Chapter 06
The masseur walked over to open the door. Curious, Yun Chu lifted her head to take a look.
“!!”
Uncle… does it really have to be this coincidental!
Yun Chuâs tongue tied itself into knots, her voice trembling and shaky. “You… how… are you here?”
Mu Ze stood there with a pitch-black face, his entire body emitting a murderous aura. Even though his eyes were unfocused, his terrifying presence alone was enough to make one’s skin crawl.
Mu Ze gritted his teeth, his jaw twitching slightly. “If I weren’t here, were you planning to keep telling people that I’m… no good?”
Why didn’t she complain that he was no good last night when she was crying and begging for mercy beneath him? If he hadn’t come to this chain massage parlor under his corporation today for physical therapy, he would never have known how Yun Chu talked about him behind his back.
Xia Zhiruo finally caught on from their fragmented conversation. The handsome uncle in the wheelchair at the door was actually the fiancé Yun Chu had married on behalf of her sister!
Wow! Yun Chu was eating so well. With such a cold, domineering face and a noble aura that seemed entirely untainted by the mundane world, sleeping next to him every day would be pure bliss!
If they weren’t out in public, where Mu Ze had to properly act out his blindness and paralysis, he really wanted to immediately, right now, ruthlessly prove to her through practical action whether he was capable or not!
Mu Ze stiffly turned his neck, his pupils completely static. His peripheral vision caught sight of the male masseur nearby, whose hands still glistened with massage oil.
Instantly, his expression grew even more profound, laced with a deeper rage. “Get back to the Mu Residence immediately. Don’t make me say it twice!”
After speaking, the assistant behind him pushed the wheelchair and escorted him away, his very silhouette radiating an icy chill.
Xia Zhiruo tugged at her clothes. “Little Yun Chu, he seems really angry.”
“I can tell…” Yun Chu muttered. They weren’t even a real couple, yet she somehow felt a wave of guilt, as if she had been caught cheating on him with a younger guy.
Late at night, the stars were hidden by dark clouds, leaving the sky pitch black.
Inside the second-floor bedroom of the Mu Residence, the silence was suffocating, dead and still. Ever since Yun Chu returned, Mu Ze hadn’t uttered a single word, completely treating her as air.
Yun Chu lay on the bed wanting to say something, but she kept hesitating. They weren’t in a real relationship, so why did this feel exactly like a lovers’ quarrel?
After agonizing over it for a long time, Yun Chu spoke up softly, “Um… just pretend you didn’t hear what I said today.”
Mu Ze responded coldly, “Mm.”
The air fell back into a dead silence. Seeing that her attempt to break the ice had failed, Yun Chu simply gave up and rolled over to sleep. On the other hand, Mu Ze lay on the sofa, tossing and turning.
The moonlight cascaded onto Yun Chu’s face, making her look peaceful and beautiful. His amber eyes remained locked on her. “You were much cuter when you were little.” Unlike now, when she was covered in thorns, terrified of letting anyone close.
As she lay in bed, Yun Chu’s features gradually twisted together, and beads of sweat continuously broke out on her forehead…
In her dream…
Thirteen-year-old little Yun Chu was wearing pajamas, shivering inside the Yun family attic. The attic only had one small window, but it had long been blocked by clutter, turning the enclosed space into a pitch-black room.
“Sister, please let me out!” Little Yun Chu wept, her voice already shouted hoarse. The tear tracks on her face dried and wet again, wetting and drying. Staring at the cramped, narrow dark room around her, she couldn’t stop shaking, her heart entirely consumed by terror. The place hadn’t been cleaned in years, and even the air was thick with dust.
“Please, Xiaoxiao, let me out! I don’t want to stay here!” She curled her legs up, desperately pressing herself into the corner. The darkness around her felt as if countless hands were reaching out toward her.
Yun Xiaoxiaoâs childish voice echoed from outside, her tone tyrannical and domineering. “Humph! That’s what you get for trying to steal Daddy from me. Stay in there and reflect!”
The footsteps outside gradually faded away. Little Yun Chu scrambled on all fours to the attic door, hammering on it frantically for help. “…Let me out! Daddy… help me…”
No matter how much she screamed or begged for help, the only response was silence…
Little Yun Chu didn’t remember how she finally got out.
In her dream, she blinked, and suddenly she was twenty years old, sitting in a university classroom. Suddenly, a group of police officers rushed into the room and slammed handcuffs onto her wrists. “Yun Chu, please cooperate and come with us to the station for interrogation.”
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, she was dragged away. She struggled with all her might, crying hysterically, only to be met with a single sentence from Yun Hangshan: “Yun Chu, help your sister out, okay? Help the Yun family!”
She shook her head violently, her eyes filled with desperate pleading. “Daddy… I don’t want to!”
Her past experiences flashed through her dream like a rewinding tape, her terror turning into giant waves that continuously crashed down on her.
“Yun Chu, wake up!”
She was shaking non-stop, her expression pained, and crystal tears began to leak from the corners of her eyes. Even her mumbled sleep-talk consisted of pleas for help.
Seeing her suffering, Mu Ze felt an inexplicable tightness in his chest. He climbed onto the bed, lay down beside her, and pulled Yun Chu into his arms right through the blanket. “It’s fine, I’m here. Don’t be afraid…”
He gently patted her back bit by bit, his tone warm and slow. “I’m here, don’t be afraid.”
Mu Zeâs voice seemed to possess a magical quality, causing Yun Chu’s emotions to stabilize considerably. After wiping away the tears from the corners of her eyes, he continued to lightly stroke her back, as if soothing a child.
What exactly had Yun Chu gone through? What else was there that he hadn’t managed to uncover?
That night, Yun Chu was repeatedly tormented between unease and tranquility.
The next morning, Gao Sheng arrived at the Mu Residence early to pick up Yun Chu.
Once the two arrived at the corporate parking lot, Yun Chu rode the executive-exclusive elevator straight to Mu Ze’s Vice President office. The entire office was not only massive but also fully equipped with a leisure area, an office area, and a rest area. More importantly, the view outside the floor-to-ceiling windows offered a panoramic look at the river scenery.
Assistant Gao stood to Yun Chu’s left rear. “Madam, from now on, you will be responsible for cleaning President Mu’s office. Because of his current condition, he won’t be coming to the company for the time being. He only has one requirement for you: it must be spotlessly clean. Not a single strand of hair can be left on the floor.”
Just that simple? She had thought he would make things difficult for her; it seemed she had judged his character too harshly.
Yun Chu pursed her lips, her lips curving upward as a glint of excitement flashed in her eyes. “Then how much is my salary?”
Assistant Gao raised his hand and began to gesture with his fingers. “25,040.”
“…”
Such an oddly specific number. Who exactly was he calling an idiot with those digits?
After Gao Sheng left the office, he left behind a pile of cleaning supplies for her. “For the sake of the money, I’ll swallow this insult.”
The office was swept by janitors every day, so it was already very clean. Yun Chu picked up a duster and casually swiped it around a couple of times. It was honestly too clean, leaving her no room to actually flex her skills.
Yun Chu brewed some tea and lay down on the sofa, feeling incredibly comfortable.
Click!
Someone suddenly opened the door from the outside. Shifting into high alert, Yun Chu instantly sat up straight and snapped her gaze toward the entrance.
