"An Ruoxue, get out here! Don't think that just because you're hiding, I can't find you."
Rong Che stood in the middle of the expansive living room, his tall, muscular frame radiating an imposing aura. His sharp voice was heavy with authority; in an instant, a thick shroud of gloom seemed to descend upon the villa, making the atmosphere suffocatingly tense. It felt as though a storm was waiting to tear through the clouds and swallow the empty villa whole.
"An Ruoxue."
Rong Che’s impatient voice rang out through the living room again, but beyond the deathly silence that followed, there was no movement at all.
"Damn it! You’d better stay well-hidden, because if I find you, An Ruoxue, you’re going to regret it dearly."
Rong Che’s patience was wearing thin. His dark, deep-set eyes, cold as the abyss of the ocean, narrowed beneath furrowed brows. Anything his gaze touched seemed to freeze over. Sharp, frigid, and icy.
With long, purposeful strides, Rong Che marched toward the white marble spiral staircase and stormed up to the second floor, his anger blazing. He headed straight for An Ruoxue’s bedroom, his expression dark, and delivered a forceful kick to the door.
*Bang!*
The wooden door, which had been firmly shut, flew open at the impact. Rong Che stepped inside, his face like a thundercloud. However, the bedroom was as still as a vacuum. The bed sheets were pristine and flawless, showing no signs of having been used.
"Damn it."
Rong Che’s narrow black eyes tightened as he cursed coldly. The woman wasn't even here. Where could An Ruoxue have possibly gone?
After a moment of thought, he pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed the company’s human resources department.
"Young Master Rong, how may I help you?"
The phone was answered after a single ring, the voice on the other end trembling with caution.
"Look up An Ruoxue’s address."
"Yes, Young Master Rong. Please wait a moment."
When the woman had joined the company, she had deliberately avoided listing any properties under Rong Che’s name in her address file to keep a low profile.
"Secretary An’s address is Jinyuan Garden, Building 8, Unit 1006."
Hanging up the phone, Rong Che turned and stormed out of the villa.
***
"Miss, we’ve arrived at Jinyuan Garden."
The driver pulled the car to a stop and alerted An Ruoxue, who was sitting in the backseat.
"Oh." An Ruoxue looked up at the window. "Thank you, driver." After paying the fare, she opened the door and stepped out.
Ignoring the strange looks from passersby, An Ruoxue quickened her pace toward her small apartment. She stepped into the elevator, arrived at her front door, and unlocked it. The moment she entered and shut the door, her heart, which had been racing all the way, finally settled down.
"Sigh..."
"What has happened to me?"
Leaning against the cold door panel, An Ruoxue looked up at the ceiling, her heart a tangled mess of emotions, impossible to put into words.
"Sigh..."
Shaking her head in frustration, she took off her suit jacket and headed straight for the bathroom. She needed a good shower to clear her head.
She slipped out of her oversized shirt and gazed at her reflection in the mirror. Her figure was flawless—her skin as smooth as cream, her curves perfect. She possessed a body that even other women would envy. But…
On her long, swan-like neck was a ring of light purple hickeys, and her fair skin was marred with patches of bruises. These marks were a clear, haunting reminder of what she and Rong Che had done the previous night."Ugh..."
An Ruoxue's slender fingers gently touched the purplish-blue bruises on her neck. It seemed her fingertips could still feel the passion Rong Che had shown her the previous night.
Rong Che was the man An Ruoxue had deeply loved for four years, and she had always longed to be intimately close to him.
Yet now, looking at the marks Rong Che had branded upon her body, an unbidden, thin layer of mist welled up in her clear eyes.
He did not love her; he even loathed her. At this moment, An Ruoxue felt that these marks on her skin had nothing to do with love at all—they were simply traces of violation and abuse.
"Hoo, hoo, hoo..."
Taking a deep breath, An Ruoxue abruptly turned on the tap, letting the icy water cascade all over her body.
Tilting her head back, she let the freezing droplets soak her face. In that instant, the tears in her eyes mingled with the water, rolling down her cheeks together.
Even An Ruoxue herself could no longer tell whether what flowed down her face was tears or water. At this moment, she only felt the chill seep into every vein in her body, making her heart feel bitterly cold.
The rushing sound of water quickly enveloped her tall, slender figure.
After taking a cold shower and changing into clean loungewear, An Ruoxue's head cleared up significantly. Once her mind cleared, her stomach, which had been quiet all night, began to play a protest march.
As usual, An Ruoxue opened the fridge, took out two eggs, and walked back into the kitchen.
All these years, although she was Rong's wife in name, An Ruoxue had never actually moved into that grand mansion. Every time she stayed in what was supposed to be her and Rong Che's matrimonial home, she found the villa terrifyingly empty.
Therefore, for the past four years, she had lived in this small apartment. She went to work alone, came home alone, took care of herself alone, and made breakfast and dinner alone. As for Rong Che... that aloof man of high status had no intersection with her whatsoever, save for matters of work.
"Sigh..."
Shaking her head in annoyance, An Ruoxue desperately wanted to shake Rong Che out of her mind. She didn't want to think about him anymore.
"Knock, knock, knock..."
At that moment, hurried knocking came from outside the door. An Ruoxue hurriedly placed the fried egg and milk she was holding onto the dining table and walked over to the door.
At this hour, could someone be knocking at midnight? An Ruoxue recalled that she hadn't fallen behind on her property management fees.
"Knock, knock, knock..."
The urgent knocking outside left An Ruoxue little time for thought.
"Coming."
Frowning slightly with her pretty brows, she reached out and pulled the door open.
"Ah..."
However, the moment the door opened and her crystal-clear eyes took in the person standing outside, An Ruoxue froze completely in place as if under a spell. Her fair, beautiful face registered shock, surprise, and horror all at once—a tangle of complex expressions weaving across her lovely face.
"An Ruoxue, you've got some nerve playing tricks on me."
The moment a low, icy, and bone-chilling voice sounded, An Ruoxue felt a wave of cold air wash over her, making goosebumps rise all over her skin.
"Um... Young Master Rong, how... how did you find this place?"
An Ruoxue was so nervous that her speech became stammering.