Gong Zihua had wanted to hurt her, but instead, she had been outmaneuvered.
“Thank you, Fusheng, for making a birthday wish for me in advance, your—”
Lu Zhiling was midway through her sentence when a gleaming black luxury car swept past her, leaving behind a sharp, unpleasant trail of exhaust. She subconsciously stepped back, lowering her head with a faint smile as she looked at her phone.
“Birthday wishes… I will always remember them .”
The car, which had already driven some distance away, suddenly reversed and stopped right in front of her.
“…”
Lu Zhiling froze. Her lashes lowered, her expression turning blank, yet the sandalwood box in her arms was held even tighter. Under the dim streetlight, its faint glow brushed the hem of her long dress, making her solitary figure appear even more desolate.
The rear window rolled down slowly.
Bo Wang sat inside the car, his gaze calm and unreadable as it settled on her. His eyes flicked briefly to the sandalwood box before his low, deep voice broke the silence, carrying an unfathomable weight.
“You were trampled on all night just for this?”
“Ah? Yes.”
She nodded. Hadn’t he already heard everything inside? Why ask again?
Afraid he might misunderstand where the money had come from, Lu Zhiling added softly, “I opened a teahouse. The profits from it are… quite good.”
“You invested all your money into it?” Bo Wang asked again.
“Yes.”
Being able to buy it for one million was already a stroke of luck.
Bo Wang watched the faint relief at the corner of her lips, his eyes darkening further. After a long silence, he spoke coolly.
“Get in the car.”
“What?”
Lu Zhiling was momentarily confused.
“Young Madam, let me help you.”
The driver stepped out with practiced efficiency, guiding her around the car and opening the door with respectful formality, leaving her no real chance to refuse.
“Miss—”
Feng Zhen hurried after her anxiously, knocking on the window. Lu Zhiling gave him a reassuring look before turning her face blankly toward Bo Wang.
“Where are we going?”
“Back to sleep,” Bo Wang replied. He leaned back, crossed his arms, and closed his eyes, as though the matter was settled and required no further discussion.
The car drove away beneath the glare of the headlights.
Inside the Gong family gates, disbelief lingered thick in the air. Only faint birdsong echoed through the now-quiet courtyard.
“She… she really got into Bo Wang’s car?” Ming Yi muttered, stunned.
“Looks like your old classmate isn’t ordinary at all,” one of the older men said quietly.
Gong Zihua’s face shifted from pale to green, then pale again.
“So what? She’s just eager to become someone’s plaything. In a few days, she’ll be lying in a hospital bed like those little stars.”
Despite her sharp words, none of the Gong family’s bodyguards dared to chase after the car. Furious, Gong Zihua tore a handful of leaves from a nearby tree.
…
The car moved silently through the bustling, brightly lit city, passing one block after another. Gradually, Lu Zhiling realized the direction was wrong. They weren’t heading toward Mount Shen. But being acting blind, she couldn’t point it out directly.
So she turned her face slightly toward the man beside her.
Streetlights swept across Bo Wang’s sleeping face through the window, as light and shadow shifting like a moving film reel—sometimes clear, sometimes blurred.
“What can you see of me with your blind eyes?”
He spoke suddenly, his eyes still closed, yet certain she was facing him.
“I’m not looking anymore.”
Lu Zhiling quietly turned away and rolled down the window. Along the roadside flowerbeds, a stretch of water came into view. A brightly lit cruise ship glided slowly from east to west, with several boats moored along the shore.
Could this be…?
“The wind here feels special. Where are we?” she asked casually.
The driver glanced at Bo Wang through the rearview mirror. Seeing no objection, he replied softly, “Baige Road, by the Qingjiang River. Young Madam, you probably noticed it because of the river breeze.”
“Qingjiang?”
Lu Zhiling repeated the name softly, dazed.
K Country was divided into eight major regions and forty-eight states, with the Qingjiang River running through its center. South of the river was Jiangnan, and north of it, Jiangbei.
Cross the Qingjiang River, and one reached Jiangnan.
For the first time in five years, Lu Zhiling realized how close she was to home—so close that only a single river separated them.
She rolled the window fully down and rested her head against it, quietly facing the unseen river as the night wind tangled her hair. Her eyes slowly reddened.
She wondered when she would be able to go back.
After a long while, the Qingjiang River faded from view.
The car turned into the entrance of an ultra-luxurious residential complex. The number of bowing security guards lining the way was enough to form several football teams.
Dijiangting.
The most expensive residential complex in all of Jiangbei.
Lu Zhiling guessed Bo Wang had brought her to his private residence, but she couldn’t understand why.
The car entered the building and stopped inside a private car elevator. A card was swiped, and the elevator rose smoothly to the forty-fourth floor.
The doors opened into an indoor garden. The driver stepped out and bowed respectfully.
“Young Master, I’ll take my leave.”
He left without another word.
Surrounded by greenery, Lu Zhiling felt utterly lost.
“Aren’t we going back to Mount Shen?”
Bo Wang, who had seemed half-asleep, opened his eyes, his brows knitting slightly in irritation. After a brief pause, he opened the car door.
“Come in. Let’s talk.”
“…”
Talk about what?
Lu Zhiling frowned. Holding the sandalwood box, she unfolded her cane and followed his footsteps.
Bo Wang walked straight through the automatically opening glass doors. Lights flickered on wherever he passed, revealing a vast single-level apartment. The curved living room alone was as large as a stadium, dominated by a thick round pillar surrounded by a ring of genuine leather chairs.
There were no cabinets, no sofas, no tables—only floor-to-ceiling glass windows like an unrolled scroll and a gleaming, empty floor.
Cold. Empty.
Lu Zhiling walked in, then stopped quietly after a while, standing where she was.
Bo Wang went to the open kitchen, poured himself a glass of water, and leaned against the counter as he drank. His dark eyes remained fixed on her, lost in thought.
She felt uncomfortable under his gaze but pretended not to notice.
He tilted his head back, draining the liquid in one jagged, thirsty gulp. His Adam’s apple bobbed with a primal intensity that echoed in the heavy silence. He set the square glass down, his fingertips spinning the crystal with a casual, predatory grace. Reflected light scattered like shards of broken glass across the counter.
The air shifted in the room , growing thick with his undeniable madness. He strode toward her, his hand clamping around her wrist with a burning ownership.
Her cane hit the floor with a hollow thud between this tug of war .
“Bo Wang, where are you taking me?” her voice was a silken thread, but she did not resist. She moved with him, her body already adapting to the gravitational pull of his obsession.
Bang.
The bedroom door slammed, sealing them into his world. Darkness swallowed them, but the heat between them was scorching.
His hand slid upward, fingers tangling deep into her hair, forcing her head back to meet his descent. He kissed her then—not as a lover, but as a conqueror claiming a prize. It was urgent, fierce, and tasted of raw dark intent. He invaded her senses, his tongue tracing the seam of her lips until they parted, a rush of heat flooding her nerves. This was the “terrifying truth” of his — he didn’t ask; he took.
“Didn’t you say you liked me?” he demanded against her mouth, his voice a hoarse, dangerous growl. “What—are you scared now?”
Lu Zhiling stiffened, instinctively wanting to push him away, but she restrained herself. His breathing grew, as the sound of a man standing on the cliff’s edge of his own sanity. He nipped at her lower lip, his teeth grazing her skin before his hand moved to her collar, tugging at the silk.
She clutched the sandalwood box—a fragment of her old life—as he forced her back onto the bed.
Pressed onto the cold, soft quilt, Bo Wang hovered over her, biting her chin as his lips trailed down her neck, one hand sliding toward her skirt.
Was he really going to—
She forced herself to calm down. Setting the box aside, she placed her hands on his shoulders, leaned up, brushed a light kiss against his face, and pushed him away.
“No, Bo Wang…”
His movement stopped. In the shadows, he loomed over her, his eyes dark with a restrained desire that bordered on oppression.
“Lu Zhiling, I didn’t ask whether you wanted it.”
“I’m pregnant,” she whispered, her voice a calm pool in his storm. “Less than two months. It’s… easy for something to go wrong.”
“But I want it today.” His voice was unreasonable, the command of a man who controlled everything but his own heart. “Didn’t you say you liked me? Or was it all a lie?”
She didn’t flinch. Instead, she wrapped her arms around his neck, her slender fingers threading through his hair in a gesture so gentle it was disarming.
“If this would truly make you happy, I’d be willing to do anything. But I know that’s not the case.”
Bo Wang leaned over her, watching closely. He wanted to pull her hands away, yet the soft pressure of her fingers against his scalp was strangely soothing.“You’re blind. How would you know whether I’m happy or not ?” he sneered.“I can’t see, but I can feel,” she said softly. “You’ve never trusted me. You’ve always hated me. How could you be happy just by kissing someone you don’t like?”
“I’m just too lazy to find another woman.”
He loosened her collar, staring at her collarbone with a faint, mocking smile.
“There’s no conflict between hating you and taking pleasure from you.”
Lu Zhiling’s expression darkened. After a long silence, she laughed bitterly.
“If I were smarter, I should agree now, right? Let our relationship move forward.”
“But I won’t,” she continued softly. “I hope you find someone you truly love. Someone who makes you happy. Not someone you face for momentary pleasure, only to feel lonelier afterward. I don’t want you to hate me even more.”Her voice was low and humble—so low that even she felt numb hearing it.She struggled to sit up, hugged the sandalwood box, and whispered, “I’ll leave now. You should rest.”
Before she could stand, he pulled her back.An arm wrapped around her from behind, his breath warm against her ear.“Did I say you could leave?”“I’m blind. You deserve someone better.”“It’s all the same with the lights off.”His lips brushed her cheek.Her body trembled, her breathing uneven, which only amused him. His hand roamed over her waist as he chuckled softly.Suddenly, a phone vibrated.
Her body trembled, and the sound of her uneven breathing only seemed to amuse him. His hand roamed her waist, his touch lingering, marking her.
Suddenly, a phone vibrated. He stopped, his chin resting on her shoulder as the device buzzed again and again. On the fourth vibration, he answered.
“Handle the Nanyang Road matter,” he snapped, his voice turning into ice even as he lazily pinched her waist. “I’m busy sleeping with a woman.”
“Then don’t go,” the voice on the phone turned cold. “As long as you stop squandering your mother’s inheritance.”
The line went dead. Bo Wang stood, the warmth leaving her side as the light snapped on.
Lu Zhiling sat on the bed, eyes lowered. Her rumpled collar and swollen lips were a testament to the ” chaos” she had survived.
His gaze fell on the sandalwood box. He took it from her hands, opened it, and lifted the Buddhist prayer beads, turning them slowly between his fingers.
“Prayer beads?”“Yes. They were blessed at Pujue Temple.”
“A token of love?” he interrupted coldly.
Before she could explain, he slid the bracelet onto his wrist.
“If I come back alive tonight, I’ll keep them.”
He turned and left.
Lu Zhiling sat there, stunned.
He… took it.
He really took it.