Looking at Jiang Shaoming's furious face, Heyue took a deep breath and spoke.
"Jiang Shaoming, let me go, and don't hurt your wife."
Heyue meant every word of this.
These words infuriated Jiang Shaoming. He took a step right up to Heyue, enveloping her in a suffocating smell of tobacco.
"Whether I get married or not, you are still my woman." Jiang Shaoming cupped Heyue's chin with his broad palm, forcing her to look into his eyes. "Heyue, we've been together for ten years. For you to use the words 'let me go'—isn't that a bit harsh?"
The women around him were as numerous as carp crossing a river, but for ten years, he had kept only Heyue. Yet in Heyue's eyes, none of this was worth anything.
Jiang Shaoming didn't get Heyue's answer, but he saw the disgust in her eyes, and he sneered: "Don't forget that you were the one who chased after me eagerly back then, kneeling on the ground to beg me to accept you. Now you want me to let you go? Ha, ridiculous."
Heyue violently jerked her hand away and stepped back to put some distance between them: "Jiang Shaoming, have you ever thought about what would happen if your fiancée found out about you and me?"
"Go ahead, then! Go and tell her!" Jiang Shaoming said fearlessly, gesturing with his chin toward the door. The glowing red tip of his cigarette dropped a scorching bit of ash. "You wouldn't even manage to see her before you'd be thrown out by the Chu family's security guards!"
She hadn't expected Jiang Shaoming to be so shameless.
"Jiang Shaoming, how you torment me is my business, but you cannot drag other people into this." With that, Heyue turned around and tried to leave.
Jiang Shaoming's expression instantly darkened. He strode forward, blocking Heyue's path with his body, and warned her sternly: "Heyue, if you insist on breaking things off with me, I'll call the police right now."
He put heavy emphasis on the words "call the police." Heyue's long eyelashes trembled, and her moisture-filled eyes were full of irrepressible anger.
Seeing Heyue hesitate, Jiang Shaoming knew she was shaken, reluctant as she might be.
No matter what, he had won this argument after all. Jiang Shaoming smiled and, with his usual viciousness, pressed the burning cigarette butt hard against Heyue's shoulder.
The scorching cigarette butt quickly burned a hole through her clothes right over an old scar, and Heyue instinctively tried to escape, but Jiang Shaoming bent down and grabbed her firmly.
The commotion the two of them made was too loud, drawing the attention of many onlookers, but everyone only dared to peek; no one dared to step forward and stop Jiang Shaoming's abuse.
Heyue was imprisoned in Jiang Shaoming's arms. A falling ember burned the back of her hand, the heat searing her delicate skin. She was already used to this kind of pain, but under the spectators' gloating gazes, she still couldn't help wanting to cry.
"Jiang Shaoming..."
Seeing Heyue angry only made Jiang Shaoming more excited. He forced her body closer to his, their ragged breaths tangling together.
"Ten years ago, how did Chen Song die? You know who the killer is, don't you? Do you need me to call the police for you so you can lead them to make an arrest?"
Jiang Shaoming's words made Heyue stop struggling.
"Despicable!" Fear made Heyue's voice turn shrill.
Fueled by alcohol, Jiang Shaoming grabbed Heyue by the throat and slowly tightened his grip. His refined yet distorted face sent chills straight to the bottom of Heyue's heart, but before her brain could process much, a lack of oxygen plunged her thoughts into chaos.
"Heyue, I've kept this secret for you for ten years. You cannot leave me, and you have no right to!"Before Jiang Shaoming could finish his scolding and complaints, a deafening explosion shattered the French windows behind him. The sound instantly swallowed up the blaring music and jolted Jiang Shaoming back to his senses just in time.
His grip loosened, and Heyue collapsed to the floor. The sudden rush of fresh air made her cough, filling her eyes with tears.
Following the sound, she looked up at the backlit figure outside the French windows, her lips moving. It wasn't until the person walked right up to the dumbfounded Jiang Shaoming that she swallowed back the name that had almost slipped out.
She didn't know this woman.
The woman who had suddenly appeared wore a form-fitting red dress that outlined a perfect figure. As she walked, she tucked her cascading waves of hair behind her ear; her sharp jawline and vivid red lips added a powerful aura to her presence.Jiang Shaoming tried hard to make out the woman's features, but the oversized sunglasses covering half her face made it impossible to recognize her.
"Where the hell did you crawl out from?"
Jiang Shaoming couldn't figure out who the woman was. He didn't have any lingering romantic entanglements he couldn't shake off; over the past ten years, any flings he'd had were easily and cleanly dismissed with a bit of money.
Besides, he was about to enter a marriage alliance with the Chu family, and his father had long since ordered him to cut off all ties with shady women.
Except for Heyue, whom he kept by his side by force.
On second thought, could she be a relative of his fiancée? Had they found out about Heyue's existence and come to settle the score?
A family alliance was a family alliance after all, and since the Chu family had deep roots in Jingcheng, Jiang Shaoming couldn't afford to be completely disrespectful.
He rubbed his throbbing head, forced a smile, and asked, "Are you Yaoyao's older sister? I heard you were very busy in the United States and wouldn't be back until the day of the wedding. What brings you back so suddenly?"
As soon as his voice trailed off, everyone in the room heard the woman hurl a bold curse.
"Bring your sister back, you scum!"
"Crack!"
A crisp, resounding slap stunned Jiang Shaoming and shocked everyone present.
Looking at the handprint immediately rising on his face, Heyue couldn't help covering her mouth, though a deep sense of admiration for the woman's back suddenly welled up inside her.
"Listen to me, you scum! Starting today, Heyue has nothing to do with you!" The woman skillfully fished Jiang Shaoming's phone from his pocket, entered the password, and deleted Heyue's contact information. Every movement was smooth and fluid, as if she had rehearsed it many times before.
The woman raised an eyebrow, looked at the dumbfounded Jiang Shaoming, and smiled sweetly as she lifted her hand high.
Before Jiang Shaoming could react, he watched the phone plummet from the high altitude and shatter into pieces right at his feet.
"Heyue, who the fuck is this to you?" Jiang Shaoming was furious, his drunkenness completely gone. He vented all his anger onto Heyue, and just as he raised his foot to kick her in frustration, the woman sidestepped to block him.
"Ignore him." The woman's tone toward Heyue was remarkably gentle as she bent down to help her up and prepared to leave.
Jiang Shaoming threatened resentfully from behind, "Heyue, if you dare take one step out that door, see what I..."
"Shut up!"
Even though the woman was wearing sunglasses, Jiang Shaoming felt as though he had been glared at fiercely. Yet his threat clearly worked on Heyue, and she gently pushed away the hand the woman was using to support her.
"Heyue," the woman looked at her in disbelief.
Watching Heyue walk step by step toward Jiang Shaoming, Jiang Shaoming tilted his head and gave the woman a provocative look, as if saying: What now? It's Heyue who wants to cling to me.
"Bitch," the woman muttered under her breath at Jiang Shaoming, then called out to Heyue once more.
"Heyue, I know the truth about how Chen Song died ten years ago."