Shen Yanyan choked back a sob, “Brother Yanli, I’ll go retrieve it myself.”
She hypocritically walked toward the deep end of the pool, and as expected, Ji Yanli grabbed her arm.
“You’re frail and can’t swim—how could you go into the water?”
His gentle expression turned icy and menacing as he looked at Shen Zhiyi.
“Shen Zhiyi, I’ll say this one last time—get down there and fish out that ring!”
[Tsk… frail and can’t swim, my ass! Shen Yanyan won third place in the provincial swimming championships!]
The Rebellious System angrily ranted, but Shen Zhiyi only heard a series of censored beeps.
From the sound of it, the language was extremely crude.
“You said that ring is very important to you?” Shen Zhiyi walked up to Shen Yanyan.
“Yes.”Shen Yanyan put on a frightened act, but the provocation in the corners of her eyes was unmistakable.” “It’s the engagement ring Brother Yanli gave me.”
Shen Zhiyi curled her lips into a smile.
“In that case, why don’t you jump in and find it yourself?”
Not bothering with any more nonsense, she lifted her foot and kicked Shen Yanyan into the deep end of the pool.
“Shen Zhiyi!” Ji Yanli’s furious roar followed immediately. As he approached, Shen Zhiyi casually kicked him in as well.
Two consecutive splashes echoed, stunning all the guests watching the spectacle.
Had Beijing’s doormat secretary finally grown a spine?
Ji Yanli, remembering that Shen Yanyan couldn’t swim, immediately tried to rescue her.
Instead, he saw Shen Yanyan swimming to the edge of the pool with practiced, skilled strokes.
Shen Yanyan was furious.
She had worn a seven-figure gown and eight-figure jewelry tonight to steal the spotlight at the banquet.
And now this useless Shen Zhiyi actually dared to kick her into the pool!
As she reached for the pool’s edge to climb out, suddenly, a high-heeled shoe came down hard on her fingers!
The pain turned her face pale. She looked up and met Shen Zhiyi’s cold, beautiful eyes.
Even though Shen Zhiyi wore a faint smile on her lips, Shen Yanyan felt a chilling dread spread through her entire body.
“Who inflicted those injuries? Who threw the ring? Oh, and by the way—I don’t like liars.”
“Sister, why are you bullying me?”
“Bullying?”
Shen Zhiyi suddenly laughed. Then, with her other high-heeled shoe, she stepped on Shen Yanyan’s head, forcing her face into the water.
“Dear sister, this is what bullying looks like.”
Shen Yanyan struggled desperately, but the foot on her head kept pushing her deeper into the water.
After choking on several mouthfuls of water and nearly drowning from exhaustion, she screamed out of sheer survival instinct.
“It was me! I hurt myself on purpose! I threw the ring into the deep end! I wanted to frame Shen Zhiyi!”
Satisfied with the answer, Shen Zhiyi withdrew her foot and turned her gaze to Ji Yanli, who was still stunned in the deep end.
“You heard that, right? I’m the victim here.”
“…”
Ji Yanli glanced at her standing arrogantly by the pool, then at the pitiful, disheveled Shen Yanyan.
Victim? Shen Zhiyi didn’t look anything like a victim!
He carried Shen Yanyan out of the water. Holding the trembling, frightened woman in his arms, he glared at Shen Zhiyi with even colder eyes.
“Bullying your weaker sister, using brutal methods to force her to take the blame for you! Shen Zhiyi, how can you be so vicious!”
Ji Yanli’s roar earned him an eye-roll from Shen Zhiyi.
“As expected, dogs don’t understand human language.”
“Shen Zhiyi, have I been too lenient with you? Have you forgotten your place?”
Shen Zhiyi was so angry she laughed.
Indulge? Time and again, he had vented his anger for Shen Yanyan by leaving the original host in the rain, locking her in dark rooms, even resorting to violence.
She felt like splitting open Ji Yanli’s head to see if his brainstem had been eaten by zombies.
“I haven’t forgotten.” She raised the corner of her eyes, her kiss-reddened lips utterly enchanting. “I’m your father.”
Ji Yanli was too furious to speak. “If I don’t teach you a proper lesson today, you’ll never learn!”
“Someone! Throw Shen Zhiyi into the pool. She’s not allowed out until she finds the ring!”
Shen Zhiyi calmly watched the circle of bodyguards surrounding her. Through a gap, she glimpsed a pair of cold, dark eyes staring in her direction from the shadows.
3.
2.
1.
Splash, splash—
A group of fierce suit-clad bodyguards charged forth, and the men encircling Shen Zhiyi were kicked into the pool one after another like dumplings dropping into boiling water.
Her slender wrist was seized by a man’s palm, and Shen Zhiyi was hoisted roughly over his shoulder.
Petite and delicate, she looked like an exquisite accessory perched on Lu Junyue’s shoulder.
The surrounding guests, who had been watching the drama, widened their eyes at the sight of Lu Junyue.
“Holy shit! Am I seeing things? The Living Yama of the capital is here to snatch someone? And it’s CEO Ji’s bullied little secretary?!”
Watching Shen Zhiyi about to be taken away by another man, Ji Yanli suddenly felt uneasy.
He strode forward, blocking Lu Junyue’s path.
“President Lu, she’s mine.”
Lu Junyue tilted his head, deliberately revealing the hickey on the side of his neck. His raised phoenix eyes blazed with rampant arrogance.
“Yours? Are you sure?”
“Lu Junyue, are you really willing to lose eight hundred troops to kill a thousand enemies, all for a woman?”
“Wrong. It’s killing a thousand enemies at the cost of eight hundred.”
Their gazes clashed, thick with tension, turning the atmosphere into a terrifying version of a battlefield.
The guests around them didn’t dare utter a word.
These two had been archrivals for years, each ruling half of the capital. Though conflicts had arisen frequently over the years, they had never truly come to blows.
But now, these two titans were clashing over an ordinary little secretary!!
Shen Yanyan’s voice broke the stalemate.
“Why not let sister choose who she wants to go with?”
She was already calculating.
If Shen Zhiyi chose Lu Junyue, all the better.
If Shen Zhiyi chose Ji Yanli, that would be even more thrilling.
Lu Junyue was notorious in their circles as the crazy Living Yama. If Shen Zhiyi crossed him, she might not even leave with a whole corpse!
Ji Yanli agreed with the suggestion.
He was certain Shen Zhiyi would choose him.
Back when he was still the Ji family’s illegitimate son and Shen Yanyan had left him to go abroad, it was Shen Zhiyi who had appeared by his side during his downfall, caring for him meticulously.
He had kept her as a substitute for eight whole years—until he became the Ji family heir under her companionship, until Shen Yanyan returned to him.
Lu Junyue held her up like a kitten, frowning as if dissatisfied.
Her frame was so small, like a doll in his palm—tiny and light.
Poor thing.
“Go—ahead—choose.”
His voice was low and threatening, as if saying: If you dare choose him, I’ll end you and him both!
Shen Zhiyi stood between the two men.
On her left was the inexplicably confident Ji Yanli; on her right was the sinister, murderous crazy villain Lu Junyue.
Rebellious System: [Wow wow! Two masters of the capital’s elite—one is the male lead Ji Yanli, who will later hold immense power, and the other is Lu Junyue, the dark and crazy villain. This is a top-tier showdown!]
[My dear host, who will you choose?]