected her.
She had never imagined that, in his eyes, she had already become nothing more than a dish he intended to serve to that man.
The corners of her lips slowly curled into a cold smile.
Her eyes narrowed slightly, making the beauty mark beneath one of them appear even more alluring.
At thirty, she had fair skin, exquisite features, and a slender waist.
She was at the most beautiful age for a young married woman.
In her previous life, because she couldn’t have children, she had always felt that she owed Song Yan something.
With her mother-in-law constantly manipulating and belittling her, Wen Nian had gradually become deeply insecure. She stopped dressing up and went about every day without makeup, looking more and more like a worn-out housewife.
But now, as she carefully examined her reflection…
A woman this beautiful deserved a better life.
Since Song Yan had paved a road leading straight toward wealth and prosperity for her…
Then in this lifetime, she would walk that road properly.
She carefully arranged her hair and straightened her qipao before finishing the look with a bold red lipstick.
“Mr. Lu, please come in!”
Song Yan’s ingratiating voice came from outside.
A moment later, Wen Nian heard the sound of a chair being pulled out.
Just as expected, someone knocked on the restroom door.
“Wen Nian, hurry up. The guest is here!”
“Okay, I’ll be right out!”
She glanced at herself in the mirror once more and raised an eyebrow. Her vivid red lips curved into a confident smile.
After being given a second chance at life…
From this moment on, Wen Nian would never give her heart to any man again.
She took a deep breath and opened the door.
Just like in her previous life, the man in the impeccably tailored suit was sitting there, exuding an unmistakable air of wildness and nobility.
But Wen Nian knew him well.
His energy was like a wildfire that could never be extinguished.
Even when she eventually cried and begged him to stop, he wouldn’t.
He would only become more relentless, burning even more fiercely.
A beast in a gentleman’s suit.
That was Lu Xiao.
“Mr. Lu, this is my wife, Wen Nian.” Song Yan bent over slightly as he introduced her, then pulled out a chair for her. “Wen Nian, this is my boss, Mr. Lu.”
Suppressing the tremor of fear that surged through her whenever she remembered how thoroughly he had tormented her in her previous life, Wen Nian smiled faintly at him.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Lu.”
The man lifted his eyes and looked directly at her.
In her previous life, he had looked at her exactly the same way.
His gaze had been direct and unabashed, making no effort to hide his interest in her.
Back then, that gaze had made her whole body tremble. All she could do was lower her head in fear.
But now…
Her beautiful eyes narrowed slightly, causing the beauty mark beneath one of them to shift subtly with her expression.
In a soft, gentle voice, she said, “Song Yan often tells me what a wonderful boss he has. He says you worked your way up from the bottom and gradually built your company into what it is today. I heard that you now have more than six hundred auto repair shops across the country, generating over a hundred million dollars in revenue every year. It’s truly an honor to meet you today.”
Song Yan was taken aback.
Wasn’t she usually timid and submissive?
How could she suddenly speak so confidently and eloquently today?
At her words, the smile in Lu Xiao’s eyes deepened.
“If you’re really that honored, then, Miss Wen, why don’t you have a drink with me?”
He lifted his glass, raised an eyebrow, and gestured toward her.
The gesture immediately made Song Yan nervous.
Wen Nian normally never drank alcohol.
If she flatly refused Lu Xiao, then he…
“Um… Mr. Lu, my wife doesn’t usually drink…” Song Yan hurriedly picked up his own glass. “How about I drink with you instead? I’ll finish mine. You can drink whatever you like.”
With that, he quickly downed the entire glass, clearly afraid that Lu Xiao might become displeased.
However, after watching him finish his drink, Lu Xiao simply set his own glass down.
Song Yan’s heart immediately tightened.
Damn it!
Mr. Lu was angry!
He should have just forced her to drink a little, regardless of whether she normally drank or not.
“Wife, why don’t you…”
“I don’t normally drink,” Wen Nian interrupted with a smile. “But I’m very happy to meet you today, so I’m willing to give it a try. I just don’t want to drink white liquor. How about red wine instead? I think women look prettier when they’re drinking red wine.”
Seeing this, Lu Xiao curled his lips into a smile before turning to Song Yan.
“Didn’t you hear her?”
“Oh! Yes, yes. Of course.”
Song Yan immediately beamed and hurriedly ordered the waiter to bring out their finest red wine.
As he turned away, he even gave Wen Nian a discreet thumbs-up, silently praising her for handling things so beautifully.
Soon, the waiter poured red wine into her glass.
Wen Nian watched the crimson liquid swirl inside the transparent wineglass, its seductive color gleaming under the lights.
This time, she made up her mind.
She would make sure her life became just like that alluring color.
A brilliant, dazzling red.
With that thought, she slowly lifted the slender wineglass.
Her eyes lingered on Lu Xiao as she smiled sweetly, her voice soft and teasing.
“Mr. Lu, would it be all right if I called you that instead? I feel like ‘Mr. Lu’ sounds a little more intimate than ‘President Lu.’”
Her eyes shimmered with emotion, and every little movement she made seemed filled with feminine allure.
That soft, sweet “Mr. Lu” made the man’s Adam’s apple bob involuntarily.
His eyes darkened in an instant.
The subtle change naturally did not escape Wen Nian’s notice.
Although she had spent only a week with him in her previous life, that single week had been enough for her to remember every one of his suggestive looks.
That gaze.
That reaction.
They meant only one thing.
He wanted her.