Volume One, Chapter Three: Intimacy

Jiang Wan was startled. She jerked her hand away from Lu Wenzhou’s grasp, swiftly stepping back to put distance between them, just as she saw Gu Huaixu ascending the steps. He noticed that Lu Wenzhou was there as well.

Gu Huaixu immediately reined in his playful demeanor and nodded with proper decorum. “Uncle,” he greeted.

His calm reaction made it clear that his view had only just now been blocked by a stone pillar in the corridor. Jiang Wan breathed a silent sigh of relief.

She snuck a glance at the two men. Lu Wenzhou merely closed his eyes for a brief moment, offering not a single word, his silence more pronounced than ever.

The atmosphere was tense, subtly fraught.

Once again, Gu Huaixu broke the silence. He moved to Jiang Wan’s side and slipped an arm around her waist.

“What are you both doing out here?” he asked, his fingers giving Jiang Wan a covert pinch, his eyes glinting with hidden mischief.

Because of his action, Jiang Wan felt as though she were being flayed alive by an invisible blade. She forced a stiff smile. “I just came out for some air, happened to run into Uncle having a smoke, so we chatted a bit.”

Gu Huaixu thought nothing of it. Their close proximity made him notice her cold hands.

“Why are your hands so cold? Put something on, you mustn’t catch a chill, my good girl.” He took off his jacket and draped it over Jiang Wan’s shoulders. Then, keeping his arm around her, he led her inside, not forgetting to call Lu Wenzhou along.

But the man in the corridor remained unmoving, his gaze sharp as thorns, fixed on Jiang Wan’s retreating figure.

Lu Wenzhou ultimately did not stay for dinner. As the meal approached, he excused himself, citing work.

The others tried to persuade him to stay, but to no avail, and could only see him off.

“Do you think he wasn’t satisfied with the food? Or that we were neglectful?” Yan Yan asked worriedly, her expression troubled.

Gu Huaixu put an arm around her shoulders and laughed. “Mom, what are you thinking? You nearly prepared an imperial banquet. Uncle must really have something urgent, otherwise he wouldn’t have come all this way for nothing.”

Everyone made their way back indoors.

After dinner, Gu Huaixu drove Jiang Wan home. The deep blue Mercedes coupe cruised from the villa district to the old city.

“Good girl, look,” he said as soon as the car stopped beneath her apartment building. He took Jiang Wan’s hand as she was about to unbuckle her seatbelt, guiding it under the steering wheel.

The heated, unyielding sensation made Jiang Wan instinctively withdraw her hand, but Gu Huaixu held her wrist fast, her shy reaction only fueling his desire.

“Sweetheart, I’m dying here,” he murmured, pulling her close and resting his head against her neck.

The faint fragrance on Jiang Wan’s body rose to his nose.

Her fair skin looked almost translucent under the light, and though she was properly dressed, the fitted knit dress revealed her graceful curves. Heat surged straight to his head.

Gu Huaixu held her tighter, wishing he could meld her into his very being.

“I’ll just cuddle, is that alright?” he pleaded, both desperate and coaxing.

Jiang Wan lowered her head, wisps of hair outlining her radiant profile. Her long lashes, lowered like wings, made it impossible to discern her emotions.

“Alright, alright, good girl’s getting shy, I’ll behave,” Gu Huaixu relented, though he couldn’t resist giving her shoulder blade a playful nibble.

“You’re willing to save the most precious part of yourself for our wedding night—marrying you is the greatest fortune of my life.”

Jiang Wan forced herself to remain calm. She looked up at him. “How’s the matter you promised me coming along?”

Just that brief glance, the glimmer in her eyes, sent waves through Gu Huaixu’s heart.

“Don’t worry, everything’s settled,” he said, tipping his chin up, full of confidence. “We’ll sign the contract on our wedding day. From then on, the Jiang Corporation is yours.”

Jiang Wan couldn’t hide her joy, a genuine smile lighting her face.

Desire stirred in Gu Huaixu again, and he rubbed her hand with unrestrained affection.

“If Uncle hadn’t asked me to see him, I’d want to spend much more time being close to you,” he complained hoarsely, burying his face in her shoulder.

Jiang Wan’s smile froze. “Uncle wants to see you?”

“Yes, he said he had something to tell me.”

A chill crept up Jiang Wan’s back, her body turning rigid, a stark contrast to Gu Huaixu’s warmth.

In the end, he pressed a reluctant kiss to her eyelid and, after saying goodbye, left.

She returned home alone.

Though the surroundings were familiar, Jiang Wan felt anxious and ill at ease.

Her instincts told her that Lu Wenzhou’s meeting with Gu Huaixu could only mean trouble. Was he going to reveal their past?

No—words alone meant nothing. He had no proof. As long as she denied it, there was nothing Lu Wenzhou could do.

Jiang Wan forced herself to calm down.

She turned on the lights. The long cabinet in the living room was lined with photo frames, each capturing moments of her and her father together.

Back then, she was always smiling radiantly by his side.

Bathed in fatherly love, she had grown up brilliant, vibrant, and passionate.

Until two years ago.

While studying abroad, not yet recovered from heartbreak, she was hit with the devastating news that her father had jumped to his death.

By the time she rushed back to Rong City, only a cold corpse awaited her in the morgue.

Her father’s face beneath the shroud was unrecognizable—just like the shattered remains of his life.

It was only then that Jiang Wan learned the company had been on the brink of bankruptcy several times. To avoid dragging down his daughter and the business, her father had taken on enormous debts under his own name. When he could no longer bear the burden, he chose to end it all with his life.

The company he had guarded with his very existence—after his fall, the shareholders immediately divided the equity, making their interests clear and distinct.

His former wife, citing pregnancy, refused to attend the funeral, never once appearing.

Relatives, friends—all kept their distance.

At the funeral, aside from herself, the only attendees were debt collectors and thugs sent to make trouble.

Jiang Wan would never forget how she clung to the urn, enduring kicks and blows, just to see her father properly buried.

She wanted to hate everyone, but most of all, she hated herself.

She hated that she’d been swept away by love, too absorbed to notice her father’s distress, let alone help him.

It was that excruciatingly dark time that taught Jiang Wan the harshest lessons.

Love fades. Money conquers all.

Only by not loving can one save oneself; only with money can one rescue others.

“Dad,” Jiang Wan murmured, picking up a photo frame and tracing her father’s face through the glass.

“Remember to come to my wedding.”

“This time, I will protect what you left behind.”

Her determined gaze was reflected in the glass.

Just then, her phone chimed in her pocket.

A message from an unknown number appeared.

[Map location: 419 North Green Avenue, Jin Zhao NightClub]

Jiang Wan frowned as she read it. Immediately, a second text arrived.

[Suite 2019.]

There was no doubt now.

It was from Lu Wenzhou.

He and Gu Huaixu were meeting there.

Jiang Wan unconsciously tightened and relaxed her grip on the phone, over and over.

Finally, she turned and walked toward the door.