Volume One, Chapter 14: The Past

At that moment, she looked into his eyes, which reflected her own image.

Summoning her courage, she stepped forward.

She kicked at the few men a few times, but her legs were still weak, so the kicks were ineffectual.

Fu Xicheng let out a light sneer. “Useless.”

With those words, he raised his foot and fiercely stomped on the abdomen of the thug who had tried to assault her.

He immediately incapacitated him.

In that instant, Su Tingwan clearly heard her heartbeat pounding as if it would leap out of her chest.

As a girl awakening to her feelings, she now harbored a secret.

A secret about Fu Xicheng.

Once, Fu Xicheng had treated her very well.

But everything changed after Cheng Muyan appeared.

Su Tingwan closed her eyes tightly, forcing down the turmoil within her heart.

When she opened them again, her gaze was calm.

Leaning against the wall, she struggled to stand.

Limping step by step, she reached the side of the perverted man, lifted her leg, and with all the strength she had left, stamped hard on the man’s abdomen who had bullied her.

Amid his piercing screams, her leg weakened, and her body sagged forward.

This time, she did not fall to the ground; instead, an arm wrapped around her waist from behind, pulling her into an embrace and lifting her.

Su Tingwan was completely drained and too weak to resist.

Fu Xicheng carried her to his car parked by the roadside.

Standing beside the car, he called the police.

The officers arrived quickly.

After completing the statements, it was nearly midnight when they left the station.

Su Tingwan was holding her phone, about to hail a cab, when Fu Xicheng’s car stopped right in front of her.

The man’s cold, indifferent voice came, “Get in.”

“No need.”

Su Tingwan did not move.

Fu Xicheng’s expression darkened.

“What’s the matter? Wasn’t it enough just now? Want to go through it again?”

The lingering fear from earlier still haunted her.

Su Tingwan no longer resisted.

She put away her phone, opened the car door, and got in.

Just as she settled in, she heard a scoffing laugh.

Her hand paused momentarily as she fastened her seatbelt; just as she was about to get out, the car suddenly started moving.

Her body swayed forward; she reached out to steady herself and hurriedly fastened the seatbelt.

She turned her head to look out the window, silent.

...

The police station was not far from Maplewood Gardens.

After about ten minutes, the car stopped.

Su Tingwan got out and went upstairs without looking back.

Back home, her whole body sagged as she collapsed onto the sofa.

After lying there for a while, she got up and went to the bedroom for a shower.

Ignoring the wound on her leg, she cleansed herself and lay on the bed.

As her nerves relaxed, her mind was flooded with the images of what had just happened in the alley.

Even though she was safe now,

the terror and despair were deeply etched in her mind, refusing to fade.

Every time she closed her eyes, the scene replayed vividly before her.

Su Tingwan got up and left the room, walking over to the dining table.

On the table sat a bottle of wine that Ji Jingzhi had bought to celebrate with her.

Wine was a good thing; it would help her sleep.

She opened the wine and poured herself a glass.

She drank it all in one gulp.

Then poured another.

One glass after another, Su Tingwan downed three glasses in a row.

She wasn’t a heavy drinker; after three glasses, the effects were obvious, and she grew dizzy and lightheaded.

Her thoughts became muddled.

While still conscious, Su Tingwan braced herself on the table and staggered toward the bedroom.

After a few steps, she heard the door open.

She instinctively turned her head and saw a figure standing in the doorway, holding something.

It was Fu Xicheng.

Su Tingwan opened her mouth, wanting him to leave, but she was so dizzy the world spun around her, and even Fu Xicheng appeared as several blurry images.

She lightly shook her head, hoping to clear her vision.

Instead, she swayed unsteadily and stumbled forward.

She fell into Fu Xicheng’s arms.

Fu Xicheng reached out and embraced her.

Drunk and softened by the passage of time, Su Tingwan was unexpectedly compliant.

She leaned weakly against Fu Xicheng’s chest; in her breath mingled the rich scent of red wine with her faint natural fragrance.

They had been intimate countless times before.

Fu Xicheng’s Adam’s apple bobbed as desire flickered in his eyes.

Su Tingwan slumped against the back of the sofa chair as if boneless, her posture uncomfortable.

She frowned slightly and hummed softly as she shifted.

Her loose pajamas quickly became twisted and askew.

At a glance, Fu Xicheng’s breath caught, a dark gleam surging in his eyes.

The look he cast upon Su Tingwan instantly turned dangerous.

The paper bag from the pharmacy that he was holding fell to the floor with a sharp “slap.”

Fu Xicheng grasped Su Tingwan’s chin and bent down to kiss her.

His kiss was fierce and intense.

Su Tingwan was left breathless.

Her intoxicated mind had long ceased working properly.

Everything followed the body’s instincts.

Her familiarity with Fu Xicheng’s scent was profound.

Over the past five years, they had shared countless intimate moments.

Without sober restraint, her body obeyed its instincts.

She no longer resisted; instead, as before, she followed Fu Xicheng’s lead, letting him do as he wished.

Her compliance only deepened the desire in Fu Xicheng’s eyes.

His kisses grew deeper.

His strong hands roamed over her.

She was noticeably thinner.

Fu Xicheng’s brows furrowed slightly with dissatisfaction: too small.

He had always loved her former figure.

Slim where it should be, yet full where it mattered.

...

Inside, a web of intimacy tangled, and the temperature steadily rose.

The man’s strong, knobby hand clasped her calf, his fingers pressing directly on her wound.

Pain surged.

Su Tingwan couldn’t help but let out a pained cry, “It hurts~”

But Fu Xicheng covered her mouth, muffling it to a soft mew.

His breath hitched.

His eyes suddenly turned blood red.

That cry of pain reminded him of the night five years ago.

She lay in his arms, helplessly clinging to him like a kitten, crying incessantly by his ear, “Be gentle… it hurts~”

At nineteen, she was delicate and obedient, so obediently nestled in his embrace.

Her voice was broken and heart-wrenching.

But he had not been gentle at all.

Now, the image overlapped.

Fu Xicheng completely lost control.

Grabbing Su Tingwan by the waist, he lifted her from the sofa and strode toward the bedroom.