The journey was quiet.

Due to the recent rain, the air was permeated with a damp smell.

The car slowly drove through the gates of the western suburbs villa. The decoration was luxurious and magnificent, with flowers and plants surrounding the property. There was even an artificial mountain and a swing for her enjoyment.

This was truly the quintessential “golden house” for keeping a precious treasure—beautiful, spacious, and expensive, but lacking in human warmth.

Wen Liang was the first to open the car door. Without waiting for her, he walked directly to the house entrance.

Chen Die had dozed off for a few minutes during the ride. Her legs were slightly numb, so she stood by the car to recover.

“By the way, Miss Chen,” Zhu Qicong handed her a document. “Please trouble yourself to pass this to Boss Wen.”

She responded faintly, took it, and glanced at it. The document was marked “Confidential.”

“What is this?”

“Evidence against Director Qu from over the years and a share transfer contract,” Zhu Qicong didn’t hide it from her.

Originally, the content of this document couldn’t be disclosed to others, but Chen Die was different.

Before Zhu Qicong worked under Wen Liang, Chen Die was already by his side and knew quite a bit about such matters.

Even as a “caged bird,” Chen Die was the one who could afford to be the most capricious and willful.

Ironically, this temperament was gradually cultivated by Boss Wen himself, so while others feared him, Chen Die didn’t fear him at all.

Though Boss Wen’s care for her couldn’t be described as meticulous, he indeed favored her, otherwise he wouldn’t have let her live here.

Entering the house, Wen Liang had already removed his suit jacket and thrown it on the sofa. He opened the refrigerator door, took out a bottle of ice water, and gulped down half of it.

Water droplets rolled from the corner of his lips, down his Adam’s apple, and finally disappeared into his collar.

He was indeed handsome, but “handsome” alone couldn’t describe him adequately. His brow ridge was strong, his pupils jet black, and the scar at his temple gave him an extremely sharp appearance.

He didn’t look like a young master or a CEO at all—what CEO would drink water like that? There was a wildness about him that easily brought to mind a solitary wolf standing tall on a mountaintop. Yet he also exuded a natural nobility from his very bones.

These two contradictions collided within him, making his temperament truly unique.

Fierce yet noble.

Wen Liang finished the bottle of water in two gulps and crushed it before throwing it in the trash.

Chen Die tossed the document onto the coffee table. “From Zhu Qicong.”

“What did that Ma fellow say to you today?” Wen Liang came over and asked while opening the document.

Chen Die recalled that Beer Belly seemed to be surnamed Ma. “He asked me to drink with him.”

Wen Liang turned his head to look at her.

Chen Die replied obediently, “But he got called away by you before we could drink.”

He snorted lightly and tapped her forehead with the back of his hand. “Stop pretending to be good.”

“…”

“You think I didn’t see the person drinking with you earlier?”

“…”

Master player.

He had dug a trap and waited for her to fall into it.

Chen Die rolled her eyes, draped the small fleece blanket over her shoulders, and turned to go upstairs.

The villa was empty. She had been abroad for half a month, and Wen Liang probably hadn’t been here for half a month either. The servants weren’t around, and only the sound of him flipping through papers could be heard.

Hot steam spread throughout the bathroom.

These past days, she had been busy filming, so exhausted that she would immediately fall asleep upon returning, not even having time for a proper bath in ages.

Chen Die lay comfortably in the bubble bath, all her nerves relaxing. Her skin glowed white, like cool silk.

After finishing with the documents, Wen Liang went upstairs. As soon as he pushed open the bedroom door, he heard deafening live music coming from the bathroom, along with Chen Die humming along, making it sound like a concert.

He smiled slightly, raised his hand to loosen his tie, and unbuttoned two buttons of his shirt.

They hadn’t seen each other for over half a month, and he was indeed feeling some unrelieved tension.

But he waited and waited without seeing her emerge.

First, the singing paused, followed by the sound of her rising from the bathtub, and then another song started playing, accompanied by the sound of water running at the sink.

Wen Liang took his pajamas to the side bedroom to shower, and when he returned, he brought his laptop from the study.

It took another hour and a half before Chen Die finally emerged from the bathroom.

She had a face towel wrapped around her head like a white bundle, her black, shiny hair falling down her back. Her forehead was beautiful, her features lovely without makeup, and her exposed legs were like sculpted jade.

Wen Liang glanced at her, his gaze not moving away as he pulled her onto the bed.

This little wolf cub he had raised was indeed pleasing to the eye, though she was too fond of showing her claws and teeth, and didn’t obey.

“Can’t you be gentler?”

Chen Die frowned, rubbing her bruised elbow and pulling the blanket over her chest. She glanced at his laptop screen and said considerately, “You can finish your work first.”

After saying this, she picked up her phone from the side.

Wen Liang had just opened a newly received email and didn’t mind her. Chen Die then started a game with Xia Ying.

So, while Wen Liang was reading an email entirely in English, he constantly heard Chen Die’s voice—

“Yingying, that room has been searched.”

“This dog is looting so fast, leaving nothing for me.”

“Hmm? How did I die?!”

“Headshot from that far away, is this person cheating?”

…

In the spacious bedroom, only Chen Die’s voice with her mic on could be heard. It was obvious that playing games was a disturbance, yet she played with such enthusiasm and excitement that Wen Liang’s head ached.

Half an hour later, Chen Die went quiet.

Wen Liang glanced at her. She was holding her phone and typing, her brows slightly furrowed.

Xia Ying had sent her a link.

Someone had posted photos of their group at the bar today on the school forum.

The title read: “Ran into the campus beauty and her group at the bar. The beauty seems to be having fun, hooking up with two men in just an hour and a half?”

The main post showed a photo of Chen Die drinking with the college student playing Truth or Dare at the beginning, and another of Beer Belly standing in front of her with a glass, urging her to drink.

Doesn’t the campus beauty have a boyfriend?

Has anyone seen what her boyfriend looks like? He’s so hidden, maybe she’s being kept as a mistress.

I also thought she might have been kept before. The car that picks her up from school every time is a Bentley Continental GT! But I haven’t heard that her parents are wealthy people.

Cut the crap, you all. Don’t you have any sense of how many rich second-generation students Chen Die has rejected at school??

I’m part of the photography team’s logistics. I went to the celebration. The first college student came over because he lost at Truth or Dare, and the beauty just had a drink with him. As for the investor later, the beauty didn’t even give him a proper look. How could she be the kind of person you’re all saying?

Of course, you have to maintain an image in front of so many people. Who knows what goes on behind the scenes?

…

Chen Die found it amusing. She didn’t need to think to know who had posted this.

Given the angle of the photos, it could only be Chen Shuyuan.

A face-to-face warning wasn’t enough; she still had to post this stuff on an anonymous forum.

When Chen Die first entered university as a freshman, she became famous online due to a set of military training photos. The girl in the photos looked pure yet vibrant, and she was immediately labeled as “pure, sensual, and wild.”

Her seldom-updated Weibo account gained several hundred thousand followers because of this.

This was also why she was named the campus beauty as soon as she entered school.

Chen Die had seen many such rumors and had almost become accustomed to them, but Chen Shuyuan’s posting to defame her was another matter entirely.

Xia Ying had already started arguing with people in the comments.

Chen Die opened WeChat and found Chen Shuyuan, pausing for a moment to consider how to begin.

Wen Liang turned his head. “What are you chatting about?”

“Chen Shuyuan,” Chen Die didn’t look up. “She’s like a lingering ghost.”

Wen Liang knew about the issues between the two women. He put away his laptop and reached over her round, fair shoulders without saying a word.

Chen Die’s fingers paused on the screen for a few seconds before backing out. She found Lu Chuan’s WeChat instead—

To deal with someone like Chen Shuyuan, one must use the right approach.

Senior, I have something to trouble you with. There’s a post on the school forum about our celebration party today with some unfavorable content about me. Could I trouble you to help me…

Before Chen Die could finish typing, her phone was snatched away.

“Hey—!”

Wen Liang tossed the phone onto the bedside table and turned off the light.

The bedroom instantly darkened. The curtains hadn’t been opened, making it pitch black.

“I haven’t finished sending my message!” Chen Die sat up again, dissatisfied.

But Wen Liang pushed her back onto the bed, her head nearly hitting the pillow as he looked down at her. “You’re still chatting with others right in front of me?”

“…?”

Is he crazy?

He patted her face, his tone frivolous. “You think I’m spoiling you too much?”

“Didn’t I tell you it was about Chen Shuyuan?”

As her vision gradually adjusted to the darkness, Chen Die was wearing a silver spaghetti-strap nightgown, her skin glowing white.

His gaze deepened as he leaned down, his warm breath brushing against her hair.

Chen Die unconsciously shrank her shoulders.

The pressure of Wen Liang’s presence was overwhelming, even after just half a month of separation.

She pursed her lips and looked up. “What are you doing?”

Wen Liang lowered his head, whispering two words in her ear.

His voice resonated low from his throat and coupled with the fierce scar at his temple, he looked every bit the rogue.