Chapter 49: She Bears the Traces of Another Man

Suddenly, the phone rang; it was Assistant Jiang calling.

Sheng Hongyao swiped the screen to answer. Assistant Jiang said, "Chairman, I'm afraid our deduction was wrong. Zhu Yuan absolutely has no relationship with Yu Shao."

"What do you mean?" Sheng Hongyao held a cigarette between his fingers.

Assistant Jiang reported the facts of the investigation: "Zhu Yuan is the woman of the Second Master of the Pei Family, Pei Ling. It has already spread outside."

No one knew when it started, but rumors began to circulate that Zhu Yuan had prostituted herself to the Second Master of the Pei Family in order to borrow money from the Pei Family Bank.

Someone posted photos of Zhu Yuan going to the Pei Family Bank.

Photos of Zhu Yuan going to buy contraceptive pills.

There were even photos of Pei Ling and Zhu Yuan appearing at a hospital.

The accompanying text suggested that Pei Ling played too wildly and Zhu Yuan couldn't handle it, ending up in the hospital. Netizens dug deep into the details, as if they had been hiding under their bed that day watching the whole process.

If it were just the photos of her appearing at the hospital, it wouldn't be enough to be convincing.

In one of the photos, Zhu Yuan was almost pressed against Pei Ling, looking very much like she was about to hug the man from behind.

One must know that Pei Ling hates women; there had never been any images of him having contact with the opposite sex.

One can imagine how extraordinary his relationship with Zhu Yuan must be for that photo to exist.

The rumors became more and more real as they spread.

It even became so exaggerated that some people connected it to the grievances between the Lu and Pei families, speculating that Lu Huaizhan's death was a conspiracy and that Zhu Yuan was sent by Pei Ling to kill Lu Huaizhan.

With the rumors running rampant outside, Zhu Chaoqin was so angry that his blood pressure soared upon seeing the photos of Zhu Yuan buying contraceptive pills, and he had already been hospitalized.

In the private room, Pei Ling stared at Zhu Yuan's face and said viciously, "Finished venting?"

That little mouth of hers, yapping away, she sure can talk!

Zhu Yuan turned her head to look out the window and wiped her tears fiercely.

"I wouldn't dare."

If she said she was finished venting, he would bite back and say she was using him as a punching bag.

The level of difficulty in serving these masters requires one to keep a clear head at all times; not a single word can be wrong.

Pei Ling flicked the earphone cord and glanced at her sideways. "I will find out exactly who is playing tricks. If I find out you are lying, I have a hundred ways to make you die looking very ugly!"

Zhu Yuan didn't look at him, staring out the window with her chest heaving, and raised her hand to quickly wipe the corner of her eye.

She felt incredibly aggrieved.

Still crying!

Pei Ling strode forward with his long legs, reaching her in two or three steps.

As she raised her hand to wipe her tears, he slapped her hand away.

Zhu Yuan frowned in pain; the man hadn't restrained his strength, and the back of her hand was slapped red.

Seeing that she still wanted to shed tears, Pei Ling wiped her eye corners roughly with his thumb. His fingertips were covered in rough textures like sandpaper, rubbing until it stung.

He looked at the tears stuck to his fingertip; they were real.

Pei Ling rubbed his fingertip onto her shoulder and threatened, "If you cry again, I'll strangle you."

Before he could even finish wiping away the tears, the door to the private room was suddenly kicked open. A loud bang startled the two people in the room.

Outside the door, Situ pulled his foot back.

In the corridor where light and shadow intertwined, Sheng Yu looked at Zhu Yuan and Pei Ling standing face-to-face with a cold expression.

The two of them were standing very close!

Zhu Yuan was lowering her head and shedding tears, looking delicate and soft.

She was completely unaware that her appearance—limp and weak, having almost been strangled into unconsciousness—was so jarring in Sheng Yu's eyes.

"Sheng..." As soon as Zhu Yuan saw Sheng Yu, she pushed the tall Pei Ling in front of her away, almost out of instinct.

Why did he come?

Pei Ling stepped back slowly, his gaze sweeping coldly toward the doorway.

When he recognized the person at the door was Sheng Yu, he looked back at Zhu Yuan and immediately understood something. He said coldly, "Using me as a shield?"

"Who do you think you are? You're not even worthy of being a shield."

Sheng Yu walked in with long strides, grabbed Zhu Yuan's wrist, and pulled her into his arms.

One hand pinched her chin, and when he saw the finger marks on her neck, his expression sank abruptly.

"Did you choke her?" Sheng Yu looked at Pei Ling.

However, just as he turned, Zhu Yuan suddenly wrapped her arms tightly around his waist.

He looked down at those fair, delicate hands and raised his eyes to stare at Zhu Yuan's face with a complex expression.

She turned her head and said to Pei Ling, "Second Master Pei, you really misunderstood. I didn't spread those things. You can see my relationship with Yu Shao; would I dare do such a thing?"

Sheng Yu held her chin with a cold face and turned her gaze back.

Pei Ling had never had contact with Sheng Yu, but he had heard what kind of person he was.

He swept a cold glance at Zhu Yuan. "I'll assume you wouldn't dare."

Feeling the waist she was holding trying to break free, Zhu Yuan closed her eyes and, going all out, practically hung her entire body on Sheng Yu.

"Yu Ge, please."

The woman's voice carried a trace of fear and nervousness, the tail of her hurried tone hooking unconsciously, and Sheng Yu's body stiffened slightly.

"An eyesore!" Pei Ling snorted in disdain and strode out of the private room with his long legs.

Zhu Yuan hugged Sheng Yu tighter at first, and only let go once the footsteps had faded away.

Her chin was lifted roughly by someone, and the man's expression was terrifyingly cold. "Begging me for the sake of another man?"

What kind of thing is that Pei fellow!

Just as Zhu Yuan shook her head, her chin was fixed in place by him.

Meeting the man's deep, dark eyes, which were flickering with rage, she felt her heart skip a beat.

She hurriedly explained, "What relationship could I possibly have with him? I was nearly strangled to death by him just now; he deserved to be beaten by you. But I begged you for my own sake—if you start a fight here, you'll end up wrecking the theater. This is where I work; how would you expect others to look at me?"

Sheng Yu's gaze slowly wandered over her face.

"Who said I would beat him for your sake?"

Zhu Yuan's expression froze for a split second, but it vanished so quickly that no one could have noticed anything amiss; she breathed slowly, "It's best if you don't."

Who would have thought that Sheng Yu's expression would become even worse than before.

Guessing that he had heard those rumors from outside, she explained again, "I did go to the Pei Family Bank, but I didn't borrow any money; those rumors are all false, and you know this. Running into him at the hospital was a coincidence, because I had been chased through the streets by Lou Yi earlier, and Lou Yi was taught a lesson for offending Second Master Pei, which allowed me to escape; that day, I was just thanking him."

"As for bumping into him, I remember it was because he stopped suddenly and I couldn't stop my feet in time."

"As for the contraceptive pills... they were..."

Her hesitant appearance made Sheng Yu think of that thunderstorm night.

He did not remember it, but she had truly been violated by him, and Situ had investigated that the contraceptive pills were bought on that very night.

The fire in Sheng Yu's heart was wrapped up by her soft, gentle words, the flames kept from spreading; he let out a cold snort.

"I'm not that stupid to take such a small trick seriously."

A rumor pieced together from scraps—only a fool would believe it.

Just as Zhu Yuan let out a sigh of relief, Sheng Yu pinched her chin tightly and interrogated her: "You just mentioned your relationship with me; what kind of relationship do we have?"

"Is it a... a debt relationship?"

Zhu Yuan answered stutteringly; she had said those words at the time to explain things clearly to Pei Ling, and she really hadn't meant to take advantage of Sheng Yu.

A debt relationship, indeed.

Sheng Yu watched her, forced to lift her head as her chin was held, and his gaze shifted downward, his eyes narrowing slightly.

On her pale, pinkish neck, the finger marks were incredibly clear.

There were traces of another man on her body.

The man's gaze was cold and stern; he lifted her chin, making her tilt her head back to expose more of her slender neck.

In the moment her breathing grew rapid from nervousness, he leaned down and kissed her neck.

"Ah—"

The man's sucking and biting force was too great, and Zhu Yuan instinctively grabbed his hand in pain.

Yet Sheng Yu acted as if he hadn't heard, his well-defined hand covering her mouth.

With her mouth covered, Zhu Yuan could not make a sound, tears flooding her eyes from the pain.

It was unknown how much time had passed before Sheng Yu finally let her go, looking with satisfaction at the several deep red marks left on her neck, covering those finger marks.