Chapter 16: Chapter Fourteen

"Jiang Jie, could you be misunderstanding what your cousin meant?" Bai Bai Ziling did not want to be branded with the infamy of being an unchaste woman.

"Do you want to bring him here to confront him?"

"I don't want to confront him; I just..." She felt the helplessness of having a hundred mouths but no way to explain. "It's nothing!"

Jiang Jie believed there was nothing happening now, but Di Di Zhiwei had only had coffee with her once, and he was already smitten, hoping she would regain her single status soon. He knew his cousin's personality; he could tell the difference between a joke and the truth. Di Zhiwei was serious.

"I don't want you meeting my cousin alone again." Jiang Jie issued a somewhat dictatorial command. "After the divorce, do whatever you want, but as long as you are still my legal wife, you will behave yourself."

"Jiang Jie, you're making me sound like a harlot!" Bai Bai Ziling could not accept his view of her at all.

"That's what you said yourself."

"You..." She wanted to grab something to throw at him, but Bai Bai Ziling didn't know what to throw for a moment; some of his decorations or souvenirs looked very precious and valuable.

"There are only forty-five days left, just a month and a half; you should be able to hold out!" Jiang Jie said with cold sarcasm.

"I want to right now..."

"Don't even think about it!"

"Fine, I won't take the one point five million!" she shouted at him.

"You can refuse the one point five million, but I still want my five hundred million. In fact, I don't want to maintain a permanent 'husband and wife' relationship with you either. Once the forty-five days are up, we divorce immediately; I don't want you here for a single second longer!" Jiang Jie made the matter clear to her.

Bai Bai Ziling bit her lip and held her silence.

"But during this period... please maintain your dignity and self-respect."

"Jiang Jie, you should..."

"I won't go to hell, nor will I be pierced by ten thousand arrows. As for you..." He tossed out a sentence, "Beware of being stoned to death for 'stepping out'!"

【Chapter Six】

Jiang Jie was woken by a piercing scream; for a moment he didn't know what had happened. Once he confirmed the sound was coming from Bai Bai Ziling's room, he immediately rushed over.

Bai Bai Ziling had a dream... the same well, the same long-haired female ghost, the same one crawling out of the television, except the person who was scared to death was her. The scene was so realistic and clear, as if she were experiencing it firsthand. She wasn't just screaming in the dream; after waking up in fright, she was still screaming...

The room door wasn't locked, so Jiang Jie immediately turned the knob. He thought a thief had broken in, intending to rob and assault. But when he discovered only she was in her room, he felt as if he had been played. What was she screaming about?

Her chest heaved rapidly. Looking at the suddenly intruding Jiang Jie, Bai Bai Ziling's face remained pale.

"Have you seen a ghost?" Knowing she needed gentle comfort, yet having just argued with her, he simply could not speak softly to her.

"You're the one who saw a ghost!" she retorted. She refused to show weakness to him or ask for his help; even if she had to spend the night curled up under the covers, she wouldn't be a coward in front of him.

"Then what are you screaming about?"

"I'm screaming because I want to."

"It's the middle of the night!"

"Call the police then!"

Jiang Jie certainly wouldn't call the police, but he gave her a fierce glare. "If you're timid, don't watch those kinds of movies. What do you want? Pretend to be scared to lure me to your room?"

Bai Bai Ziling jumped off the bed, disregarding the sheer silk nightgown that barely covered her body. She didn't notice Jiang Jie's expression change as she lunged at him. But she wasn't throwing herself into his arms; she was lunging to hit him.

"I had a nightmare; I didn't mean to lure you here. Do you think I'm acting?!" she said while hitting, her fists not weak at all, punching his chest again and again.

"You know it yourself!" he said while dodging.

"I saw that female ghost..."

"You said you didn't see a ghost!"

"In the dream!" she exerted even more force. "The female ghost crawled out of the well; her hair was disheveled, her face full of hatred and ferocity."

"Is she as fierce as you?" he mocked.

"Jiang Jie..." she shouted in anger.

"Don't you know humans are more terrifying than ghosts?"

Tired from fighting and truly frightened, the little wildcat that had been baring its claws and teeth just a second ago suddenly collapsed and burst into tears. She accidentally kicked the leg of a chair, and in pain, she simply flopped onto the bed, ignoring everything and crying louder and louder.

Jiang Jie was helpless; he couldn't just turn and walk away. That wasn't something a man with a conscience would do.

"Bai Bai Ziling, do you want to wake up the neighbors?" His words carried mockery, but his voice was low and soft.

"Stay away from me!"

"This is my house."

"Then I'll leave!" she sobbed, her heart broken. "First you treat me like a harlot, then you don't even forget to mock me when I have a nightmare. What kind of demon are you!"

"I'm not a demon; I..." To settle the matter, he was willing to compromise. "I apologize!"

"Fake sincerity." she looked up and scolded.

"Bai Bai Ziling, you are so ungrateful. You're the one who hit, you're the one who took advantage, and you're still so unreasonable!" He had never met such an incomprehensible woman. "I apologized!"

"You aren't sincere!"

"You..." Jiang Jie didn't coax women, didn't tolerate women's temper, and didn't want to take care of a woman with a bad temper. She wasn't his real wife, and he didn't love her, so he turned and walked out of her room, closing the door behind him.

Bai Bai Ziling knew he had left. She felt both angry and afraid. It would take another two or three hours until dawn. At home, her sister could accompany her through nights of fear and sleeplessness, but here... she could only rely on herself, so she cried more and more uncontrollably.

So she didn't know Jiang Jie had turned back, didn't know he was standing by her bed watching her lie face down on the bed...

After a while, Bai Bai Ziling felt someone turn her body over and sit on her bed. His strong arms lifted her up and held her entire body in his embrace...

Bai Bai Ziling was so frightened she forgot to struggle; this was more terrifying than seeing a ghost.

Although Jiang Jie's face was expressionless, his embrace was warm and gave a sense of security. Only then did she notice... he wasn't wearing a shirt at all, and his chest was red and swollen here and there from her previous punches.

"Jiang Jie..." she even forgot to cry.

"It's over." he said lightly.

"You..."

"Go to sleep." he commanded her unkindly.

She wiped the tears from her face. "I can do it myself..."

"I'll leave as soon as you fall asleep." he assured her.

"I... am not afraid anymore." She forced herself to be brave, unwilling to be held in his arms like a seven- or eight-year-old child; dreams are just dreams, there are no ghosts in this world, and there is nothing to fear.

"Sleep!" He gently stroked her hair. "And do not move around."

"You..." She also felt his physiological reaction.

But Jiang Jie said nothing, nor did he have any intention of doing anything to her; he only wished the remaining days would pass quickly. Suddenly, he thought that since "marrying" Bai Bai Ziling, he had not slept with any other woman, which was truly baffling.

"Jiang Jie, I will not..." She pouted.

"This is just a physiological reaction, Bai Bai Ziling. I will not force you onto the bed; you can sleep peacefully." He glanced at her. "Any normal man would react this way holding a woman wearing a thin gauze nightgown in his arms!"

"No one asked you to hold me." She said so, yet she truly dared not move, fearing the situation would spiral out of control.

"As your 'husband,' when you are afraid..."

"You are not my husband."

"If you wish for me to become your real husband..." He looked at her with a rare, sinister gaze. "I would..."

But Bai Bai Ziling did not retort or counterattack again; her head rested on his shoulder, her eyes closed, and even her breathing was smooth and regular. With a sense of security, she relaxed and fell asleep.