With that, she collapsed limply into his arms.
Xie Zhiyuan's throat bobbed. He scooped her up horizontally in his arms and strode outside.
At that moment, he suddenly noticed that her fair arm was covered in angry red patches, as if someone had pinched her hard.
Xie Zhiyuan's gaze grew even colder. He instructed Zhou Yan, "Check the surveillance cameras. Not a single person who touched her just now is to be spared!"
Zhou Yan gave a start, lowered his head, and replied, "Yes."
...
Jiang Nianxi's consciousness drifted heavily, and she couldn't summon an ounce of strength in her entire body.
Even when she felt someone carry her into a room and lay her down on a soft bed, she was too weak to resist.
That crisp, pleasant cedarwood scent lingered stubbornly, like the only antidote. Feeling utterly miserable, she looked through her blurred vision at the figure before her, desperately wanting him to help her.
Xie Zhiyuan looked down at her, his dark eyes brimming with an intense, unfathomable depth.
The girl's cheeks were flushed, her tear-glossed, hazy eyes full of yearning for him, and her full, rosy lips parted slightly... Any normal man would find it hard to resist such temptation.Xie Zhiyuan’s slender fingers gripped her chin, forcing her to look at him. "Who am I?" he asked in a low, resonant voice.
Jiang Nianxi shook her head, dazed and confused.
She only knew that she was in agony and felt a desperate longing...
She didn’t even know who he was?
Anger surged in his eyes. Xie Zhiyuan suddenly leaned in and kissed her, biting down hard on her lip as a form of punishment.
"Ugh!" she whimpered in pain. "It hurts..."
Xie Zhiyuan sneered. "It’s supposed to hurt!"
It would teach her a lesson she wouldn't forget. He couldn't bear to imagine what might have happened to her had he not arrived in time; she had never been anything but a handful since she was a child!
Though he was seething with frustration, the sight of the tears glistening at the corners of her eyes forced his touch to soften. He began to rub her lips gently, bit by bit.
Only now, while she was not in her right mind, could he allow himself to surrender to the deepest impulses buried in his heart.Jiang Nianxi accommodated him, but such superficial caresses not only failed to help her, they made the torment worse.
The temperature continued to rise, and Jiang Nianxi anxiously reached out to tug at his shirt and belt, on the verge of tears from desperation.
Xie Zhiyuan caught her wayward hands, his gaze burning and dangerous. "Do you know what you are doing?"
Jiang Nianxi's mind was already in complete chaos; she was entirely incapable of thought. She only knew that this man could help her!
Because she used too much force, one of the buttons on his shirt popped off.
"..." The depths of Xie Zhiyuan's eyes turned red, and his breathing grew increasingly ragged.
He was no saint, but a normal man. Her being so proactive was practically driving him to distraction!
Yet, he couldn't.
This was the girl he had always cradled in the palms of his hands; he did not want to take advantage of her in a vulnerable state. He wanted... to make her willingly give herself to him while fully conscious.
Steeling his heart, Xie Zhiyuan scooped her up from the bed and tossed her right into the outdoor swimming pool outside!
"Splash!" Water flew in all directions.
"Cough, cough... cough!" Jiang Nianxi immediately swallowed several mouthfuls of water and began coughing violently. The icy water drained the heat from her body and cleared her mind immensely.
She flailed about in the water in a disheveled state, and it was only then that she clearly saw the man before her.
Xie Zhiyuan stood at the edge of the pool, looking down at her from above. "Sober now?"
"Cough, cough!" Jiang Nianxi could not swim and was afraid of water. She choked on the water continuously, tears streaming down her face.
Xie Zhiyuan simply watched her, showing not the slightest intention of lending a hand, as his cold voice came from above. "Speak! Do you dare go to a place like that again?"
Weeping, she promised, "I don't dare, Uncle... I really don't dare anymore!"
Only then did Xie Zhiyuan extend his hand, pulling her out of the water. Unbothered by her being completely soaked, he scooped her up horizontally once more and walked back inside.Returning to the room, he placed her into a bathtub filled with warm water.
Her clothes were soaked through, leaving nothing to the imagination as they clung to her exquisite, curvaceous frame, all of which fell into Xie Zhiyuan's line of sight.
His throat felt parched. With a restrained motion, he turned away and strode out of the bathroom, instructing a maid to prepare dry clothes for her.
Jiang Nianxi kept her eyes closed, curling into a ball in the tub. Her mind was still in a haze, yet one fact remained crystal clear: she had truly been reborn.
The maid brought over the dry clothing. Upon seeing Jiang Nianxi’s face—streaked with smeared makeup like an abstract painting—she couldn't help but think it was a real eyesore.
She didn't know when it had started, but Miss Jiang had begun dressing in such a bizarre, ghastly manner, obsessing over smoky eye makeup, garish hot-pink lipstick, hair dyed in mismatched streaks of blue and purple, and outfits that leaned toward a "gothic" style, looking for all the world like a street hoodlum. Even worse was her wretched attitude toward Mr. Xie.
Yet, Mr. Xie never seemed to mind at all—it was truly impossible to understand!
Jiang Nianxi changed into the clean clothes. The effects of the drug had not yet worn off; as soon as she stepped out of the bathroom, she drifted off into a hazy sleep on the sofa.
In her dreams, the arrogant, triumphant smiles of Ji Yanxiu and Lin Shuran appeared again and again.
She saw herself being forced to swallow an entire bottle of poison, her body hooked up to various tubes, enduring the excruciating, daily agony of her internal organs being eroded and destroyed—a life worse than death.
The man she had once given her heart and soul to stood over her hospital bed, looking down with a condescending air of benevolence. "Jiang Nianxi, you fool, you’re of no more use to me. Go in peace. Since you loved me so much, I’ll even buy you a nice burial plot!"
She had been so stupid, stepping one by one into the traps they had meticulously laid for her, leading to her utter destruction.
But in this life, she would not repeat the same mistakes. She would make them pay a heavy, painful price!
The dream persisted until she was forced to watch the live broadcast of the wretches' wedding, at which point Jiang Nianxi jolted awake.
What greeted her eyes was a low-key, luxurious bedroom with a color scheme of black, white, and gray. The layout was all too familiar—if she remembered correctly, this was her uncle’s villa in the Bay Area.
Before she had a falling out with him over Ji Yanxiu, she used to come visit from time to time. After the rift, she had never returned.
How did she end up here?
*Hiss.* Her head ached.
Jiang Nianxi clutched her head as she walked out of the room. Her gaze was instantly drawn to the man sitting on the sofa downstairs.
He wore a black shirt with the sleeves rolled up loosely, looking effortless and composed. In one hand, he held a cup of coffee, sipping slowly, while the other held a phone, scanning financial news.
The morning sun poured in through the massive floor-to-ceiling windows, casting a soft glow over him that made him look almost surreal. Yet, the natural sense of pressure he exuded made his presence undeniably, tangibly real.
Uncle!
Jiang Nianxi’s face shifted dramatically. As fragmented memories pieced themselves together in her mind, she suddenly recalled that last night, she had seemingly clung to him, ripped at his clothes, and demanded things from him...
She could not believe she had been so debauched. Her face flushed red to the roots of her hair, and she felt like digging a hole to bury herself in.
Her uncle was notoriously cold, austere, and uninterested in women, yet she had committed such an overstepping act against him. Was this "high-mountain flower" someone she could just lay a hand on?
Jiang Nianxi felt as though the sky were collapsing. She desperately wanted to flee the scene immediately.
Just as she was pondering how to sneak away without being discovered, she heard his voice. "Awake?"
Xie Zhiyuan lifted his eyes toward her. His dark gaze was inscrutable, revealing no emotion.
Jiang Nianxi’s face was beet red. It took a long time before she managed to stammer out a few words, "Uncle, last night, I... did you... did anything..."