Chapter 47: Ruined and Disgraced

Wang Haiqiong screamed as soon as she heard the sudden commotion in the room and saw the woman entering with bodyguards behind her. She tried to seek shelter beside Zheng Xuancheng, but the man pinned on top of her was still pressing upon her. It wasn't until the bodyguards pulled the two apart and held them down that Qian Hongdan, who had just entered, grabbed a bottle of wine from the table and splashed it over both of them. Only then did Zheng Xuancheng regain a moment of sobriety. He stared at the woman before him, whose face was twisted with rage, and collapsed to the ground, stammering, “W-wife…”

Qian Hongdan strode forward and, before the crowd, gave him a resounding slap. “I’ll deal with you later!”

With that, she seized Wang Haiqiong, who was being restrained by the bodyguards, yanking her up by the hair. “You dare reach for my man, you brazen little tramp! If you like men so much, why don’t you just go sell yourself?”

Wang Haiqiong’s scalp burned with pain as her hair was pulled, as though it would be torn from her head. “Let… let me go.”

Qian Hongdan forced her to the ground, her burly frame pinning her as she struck her across the face. “Let you go? When you were seducing my man, did you think of reining in your stench? Haven’t you heard what happened to the other little hussies who tried their luck before you?”

“I’m teaching you a lesson on behalf of your parents! You little homewrecker, seducing a married man! I’ll beat you to death, you wretched thing!”

With every curse, Qian Hongdan delivered another slap to Wang Haiqiong’s face. Wang Haiqiong was completely powerless to resist, crying and shielding her face, screaming Zheng Xuancheng’s name. But Zheng Xuancheng, caught red-handed by his wife, didn’t dare make a sound, let alone stand up for her.

Only when Qian Hongdan had vented her fury did she release Wang Haiqiong and stand up, ordering someone to throw her out. “Let me warn you—if you dare show up before me again, I’ll slash your face. Let’s see if you’ll still be able to tempt anyone then!”

Disheveled, her clothes in disarray, one high heel missing, Wang Haiqiong was shoved out. The commotion had drawn a crowd—several passersby and hotel staff gathered to watch. Covering her face, Wang Haiqiong fled to the restroom at the end of the corridor and dared not emerge for a long while.

Inside the suite, Qian Hongdan sat on the sofa, while Zheng Xuancheng knelt on the floor, raising his hands repeatedly in a pledge. “Wife, I’m devoted to you—it was that little tramp who seduced me. It’s her fault! You don’t know—she’s Wang Haiqiong, infamous for her social climbing. The deals she’s landed were all bought with her body. I was tricked this time; I never meant to touch her.”

As the live-in son-in-law of the Qian family, Zheng Xuancheng owed all he had to them, so he wasted no time shifting all the blame to Wang Haiqiong.

Qian Hongdan’s gaze swept the room and finally settled on the tightly closed bathroom door. “The show’s over. You can come out.”

Wen Zhixia’s brow twitched slightly.

“Will you come out yourself, or do I have to have you escorted out?” Qian Hongdan called harshly.

Only then did Zheng Xuancheng seem to remember there was someone else in the bathroom. When Wen Zhixia opened the door and walked out, he leapt to his feet. “You! You set this up!”

Wen Zhixia smiled faintly. “Director Zheng must be joking. I merely saw that General Manager Wang was here and that the two of you were otherwise occupied, so I didn’t want to intrude.”

Qian Hongdan watched her in silence as she emerged. Wen Zhixia tossed her jacket onto the sofa—she didn’t want it anymore since it had been touched by someone else. “Madam Qian, I’d like to speak to Director Zheng alone. Would that be possible?”

Qian Hongdan stared at her refined features and suddenly raised her hand, as if to slap her as she had done before.

“Madam Qian, a fly won’t land on an uncracked egg. Even if the first time was a woman’s seduction, what do you think is the problem with the second and third times?” Wen Zhixia stood calmly, her gaze steady.

She caught Qian Hongdan’s raised wrist. “I’ve heard that you, Madam Qian, were once a stunning beauty. To prepare for pregnancy, you took a lot of hormones and gained weight. Having suffered so much, why continue to wrong yourself?”

Wen Zhixia had no real interest in interfering with Qian Hongdan’s marriage or her choices, but since she had set up this scene today, she was determined to resolve the problem.

“You’re Wen Zhixia,” Qian Hongdan said, her tone heavy with suspicion, as if confirming her own guess.

Wen Zhixia didn’t know why she would say that, but she nodded. “I am.”

Qian Hongdan’s gaze was somewhat peculiar. Wen Zhixia frowned, her eyes questioning. Suddenly, Qian Hongdan laughed for no apparent reason, muttering, “I really can’t compare to you,” before leaving with her bodyguards. Before she departed, she shot Zheng Xuancheng a venomous glare. “Traitor!”

Zheng Xuancheng, so formidable outside, dared not make a sound before Qian Hongdan. Being scolded like a dog in front of Wen Zhixia and the bodyguards, his expression was as ugly as could be.

“Wen Zhixia, you’re quite something, setting me up like this! Believe it or not, by tomorrow everyone will know you used to sell yourself!”

Wen Zhixia gave a light laugh. There was a baseball bat in the room; she spun it in her fingers and suddenly looked up. “Director Zheng, do you play baseball?”

Zheng Xuancheng thought she was afraid and trying to curry favor with him, so he sneered, “...If you regret it now, it’s too late! Even if you sleep with me for half a month, this matter won’t end well.”

Ultimately, he was still fixated on Wen Zhixia.

Having once managed the business department, Wen Zhixia was well versed in reading between the lines. She smiled coldly and crooked her finger at him.

As Zheng Xuancheng approached, she abruptly raised the bat and struck him between the legs.

He never expected her to dare such a thing. With a wail, he collapsed, clutching himself. “Wen Zhixia, I’ll ruin you!”

“Director Zheng, it seems you still don’t understand the situation.” Wen Zhixia held up her phone, quickly playing back the footage of his tryst with Wang Haiqiong, Qian Hongdan’s arrival, and everything that followed. “If any scandal about me leaks out, your reputation will be ruined as well. You spout lies, but I have irrefutable evidence. Which do you think the public will be more interested in?”

Zheng Xuancheng glared at her, as if he wanted to devour her alive. “I won’t let you off!”

Wen Zhixia stood up. “Director Zheng, you should focus on keeping your current position and not getting kicked out by Madam Qian. If you’re going to live off a woman, at least be professional about it.”

As Zheng Xuancheng tried to push himself up from the floor, Wen Zhixia walked by and ground her high heel into his fingers—the very ones that had groped her earlier.

Meanwhile, outside the hotel, Qian Hongdan made her way to a waiting business van, rapping twice on the window. The door opened.

“President Gu, you have such refined tastes. Aren’t you afraid that woman inside will suffer?” Qian Hongdan asked as she climbed in.

A man lounged against the armrest with one hand, spinning a notebook to reveal live surveillance footage from the hotel suite. Qian Hongdan paused, then laughed—a sound tinged with bitterness and irony. “You were fully prepared from the start. The difference between men really is vast. But I’m curious—since you knew what would happen today, why send her in?”

Gu Pingsheng’s eyes were cold and indifferent. “It’s none of your concern. You’ve achieved your goal. I hope you’ll keep today’s events absolutely confidential.”

In the so-called circle of wealth, there are no true fools—fools don’t survive the succession of family fortunes, nor do they see how they’re being stripped bare. Those who endure do so either out of lingering attachment or in anticipation of the right moment.

For Qian Hongdan, she had been willing to ruin her figure and take hormonal drugs in her quest to bear Zheng Xuancheng a child. To say there was no genuine feeling would be a lie. But even the deepest affection can be worn away.

Zheng Xuancheng had only risen thanks to her family, and now he was repaying her with fresh betrayals. Qian Hongdan’s patience was at its limit. With irrefutable proof of his infidelity in hand, she would see him kicked out with nothing.

Today’s scene—Wen Zhixia’s phone call inviting her to catch the cheating—had merely been the catalyst. What made her finally tear up all pretense with Zheng Xuancheng was her deal with Gu Pingsheng. The Qian family had been declining in recent years; the olive branch from Gu Xia Group was something she had to seize.

Wen Zhixia left the suite with her bag.

“I knew you had something to do with this!” came a voice as Wang Haiqiong, now composed, emerged from the restroom with her hair and clothes arranged. Her air of dominance was restored, and Wen Zhixia was impressed by her psychological resilience.

“General Manager Wang, you’re truly a formidable woman,” she remarked. Not everyone could handle such pressure.

Wang Haiqiong clenched her fists. “You called Qian Hongdan, didn’t you?!”

“Why did you do it? To get revenge on me?!” Did she want to humiliate her and destroy the career she’d worked so hard to build?

“Was I the one who let you in? Or the one who made you rush into a tryst with Zheng Xuancheng?” Wen Zhixia replied coolly.

Wang Haiqiong seemed to choke, unable to come up with a retort. After a moment, she said, “You set me up!”

“If you hadn’t bitten at the bait, no one could have forced you. In the end, you played with fire and got burned,” Wen Zhixia said, lifting her chin. “You watched me enter the room, timed your arrival perfectly, and knowing I was in the bathroom, deliberately had sex with Zheng Xuancheng to show off your superiority. Since you made that choice, you must bear the consequences.”

No one forced her to get involved with a married man. No one made her walk into that suite. In the end, she had no one to blame but herself.

Wang Haiqiong’s fingers tightened. “I don’t need your lectures. Let’s see how long you can keep acting so arrogant!”

Barefoot, Wang Haiqiong brushed past Wen Zhixia, bumping her shoulder on the way out. Wen Zhixia frowned and rubbed her shoulder.

That night, at Lanhu Manor.

Wen Zhixia stood by the window, turning a wine glass in her hand, her cheeks flushed with wine, a hint of tipsiness in her gaze. The summer breeze drifted in, moonlight shining bright above.

Gu Pingsheng emerged from the bathroom, droplets of water still clinging to his skin. Seeing her with her wine, he came up behind, wrapped an arm around her slender waist, guided her hand, and pressed the glass to her lips, watching as the deep red wine stained her mouth.

His lips covered hers, the rich flavor of the wine spreading between them.

Wine spilled from her glass, soaking his muscular chest, trailing down his bronze skin.

The cool sensation made his already intense gaze grow even darker.

With a sweep of his long arms, he carried her to the bed.

The wine glass tumbled to the soft, white carpet, rolling twice and leaving only a few drops of deep red behind.

She said, “Today I saw some children’s clothes, and I felt…” Her words were cut off by his kiss, sealing her lips, unwilling to let that topic start another unnecessary argument.

Midnight.

Gu Pingsheng watched Wen Zhixia as she slept, then went alone to the study.

He’d heard every word exchanged between Zheng Xuancheng and Wen Zhixia in that suite—a past he had not known before. He was certain Wen Zhixia had been with no one else before him.

Yet, even after such a dramatic event, Wen Zhixia said nothing to him, as if nothing had happened at all.

He had someone investigate, but whether due to the passage of time or deliberate erasure, not a trace could be found.

Nine years ago was when they first met.

Both Gu Pingsheng and Wen Zhixia thought the matter settled after the day’s events. Zheng Xuancheng was now beset by Qian Hongdan’s fury and had neither the strength nor opportunity to spread rumors.

Yet by the next evening, a post titled “Revealing the CEO’s Wife’s Shocking Past as a Student Escort” began to circulate wildly on the internet. The post even included photos and videos from that time.

Although the years had dulled the resolution, the proximity of the shots made it easy to match the faces with current images—especially since a seventeen-year-old’s features are already quite defined.

As the story gained traction, Wen Zhixia’s parents started a live broadcast.

During the broadcast, they painted Wen Zhixia as a rebellious girl who, despite her innocent looks, was anything but. They accused her of frequenting shady venues for pocket money and, after marrying into wealth, abandoning her aging parents and leaving them nearly destitute.

Most onlookers, unaware of the truth, didn’t question their claims. The couple, sharp-tongued toward their daughter, came across as honest and a little anxious on camera. They wept and wailed about her lack of filial piety, even claiming she’d severed ties after becoming rich and had someone cut off her own father’s finger—eliciting tears and outrage from sympathetic viewers.

Any doubts were quickly silenced by comments like, “What kind of parents would frame their own daughter?”

Some people, having never seen darkness, believe the world is filled with light.

Wen Zhixia’s old social media account, dormant for years, was soon unearthed, and a storm of abuse followed.

A kind acquaintance sent Wen Zhixia a message on WeChat. Seeing those images and videos from her past rendered her mind blank and buzzing.

She could face Zheng Xuancheng’s threats with composure, but she didn’t dare confront those memories head-on.

That part of her life was shrouded in shadow, darkness, shame, and confusion. The way people had looked at her then was as if she were an object, hands constantly reaching out, her screams for her mother to rescue her falling on deaf ears.

Her cries and terror only fueled their laughter, feeding their twisted desires.

Wen Zhixia clutched her head, desperate to erase those memories, but she couldn’t.

The images surged through her mind, overwhelming her with icy dread.

Elsewhere, at Cheng Ya Residence.

Music drowned out the phone’s vibrations. On the table, the caller ID “Xia Xia” flashed repeatedly. Its owner lounged on the sofa, a glass of wine in hand, watching a woman in a revealing dance costume perform a sultry dance.

Her graceful waist swayed under the dim lights, her eyes smoldering, the music winding its way into the heart.

No man is immune if your methods are tempting enough. This was the first lesson Sister Zhang had taught her.

Zhao Fuhe danced closer, bending to press her cheek to his neck. She took his glass and poured wine over her own nearly transparent gown.

“Senior, you’ve spilled wine on my clothes…”

Gu Pingsheng’s lips curled into a sly smile, his narrow eyes half closed. Reclining on the sofa, Zhao Fuhe settled onto his lap.

His long, elegant fingers traced the corner of her eye, where shimmering shadow had been carefully applied, lending her gaze a seductive tilt.

Her fingers trailed down his chest. “Senior…”

“Feeling better?” His deep voice carried a note of enticement.

“As long as you care for me, I’ll recover without medicine.” Her eyes were sultry, her breath warm against him. “I haven’t been sleeping well since we got a new bed. Will you help me break it in?”

Gu Pingsheng’s thin lips curved as he tilted her chin. “Weren’t you running a fever?”

“The doctor said moderate exercise works better than medicine.” She lifted her face, offering her lips.

Gu Pingsheng bent to pour himself a drink—fiery liquor with a powerful kick. He filled most of a glass and held it to her lips, his gaze deep and inscrutable. “Drink this, then we’ll go test your new bed.”