Chapter 10

I was furious. “You…”

Zhao Ben laughed again. “A deposit of two hundred thousand, a balance of two million eight hundred thousand-altogether, it’s just three million. For ordinary people, that’s a huge sum. But for you, President Zhong, isn’t it just a drop in the bucket?”

“Is the reputation of President Zhong and his wife not worth three million?”

“Besides, your company is about to go public. At a time like this, any negative news breaking out-I believe your investors wouldn’t be happy to hear about it…”

“On the other hand, you know that this money could save my father’s life.”

“To save a life is better than building a Seven-Level Stupa. You’re a wise man; you know what’s more important.”

I snatched the cigar back from him. “What if I refuse to pay?”

Zhao Ben smiled faintly and pressed play on his phone. My own voice floated in the air: “You should take the initiative to ask Xiao Ning out that day and sleep with her. That way, even if something happens to her at night, she won’t be able to wash her hands of it…”

So many precautions, yet I missed this one. How did I not guess he was recording?

Ashamed and enraged, I shouted, “Fine, I’ll pay the balance. But this ends here!”

He smiled, put away his phone. “Of course. I’m not a greedy man.”

“Once I receive the balance, I’ll delete all the recordings.”

I was still uneasy. “Those two people you found-what exactly did you tell them?”

He thought for a moment, a sly smile appearing on his face. “Of course I’m not that stupid. I didn’t tell them the truth.”

I tried to keep my voice steady. “What exactly did you say? You’d better tell me word for word.”

Zhao Ben thought for a moment and said, “What I told them was: ‘This woman is a particularly difficult and nitpicky client at my gym. Last month, she filed three complaints against me, which cost me my bonus. You two help me teach her a lesson, so she doesn’t always act so high and mighty. I can’t stand women like her.'”

“That’s exactly what I said. Absolutely true.”

My gut told me he wasn’t lying.

I sighed. “Give me a week to raise the money. I’ll let you know how to get it.”

He held up three fingers. “Three days. If you go over that, I’ll make sure everyone knows about your business.”

With that, he turned and walked toward the subway entrance.

Watching his figure disappear from sight, the river’s unique fishy smell wafted to my nose. I finally couldn’t hold it in any longer and vomited violently.