Her nose ached from the impact, her forehead throbbed, and Sheng Xia cried out in pain. The sting in her nose was unbearable, tears streaming down her face.
The man who had collided with her reached out to steady her, looking flustered. “I’m sorry! Did I hurt you?”
“Does it look like it doesn’t hurt? It hurts like hell!” Sheng Xia yelled, completely disregarding her image.
After shouting, she caught sight of the man’s strikingly handsome face and froze. How could it be him?
Wasn’t he the wealthy man who had added her last night wanting to buy orchids?
Shen Jingze looked at Sheng Xia’s tear-streaked face, feeling immensely guilty. “I’m really sorry! I wasn’t watching where I was going. Let me take you to see a doctor.”
Shen Jingze’s gentle demeanor made Sheng Xia feel a bit embarrassed. The collision wasn’t entirely his fault—she was partly to blame too. Besides, she was in a good mood and didn’t intend to make a fuss. “No need!”
Seeing that Sheng Xia wasn’t planning to hold him accountable and was about to leave, Shen Jingze stopped her. “Um, are you still selling the orchids?”
“Selling! Of course, I am!” A flower worth twenty million—selling it would be a huge windfall. Sheng Xia certainly wouldn’t pass up this opportunity.
“Do you have time now? If so, let’s go take a look at the orchids together?”
Sheng Xia nodded in agreement. Shen Jingze turned and led her to the parking lot.
He drove a limited-edition Aston Martin. Shen Jingze was quite the gentleman, opening the car door for Sheng Xia and inviting her to get in.
This man was clearly wealthy, and his temper seemed good—unlike Gu Cheng’an, who always wore that cold, lifeless expression and showed her no consideration.
Sheng Xia didn’t know why she thought of Gu Cheng’an. No harm without comparison.
Gu Cheng’an simply didn’t love her, so he looked down on her and ignored her. He wasn’t like that with the female lead, Shen Xinhe.
Thinking of how moved Gu Cheng’an had looked when he saw Shen Xinhe earlier, Sheng Xia felt a pang of bitterness in her heart.
Although she had decided to give up on Gu Cheng’an, after loving him for so long, it still hurt.
She sighed inwardly, unaware that several cars were following Shen Jingze’s vehicle, all equipped with cameras for surveillance.
Shen Jingze noticed and sped up, quickly shaking off the trailing cars.
After losing the pursuers, he slowed down and glanced at Sheng Xia. “May I ask your name?”
“Li Shengxia!” she replied straightforwardly.
“I’m Shen Jingze!”
Shen Jingze? The name sounded familiar. Had she heard it somewhere before?
Sheng Xia frowned, trying to recall, but nothing came to mind. Shen Jingze glanced at her and, seeing no change in her expression, a faint smile touched his lips as he accelerated.
The car soon stopped near the new house. Sheng Xia didn’t let Shen Jingze enter the marital home, asking him to wait downstairs while she went upstairs to fetch the orchids.
Seizing the opportunity, Shen Jingze messaged his assistant, Nan Feng, on his phone. “Do you know Li Shengxia? Help me look into her.”
“Of course! Gu Cheng’an’s wife!”
Shen Jingze’s eyes narrowed. Gu Cheng’an’s wife?
She was actually Gu Cheng’an’s wife!
The beauty was already married? A married woman? A faint sense of disappointment washed over him.
Nan Feng followed up with another message: “Gu Cheng’an doesn’t like her much. He was forced into the marriage by the Gu family’s Old Master and Old Madam. It’s said they’ve been married for two years but have never been intimate, and because of this, Li Shengxia is often mocked.”
“What else do you know?”Nan Feng was utterly astonished. Young Master Shen was actually paying such close attention to a married woman. Could it be that he had fallen for Li Shengxia?
This was definitely not a good thing. After a moment of contemplation, Nan Feng shared everything he knew:
“This Li Shengxia is vain, greedy, and brainless—a complete trophy wife. She often makes unreasonable demands and is utterly unreasonable. In fact, the socialite circles of Jingnan all see her as a joke.”
Unreasonable and making demands? He hadn’t noticed that. Shen Jingze frowned. He had bumped into Li Shengxia twice, and both times she had been surprisingly easygoing.
So the rumors must be mistaken, right?
At the hospital, Gu Cheng’an and Jing Ci left Shen Xinhe’s ward.
Gu Cheng’an had agreed to cover the medical expenses for Shen Xinhe’s aunt and help find a kidney donor. Shen Xinhe felt as if she had found her savior and was immensely grateful to Gu Cheng’an. She accompanied Gu Cheng’an and Jing Ci all the way to the parking lot, watching their car until it disappeared from sight before turning back.
Jing Ci was driving and was thoroughly impressed by Shen Xinhe.
“This Miss Shen is not only beautiful but also kind-hearted and hardworking. She’s an actress, and recently, because her aunt is seriously ill and needs money, she’s been juggling multiple jobs. Besides working as a waitress, she also does housekeeping and tutors children.”
“She is quite driven,” Gu Cheng’an replied in a flat tone, scrolling through his phone.
Jing Ci glanced at his boss in the rearview mirror. His boss was usually indifferent toward women, even toward his own wife. Today, however, he had been unusually gentle toward Shen Xinhe and even offered to help. Jing Ci guessed that Gu Cheng’an must really like Shen Xinhe.
But judging by Gu Cheng’an’s current attitude, it was hard to tell.
He decided to change the subject. “Mr. Gu, what about the Lu Family? Should we approach them?”
“Leave it for now. Let the Lu Family stir up some trouble. They want to cause trouble for Shengxia, right? I want to see…”
He trailed off as he scrolled to a news article and stared at it for a moment before letting out a cold laugh. “Shen Jingze really hasn’t changed his ways. A dog can’t stop eating shit.”
“What did Young Master Shen do?” Jing Ci asked curiously, unable to look at the news while driving.
“He was driving around in a forty-million-yuan sports car with a woman in broad daylight. He’s as flamboyant and attention-seeking as ever.”
“Young Master Shen has been abroad for so many years. He might just be used to that lifestyle.”
Gu Cheng’an didn’t respond, his gaze fixed on the paparazzi photos of Shen Jingze driving around with a female companion.
Strange, he thought the woman in the passenger seat looked somewhat familiar. Her face wasn’t clearly captured, only a blurry image, but Gu Cheng’an couldn’t shake the feeling that she resembled Shengxia.
Shengxia and Shen Jingze shouldn’t have any connection, especially since Shen Jingze went abroad right after high school.
As he pondered this, Jing Ci suddenly spoke up again. “Oh, by the way, Mr. Gu, Young Master Shen’s assistant called me this morning. He said Young Master Shen is throwing a party and would like to invite you.”
Gu Cheng’an was about to refuse but reconsidered and asked, “When is it?”
“The day after tomorrow.”
“We’ll see then.”
“You and Young Master Shen were classmates. It wouldn’t be good if you didn’t attend his first party back in the country, would it?” Jing Ci reminded him.
Jing Ci’s words left Gu Cheng’an silent. He and Shen Jingze were indeed classmates.They had been classmates from elementary school all the way through university. At first, their relationship was very good, but later, something happened that caused them to drift apart, eventually becoming as incompatible as fire and water. After that, Shen Jingze went abroad.
Thinking of the past, Gu Cheng’an’s eyes darkened with gloom. For some reason, he thought of the woman who had lied in the hospital room just now—Shen Xinhe.
The pitiful, pleading look in the woman’s eyes flashed before him, and so did the face of Wang Yulan, pale and emaciated on the sickbed, her illness already beyond cure.
Gu Cheng’an leaned back slightly, closed his eyes for a moment, and then instructed Jing Ci: “That Shen Xinhe from earlier—go and arrange something for her. Give her some acting opportunities.”