Nightfall is at its peak.
Moonlight penetrates through the curtains, streaming delicately into the room.
Within, Li Lu is enveloped in a thin bath towel - her skin is fair and smooth, appearing particularly enticing under the silvery moonlight.
In the next second, a man pulled her and with a swift motion, threw her heavily onto the bed. He then unleashed a passionate, scorching kiss upon her.
His kiss was hot and domineering, drowning her deeper and deeper, rendering her weak and limp...
That night, Li Lu lost count of how many times Shen Qi desired her.
She felt like a piece of driftwood floating on water, drifting here and there, without a firm grasp.
Finally, she was too exhausted to move. However, there was a stickiness that made her feel uncomfortable, so she forced herself to sit up and prepare to wash up.
Nevertheless, as she sat up, she noticed a lipstick mark on the collar of a white shirt on the floor, which poked sharply into her sight.
"When did you come back?" After mulling over it, Li Lu decided to ask.
"Today," Shen Qi responded, his voice husky from satiation.
"So, you must have seen Du Ruo, haven't you?" Li Lu asked again.
"Uh-huh," was Shen Qi's ambivalent reply.
"Weren't you supposed to spend the night with Du Ruo?" Li Lu's tone hinted no emotion.
Du Ruo was a young mistress Shen Qi kept outside.
She's been married to Shen Qi for a year, and Shen Qi has been keeping Du Ruo outside for a year. The two were always seen together, with no attempt to hide their relationship. The whole of Yicheng knew about it.
If she hadn't run into Du Ruo in the mall, she as his wife wouldn't have known that her husband had returned from his business trip.
When Du Ruo saw her, she provocatively questioned her, "Miss Li, are you here for Ah Qi? However, you may have to wait, as my handbag is upstairs, and Ah Qi went to retrieve it for me."
Li Lu wasn't provoked, just calmly replied, "I'm neither looking for him nor waiting. After all, if the media saw the three of us together, Miss Du would once again become the center of everyone's mockery."
Du Ruo’s fake smile instantly vanished upon hearing this.
Yet, Li Lu didn't feel any sense of triumph.
"She went back to the Du family ancestral house," answered Shen Qi when Li Lu asked about her.
She nodded thoughtfully.
Li Lu didn't ask any further, walked past the white shirt on the floor and into the bathroom.
Looking at herself in the mirror, the glistening eyes, slightly red and swollen lips, and red marks on her body, she couldn't help but give a bitter smile.
Her feelings towards Du Ruo were a bit complicated.
It was said that Shen Qi and Du Ruo had been deeply in love for years. The woman Shen Qi wanted to marry was Du Ruo, but she ended up wedged in between them because of a marriage alliance.
With the current situation, she didn't know who to blame.
After freshening up, she came out of the bathroom, only to see Shen Qi leaning against the head of the bed, smoking.
Li Lu was too tired to continue and didn't have much to say to him, so she simply laid down to sleep by his side.
"Do you have nothing to say to me?" Shen Qi suddenly asked.
Li Lu was taken aback, "Hm?"
Was there something she was supposed to say to him?
"In the living room, you bought so many men's clothes, none of them fit me, who did you buy them for?"
"My dad."
"Your dad?" Shen Qi snorted coldly, full of mockery.
Li Lu didn't mind his scorn, after all, she could understand his attitude.
Her mother, Liang Mei Shi, was an ambitious and capable woman. About a decade ago, she left Li Lu's biological father, took her, who was then a burden, and climbed into the Wen family, becoming the envied Mrs. Wen.
And her, although she was not a legitimate daughter of the Wen family, she enjoyed many benefits from them.
Just like this marriage, she transitioned from being a fake Miss Wen to a real Mrs. Shen.
The phone by the bed abruptly rang. Shen Qi glanced at it, then quickly picked up the call.
"Ah Qi, where are you? I'm so scared..." From the other end of the phone, Du Ruo's voice came through, carrying a hint of tearfulness.