Volume One, Chapter 30: Tainted

In the instant he fixed his gaze on her, Jiang Wan felt a pain as if her throat had been slashed. The taste of blood welled up, wild and unrestrained within her mouth. Fear surged up in its wake. A brief suffocation forced her to suppress her emotions by sheer will. Her expression remained unchanged, her eyes clear and bright. “Yes, I slept with him.”

“Impossible!” Lu Wenzhou’s words were sharp and final, as if he meant to snap her neck with them. Jiang Wan’s lips curled in a mocking smile.

But before she could say anything more, the man before her transformed into a beast unleashed from its cage, dangerous and frenzied. He bent down and captured her lips, kissing her fiercely even as his hands tore her gown apart. All gentleness vanished, leaving only unbridled loss of control.

The lounge seemed to close in, the air growing stifling.

“Lu—” Jiang Wan tried to escape, but he gave her no opportunity, not even a breath. In that silent space, only the sound of fabric ripping and Lu Wenzhou’s harsh breaths remained.

“Don’t think you can deceive me,” he growled, lifting her and tossing her onto the nearby chaise lounge. Her back struck the cushions, and her vision spun. Before she could recover, Lu Wenzhou loomed over her again, raining down frenzied kisses like a storm.

“Lu Wenzhou, let me go!” Jiang Wan struggled with all her might, but compared to his strength, her resistance was as feeble as a spring drizzle.

“He couldn’t have slept with you,” Lu Wenzhou said, his eyes bloodshot, enunciating each word. It was as if he demanded the truth from her, or else she would have to bear the consequences of his further assault.

When he reached to tear off her undergarments, Jiang Wan truly panicked.

“Lu Wenzhou! Don’t touch me!” she shouted, her voice trembling violently. Never before had her tone carried such raw loathing and unmistakable hatred.

The man above her froze for a moment. He lifted his face from her chest, meeting her eyes, now blazing red with anger. Her gaze shimmered with unshed tears, but no matter how deeply he searched, there was not a trace of love.

In the lounge, two opposing currents of air wrestled, each waxing and waning in turn.

Then, a knock sounded at the door, and Gu Huaixu’s voice called out at the same time. “Darling, are you ready yet?”

Jiang Wan’s expression changed instantly, panic flashing in her eyes—a clear sign of her terror that their secret might be discovered.

“A—almost ready!” her voice quavered.

She shoved Lu Wenzhou away, hurrying to the coat rack and grabbing whatever garment she could find, hastily pulling it on. Her flustered manner had none of her earlier sharpness.

Lu Wenzhou, having been pushed aside, let himself fall into the chaise lounge. His once-pristine suit was now rumpled, just like the state of their relationship: wrinkled and in disarray.

He sat there with a dark expression, lighting a cigarette with unruffled composure, exuding the arrogant indifference of one born to command.

Jiang Wan caught all of this from the corner of her eye. After changing into her dress, she hurried to the door.

With a click, she quickly shut the door behind her before Gu Huaixu could get a good look inside.

“Darling, what’s wrong?” Gu Huaixu paused, eyeing her up and down with suspicion, sensing something was amiss.

“What could be wrong?” Jiang Wan blinked at him innocently. “I tried on a few dresses, but they all felt a bit tight in the chest, so it took a while.”

She made excuses for herself, discreetly checking her arms and legs for any traces left by Lu Wenzhou’s earlier frenzy. Deciding to let down her hair to cover any possible marks, she said, “This dress is too revealing in the back. I don’t want others to see.”

Softening her tone, she took Gu Huaixu’s arm. “Come on, isn’t the banquet about to start? I’m sorry to keep you waiting so long, husband.”

Her coquettish tone and gentle closeness made Gu Huaixu acutely aware of her soft figure pressed against him. As Jiang Wan had said, though she and Lin Zhi were similar in build, there were certain differences in their curves. Gu Huaixu felt his head grow hot, forgetting any reason to probe further.

“You’re the sweetest,” he said, doting as he tapped her nose, oblivious to the chill that seeped from the lounge door behind them.

Jiang Wan led him away, and by the time they returned to the banquet hall, the festivities were already underway. Lin Hongguang stood on stage, speaking eloquently and basking in the limelight. When he stepped down, he was immediately surrounded by admirers.

Now that the Lin family had secured the prized land, and with no prior leaks, everyone in the relevant industries was eager to know what they planned for the property, each desperate for a share of the spoils. Yet Lin Hongguang deflected all questions with empty pleasantries, keeping his secrets close.

“My dear in-law, that’s not very sporting of you!” Gu Zhiming exclaimed in desperation. “We’ve all built our businesses here in Rongcheng, fighting side by side—there’s no need to keep everything hidden from us, is there?”

He had hoped to coax something out of Lin Hongguang, but the latter, cunning as ever, simply smiled and replied, “Old Gu, why are you turning the spotlight on me? Why don’t you tell everyone the truth first?”

Lin Hongguang’s pointed words immediately aroused suspicion among the other guests.

“What do you mean by that, Director Lin?” They exchanged looks, quietly speculating.

Though Jiang Wan was only Lin Hongguang’s stepdaughter, the Lin and Gu families were connected by marriage in a sense. The Jiang family had secured the Huari International project, and now the Lin family had acquired the prime land—both were hot topics in Rongcheng. Could it be that the two families had joined forces in a clever ruse? Perhaps the Gu family had first lured others to cooperate, then the Lin family had swooped in to reap the rewards. Was all of this mere theater, with the two families sharing the spoils while the rest were left as dupes?

Suspicion grew among the guests. Gu Zhiming, anticipating this, hastened to explain, “Gentlemen, don’t blame me! I’m as much a victim as any of you!”

“My dear in-law, how could you mislead everyone like that?” he protested, but before Lin Hongguang could reply, another guest interjected urgently, “Director Gu, then explain to us—how did it happen that Young Master Lu suddenly changed his mind at the bidding?”

“Don’t tell us you don’t know—we won’t believe it!”

“This must be a scheme between your two families, no? Director Gu, that’s not fair.”

“Exactly. The Gu family has no shortage of projects, unlike the rest of us.”

While the others pressed Gu Zhiming, Lin Hongguang quietly slipped away, heading toward the government officials with a look of satisfaction.

Seeing himself used as a scapegoat, Gu Zhiming slapped his thigh in exasperation. “Let’s be reasonable—if things were as you imagine, we’d already be sitting pretty, not scrambling like the rest of you! The Gu family, just like everyone else, wants to cooperate with the Lin family.”

His sincerity, paired with the recent behavior of the Gu family, calmed some of their doubts. The atmosphere began to ease.

Just then, Lin Luoyao, who had left earlier, reappeared at the edge of the crowd.

“So this is how the Gu family plans to collaborate with the Lin family—by sending their own daughter-in-law to seduce others! Truly a novel approach—aren’t you ashamed?”