Chapter 3

“Mommy, why are you throwing up blood again?”

At the little girl’s worried voice, Mianwu hurriedly wiped her mouth and turned to gather her frail daughter into her arms.

“Mommy’s fine.”

“You’re lying!” Tangtang’s eyes reddened. “That doctor said last time you have the same illness I do! Is it because I used up all our money, so you can’t get treated? Then I won’t go to the hospital anymore…”

Mianwu held her tighter.

Yes. She had leukemia, too.

Shuheng needn’t worry about her causing a scandal. She was already dying.

“The doctor was mistaken. I’m not sick. I’m just tired.” Forcing back tears, she carried Tangtang to the bedroom. “Be good and rest. I’ll stay with you.”

After a few sobs, Tangtang gradually fell asleep.

Mianwu lay awake in pain all night. At daybreak, she hurried to the construction site.

The foreman spat at her in disgust. “Late again! If you hadn’t said you had a seriously ill daughter, I’d have fired you ages ago!”

She bowed and apologized repeatedly. He waved her off to carry lumber.

The wood was heavy, and her body was weak. After trip upon trip, sweat soaked her skin.

At noon, everyone crowded around the foreman to collect their wages. Mianwu watched with the faintest smile.

Shuheng would pay for Tangtang’s surgery. But her daughter had no new clothes, could barely afford meat, and didn’t even have painkillers. With this money, she could—

“Nothing for you. Don’t come back.”

That was all the foreman said when her turn came.

Stunned, she caught his arm. “Why? That’s illegal!”

He shook her off. “Making a scene won’t help. You shouldn’t have offended someone you couldn’t afford to offend.”

She fell, scraping her elbow bloody against the ground. It burned.

A thought struck her. With trembling hands, she checked her phone. There were messages from Manqi.

*My husband found out I gave you money. He insisted you were a con artist and said he’d teach you a lesson.*

*So sorry. He just cares about me too much.*

Why couldn’t they leave her alone?

The rage and hurt she’d suppressed finally broke. By the time she came to her senses, she was standing outside Manqi’s villa.

The door opened to reveal Shuheng’s startled face.

“Mianwu? What are you doing here?”

His gaze passed over her swollen, reddened eyes. He paused, his voice dropping. “What have you found out?”

That you’d lied to me. That you were the one who’d ruined my life.

Before she could speak, Manqi appeared.

“Shuheng, obviously she knows you came to beg me for money. She couldn’t bear to let you suffer alone, so she followed you.”

Mianwu snapped back to herself.

Tangtang still hadn’t had her operation. She couldn’t expose him now.

Meeting his suspicious gaze, she forced out each word. “Yes. I came to stay with you.”

Manqi laughed. “Good. You’re both my servants now. Mianwu, go play with my dogs. Shuheng can stay here and keep me company.”

He frowned and started to speak, but Mianwu had already turned into the villa.

Manqi kept dozens of Tibetan mastiffs in her kennels. The butler led Mianwu inside and slammed the gate behind her.

“Better run. If they bite you to death, it’s not my problem.”

So this was what she meant by playing with the dogs.

Faced with their gleaming green eyes, Mianwu went white and ran for her life.

Her strength soon failed. Her lungs burned. Her foot slipped, sending her crashing to the ground.

A mastiff lunged and sank its teeth into her calf.

She screamed.

Scrambling forward on her hands and knees, she rolled into a foul drainage ditch. The mastiffs sniffed at it. Apparently repelled by the stench, they finally gave up.

She dragged herself out and lay panting.

Outside the wall, a bodyguard’s voice drifted over. “They’ve put Miss Xu in the kennels. Should we…”

Shuheng considered it briefly. “No. The dogs are trained. They won’t hurt anyone. Manqi’s moods are unstable during pregnancy. Let her have her fun.”

Her moods were unstable during pregnancy?

Mianwu pressed a hand to her bleeding wound and laughed until tears ran down her face.

So in his eyes, her only purpose was to amuse Manqi.

It wasn’t until evening that Shuheng opened the iron gate and helped her out, filthy and battered.

Her gaze settled on the marks along his neck. Hickeys.

He stiffened under her stare. “I—”

“I know. Manqi forced you.” She cut off his explanation.

Beyond the worst pain came numbness. Her voice was perfectly calm.

He frowned, displeasure flickering in his eyes. “Even if she did force me… aren’t you angry at all? You always used to get so jealous.”