Smack!
A sharp slap rang out.
Xu Liming’s rough palm struck Qin Wan hard across the face. A clear handprint appeared on her cheek almost at once.
The blow left Qin Wan’s head ringing.
When she came to, she pressed the tip of her tongue against the inside of her cheek. Then she looked up at Xu Liming, her gaze hard in a way that was difficult to describe.
Xu Liming had never seen Qin Wan look at him like that.
He couldn’t help feeling a little uneasy. Turning to Shen Wenna, he shouted, “Are you fucking mute? You’ve been living off me with this deadweight for years, and now that it’s time to repay me, you’re going to play dead?”
Shen Wenna’s face turned white, then red.
After a long moment, she raised her tear-reddened eyes to Qin Wan and urged her, “Wanwan, maybe you should just do what your uncle says…”
“Mom, you…”
Qin Wan’s eyes widened. So much she wanted to say caught in her throat.
Silence fell over the cramped living room.
Then a clap of thunder sounded outside, as if it had torn away the last shred of decency in this blended family.
“Qin Wan, I’ll make this simple: either you marry him or get out. I, Xu Liming, won’t support an ungrateful brat!”
Xu Liming delivered his ultimatum.
Qin Wan let out a quiet laugh. Her gaze swept over Shen Wenna’s face, but her mother looked away. Qin Wan felt her heart grow colder still.
She turned and went into the so-called room she’d been given, a space cobbled together on the balcony. Efficiently, she stuffed her clothes into a suitcase.
Five minutes later,
Qin Wan stormed out.
The door slammed behind her with a thunderous bang.
The old building had never had much soundproofing. Xu Liming’s grumbling curses at Shen Wenna carried straight to Qin Wan’s ears. Her steps faltered for a moment, but in the end she steeled herself and hurried down the corridor.
…
Downstairs, rain poured in torrents.
A clap of thunder split the downpour.
Qin Wan’s slight frame plunged into the rain. By the time she got into her car, she was soaked through.
She drove out of the complex.
Her little Polo wandered aimlessly along the streets.
She’d thought about staying with Shi Xia for a while, but Shi Xia was living with her boyfriend now. Better not to impose.
After turning the thought over in her mind, Qin Wan realized she couldn’t think of a single person she could turn to for help.
She couldn’t help giving a self-mocking laugh.
She was about to hit the gas and cross the intersection when her beat-up car gave a series of rumbles and died.
It stopped right in the middle of the road.
The cars behind her kept honking, so Qin Wan quickly put on her hazard lights, got out, and waved to signal them—
“President Gu, I think that’s the young woman from this morning in the middle of the road!”
Recognizing the figure in the rain, Cao Jun spoke up at once.
The man in the back seat, who had been resting with his eyes closed, opened them.
He looked through the windshield, frowned, and ordered in a low voice, “Pull up.”
“Right away, President Gu!”
Cao Jun slowed down and put on the turn signal.
When Qin Wan saw a car coming toward her, she waved more emphatically. But the driver acted as if he couldn’t see her, stopping dead straight only a few steps away.
Qin Wan started toward it, intending to knock on the driver’s window.
But the person behind the wheel was quicker. He got out, took an umbrella, and opened the rear door.
A pair of long legs stepped out of the back seat.
Through the curtain of rain, Qin Wan finally saw that it was Gu Yingchuan!
The moment Gu Yingchuan got out, he saw Qin Wan, soaked like a drowned rat.
He took the umbrella from Cao Jun and strode over to her.
“Car break down?”
Gu Yingchuan glanced at the white car with its hazard lights flashing.
Qin Wan nodded slightly. “It stalled.”
“Get in.”
Seeing her drenched from head to toe, Gu Yingchuan’s brows knitted together.
At his words, Qin Wan glanced at the black Bentley parked a few steps away, then looked down at herself and instinctively refused. “No, I’ll get your car dirty, and I…”
I can’t afford the cleaning bill.
She didn’t manage to say the last six words.
A warm hand suddenly closed around her wrist. Before she could react, the man pulled her over and ushered her into the passenger seat.
Outside the car,
Gu Yingchuan held the umbrella and spoke to Cao Jun for a few moments.
A few minutes later, he opened the driver’s door and got in. His gaze passed over her shivering body. He turned on the heater, then took off his suit jacket and draped it over her legs.
Watching his attentive, thoughtful movements warmed Qin Wan’s heart.
Perhaps warmth after being battered by a storm was especially moving. Her eyes reddened slightly, beyond her control.
“I’ve asked my assistant to take care of your car. Once it’s repaired, tell me where you want it delivered.”
Gu Yingchuan signaled and pulled into the main flow of traffic. With one hand on the steering wheel and the other propping his head against the window, he asked, “You’d be going home at this hour, right? Where do you live? I’ll take you back.”
Home?
Where did she have left to call home?
Thinking of Xu Liming’s humiliating words and Shen Wenna’s weakness, Qin Wan felt a pang in her chest. Her pale hand resting on her lap clenched into a fist. Only after a long while did she say softly, “Sorry to trouble you. Just take me to the nearest hotel.”
After considering everything, all she could do was rent a room for a little while.
A big hotel was too expensive; she couldn’t bring herself to spend the money. Better to find a cheap inn for the night, then rent an apartment as soon as possible. That way, she could bring Shen Wenna to live with her and no longer have to endure that man’s moods.
Gu Yingchuan paused when he heard this.
From the corner of his eye, he noticed her unease and embarrassment and guessed that she had nowhere to go home to.
His lips pressed together. After a moment’s thought, he said, “It isn’t safe for a young woman to stay in a hotel. You need somewhere to stay anyway, so stay at my place for now.”
As he spoke, he turned the steering wheel with one hand and made a U-turn at the intersection.
He had originally planned to drop her off and then go back to the old house to deal with his mother. It looked like that would have to wait until tomorrow.
Qin Wan hadn’t expected Gu Yingchuan to say that.
A hotel wasn’t safe…
But was staying at his place safe…?
They were adults who barely knew each other, and they’d accidentally spent the night together.
“Qin Wan, what’s with that look?”
When she didn’t answer, Gu Yingchuan glanced sideways at her—and caught her looking at him as if he were a predator. “It’s not like we haven’t slept together. What are you afraid of?”
His face was cool and impassive, yet he could say something so scandalously heart-fluttering!
Qin Wan awkwardly looked away. “I still shouldn’t. I already owe you for what happened last night. If I stay at your place too…”
“You owe me either way. Once I decide what I want in return, you can repay me bit by bit.”
Gu Yingchuan cut off what Qin Wan had been about to say. His low, authoritative voice reached her ears, and for some reason, the man’s domineering manner seemed to hold a trace of warmth.
She must have gotten muddled from being out in the rain!
She hurriedly shook her head, trying to shake off the strange feeling.
But she forgot that she was already soaked through. When she shook her head, droplets from the ends of her hair flew straight onto the man’s cheek—