Chapter 23: Pretend Nothing Ever Happened

"Bang."

Zhu Yuan was pressed against the shoe cabinet in the entryway; the sudden pain in her back made her feel as if she had lost all strength, and the moment she cried out in pain, Sheng Yu sealed her lips with a kiss, swallowing her calls for help entirely.

The scent of alcohol and intense male hormones enveloped her, making Zhu Yuan tremble uncontrollably.

This studio apartment was very small; two steps past the entryway was a small, long sofa.

She was thrown onto the sofa, and ignoring the stars dancing before her eyes, she struggled to turn over and reach for the backpack on the sofa armrest, pulling at its zipper.

But just as her hand grabbed something, a large, scorching hand gripped her ankle and pulled her back.

The bag fell to the floor, and its contents spilled everywhere.

She flailed and scratched wildly, "Sheng Yu, look closely, I am Zhu Yuan!"

"Sheng Yu!"

"I am Lu Huaizhan's fi..."

But Sheng Yu seemed to hear nothing at all, dragging her by the ankle and forcibly pinning her beneath him.

Zhu Yuan's face turned deathly pale, and in her panic, she felt the Electric Baton that had rolled out of her bag onto the floor.

Without hesitation, she jabbed the Electric Baton toward Sheng Yu's chest.

A sizzling sound of electricity.

The man did not collapse with a thud as she had expected.

Sheng Yu only let out a low growl and gripped her wrist; his strength nearly snapped it, and as her force was neutralized, the Electric Baton rolled to the floor.

The collar of her pajamas was ripped open, and Sheng Yu pinched her chin, leaning down to kiss her lips.

The sound of tearing fabric was drowned out by the thunder.

She did not know how much time had passed.

No matter how Zhu Yuan cried and begged, Sheng Yu did not let her go.

The thunder in the sky had quieted, with only lightning flashing across the horizon from time to time, and the sound of rain had also softened, pattering against the windowsill.

As the man held her tight and breathed heavily, the woman on the sofa, looking like a broken rag doll, finally managed to grab the Electric Baton from the floor with her hand hanging off the side, turned the current to its maximum, and thrust it hard into the man's back.

Zhu Yuan only felt a jolt of electric numbness throughout her body.

When the man collapsed, her tears instantly welled up and spilled over.

She shoved Sheng Yu away and stumbled to her knees on the floor, grabbing her torn clothes and clutching them tightly to her chest to cover the large and small red marks on her body.

Her eyes were bloodshot as she stared at the man on the sofa who had lost consciousness.

Her entire being was numb, and her mind was a blank slate.

Everything that had just happened felt like a nightmare.

It wasn't real...

It wasn't.

Yet the pain in her body and everything before her eyes told her it was no dream; it was reality.

She soon realized she could not wait like this; last time, Lou Yi had shown signs of waking up not long after being shocked, and since her first attempt to shock Sheng Yu had failed, it meant his constitution was different from Lou Yi's, and he could wake up at any moment.

Zhu Yuan scrambled up, stumbling and limping into the room.

Her whole body was shaking as she put on her clothes, her eyes so red they looked congested, and tears fell one by one onto the wooden floor; she gritted her teeth and shivered as she finally managed to get dressed.

Afterward, she went to the bathroom to get a towel.

She had to take a gamble.

After doing everything, Zhu Yuan was startled to find herself terrifyingly calm at this moment; her body no longer trembled, but she felt as stiff as if she had fallen into an ice cellar.

She looked at the man on the sofa, now neatly dressed, with no trace of the absurdity from a few minutes ago.

The entire cleaning process was long and agonizing, even though the time was very short.

She was terrified he would wake up suddenly.

The scent of alcohol and some other odor were intertwined in the room; he had drunk a lot tonight, but that was definitely not the reason he had lost his mind.

The person on the sofa moved slightly, and Zhu Yuan shrank into the corner like a frightened bird.

Sheng Yu sat up from the sofa, supporting his forehead, his eyes slightly bloodshot at the corners as he scanned the place with indifference.

A cold wind carrying the scent of rain blew into the room from the open window, dispersing the previously thick, seductive odor.

When he saw Zhu Yuan crouching in the corner with a guarded expression, his brows furrowed.

"Why am I here?" his voice was low and hoarse.

The fist Zhu Yuan was clutching in her arms suddenly relaxed, her palms covered in cold, damp sweat.

It seemed she had bet correctly.

Just now, Sheng Yu had seemed to lose his mind, but now he had sobered up and completely forgotten what had happened before, as if he had a blackout.

Although she did not know what was going on or what kind of stimulation he had received after they parted, this was not a bad thing for her.

It was highly ironic that she was actually grateful this wasn't her first time, and that nothing had been left behind on the sofa.

"I don't know." Zhu Yuan only heard her own voice trembling violently as she spoke, and it was also hoarse.

She suddenly clenched her fingers, her nails digging into her palms, forcing herself to stay calm, "I heard a knock at the door and got up to open it, and you were right there at my door; you looked like you were in a very bad state."

Sheng Yu's expression was gloomy, his gaze sharp as he swept over the Electric Baton that had rolled onto the floor, "How did I lose consciousness?"

It was too common a lie; he would easily see through it.

Only a story mixed with truth and falsehood would leave fewer traces to follow.

Zhu Yuan clutched the clothes at her chest, her eyes rimmed with red, and spoke with difficulty: "You... forced a kiss on me, and I had no choice but to shock you unconscious."

Forced a kiss.

A flicker of emotion that was hard to detect flashed quickly through the depths of Sheng Yu's eyes; he looked at Zhu Yuan, his black eyes deep and clear.

He slowly stood up.

Zhu Yuan seemed startled, stepping back until her body was pressed tightly against the corner of the wall.

The panic in her eyes fell entirely into the man's gaze.

Sheng Yu lowered his eyes and stopped, standing in the living room as his gaze swept across this small, cramped apartment.

It was small but tidy, except for the entryway and the sofa, which were a bit messy.

The place where he woke up, what she said about the forced kiss, and the mess in these two areas all made perfect sense when connected.

He picked up the soaked black trench coat that had fallen on the floor, his gaze lingering gloomily on Zhu Yuan's bitten lip.

Zhu Yuan avoided his gaze.

"If you're fine now, please leave; I need to rest."

She could not hold on for much longer, and she was afraid that if he stayed too long, he would notice something.

She did not want him to discover that they had been intimate.

For the sake of her grandfather's illness, she could not break ties with Sheng Yu and take him to court.

The only way to maintain the status quo was to act as if nothing had happened.

Sheng Yu walked to the door and suddenly stopped.

Zhu Yuan's heart skipped a beat.

The man did not turn back to look at her, only saying in a low voice, "Sorry."

The door closed.

The room was quiet for several seconds before Zhu Yuan collapsed weakly onto the floor.

The strange sensation on her body reminded her once again of what had happened; she endured the pain, crawled up from the floor, and rushed into the bathroom, letting the water wash over her without even taking off her clothes.

Hot water mixed with tears slid down that pale face.

Downstairs at the apartment building, Situ opened the car door, "Young Master Yu."

Sheng Yu threw the soaked trench coat to him.

Situ caught it with both hands.

After leaving the Sheng Family, Sheng Yu had only said one thing to him—go to Zhu Yuan's house.

However, his car had only just driven into the residential complex and hadn't even stopped at the building when Sheng Yu, with a gloomy expression, pulled the door open directly, scaring him into slamming on the brakes, and Sheng Yu had already stepped into the building through the rain.

"Young Master Yu, the Chairman has already sent Shen Yijing away from the Sheng Family Old Residence."

Sheng Yu grunted in acknowledgment, sat inside the car, and pulled a cigarette case and a lighter from the hidden compartment.

Situ started the car and heard the man's hoarse, low voice ask him, "How long have I been up there?"

"One hour and twenty-three minutes," Situ answered, precise to the second.

More than an hour.

Pale smoke drifted out from the lowered car window; Sheng Yu narrowed his eyes, and something seemed to flash deep within his ink-jade black eyes.

"How long after being electrocuted did that person surnamed Lou take to wake up completely last time?"

Situ paused only slightly before answering, "Less than ten minutes."

Sheng Yu's hand, which was flicking the cigarette ash, paused.

Upstairs, Zhu Yuan parted the curtains to look out; there was no car downstairs, so she assumed Sheng Yu had already left.

She got dressed and went downstairs, heading to a twenty-four-hour pharmacy outside the complex to buy some things.

The night was already deep, and the chilly wind blew against her; Zhu Yuan only felt lightheaded, but the pain in her body made it impossible for her to take large strides, so she could only walk home in small steps.

Stepping out of the elevator, she froze when she saw someone standing at her front door.