Chapter 854: Woman's Counterattack

Ugh……

Zhao Linlin hadn't run a few steps when the masked pursuer behind her swung a stick down at her.

At the moment the baseball bat struck her from behind, Zhao Linlin felt her bones about to break, and she involuntarily collapsed in the living room.

She accidentally stepped on the shards of the vase that had just been broken.

Her palm was pierced by the shards.

When the blood flowed out, she felt no pain; likely her nerves had gone numb in that instant, leaving only endless fear in her mind.

"Damn it, I just wanted to take something, but you insist on fighting me to the death!"

Before Zhao Linlin could get up from the ground, the masked person squatted down and grabbed her hair, pulling her head back at a forty‑five‑degree angle, leaving her unable to move.

The masked person coldly asked: "Speak, where is the surveillance backup hidden?"

"I… I don't know what you're talking about…"

Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth, tears streamed from her eyes, and her terror‑stricken face stared up at the masked man; at that moment Zhao Linlin wanted to rip off his black mask but dared not.

She trembled as she begged the masked man: "I really don't have any surveillance backup…… I'll give you money, don't kill me…… however much you want, I'll give it to you, please don't kill me……"

"You're playing dumb with me, huh?!"

The masked man yanked hard on Zhao Linlin's hair.

Her scalp felt like it was about to be torn off.

Zhao Linlin screamed in pain, her head tilting back even further, straining the back of her neck; fearful tears streamed down from the corners of her eyes like broken beads.

The masked man leaned in like a grim reaper and demanded: "I'll ask you one last time—where is the surveillance backup hidden?"

"In…… in the safe……"

The strength gap between man and woman was too great; there was no chance of resistance. Even a slight move made Zhao Linlin feel her neck could be snapped at any moment.

But she dared not cry out, nor sob again, and even had to control her breathing.

If I'm not mistaken,

Before she returned home, the surveillance main unit had already been destroyed by the other party, but they were still uneasy, so now they're interrogating her for the backup data.

This shows the other party knows her husband Su Qingyu's daily habits very well!

They know her husband likes to leave a loophole in his affairs.

He keeps backups of everything.

Including women!

Even his wife and children have backups!

The surnamed Su, while alive, was on one hand a son‑in‑law of the Zhao family, enjoying their business resources, and on the other hand kept a mistress in a luxurious house outside!

He even had a bastard child with that mistress, and on the day the child was born he left a will stating the child would inherit all of his assets!

That is precisely why she hates that man to the bone.

Recalling all of this, Zhao Linlin feels both pain and hatred, hating Su Qingyu for his fickle and unjust nature; even after his death he drags her down, denying her peace.

In order to survive,

Zhao Linlin steadied herself, striving to stay calm: "You… you first let me go, I'll take you to get the backup……"

"Don't play tricks!"

The masked man finally released Zhao Linlin's hair.

But the masked man did not relinquish control; he swung the baseball bat in his hand like a weapon, pointing it at Zhao Linlin's head and threatening: "Where? Lead the way!"

"In…… in the upstairs study……"

Zhao Linlin gritted her teeth and struggled to her feet.

When the masked man had just knocked her down with a stick, her knees were also pierced by the shattered ceramic shards on the floor, and her pants were already stained red with blood.

She clenched her teeth, feigned serious injury, and limped toward the stairs.

The masked person followed behind.

The baseball bat constantly pointed at her lower back to prevent her from fighting back.

As she went upstairs, Zhao Linlin appeared weak on the surface but her mind was active, wondering what was in the study—what could be used? The anti‑rape spray was in the bedroom; what could she use in the study?

"Man is the knife and cutting board, I am the fish and meat!"

Once they get what they want, they'll likely kill to silence her; to escape this ordeal today she must find a chance to counterattack—meek cooperation is a dead end……

"Hurry up!"

The masked man suddenly jabbed her back with the baseball bat, also breaking her train of survival thought, forcing her to quicken her steps.

The upstairs hallway was pitch black, with only a glimmer of streetlight seeping in from the window at the end.

Zhao Linlin pushed open the wooden door of the study and felt the switch on the wall.

"Click," the light came on.

The study wasn't large; by the window stood a solid‑wood desk, beside it a row of floor‑to‑ceiling bookshelves, and in the corner stood a half‑person‑high safe.

Zhao Linlin glanced over quickly.

She saw a few volumes of Su Qingyu's notes spread on the desk, and a crystal ashtray! This crystal ashtray was quite large and heavy; it had once fallen to the floor while cleaning but hadn't broken.

Very sturdy!

Zhao Linlin's gaze locked onto the crystal ashtray, and an idea formed instantly.

"Hey, look over there—the safe is that way! Hurry up and open it, no tricks." The masked man still held the baseball bat ready to guard against Zhao Linlin's every move.

Zhao Linlin said: "This safe has a double lock; you need to open the mechanical lock with a key first, then enter the password……"

Saying that, Zhao Linlin went to pull the desk drawer, pretending to fetch the key.

She pulled hard several times, but naturally it wouldn't open.

Because it was locked.

Zhao Linlin feigned helplessness: "The mechanical key is in this drawer. My late husband locked it, and I don't know where he put the drawer key—I can't open it……"

"You're trying to play tricks on me, huh?!"

The masked man pointed his baseball bat at Zhao Linlin's head and issued a warning.

Zhao Linlin put on a look of grievance: "I'm just a woman—what tricks could I pull in front of you? The mechanical key to the safe is in this drawer; if you can pull it, go ahead, anyway I can't open it……"

"Damn it, so annoying, move out of the way!"

The masked man first pulled the drawer with one hand.

It wouldn't budge.

His face instantly darkened with frustration, as if his strength had been provoked. He set his baseball bat down on the desk, freed both hands, and yanked hard on the drawer handle.

The drawer didn't open; instead, the desk was pulled sideways, making the office computer monitor on it wobble.

Just as the drawer was being jerked with bangs.

Zhao Linlin decisively grabbed the heavy crystal ashtray on the desk and smashed it hard onto the masked man's head!

When a woman gets fierce, she's truly fierce!

With that speed, that determination, and that grimace of gritted-teeth hatred—one smash of the ashtray instantly left the masked man's head seeing red, his brain reeling.

Before the masked man could even cry out in pain.

Zhao Linlin shouted angrily, "Go die!" Before her words faded, her right foot kicked toward the masked man's crotch; the next second a muffled "uh!" escaped him.

The masked man winced in pain, clamping his legs together, hands over his groin, his face turning a liverish hue.

At that moment.

The masked man's body had already curled up like a shrimp.

If Zhao Linlin struck his head again with the ashtray, even if it didn't kill him, it could knock him out, giving her a 99% chance to fully control the scene.

But Zhao Linlin didn't do that.

Her first instinct wasn't to finish him off, but to flee! After kicking him, she bolted for the door—panicked, she almost twisted her ankle on the stairs.

From the second floor to the first, then bursting out the front door and escaping outside—all in under thirty seconds!

Outside the villa, the streetlights cast a dim yellow glow, and the street was deserted.

She glanced back, saw no sign of the masked man giving chase, but she still didn't dare stop, rushing into the garage and driving the car out.

She hadn't decided where to go—first get out of the residential complex, then figure it out.