Chapter 5
The moment our front door closed behind us, he asked, “Did you buy the present at the mall?”
“Yeah.”
I took off my coat, and he accepted it from me and hung it neatly.
“I didn’t get an alert on my phone.”
I stared blankly for a moment before realizing what he meant.
He was asking why I hadn’t used his card.
I waved a hand. “I don’t need to spend your money on something this small.”
“Oh. Is that right?”
“You used to drag me over to pay even when you bought a sausage from a street vendor.”
That was before.
I was turning over a new leaf now.
“A gift for Dad is more meaningful if I buy it with money I earned myself.”
“Ugh, I’m all sweaty. I’m going to take a shower.”
Tan Xu pressed his lips together, then turned and walked into the closet.
He laid out my clothes for me.
The white lace bra and panties sitting on top made me snatch them up at once.
Blushing, I said, “I’ll take care of things like this myself from now on.”
Steam drifted through the bathroom.
The divorce lawyer had scheduled a meeting with me tomorrow.
Fortunately, Tan Xu and I had no children, so nothing would tie us together afterward.
As I was thinking, the bathroom door opened.
Tan Xu wore nothing but a towel, exposing taut abs that looked dangerously tempting beneath the light.
He walked toward me one step at a time.
Then he held up my phone.
The screen showed an incoming call from Jiang Rang.
Before I could say anything, Tan Xu gave a cold scoff. “Calling you this late.”
“Doesn’t he know this is when married couples attend to their private life?”
What?
My eyes widened.
The next second, he ended the call.
He pinned me against the bathroom door.
Gripping my chin, he kissed me fiercely.
Tan Xu was different tonight.
There was something wild about him.
He kissed me until I could barely breathe. Overwhelmed, I instinctively tried to push him away.
But he caught my hands and held them above my head.
His lips moved against mine as he rasped, “Does the Princess no longer want to fulfill her marital duties with me either?”
What had gotten into him?
Before I could voice the question, his mouth stopped mine again.
By the time we were done, the bathroom was a complete mess.
I was so exhausted I didn’t even have the strength to bathe myself.
I vaguely remembered Tan Xu carrying me back to bed.
When I woke the next morning, Tan Xu had already left for work.
As usual, he’d made breakfast.
He had seemed unhappy about my hiring a housekeeper, but he hadn’t dismissed her.
He merely began coming home early several days in a row.
No matter what the housekeeper made, he brought out several dishes of his own as well.
Then he sat across from me and stared.
I had no choice but to try everything while urging him not to work so hard.
He should leave it to a professional.
I stopped troubling him with anything at all.
Yet, despite how sensible I was being, his face grew darker by the day.
“So you don’t need me anymore?”
That only made me more cautious.
One day, the client from my last commission asked to meet and discuss the details.
I set out with my sketches without telling Tan Xu.
We were meeting at a private club.
The moment I sat down, the comments appeared.
【The female lead is being bullied in the private room next door. Why hasn’t the male lead come to save her?】
【It’s strange. The male lead has obviously reunited with the female lead, so why hasn’t their relationship progressed at all?】
【Progress? That would be adultery.】
【What is the commenter above whining about? The male lead was forced to marry the villainess in the first place. There’s no love between them.】
【No love, yet they have hate sex every day? Hilarious.】
The comments kept flashing.
I ignored the insults aimed at me. Only one thought filled my mind.
Tan Xu was about to rush in and rescue the damsel in distress.
I’d known this would happen, yet a sour ache still swelled inexplicably in my chest.
I couldn’t stop myself from opening the door and walking next door.
【Tsk, tsk. The villainess is here to ruin things again.】
【It’s fine. The male lead will look right through her. He’ll even knock her down in a minute because he’ll care only about saving the female lead.】
【Her face will twist with rage when she sees him rescuing the heroine.】
I stopped short.
I wanted to turn around and leave.
If the two of them were destined for each other, why was I butting in?
Just as I shifted my foot, however, the sound of a wine bottle shattering came from inside.
【Male lead, your childhood sweetheart is being bullied!】
【Don’t worry. The male lead has a psychic connection with her. He’s about to come running down from upstairs.】
Forget it.
I should let Tan Xu save her.
But minute after minute passed, and he was nowhere in the hallway.
Through the gap in the door, I saw the female lead, dressed as a server, being harassed by Tian Yao, one of the spoiled rich brats in our circle.
“You can’t afford to pay for these clothes.”
“How about taking off one piece for every ten thousand you owe?”
“Or spend the night with me. What do you say?”
Laughter erupted around him.
The female lead clutched the hem of her uniform, yet raised her head stubbornly. “I wasn’t the one who knocked over the wine. You can’t bully people like this.”
“She says I’m bullying her! Hahaha!”
Tian Yao stood and tilted up her chin. “Do you even know what bullying is? Hmm?”
Disgusting. Absolutely disgusting.
I couldn’t take it anymore.
I kicked the door open.
“Tian Yao, what kind of man gangs up with a whole roomful of people to bully one girl?”
The private room fell silent.
Everyone looked at me.
Including the female lead.
Her eyes suddenly lit up.
She looked a little familiar.
Tian Yao snorted. “Su Mo, who asked you to stick your nose in my business?”
“You think your family is what it used to be?”
“If you hadn’t married a great husband, nobody would give you the time of day.”
I’d always hated him. Back in school, he often picked fights with Tan Xu.
I had beaten him senseless more times than I could count.
“Your family, my family—who cares? I, Su Mo, have always done whatever pleases me.”
I slowly rolled up my sleeves. “And what the hell are you supposed to be, mouthing off in front of me?”
“Have you forgotten how I used to pin you to the ground and beat you until you sobbed and begged me to stop?”
The comments flew past in a frenzy:
【Holy crap, the villainess went on the attack!?】
【Why does she suddenly seem so cool?】
I pointed at the female lead. “She’s with me. You sure you still dare touch her?”
Maybe my presence was too intimidating, because Tian Yao instinctively retreated half a step.
“I… You fucking…”
He didn’t dare.
“Coward.”
I walked over, took the female lead’s hand, and led her to the door.
The door closed, leaving Tian Yao to rage helplessly inside.
The female lead looked at me with flushed cheeks. “Thank you, Su Mo.”
I arched a brow. “You know me?”