She stood blankly in the rain, her whole body cold, forgetting to breathe.
How could he appear here? Who is he? Did he recognize her?
If possible, she never wanted to see him again, never wanted to face the chaotic and horrifying memories of that night.
Sitting in the back seat of the car, the man was dressed in a meticulously tailored dark suit, the collar of his shirt slightly open, revealing a small, seductive patch of his chest. His appearance was extremely striking, like a masterpiece carved by a master craftsman, with narrow eyes, a high nose, and sharp, thin lips...
Wherever he went, he was enough to make women scream.
Su Xingyu wanted to scream too.
Looking into those inscrutable eyes, every cell in her body was screaming to flee.
Her body was shaking so hard she couldn't stand; she heard the person supporting her ask, "Miss, are you okay?"
But she couldn't speak.
The rain fell harder and harder, with torrents splashing into the back seat of the Bentley, drenching half of the man's body. Yet he seemed indifferent, still looking at her, lightly uttering two words from his thin lips: "Get in."
In the pouring rain, she didn't know how she heard it so clearly.
The person supporting her obviously heard it too and looked at her with some surprise, then guided her around to the open car door on the other side. Su Xingyu snapped back to reality, frantically pulling her body back: "No...I'm not getting in!"
The person supporting her snorted coldly: "How many people want to sit in this car but can't? Who knows what kind heart BOSS has today to be willing to give you a ride. Miss, don't take kindness and luck for granted."
She dared not say anything more. She was just a girl, injured, and completely powerless in such a situation. She was shoved into the back seat, the door closing with a bang, the person who shoved her turning to the front passenger seat.
The back seat was left with only her and that mysterious, terrifying man.
She cowered, trying her best to curl up into a ball, futilely attempting to diminish her presence.
But the man in the back seat turned his head to look at her: "Stretch out your leg and let me see." His voice was cold, with a slight magnetic undertone, clearly accustomed to giving orders, the tone naturally exuding an irresistible command.
Her heart trembled, cautiously extending her leg under his gaze.
"The other one," the man said.
She froze, finally understanding he meant her injured leg. She dared not defy, enduring the pain, she moved the other leg a few inches. In the dim light from the rainy day, it was visible that her pale calf was drenched in blood, the hem of her ash-colored gown ripped into a long gash, dirtied with mud from her fall, a sorry sight.
Now, the blood mixed with the filthy rainwater was trickling down her fragile slender calf onto the soft, thick wool carpet in the car. She uneasily moved a bit, seeing the man lean down, reaching out to grip her ankle.
She screamed, hearing the man say, "Don't move."
She dared not move, her whole body stiffening, feeling his hand pressing on her ankle, then moving up and carefully pressing on her calf. The dry palm covering her cold skin brought a scorching sensation. Inevitably, it reminded her of that frenzied night two years ago, when he also held her leg like this, and then...
Her heart began to race, the blood in her entire body seemed to flow in reverse.
She was deathly nervous, unaware of what he intended to do, the fine wool of his high-end suit lightly brushing against her skin, the two of them too close, allowing her to smell the faint masculine scent on him, making her even more uneasy and distressed.
"Rip"—
The crisp sound of fabric tearing.
Su Xingyu only felt a cool sensation on her leg, realizing the man had abruptly torn her dress! "What are you doing?!" She blurted out in panicked confusion, instinctively using her hands to cover the torn area.
The man pulled her wrist away: "Don't get in the way."
His hand was stained with the blood from the wound on her calf, smearing onto her wrist, leaving a glaring red mark.
"What exactly are you doing?!" She was still in a panic, terrified to the extreme, the man before her capable of anything, how could she let him manipulate her at ease? Her heart was pounding, anxiously watching him wrap the torn skirt fabric around her wounded calf, one circle after another... his movements professional and efficient.
Then, the bleeding on her calf stopped.
The man straightened up: "No bone damage." Still in that cold, slightly magnetic voice.
Only then did she realize he had been tending to her wound. For a moment, her face flushed to her neck; she had misunderstood him, he had torn her already ruined dress because he couldn't find any bandage nearby.
"Th-thank you." She stammered.
The man resumed his seat and instructed the driver: "To the hospital."
Before the driver could speak, the person in the passenger seat interjected: "BOSS, Madam is urging, saying Miss Zhuang has arrived long ago, waiting only for you. You see, should I arrange another car to take this lady to the hospital?" After all, she hadn't injured her bones, delaying a moment wouldn't matter much.
Su Xingyu recalled the person in the front passenger seat mentioning an urgent matter earlier in the rain.
No matter what urgent affair awaited them, this was her chance to escape. So she tentatively spoke up: "No need to trouble, I can go to the hospital myself. Let me off here." She didn't want to spend another second with this man beside her, the nightmarish fragments from two years ago along with his invisible oppressive presence sweeping over her, making her shiver uncontrollably.
She wasn't sure if he recognized her. If only she remembered that incident, then it would truly be...
Thank heavens.
Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned.
"Su Xingyu, just sit there." The man's voice rang out, still devoid of any emotion, "Xie Jian, call Madam and tell her I'll be an hour late. Drive to the hospital."
...Su Xingyu!
Su Xingyu's face turned white again immediately, unable to hear what else he ordered after.
He... still remembered her!
He must still remember her! Only then could he accurately utter her name!
To this day, she remembered how, two years ago, when he mercilessly tore apart the thin fabric she wore, he said, "Su Xingyu, you brought this on yourself." He knew from the very beginning who she was! Countless emotions surged in her heart simultaneously, panic, anger, pain...
The phone suddenly rang.
She saw the man pick up the call, the vague rainy scene outside the window outlining his ice-sculptured profile. "Mom? There's a small issue on the way, I'll be a little late... What does it matter, she is so well-mannered, she'll understand... Important? ... I've repeatedly said, you don't need to worry about my marriage."
The man's fragmented voice echoed in the car, seemingly growing more strained with the conversation on the other end, the tone deepening.
Su Xingyu guessed, could the so-called urgent matter be that he was going for a blind date? She wondered which unlucky girl was destined to become the wife of such a demon. While her thoughts wandered, the man had already hung up the phone.
He glanced sideways at Su Xingyu, abruptly changing topic: "Can you walk?"
She flinched, thinking he was finally going to let her leave, hurriedly nodding.
"Very well," surprisingly, he instructed the driver, "Change route, to the Civil Affairs Bureau."