Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Hearing Lin Qing say that, I could only think he had lost his mind.

I was not a patient woman. But today was his victory banquet.

He had gone more than six months without a proper break to secure the Hecheng project. This win had not come easily, and I did not want to overturn the table on a day like this.

So I had swallowed my anger when he arrived with his pretty young assistant. I had swallowed it again when he flirted with her in front of everyone.

But now, to amuse her, he wanted his fiancée—who was allergic to alcohol—to drink an entire decanter of baijiu.

That, I would not swallow. Nor did I have any reason to.

Crash!

I smashed the full glass decanter over Lin Qing’s head.

It shattered instantly, opening a scarlet gash across his smooth forehead. Blood and liquor streamed down his face together.

“Ah! What are you doing?”

Xia Lin sobered up at once. She fumbled to wipe the blood from Lin Qing’s forehead, only to press a shard of glass deeper into the wound.

“Hiss—”

His face went white with pain.

I ignored her. Taking a wet wipe, I carefully cleaned the liquor from my fingers, then tossed the wipe onto Lin Qing.

“You’re my fiancé. You can drink that glass for me.”

Lin Qing pressed his lips together and let the blood blur his vision. It seemed he had only just remembered who I was.

The banquet had already turned into an ugly spectacle. Staying any longer would only make me part of the joke.

I picked up my bag, said, “Excuse me,” and turned to leave.

I had barely taken a step when Xia Lin blocked my path.

“You can’t leave! You hit Mr. Lin. I’m calling the police!”

The drunken slur was gone from her voice, but the same heedless arrogance remained.

“Xia Lin. Come here.” Lin Qing’s voice was low, edged with restraint.

“She hit you, and you’re just letting her go?”

“I said, come here.”

His fists tightened. The words came out through clenched teeth.

Only then did Xia Lin stamp her foot and reluctantly back down. She pointed at me and spat one last threat.

“So what if you’re his fiancée? He’s a person, not some cat or dog you own.”

“You old hag—if I ever see you hit him again, I’ll—”

Smack!

My patience ran out. I slapped her hard across the face.

“Point at me again, and I’ll chop off that finger and feed it to the dogs.”

I had met Lin Qing’s assistant a few times before.

She was young, beautiful, and full of energy. The first time my friends saw her, they teased me.

“You aren’t worried, letting someone that pretty work beside your fiancé? What if his eye wanders?”

I had said no.

I trusted Lin Qing.

Ours was no ordinary engagement. In business, we advanced and retreated together, fighting side by side. Countless interests were bound up in this alliance.

As an illegitimate son cast aside by his family, he knew better than anyone that he had to cling tightly to the shelter of the Xu Group.

It wasn’t so much that I wasn’t afraid. He simply hadn’t dared.

I had forgotten the weakness of men. Give one a little success, and he forgot the person who had made it possible.

Being called “Mr. Lin” over and over had made him forget who he was.

No matter. I would remind him.

Lin Qing cradled Xia Lin’s face. I had frightened her speechless, and tears rolled down her cheeks.

I imagined his heart ached for her. The veins at his temples stood out sharply.

“Xu Shuyin, you’ve gone too far!”

I arched a brow.

Too far? I had barely begun.

He Zheng and Liu Yaochen, who had been sitting beside me, decided they had watched enough and rose to mediate.

“Hey, don’t let an outsider come between you two.”

“Exactly. You’re only giving everyone a show.”

They were mutual friends of Lin Qing and me—friends from our youth, though we had met later than most childhood companions.

When I was fifteen, villas in Fragrant Hills had been bid up to astronomical prices. People used to say that anyone living in that district was powerful enough to shake the capital with a stamp of the foot.

Every top entrepreneur in the capital squeezed into that neighborhood, and that was how we became neighbors.

But although we called one another childhood friends, no one enjoyed watching Lin Qing suffer more than they did. They had never accepted that an illegitimate son could stand on equal footing with them.

They claimed they were breaking up a fight. In truth, they wanted to fan the flames.

He Zheng lectured me with great sincerity. “Men are men. It’s normal for them to have a special confidante or two. If you’re this jealous now, what will you do after the wedding?”

Liu Yaochen turned to Lin Qing. “And you know what Miss Xu’s temper is like. Apologize before she really gets angry. Without her, you wouldn’t be where you are today.”

Lin Qing pursed his lips, his expression dark and unreadable.

Normally, he would have traded a few barbs with them. But he had been drinking. I had not only hit him; he had also watched me slap the young assistant he adored.

There was no way he could swallow that humiliation.