’He’s Zhou Mochen! The Zhou Mochen who always cared most about my feelings, who cherished me more than anyone! How could he say that to me?!’

As Xu Su cried, her grief turned to indignation. She climbed off the bed and viciously kicked the unconscious Shen Chen twice.

’It’s all his fault!’

’Fucking scumbag! Shameless beast! How dare he go after his brother’s girlfriend!’

Xu Su wailed as she kicked him, until she finally collapsed to the floor, strengthless. Zhou Mochen caught her by the waist, pulling her into his embrace. His eyes were bloodshot as he stared fixedly at her. "Tell me, do you like him?"

’Like him, my ass!’

"I don’t! I don’t like him!" Xu Su had been crying for so long that her voice was completely hoarse. "I swear it. I swear on my grandmother, on my life, on everything I hold dear—I don’t like him at all!"

Zhou Mochen’s gaze was profound as he gripped her by the shoulders. "Then tell me, you left today to meet someone from online, so why did you end up holding hands with him, coming here to get a room?"

"We weren’t getting a room... I didn’t get a room with him, Zhou Mochen. Everything I’m saying is the truth." Xu Su sniffled, speaking in fits and starts through her sobs.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, looking utterly aggrieved. "Can you please take me home? I don’t want to be here."

This room haunted her. Just sitting on the bed felt like being on pins and needles.

’At any moment, I might remember what Shen Chen did to me in here...’

She trembled slightly with fear.

After a few seconds of silence, Zhou Mochen gripped her by the waist and lifted her into his arms.

As he reached the door, he saw that a group of men had appeared outside at some point. They were now in a standoff with Zhou Mochen’s own men.

It seemed Shen Chen’s men had arrived to rescue their boss.

Xu Su kept her face buried in Zhou Mochen’s chest. He adjusted his hold on her and strode out the door. No one dared to block his path.

The car was deathly silent. Xu Su picked up a bottle of water and drank from it slowly. Zhou Mochen’s expression remained grim and he didn’t say a word the entire way.

When she got out of the car, Xu Su realized they hadn’t returned to the villa from before. Zhou Mochen had brought her to Tenghua Mansion. The security here was far stricter; all the guards were retired soldiers personally hired by the Zhou family. It was said that without the owner’s permission, not even a fly could get inside.

The estate consisted of two main buildings, one at the front and one at the back. Zhou Mochen parked directly behind the rear one. After getting out, he strode inside without waiting for Xu Su.

"Go on," Zhou Mochen said calmly, leaning back on the sofa. "You’ve had plenty of time. You must have a good story cooked up by now."

That expression of his, the one that said, ’Let’s see what kind of tall tale you can spin,’ made Xu Su’s heart burn with a flicker of anger.

But all she could do for now was feel that anger. She quickly suppressed her frustration, lowered her gaze, and sat down beside him.

Zhou Mochen frowned and was about to shift away, but a pair of hands suddenly appeared before him.

The red marks on her wrists made him freeze. After a few seconds, he slowly looked up, stunned.

"Did you see that curtain tieback on the bed? That’s what Shen Chen used to tie me up."

Xu Su met his gaze. She tried to force a smile, but couldn’t. Instead, tears began to well in her eyes again.

She said, "What Shen Chen did... he just hurt my body. But you’re different, Zhou Mochen. You’re different. If you had hurt me back there, too, the damage would have been soul-crushing."

Her lips trembled. ’If he had really dared to do something to me in that room...’

’I would have hated him more than I did in my past life. I would never, ever have forgiven him.’

’My sanity would have shattered. I’d have gone mad, unable to ever trust anyone again.’

’If even Zhou Mochen could hurt me, who else could I possibly trust?’

An arm tightened around her waist as Zhou Mochen pulled her into his embrace. He cupped her face, his dilated pupils bloodshot. "What did he do to you?"

Xu Su’s gaze faltered, and she hesitated, words catching in her throat.

"Say it!" Zhou Mochen’s eyes darkened as he asked in a low voice, "You slept together... did he force you?"

’He’s so sure we slept together...’

’Xu Su wanted to argue, but she felt that things had already gone so far... whether they had actually slept together or not didn’t seem to matter anymore.’

She hesitated for a long moment before biting her lip and shaking her head.

His grip on her shoulders tightened. "What do you mean, shaking your head? He didn’t force you? You were willing?"

"No! You’re hurting me," Xu Su said, swatting his hands away. Her expression grew subtly unnatural as she recalled what Shen Chen had done.

’How could I possibly say something like that out loud?’

She stammered for a long moment until Zhou Mochen’s patience completely ran out. He pinned her to the sofa, his voice dripping with venom as he gritted out, "What are you struggling with? Is it so hard to say whether you were willing? Don’t tell me being tied up is just some kinky game you two play!"

"No, it’s not like that!" Xu Su threw her arms around his neck and wrapped her legs around his waist, crying out in a mix of shame and anger, "The man is a pervert! How am I supposed to talk about it!"

Zhou Mochen froze. A thousand thoughts raced through his mind, and he instantly broke out in a cold sweat.

He had never delved into the ways those debauched playboys toyed with women, but he had heard stories.

’Shen Chen... that bastard!’

"Where are you hurt?" Zhou Mochen’s voice was strained as he reached for her dress.

Even though the servants had all been dismissed, they were still in the living room. Xu Su wasn’t nearly that uninhibited. She clutched the hem of her dress and shook her head frantically. "Don’t! Don’t, I’m not hurt."

As if he would listen to her. Seeing her unease, he scooped her up in his arms and strode directly to the master bedroom on the second floor.

Once inside the room, Xu Su stopped struggling. She knew that even without this whole misunderstanding, he would have insisted on checking her over carefully today anyway. So she simply let him quickly remove her dress.

Aside from the tips of her ears being bright red, Shen Chen had actually been quite gentle and hadn’t left any marks on her body. After a thorough inspection, Zhou Mochen let out a small sigh of relief.

He wrapped her in the blanket and held her tight, his heart still racing with fear. "What all did he do to you?" he asked softly.

"..." Xu Su blinked her big, bright eyes. Some things were just too mortifying to say.

’But if I don’t tell him, there’s no telling what he’ll imagine...’

"Uh..." For once, Xu Su was completely timid. "He... he..."

Zhou Mochen’s gaze darkened. "Say it!"

Xu Su steeled herself and blurted out, "He kissed me!"

Zhou Mochen froze. A few seconds passed before he seemed to process it. He shot upright, his brow furrowed with rage, his face ashen as he clenched his jaw.

Clutching the blanket to her chest, Xu Su sat up too. Deciding she might as well get it all out, she confessed everything.

"He... he also made me watch him..." Xu Su paused, then shut her eyes, deciding to just throw it all out there. "...take care of himself."

’Recalling that scene, Xu Su wished she could scrub her eyes clean right now.’

Zhou Mochen was stunned as well. A moment later, he was furious all over again. "Then why did you walk into that room holding his hand?"

"We weren’t holding hands," Xu Su said, feeling incredibly wronged. "I was in the middle of a meal when Shen Chen suddenly came in and said he needed to talk to me. I was surrounded by people I’d just met online. How could I possibly discuss our private matters in front of them?"

Zhou Mochen laughed, but there was no humor in it. "So you went to get a room with him instead?"