HomeFalling In LoveZhui Luo - Chapter 53

Zhui Luo – Chapter 53

In the following period, Zhou Wan faced increasingly frequent harassment from Huang Hui.

He often called her to his office, closing the door behind them.

Zhou Wan’s youth made her appointment as department head already suspicious to her colleagues. Now, the company was filled with even more rumors and gossip that threatened to drown her.

Zhou Wan didn’t try to expose anything or argue back.

She had always been good at enduring things since childhood.

She silently recorded all of Huang Hui’s verbal harassment and saved screenshots of his explicit messages and pictures, storing everything in a compressed file.

On the last weekend before the Spring Festival, Zhou Wan was awakened by her doorbell.

She had recently ordered some daily necessities online and had received several deliveries, so assuming it was another package arriving early, she opened the door without much thought.

Huang Hui stood at the door holding a bag of breakfast.

“Director Huang?” Zhou Wan’s drowsiness vanished. “Why did you come up?”

“You haven’t eaten breakfast, right? I was passing by and brought some up for you.” As he spoke, he squeezed past her into the apartment, walking quickly inside before Zhou Wan could stop him.

Huang Hui acted completely at home, taking out bowls from the kitchen.

“Director Huang, please don’t trouble yourself.” Zhou Wan hurried over, trying to get him to leave.

Instead, Huang Hui sat down and grabbed Zhou Wan’s waist, forcing her to sit on his lap.

Zhou Wan’s hair stood on end, and her entire body stiffened.

She couldn’t help but scream. All her carefully maintained composure crumbled in that moment. Alone with him, with such a disparity in strength, Zhou Wan struggled to get up but couldn’t move, her waist aching from his grip.

Fortunately, she managed to grab a fruit knife from the table.

Seeing this, Huang Hui immediately released her.

Zhou Wan’s clothes were disheveled. She stumbled backward without stopping to fix them.

“Why are you acting so pure?” Huang Hui didn’t understand. “That’s enough, Little Zhou. I’ve been plenty patient with you.”

Zhou Wan felt every inch of her skin, every pore, was being defiled by him.

She pointed the fruit knife at him, her whole body trembling, breathing chaotic as she screamed, “Get out! Get out of here!”

Only then did Huang Hui realize she was serious.

Where was that gentle, refined woman from before? This was someone ready to risk everything.

Huang Hui cursed at her viciously before storming out.

Zhou Wan immediately closed and locked the door. The knife clattered to the floor as she collapsed, her legs too weak to support her.

After a long while, she finally managed to pull herself up using the wall, making her way to her computer.

Based on how Huang Hui had treated Sister Li before, Zhou Wan knew she would meet the same fate after today.

She turned on her computer and opened her email.

Since that night, Zhou Wan had been investigating Huang Hui.

Fortunately, she discovered online that he had a recent cooperation project with another company—one her university classmate was involved in. That classmate was outgoing with strong social skills and had learned various insider information from colleagues.

Zhou Wan contacted that classmate to investigate Huang Hui’s situation.

She learned that Huang Hui had married into his wife’s family. Though he was a branch company’s general manager, he had to defer to his father-in-law and wife in everything. Despite being in such a controlled position, he still couldn’t manage his behavior—truly foolish.

Zhou Wan packaged all the evidence of Huang Hui’s sexual harassment from the past month and sent it to his wife and father-in-law.

Over the weekend, Zhou Wan slept for two days.

On Monday at the company, she heard colleagues whispering about something—the old director and his daughter had arrived and were now in Director Huang’s office.

Such a grand showing suggested something significant had happened.

Zhou Wan silently returned to her desk and began working.

About half an hour later, the office door opened.

The old director walked out with Huang Hui following behind, continuously apologizing and begging for mercy, showing none of his previous domineering manners.

Zhou Wan looked up to see the woman striding quickly toward her desk, raising her hand and bringing it down hard. Slap—

Zhou Wan’s head turned to the side, her cheek stinging and ears ringing.

“Slut!” The woman glared at her viciously. “Of all things to do, you had to seduce someone?!”

Whispered discussions immediately broke out around them.

Zhou Wan stared at the woman in disbelief.

“I didn’t,” Zhou Wan said.

“You didn’t?” The woman laughed coldly. “It takes two to tango. There’s no smoke without fire!”

With her back to the crowd, she stared at Zhou Wan, her eyes fierce but clear.

Zhou Wan understood then.

She had handled this wrong.

While she could use this undignified method to pull Huang Hui down from his position, they also needed a scapegoat to maintain their face.

Nothing she said would matter now.

No one would believe her.

At ten in the morning, she packed her things and left the company, just like Sister Li had two months ago.

At noon, she sat alone on a stone bench below the office building, the wind chilling her ankles. She called Sister Li, asking if she wanted to have lunch together.

After leaving the company, Sister Li found new work.

With her experience and impressive resume, she was already back on track.

After hearing Zhou Wan’s story, she sighed and said, “You’re too young. If this method worked, I wouldn’t have been fired either.”

Zhou Wan lowered her eyes: “But I didn’t do anything, yet no one believes me.”

“Zhou Wan.” She smiled slightly. “If there was so much empathy in this world, we wouldn’t encounter such things. Maybe when the next girl faces something similar, there will be more people who can truly understand us.”

After lunch, Zhou Wan said goodbye to Sister Li.

With nowhere to go and not wanting to return home, she wandered around.

She didn’t drag herself back until nightfall, her heels rubbed raw and painful.

She took the elevator up, planning to sleep and consider her future tomorrow.

But at her door, she stopped short—her belongings had been thrown out. When she tried to open the door, she found the lock had been changed.

Zhou Wan immediately called her landlord.

The landlord said there had been a mistake with the previous contract, and that the room had already been reserved by someone else. She had mixed things up and Zhou Wan needed to move out. As compensation, she would give her 800 yuan.

Zhou Wan hung up directly.

She knew perfectly well who was behind this.

Nothing she said would matter.

Zhou Wan crouched down, wiped the sweat from her forehead, and packed her scattered belongings into her suitcase. Downstairs, she aimlessly dragged her luggage through the streets. The wind grew stronger, dark clouds gathering as if rain was coming.

She didn’t know where to go.

Finding a new place to rent this late wouldn’t be easy.

Passing a bus stop, Zhou Wan sat down, tired from walking.

So much had happened today—being slapped, fired, falsely accused, misunderstood, and now evicted—yet she didn’t feel like crying at all, just exhausted.

She was truly so tired.

In her 24 years, half had been spent being this tired.

But she had grown used to it.

Sometimes she just wanted to stop, to give up, to stop moving forward.

Zhou Wan leaned back wearily, her head resting against the light post behind her, eyes closed.

Soon a downpour began, the wind against her skin bitingly cold.

But she couldn’t even muster the energy to pull her clothes tighter, completely drained.

She heard the sharp sound of tires braking on the road but didn’t open her eyes until the wind hitting her lessened somewhat.

She opened her eyes, slowly looking up.

Lu Xixiao stood before her, looking down at her.

His shoulders had broadened considerably; just standing there, he blocked the cold wind for her.

“What are you doing here?” The youth had become a man, his voice much deeper.

Zhou Wan looked at him, unable to speak.

Lu Xixiao glanced at her suitcase and the cardboard box of office supplies stacked on top—the very picture of destitution.

“Got thrown out?”

“Mm.” Zhou Wan responded.

“Then change jobs,” Lu Xixiao looked at her, his voice flat, without a trace of warmth. “Come keep me company, I’ll pay you.”

Zhou Wan’s eyelashes trembled.

Companionship with payment—to put it crudely, that was keeping a mistress.

If anyone else had said such things, Zhou Wan would have felt insulted, but now she couldn’t react.

She knew Lu Xixiao wasn’t that kind of person.

As successful as he was now, he could have whatever he wanted—why would he need to pay?

Zhou Wan’s reaction was slow, appearing dazed as she asked, “Why?”

He laughed coldly, lifting her face with one hand: “It certainly isn’t because I love you.”

Zhou Wan obediently raised her head, looking into his eyes submissively: “I know.”

Lu Xixiao’s expression darkened further, his grip on her face tightening as he lowered his voice: “Zhou Wan, it’s because you owe me. Come keep me company, and when I tire of you, I’ll naturally let you go.”

Only this way could he completely forget her, could he let her go.

Like a red rose, only when it withers and fades day after day can it become a mere bloodstain, can it be forgotten.

Similarly, Zhou Wan understood.

She had understood Lu Xixiao before, and even after six years, she still understood him.

“But I promised your grandfather I wouldn’t have anything to do with you anymore.”

“The Lu family has nothing to do with me, and can’t control me,” Lu Xixiao said. “Moreover, Zhou Wan, I’m informing you, not asking you.”

“If I keep you company,” Zhou Wan asked, “will it help you let go more easily?”

These words were so familiar, they made Lu Xixiao’s eyes burn.

The cold wind brought memories sweeping back.

“If I date you, will you be happy?”

With her words, the image of that girl from back then suddenly materialized before his eyes.

He thought he had long forgotten.

But it turned out that as soon as she appeared, all the past became vivid again.

Back then, they stood below the apartment building. Zhou Wan was walking in when he called out to her, suddenly asking if she would date him.

Zhou Wan stood five meters away from him, her long eyelashes trembling slightly, her skin fair, pupils black as ink, pure and clean.

Lu Xixiao lowered his eyes, forcing himself to tear away from the memories. He said flatly: “Perhaps.”

He gave the same answer as years ago.

In the end, Zhou Wan put her suitcase in Lu Xixiao’s car.

He didn’t help, just watched with an indifferent expression.

She was soaked through. She pulled out a coat from her suitcase to place on the expensive leather seat before sitting down.

Lu Xixiao got in the car and looked back at her: “Am I your chauffeur?”

Zhou Wan got out and moved to the front passenger seat.

Neither spoke.

Lu Xixiao started the car, quickly getting onto the elevated highway. Rain hammered against the windshield, swept away by the wipers.

Zhou Wan silently looked out the window.

She and Lu Xixiao had been unhealthy from the start, full of lies and deception.

So they should end with an equally unhealthy relationship.

Becoming entangled once more.

Until boredom sets in, and they part ways forever.

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