Ch 62: A Twisted, Troubled Past Love
Zhuang Lingyun said grimly, “Zhong Lingxiu, this isn’t over, you wait for me!”
“Lingyun, listen to me…”
“Don’t call me by my name, get lost!”
He shoved aside the hand trying to stop him, and turned to leave angrily.
Xiao Yao, observing their attitudes, imagined a seventy-episode Love-Hate Entanglement television series. What kind of encounter could produce such dramatic dialogue?
No wonder he always clammed up when she indirectly inquired; he couldn’t explain it. How could she have been so blind as to fall for such a crazy, perverted woman?
Zhuang Lingyun drove his Lincoln SUV, the front end damaged, speeding towards the hospital. He sent Xiao Yao directly to the emergency room, and still had to pay and process various procedures. Zhuang Lingyun couldn’t handle both, busy to the point of exhaustion.
Fortunately, the final examination showed that her internal organs were unharmed, but her external injuries were not light; a large area of skin on her abdomen was bruised, looking terrifying.
The doctor didn’t admit her, just prescribed some medicine and told her to go home and take it.
Xiao Yao couldn’t go home like this; otherwise, her parents would worry themselves sick. So she made a phone call home, telling them that there was an emergency at school and she couldn’t return.
After thinking for a while, she considered that on the Double Ninth Festival, being alone without a child would be lonely. Since her Third Uncle and Third Aunt had gone to Xinjiang, only Xiao Wenxing was home. Xiao Yao sent Xiao Wenxing a text message, hoping he could go home on her behalf to check on her parents.
However, Xiao Wenxing resented her prioritizing romance over her brother the last time, refusing to accompany him to Xinjiang, and directly rejected her. It almost made Xiao Yao faint from anger—this guy, how petty could he be!
She didn’t know what was going on with their family; they always went to Xinjiang. Was the scenery that good, or was there gold there?
After hanging up the phone, Xiao Yao took a few deep breaths to calm herself down.
Zhuang Lingyun handed her an ice pack and then started the car.
Xiao Yao glanced at him sullenly and said, in a less than pleasant tone, “Hey, how did you get here so fast?” It seemed like only a few minutes had passed since she made the call, and he was already here, as if he had descended from the heavens.
If all this hadn’t been because of him, she might have been more touched by this man’s overwhelming boyfriend power.
Zhuang Lingyun sensed her attitude, glanced at her, and said, “…I happened to be nearby.”
Xiao Yao looked up at his non-answer. Zhuang Lingyun paused and said, “I’ve had people watching her for a long time. I received news as soon as she made a move today. I just didn’t expect her to treat you like this, that crazy woman. I’m sorry, Yaoyao, for making you scared!”
Xiao Yao pretended to be fine, but her curiosity got the better of her. She continued to ask, “Why did you have people watching her? What…exactly happened between you two?”
He was silent for a long time before speaking again, “She married my father.”
What?!!!
Xiao Yao almost thought she had misheard. She sat up abruptly, staring at him dumbfounded. She was so shocked that she didn’t even feel the pain from her injury.
Zhuang Lingyun just smiled, his expression calm but with a hint of coldness.
If he could, he really didn’t want her to know about this shameful matter.
But since things had come to this point, there was no need to hide it anymore. Zhong Lingxiu was a madman; she could even kidnap someone. If he didn’t let her know the details of these matters and she was caught off guard again and abducted, he might not be so lucky to come to her rescue.
He spoke softly, recounting this tortuous and twisted past relationship.
Zhong Lingxiu was a former model. They met at a fashion show, and with shared interests, they quickly established a relationship. During their two years together, Zhong Lingxiu frequently traveled domestically for work, while Zhuang Lingyun, who had recently graduated, was learning business at the Si Ji Lord Headquarters under his father, and was also very busy. However, their relationship was very good; they almost made two or three phone calls a day to keep in touch.
One day, Zhuang Lingyun suddenly received an anonymous email containing photos of Zhong Lingxiu going in and out of various nightclubs. The woman in the photos wore exaggerated heavy makeup and revealing clothes, but Zhuang Lingyun recognized her immediately.
She would sit on men’s laps and sometimes lie in their arms, hugging and cuddling in extremely ambiguous poses.
The dates embedded in the photos showed that the thirty-plus photos spanned three years, with the earliest one taken a year before they met and the latest one just a few days ago.
It was his birthday that day, and she was unable to come to celebrate because she was out of town. She specially called to wish him well.
But looking at the dates on the photos, Zhuang Lingyun felt greatly insulted and deceived!
Before she met him, she was an escort, not a legitimate model, but used the model title to solicit prostitution.
She hid it very well, so much so that in the past two years he hadn’t noticed that his girlfriend was a prostitute.
What was even more unacceptable was that during their relationship, she continued to do this work. Every excuse to go on a business trip was actually to do “business,” and he didn’t know how many green hats she had put on him over the past two years.
A man’s dignity was thus trampled under her feet, crushed to pieces.
Zhuang Lingyun was about to go crazy. He smashed his computer and destroyed half of his office, shocking the entire company. His anger was stronger than his sadness. At that time, he was really afraid that he would hurt her, so he decisively broke up and refused to see her again.
Zhong Lingxiu, however, clung to him, insisting that someone had framed her and that the photos were photoshopped. He also held onto a glimmer of hope, even getting the authenticity of the photos verified, but the result only proved that he was even more foolish, once again manipulated.
One avoided her; the other wouldn’t let go. This went on for a while; it was an extremely depressing and dark period for Zhuang Lingyun, during which he drank heavily to drown his sorrows.
His first relationship left such a deep scar on him. At that time, he felt nauseous when he saw women, uncontrollably disgusted. He almost suspected that he would be incapable of love for the rest of his life.
Somehow, this news spread. He had hidden it well, for the sake of his last shred of dignity, so that among friends he wouldn’t be gossiped about and become an after-dinner joke, he hid it very deep, yet it still spread.
Even if they didn’t say anything to his face, they would still laugh behind his back. Because of this, he distanced himself from his drinking buddies and became solitary.
Yu Fei was one of his few close friends. He stayed with him for several days and nights, relieving his inner frustration and depression. However, Zhuang Lingyun never imagined that the man he considered his best friend was the mastermind behind the whole incident.
Yu Fei, taking advantage of Zhuang Lingyun’s drunkenness, used his phone to lure Zhong Lingxiu to a hotel and raped her while Zhuang Lingyun was right next to him, completely unaware.
When he woke up again, Yu Fei was gone; only Zhong Lingxiu lay on the bed like a corpse, her naked body covered with the marks of brutal lovemaking, her eyes vacant, staring at the ceiling as if dead, silent and motionless.
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