"Mm." Bian Xunzhou casually flipped through the documents and glanced over them, saying offhandedly, "Have Butler Du get a bedroom ready."
Lu Zhao looked at the distinguished and cold man before him, hesitating before speaking, "Sir, are you certain you want to marry Miss Wen?"
That was far too hasty!
"Opt for the best choice," Bian Xunzhou replied in a casual, indifferent tone. "We can always get a divorce after marrying."
He disliked anything that slipped beyond his control, and Wen Xuyu was currently that exact anomaly. He needed a legal means to keep her bound to his side.
Knowing that his employer never fought an unprepared battle, Lu Zhao kept his mouth shut.
Inside the examination room, everything had already been taken care of.
"Young lady, what is your relationship to him?" Taking advantage of a brief gap, the female doctor couldn't help asking.
What relationship?
Wen Xuyu had no idea herself; perhaps they were "grasshoppers tied to the same rope."
Noticing her strange attire, her silence, her dazed expression, and how she hadn't made a single sound while her wounds were being treated, the female doctor grew somewhat suspicious. Was that man a human trafficker, specializing in abducting young girls who weren't quite right in the head?
Exhausted, with aching wounds, Wen Xuyu thought: "..."
Just then, Bian Xunzhou stepped into the room. The female doctor stepped forward to block Wen Xuyu, wearing a hostile expression.
The man shot her a cold glare, an aura so oppressive that the doctor involuntarily shivered.
"Sir, did you find this girl on the side of the road and kindly bring her to the hospital? If so, you can leave the rest to the police. I will call and contact—"
Hearing the doctor's words, Wen Xuyu and Bian Xunzhou exchanged a simultaneous glance and quickly spoke up.
"You've misunderstood. I know him. It's not what you think!"
Without acknowledging the doctor, Bian Xunzhou walked straight over and picked her up in his arms.
The doctor fell silent, saying no more.
After the two left, she absentmindedly opened her phone and saw a pushed news alert.
Staring at the partial profile photo on the screen, the doctor's eyes widened. The woman from moments ago looked remarkably like the Wen Family's second young lady who had fled her wedding tonight!
Could they be the same person? And if so, who was the man with her?
*
In the hospital corridor, the pungent smell of disinfectant hung heavily in the air.
The nerves that Wen Xuyu had kept tightly wound all day finally began to relax, and an overwhelming wave of exhaustion washed over her. She half-closed her eyes, trying desperately to hold onto the last shred of her alertness.
Sensing the pressure against his chest, Bian Xunzhou lowered his gaze to sweep across her profile, his expression unchanging.
At that moment, the sound of wheelchair wheels rolled in from the end of the corridor.
Wen Xuyu snapped her eyes open. Following the sound, she caught sight of a man sitting in a wheelchair.
He wore a hospital gown and possessed a frail figure.
Yet what left the deepest impression was his pair of eyes—they seemed to contain a blue ocean, melancholy and sorrowful.
Seeming to feel her gaze, the man turned his head to look back.
The moment their eyes met, Wen Xuyu's heart skipped a beat, and an inexplicable sense of familiarity surged within her.
"What is it?" Bian Xunzhou noticed her abnormality and looked in the direction of her gaze.
The man in the wheelchair had already turned his head back, pushed by someone as he disappeared around the corner.
Wen Xuyu shook her head, though sadness was hard to conceal in her eyes. "It's nothing..."
How could it be him? He was already dead!
Bian Xunzhou's gaze darkened, but he said nothing.
*
On the way back, Wen Xuyu stared out the car window, lost in deep thought.
The words Wen Yuqin had spoken were still fresh in her mind. Was she really going to go back tomorrow?
Could she bear the consequences of returning? Would she live to regret it?
Wen Xuyu racked her brain, weighing the pros and cons.
Suddenly, the man beside her handed over a document. His tone was cold and utterly flat.
"Sign it. From now on, you will live with me until this relationship is completely terminated."
Bian Xunzhou pulled a cigarette from his pack and placed it between his lips, though he did not light it.
"I won't!"
Catching sight of the bold characters reading "Marriage Agreement," Wen Xuyu shed her earlier docility and spoke with absolute determination.
She didn't even know this man—was she supposed to marry him simply because of synesthesia?
"I am informing you, not discussing it with you," Bian Xunzhou said calmly, carrying an irresistible pressure.
"I am not signing it!" Overcome by sudden fury, Wen Xuyu blurted out an angry shout.
She could tell this man was not one for jokes, nor was he reasonable or easy to negotiate with.
Seeing her earnest face, Bian Xunzhou lifted his eyelids for a brief glance and stayed silent.
A woman could throw tantrums, but going too far was a different story; sooner or later, she would sign it willingly.
Wen Xuyu felt insulted and mocked. What a truly despicable character this man had!
After an unknown length of time, the car finally came to a halt in front of a residential villa complex.
Wen Xuyu recognized the place.
Xuanshui Bay, one of the premier villa compounds in Kyoto, inhabited almost exclusively by society's elite.
Its amenities were top-tier, security was exceptionally tight, and the environment was magnificent. Nestled against the mountains and facing the water, it was literally worth every inch of gold.
For Wen Qianxue's eighteenth coming-of-age ceremony, Wen Yuqin had purchased a property here as a gift, making all the wealthy young masters and ladies of the same age green with envy.
After she returned to the Wen Family, Wen Qianxue had brought it up from time to time just to show off and provoke her.
It seemed this man's influence was not to be underestimated...
Silently cursing her bad luck, Wen Xuyu kept her face sullen, a suffocating knot of frustration stuck in her chest.
Acting as if he hadn't noticed, Bian Xunzhou smoothly opened the car door and reached out to pick her up.
"I'm not getting out. Let me go..." Wen Xuyu grabbed the door frame, making one last desperate struggle.
She had a premonition that once she stepped inside this villa, getting back out would be nearly impossible.
"Go? How do you plan on going?"
Crossing his arms, Bian Xunzhou glanced down at her legs, deliberately misinterpreting her words with a double entendre.
Standing behind him, Lu Zhao watched the scene with curiosity.
As Bian Xunzhou's assistant, he had witnessed plenty of storms and met all sorts of people, yet none quite like Miss Wen.
Normally, other women practically tried to strip the boss naked with their gazes, but... this Miss Wen's eyes held nothing but defense. Was she being genuine, or putting on an act?
Wen Xuyu pressed her lips together in silence, maintaining the posture of someone who would rather die than get out of the car. Her eyes darted rapidly as she scrambled for a countermeasure.
Losing his patience, Bian Xunzhou forcefully scooped her up, despite her resistance.
"Let go!" he ordered in a deep voice, his dark eyes fixed on the ten pale fingers clinging desperately to the car door.
Sensing his rising anger and feeling a flicker of fear, Wen Xuyu knew she couldn't outmuscle the man and had to compromise.
"You—"
Before she could finish her sentence, Bian Xunzhou hoisted her straight over his shoulder. He carried her unceremoniously to the prepared bedroom, tossed her in, and dropped a parting remark before leaving.
"If you run off again, I won't mind keeping you locked up permanently."
………
Standing before the floor-to-ceiling window, Wen Xuyu watched the endless sheets of rain outside and let out a silent sigh of despair.
Kyoto's summer was sweltering and rainy.
Bian Xunzhou had not appeared for three days, yet the bodyguards remained stationed outside her room, guarding her every move.
Thanks to the care of the villa's servants over the past few days, the injuries on her feet and hands were nearly healed. However, her phone had been confiscated, leaving her with only a tablet computer.
Wen Xuyu grew anxious. Three days had passed—how were her adoptive parents doing?
She stroked the bruise on her wrist, the lingering mark left by the bodyguards when she had tried to escape yesterday.
Turning around, she inspected the room.
Bian Xunzhou was excessively cautious. Fearing she might try jumping from a window to escape, even the back courtyard of the villa was heavily guarded.
She felt a wave of discouragement.
Footsteps sounded outside the door. Wen Xuyu immediately hurried back to the bed and feigned sleep as a maid pushed a cart inside, setting dinner down on the table.
"Miss Wen, it's time to eat."
Pretending to have just woken up, Wen Xuyu slowly sat up. Suddenly, her eyes fell upon the maid's serving cart, and a plan began to form in her mind.