“Miss Lin, I’m President Gu’s secretary.”
Those words made Lin Jiujiu want to cry for you.
She backed away two steps expressionlessly, her fists clenched. “I don’t know any President Gu.”
The secretary respectfully pushed an envelope through the bars. “Miss Lin, please don’t make things difficult for me. This is the engagement invitation for President Gu and Miss Chen. We hope you’ll be able to attend.”
There was a trace of sympathy in his eyes as he spoke.
Everyone knew that Lin Jiujiu was the fiancée chosen by the Gu family.
Gu Wenhe was doing this specifically to humiliate her. Once the news got out, Lin Jiujiu would inevitably become the laughingstock of high society.
It was no wonder President Gu had caused such a scene today. After all, Lin Jiujiu had infuriated him the night before.
Who would have thought that Lin Jiujiu’s eyes would light up?
She quickly picked up the envelope from the ground, her almond-shaped eyes sparkling with excitement. “Really?”
The secretary: “…Really.”
Could Miss Lin have been so heartbroken that she had started laughing?
“That’s wonderful. Go back and tell Gu Wenhe that I’ll definitely be there.” Lin Jiujiu sincerely clasped his hand through the bars. “I wish them a long and happy marriage.”
The secretary: “…”
Miss Lin looked delicate, but her grip was surprisingly strong.
He pulled his hand back with all his might and replied awkwardly, “Yes, yes, Miss Lin.”
After the secretary left, Lin Jiujiu ran back into the living room and slapped the envelope down in front of Shen Huan. “I told you that Gu Wenhe and I had no feelings for each other. Look, he’s even getting engaged.”
She seemed eager to prove herself, her eyes glittering like stars.
Shen Huan chuckled. Leaning back, he hooked a finger over his glasses and peered at her sidelong. “I’ve never doubted you. What do you take me for, Jiujiu?”
There was a hint of grievance in his voice.
It almost seemed as though Lin Jiujiu was the one in the wrong.
She puffed out her cheeks and could only take the envelope back, replying softly, “That’s not what I meant.”
Shen Huan couldn’t help laughing again. The corners of his lips curved halfway upward as he reached out, encircled her slender waist, and pulled her into his arms. “Good. I don’t like naughty children who say things carelessly.”
His fingertips were scorching hot. Through the thin fabric, they nearly burned Lin Jiujiu’s heart.
Yet the words he spoke made an inexplicable chill run through her.
Lin Jiujiu lightly bit her pearly teeth and glanced at him. At once, she felt aggrieved all over again.
A madman.
A complete madman.
Shen Huan did not tease her for long. After taking her into the kitchen to eat breakfast, he left with his group of bodyguards.
Before leaving, he even transferred her a sum of money.
Lin Jiujiu stared at the transfer, feeling rather conflicted.
But the amount was truly enormous.
She gritted her teeth.
Forget it.
A person couldn’t refuse money just for the sake of dignity, could they?
After Shen Huan left, Lin Jiujiu was pondering where she could go to comfort her wounded little heart when she noticed that the emerald-green battery level, which had remained unchanged throughout the night, had begun dropping one bar at a time again.
At a rate of roughly seven or eight bars per hour, it would last at most twelve hours.
Lin Jiujiu furrowed her delicate brows, feeling somewhat desperate.
This meant that she could not stay away from the male and female leads and the major villain for more than twelve hours.
And she had no idea how quickly it charged.
Just as she was worrying over this, a series of loud bangs came from outside.
Lin Jiujiu poked her head out to look. She saw her father, Lin He, and her stepmother, Su Rui, standing outside the railing, with her stepsister, Lin Nuannuan, behind them.
None of the three looked particularly pleased. After waiting a while with no one opening the door, Lin He even lifted his leg and kicked the lock, shouting furiously, “Lin Jiujiu, get out here right now!”
Lin Jiujiu shuddered inside the house.
Although she had no idea why they had come, it certainly could not be for anything good.
After thinking for a long while, she simply could not come up with anyone else she could ask for help. Nervously, she sent Shen Huan a message:
“Help! Your new wife is about to be beaten up!”
Fighting evil with evil should be fine, right?
“Dad, Jiujiu’s already been dumped. She must be very upset. Don’t be like this.” Lin Nuannuan put on a concerned expression as she spoke. “Why don’t we come back another time?”
But those words only made Lin He even angrier.
He had disliked Lin Jiujiu for a long time. She was spoiled and willful, always disgracing the Lin family in public. She had even been kidnapped by Shen Huan, who had extorted a large sum of money from him. Unfortunately, because she had been engaged to the Gu family, he had planned to rely on the marriage to cooperate with them.
Now that even the engagement had been snatched away, there was no need for him to indulge her any longer.
“Get out here right now, you shameless little brat!” Lin He kicked the lock again and shouted furiously, “If you don’t come out, I’ll call someone to break the lock!”
The moment he finished speaking, a figure rushed out of the house, grabbed the railing, and called out anxiously, “I’m here, I’m here, I’m here.”
Lin Jiujiu pursed her lips and looked at him. “Why have you come to find me?”
“You still have the nerve to ask!”
Lin He let out an angry laugh. “You shameless thing! You must have done something for President Gu to break off the engagement with you!”
Lin Jiujiu frowned and tugged at the doorframe in disagreement. “He was the shameless one. He had a fiancée and was still carrying on ambiguously with someone else.”
“You still dare to argue!” Lin He shook the door until it clattered loudly. Reaching through the railing, he grabbed Lin Jiujiu by the collar and scolded her, “Open the door for me!”
Caught off guard, Lin Jiujiu stumbled and became wedged beside the gap in the door. As she frowned, she happened to see a provocative, smug smile appear on Lin Nuannuan’s face.
Lin Nuannuan quickly pretended to pull Lin He back. “Dad, let’s talk this out. Don’t hit her!”
But Lin Jiujiu’s hands were quick. Struggling, she managed to grab Lin Nuannuan by the collar with one hand as well.
Lin Nuannuan cried out. Her formerly noble bearing vanished in an instant as Lin Jiujiu yanked her into the railing.
Unlike Lin Jiujiu, who was wearing house clothes with a neckline that could at most be stretched loose, Lin Nuannuan was wearing an exquisite shirt dress. When it was tugged, two buttons popped off with a snap, exposing a generous expanse of her chest.
Unfortunately, Lin Jiujiu did not care in the slightest about her exposed charms. She stubbornly lowered her head and bit down on the hand Lin He had wrapped around her, crying as she did so, “Let go of me!”
Embarrassed and furious, Lin Nuannuan tried to pry Lin Jiujiu’s fingers loose and shrieked, “Dad! Mom! Help!”
Su Rui, who had been standing aside until then, saw that her daughter’s modesty was about to be completely ruined and finally hurried forward to help. But Lin Jiujiu freed one hand yet again, grabbed Su Rui by her long hair, and wailed, “Let go of me, sob!”
By the time A-Zuo and A-You arrived, they saw the four of them entangled in a struggle on opposite sides of the railing.
It was an exceptionally bizarre sight.
After hesitating for a moment, A-Zuo and A-You still filmed a video and sent it to Shen Huan.
The person on the other end was silent for a moment before laughing. “Fine. Post it on Weibo.”
The Lin family was not qualified to be his opponent, but if he could watch them make fools of themselves, why not?
A-Zuo acknowledged him, then asked, “What about Madam?”
“Whatever.”
The call ended.
A-Zuo and A-You tried to figure out what he meant. Unfortunately, their brains were not capable of that sort of thing, and they could not figure out anything at all. So they stepped forward, raised a fist, and punched Lin He in the face.
He did not hold back at all. Lin He, who had been cursing furiously just moments before, was sent flying two meters away. His hand released Lin Jiujiu, and he grimaced in pain as he got back to his feet, humiliated and enraged.
“What kind of people are you? Don’t stick your noses into other people’s business!”