Volume One, Chapter 19: Where Is It?
Lin Zhi pushed the door open and cautiously peeked inside.
The lights were on.
Yet not a soul was in sight.
The bedsheets were tangled in a mess, as if something had just happened.
A vague, indescribable sense of intimacy still lingered in the air.
Lin Zhi furrowed her brow.
"Wenzhou?"
She called his name, trying to get Lu Wenzhou’s attention.
But there was no reply.
Unwilling to give up, Lin Zhi stepped in, her eyes sweeping across the room.
At last, her gaze settled on the tightly closed bathroom door.
“Wenzhou, are you taking a shower?” she asked, walking closer.
Still, no answer.
She stood before the bathroom door and reached for the handle.
But the door was locked from the inside.
Lin Zhi couldn’t get in.
This odd behavior left her puzzled.
"Could he have fainted in there?" she muttered to herself.
She was just about to call the staff.
Before she could act, the sound of running water suddenly came from inside.
Water splashed steadily.
Lin Zhi paused, phone in hand, and knocked again. “Wenzhou, can you hear me? Are you alright?”
She strained her ears.
After a long silence, finally, Lu Wenzhou’s muffled voice sounded.
“I’m fine.”
Lin Zhi breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
She lingered by the door and said, “Are you free tonight? My father wants to invite you to dinner.”
The only response was the endless sound of water.
"Wenzhou?"
Lin Zhi called him again.
At last, she heard a vague, barely audible murmur of assent.
Seeing his agreement, Lin Zhi’s face lit up with delight.
“Really?” she asked for confirmation, but Lu Wenzhou fell silent again, as if he had vanished.
Lin Zhi listened intently.
Aside from the sound of water, there seemed to be faint, rustling noises from within.
“Wenzhou, are you sure you’re alright?” she asked with concern, and then offered, “I’ll wait for you outside. If you need anything, just call me.”
As her words faded, another muffled groan came from Lu Wenzhou.
A while passed.
She heard him force out a low, strained sentence.
“Go back to your room first. I’ll come find you in a moment.”
Hearing this, Lin Zhi’s eyes widened with happy surprise.
“Alright,” she replied cheerfully, her heart pounding.
Following Lu Wenzhou’s instructions, Lin Zhi turned to leave.
But on her way to the door, something caught her eye—something impossible to ignore.
*
Inside the bathroom.
Jiang Wan was drenched from head to toe.
She clenched her teeth in frustration, trembling with anger.
That damned Lu Wenzhou, he was doing this on purpose!
He knew she was scared, nervous, too timid to resist him outright, so he deliberately let Lin Zhi linger, dragging out the time!
Hearing the door finally close outside, Jiang Wan was certain Lin Zhi had left.
At last, the words that had been stuck in her throat burst out.
Her voice quivered with rage as she cursed, “You bastard, are you done yet?!”
Gone was her earlier restraint; she was sharp and bristling again, both infuriating and irresistible.
Lu Wenzhou, standing behind her, dropped all pretense as well.
“Not done,” he answered through action, a satisfied curve lifting his lips.
Jiang Wan saw this and ground her teeth in hatred.
“Dog,” she spat, mocking him with bitter resentment. “One day, you’ll die in a woman’s bed.”
Her tone was cutting, the words both barbed and provocative.
His jaw tightened, eyes darkening.
Lu Wenzhou’s gaze dropped to her vivid red lips. He freed one hand to lift her chin.
“If that mouth can’t say anything pleasant,” he murmured, “then it might as well be put to other use.”
With that, he bent to kiss her, punishing her in his own way.
Forcing her to yield, drawing her into his embrace.
It went on for a long time.
At last, the sound of water ceased in the bathroom.
Regaining her freedom, Jiang Wan changed into her clothes, gathered her things, and hurried away.
What she didn’t expect was—
Just as she descended the stairs to the first floor, she saw Lin Zhi standing at the end of the staircase.
Lin Zhi leaned against the wall, facing the main hall.
At the sound of footsteps, she looked up, her gaze meeting Jiang Wan’s in midair.
Jiang Wan’s steps faltered halfway down.
A suffocating sense of dread washed over her.
Her heart skipped a beat, her hand instinctively clutching the stair rail.
As she met Lin Zhi’s eyes, a woman’s intuition told Jiang Wan she was waiting for her.
Why, she dared not guess.
In contrast to her own anxiety, Lin Zhi’s eyes quickly shed their sharpness, returning to their usual gentle calm.
“Jiang Wan, you’re still here?” Lin Zhi smiled. “I just saw Aunt Yan had already left. I thought you’d gone with her.”
“Mm…” Jiang Wan forced herself to breathe, summoning composure.
She steadied herself and continued down.
“She had something to do, so she left first. I have to get to the office myself,” she replied, lifting her bag as if to head into the hall.
But just as she was about to pass, Lin Zhi suddenly asked, “Where were you just now?”
Her voice was uncharacteristically low, carrying an edge of accusation.
Jiang Wan’s heart lurched.
But she could only keep up the pretense.
“I was freshening up,” she replied, feigning a smile. “Where else would I be?”
Lin Zhi’s eyes were lowered, her blunt-cut hair falling over half her face, making her expression unreadable.
Despite her guilt, Jiang Wan knew she wasn’t the guilty party.
The real culprit was someone else.
Her gaze grew clear and determined.
Until—
Lin Zhi withdrew her hand from her pocket.
She held her palm out, revealing something to Jiang Wan. “This is yours, isn’t it?”
Jiang Wan looked down.
The moment she recognized the item in Lin Zhi’s hand, her pupils contracted sharply.
She instinctively reached up, her fingertips brushing her earlobe—her left ear was bare.
The missing pinwheel earring.
It was now lying in Lin Zhi’s palm.
Where had she found it?
A wave of unease swept over Jiang Wan.
Before she could answer, Lin Zhi met her eyes, her gaze cold and her voice even colder.
“I just picked it up in Wenzhou’s room,” Lin Zhi said, smiling in a way that sent chills down the spine.
“Is there anything you want to say?”