Zhou Cheng tugged at the makeshift rope made from torn bedsheets by the window.

The length was quite limited.

“She hasn’t gone far… I’ll check upstairs.”

Du Zhaoji had hidden her in this apartment building, where every floor was occupied by tenants. Ye Xiaoqiong had been planning her escape for a while. These past few days, because Xia Xiaolan kept having people search for Ye Xiaoqiong’s whereabouts, Du Zhaoji himself hadn’t come around.

He had two middle-aged women following her every step. Though strong, they weren’t as clever as Ye Xiaoqiong.

Du Zhaoji’s absence for several days gave Ye Xiaoqiong the opening she needed.

When Ye Xiaoqiong felt her chance had come, she made her decisive escape. She hadn’t slid down from the window at all. The two women panicked upon seeing the bedsheet rope, while Ye Xiaoqiong was hiding under the bed.

She watched as the two women, unsure how to explain this to Du Zhaoji, spent ages discussing their options before running downstairs to search for her. Not only did they come up empty-handed, but they also got into arguments with the downstairs tenants. Ye Xiaoqiong patiently waited for their commotion to die down.

People need to sleep eventually. When the two exhausted women dozed off, Ye Xiaoqiong crawled out from under the bed and slipped out through the front door.

She couldn’t run far immediately.

Du Zhaoji must have posted people watching the building. If discovered, she would be caught again, making future escape attempts even harder.

Instead of going downstairs, Ye Xiaoqiong headed up.

While under Du Zhaoji’s confinement, she was monitored 24 hours a day, even when using the bathroom. Unable to sleep night after night, and with the building’s poor soundproofing, the perpetually insomniac Ye Xiaoqiong had managed to learn the situations of the neighboring tenants by listening to the movements above and below.

Above her confined room lived an elderly person who used a wheelchair. Through quiet pleading, Ye Xiaoqiong successfully convinced them to temporarily shelter her.

She didn’t dare mention being held captive by a wealthy young master, instead claiming she had married a good-for-nothing husband who gambled and wanted to force her into prostitution.

Zhou Cheng didn’t search downstairs because there were no climbing marks by the window – that would only fool amateurs.

Using reverse logic, Zhou Cheng searched upstairs.

He quickly found Ye Xiaoqiong.

Having not seen daylight for some time, Ye Xiaoqiong was pale and much thinner.

Xia Xiaolan was thoroughly impressed:

“Even if we hadn’t come to rescue you, you had over an 80% chance of escaping successfully. Ye Xiaoqiong, you’re truly remarkable. Your potential hasn’t even been fully developed yet…”

The planning, execution, and persuasive abilities to convince the upstairs resident to risk sheltering her – each of these skills was impressive on its own, but having them all combined in one person was even more extraordinary!

Such talent and Du Zhaoji chose to imprison her rather than properly employ her?

Du Zhaoji truly inherited the Du family traits – his illness ran deep!

“Thank you for coming to save me. Second Young Master lost the competition, didn’t he?”

“Yes, he lost. Do you feel sorry for him?”

Xia Xiaolan was curious, believing Ye Xiaoqiong wouldn’t work for Du Zhaoji anymore.

She prayed Stockholm Syndrome hadn’t affected Ye Xiaoqiong, or she’d want to bang her head against the wall!

Stockholm Syndrome, also known as capture-bonding, is when victims develop emotional attachments to their captors, even helping them.

Ye Xiaoqiong shook her pale face:

“He deserved to lose!”

Xia Xiaolan sighed in relief – thank heavens Ye Xiaoqiong hadn’t developed that condition.

“Du Zhaoji’s imprisonment of you was illegal. If you want to press charges, I might be able to help.”

No, imprisonment wasn’t the worst thing Du Zhaoji had done to her.

Ye Xiaoqiong didn’t plan to tell Xia Xiaolan about the rape, nor would she tell anyone. Relying on others’ power was ultimately hollow – she had her plans.

Though she felt her initial ill intentions had brought about this “retribution,” it didn’t mean she forgave her attacker!

For any woman, this was an indelible mark.

“I won’t press charges. Let me handle this myself.”

Xia Xiaolan sensed something off in Ye Xiaoqiong’s expression and didn’t dare push further, instead following her lead:

“Alright, we’ll respect your choice. Do you want to return to Pengcheng with us? I have some things I’ve been meaning to give you.”

“You mean the paintings and calligraphy Yuan Han sold? Thank you for everything you’ve done. You’ve done more than enough. If possible, I’d like to ask you to keep those works safe. When I’m able to buy them back, I’ll come find you… Thank you, Xia Xiaolan. Starting from your help on the train, you’ve done so much for a stranger!”

Even when she was being stubborn, Xia Xiaolan never treated her as an enemy.

Despite their different positions, she had wrongly felt Xia Xiaolan owed her.

Many people owed her in this world, but Xia Xiaolan wasn’t one of them.

From beginning to end, this matter had nothing to do with Xia Xiaolan.

It was her vendetta with Yuan Han.

Her hatred for Zhou Yi.

And now Du Zhaoji was added to the list.

…But it had nothing to do with Xia Xiaolan. Just because Xia Xiaolan helped her on the train, did that mean she had to be responsible for her life forever?

Xia Xiaolan observed Ye Xiaoqiong for a while.

Ye Xiaoqiong seemed different somehow.

How to put it – gone was that pitiful victim’s grievance, gone was that vengeful fury.

It wasn’t that Ye Xiaoqiong had forgotten her grudges in enlightenment; she had settled down, hiding what used to surface.

At first glance, she appeared unburdened, yet somehow heavier.

Xia Xiaolan couldn’t persuade further. Outsiders couldn’t understand Ye Xiaoqiong’s deep wounds. Consolation would be empty, even encouragement too hollow… Ye Xiaoqiong would stumble forward and eventually find her path.

“Come on, return to Pengcheng with us.”

Xia Xiaolan said no more, and Ye Xiaoqiong softly agreed: “It’s time to end this.”

She had lost interest in this cat-and-mouse game. Better to wrap up the net now.

Better to cut through this mess swiftly than let Du Zhaoji use her revenge to drag innocent people down!

…

“Ah Hua, what exactly did that bastard Du Zhaoji do to Ye Xiaoqiong?”

Surely not what he was thinking.

That would be too disgraceful.

Was he that desperate for women?

Du Zhaohui considered himself thoroughly villainous, but even he found such acts disturbing.

Ah Hua hesitated before whispering:

“I just learned this too. Before Ye Xiaoqiong disappeared earlier this year, her last appearance at the company was to see Second Young Master. No one knows what happened in the office, but the Second Young Master left work very late that day. A security guard saw Young Ye being taken away by Second Young Master… disheveled and in terrible shape.”

Damn, that bastard Du Zhaoji was truly despicable.

Du Zhaohui thought he was bad enough, but Du Zhaoji surpassed him. Indeed, no matter how refined the appearance, the blood running through him was still filthy. Growing up in the Du family, it was impossible to be a good person!