The Billionaire's Hidden Affection-Chapter 269 The Soft Subdues The Hard 5 (Book Review Added More)_1
At the door, only the two maids, the cook and the cleaner, came out to peek stealthily.
On New Year’s Eve, only Wan Donglin and Yan Xixi had been at home. When the servants returned to work, they found Yan Xixi injured. They naturally didn’t doubt she had been beaten by Wan Donglin. After all, who would do this to themselves for no reason?
Seeing their expressions, Zhou Ting’s heart turned even colder. This was concrete proof that Yan Xixi had been telling the truth.
It was over then. Wan Donglin was an abusive man. Marrying someone like him would ruin her entire life.
Only after Zhou Ting had completely left did Yan Xixi slowly stand up, a thin layer of cold sweat on her forehead. She didn’t want to provoke Zhou Ting, and she definitely didn’t want to make an enemy of her—it simply wasn’t worth it.
Zhou Ting, after all, worked at the United Nations Women’s Department and was a respectable person. Encountering her this time was a stroke of luck. Next time, if it were a more capricious and cruel heiress, it wouldn’t be so easy to deal with her. In other words, being involved with Wan Donglin was too risky; there was always a chance of being silenced.
If she were actually his mistress, that would be one thing. But the problem was, she had already broken things off completely with Wan Donglin. Why should she endure being unjustly vilified?
She walked to the door and saw Zhou Ting’s car speeding off into the distance.
She sighed in relief, gently rubbing her arm. She had been about to slip away, but then a new thought made her pause. Wan Donglin’s sudden, hurried departure, and Zhou Ting seizing the opportunity to show up at the door—what did all this mean? She vaguely sensed something, a flicker of excitement arising. No, I won’t leave yet. I’ll wait and see.
When she went back inside, both maids were watching her. As she approached, the cook asked cautiously, "Miss Yan, would you like us to get some medicinal lotion for you?"
She paused, a faint smile touching her lips. Ordinary people, after all, still possessed an unextinguished spark of compassion.
Back in the bedroom, she sat before the vanity mirror to examine herself and was startled. It wasn’t the makeup; it was the actual black and blue bruises on her outstretched arm. Her skin was extremely fair. During her confrontation with Wan Donglin, he had gripped her wrist tightly, and she had also been hit by fragments from the shattered vase. There was no way it would heal in just a few days. But when she heard Zhou Ting was coming, she had immediately used makeup to deepen the marks. Looking in the mirror, she was the very picture of a woman who had suffered domestic violence.
A knock came at the door. It was the cook, standing there with a bottle of mercurochrome, looking somewhat uneasy. "Miss Yan, you should apply some of this. Sigh... a woman’s life is truly hard..."
She took the mercurochrome and set it aside. Just as the cook was about to leave, Yan Xixi stopped her, handing her two thick stacks of bills. "One for you and one for the other maid. Thank you."
This "tip" was far too generous. The cook was surprised and said uneasily, "Miss Yan, how can we accept this?"
Why not? It was Wan Donglin’s money to be generous with, anyway. I can live without using a single cent of his money, but that doesn’t mean I can’t use his money to do something for myself.
She deliberately extended her badly bruised arm. "Take it. Sigh. I’m stuck here anyway, so I have no chance to use it. You two take it."
The cook looked at the injuries, and they were more than just shocking—they were horrifying. Such flawless white skin, subjected to such abuse! It’s truly pitiful. For such a young woman to suffer such a cruel fate... It just goes to show, being with a rich man doesn’t guarantee happiness. You might get the money, but you need to be alive to spend it.
