Gu Huiyuan was unperturbed as she casually got up and approached Guan Jing. She then reached out and grabbed him by the tie around his neck and said, “I’m sure of that as well. But don’t I have you? Someone close to him?”
Guan Jing glanced down at her raised hand and sneered, “What makes you think I will help you?”
Her fingers slithered upwards to prop his chin and he felt her breath on him. “Who would you help if you wouldn’t help your girl?”
“Ha!” He pinched her by the cheek. “What is this? Are you throwing yourself at me? You are not fit to be my woman!”
Gu Huiyuan was unflappable. She smiled and said, “Me throwing myself at you, or you coming onto me ——it’s academic. The thing is, we hooked up. I hope you weren’t thinking that you are just going to walk away from this. Do I have blown things up by reporting you for sexual assault?”
Guan Jing’s eye narrowed.
“Not like this.” She then raised one leg and brushed the inside of it against his side. “I like a man with a soft touch.”
He responded to her overtures with silence.
“Restrain yourself, you shameless woman!” Guan Jing yelled as he repelled her.
She stumbled and clipped her knee against the corner of the table. As she nursed her wound, she said, “Don’t push your luck, Guan Jing.”
“You’re the one who’s pushing your luck. Do you think I have to do your bidding just because we’ve slept together? It’s just a few photographs. I couldn’t care less who you want to send them to. As for the footage, you could send it to whichever media outlet you like. I, Guan Jing, am not going to allow myself to be held to ransom by any woman!”
He slammed the door on the way out.
Gu Huiyuan’s fingers tightened around themselves as she sat staring at the entry point that Guan Jing had left shut in her face.
Undeterred, she pulled out her phone to call him.
Guan Jing was driving when his cellphone rang. When he saw that it came from Gu Huiyuan, he ignored it and tossed the phone aside.
She then messaged him instead.
The tone representing incoming messages chimed as soon as the ringing died down. Guan Jing reached over and held the phone in his hand. Are you really going to forsake your own future?
He pulled over and replied. What future have I to look forward to after getting mixed up with the likes of you?
Gu Huiyuan persisted. Are you really going to ruin your reputation on the account of your boss?
What would my reputation be now if not already ruined, Gu Huiyuan?
She bit her lip and tried his number again. Guan Jing picked it up this time. “What else do you want?”
Gu Huiyuan asked, “Are you really prepared to throw away your future?”
“Yes,” was his resolute reply.
“Are you a dog? Why are you being so loyal? A paycheck? If you help me, I could help you become your own boss. With your talent and my…”
“Do you think everyone else is unfeeling and unscrupulous like you and your family, Gu Huiyuan? I can’t help you, and I won’t.”
She squeezed the phone in her hand in silence.
Guan Jing then asked, “Why have you gone quiet?”
“…I don’t know what else to say,” she replied.
She had no retort for Guan Jing. Her father and brother got their just desserts but as a daughter and elder sister, she could not allow herself to stand idly by.
“For the last time, are you going to help me?” she demanded.
Guan Jing stood firm. “I’m no traitor.”
“Have it your way. You’ll regret this.” With that, Gu Huiyuan ended the call.
Guan Jing stared at the screen display as the disconnect tone cycled in the background. He swiped it off and tossed the phone aside. Guan Jing buried his face with his hands on the steering wheels.
He spent some time thinking things through and finally came away with some profound insights and a renewed sense of resolve.
Guan Jing restarted the engine and sped back to the office.
After parking the car, he made his way to the elevator. When it arrived on the office floor, Guan Jing went straight for Zong Jinghao’s office.
He was about to knock on the door when the secretary said, “Mr. Zong isn’t around.”
Guan Jing turned to her and asked, “Where did he go?”
“I’m not sure. It wasn’t on his schedule,” she said.
If it isn’t on his schedule, it must be something personal and she wouldn’t know.
Guan Jing’s brows knotted.
“Do you have something important that you would like to convey?” She asked as she noticed how tense he was.
Guan Jing said nothing before he went back to his own office.
Guan Jing’s spacious and splendidly decorated office sat diagonally across from Zong Jinghao’s. Guan Jing ran his palm over the top of his desk. Despite what Gu Huiyuan said, he felt proud of what he had accomplished to date. It was only with the trust and responsibility vested in him by Zong Jinghao that he was able to get where he was today.
How could a man live without a conscience?
He could never bring himself to help Gu Huiyuan harm Zong Jinghao.
Guan Jing could tell that Zong Jinghao really cared about Lin Xinyan.
How could I be so ungrateful as to incite them against each other?
He took out his phone, sifted through his contacts for Zong Jinghao’s number, and called him.
Zong Jinghao was accompanying Lin Xinyan as she had to undergo a regular check-up this month. The fetus’ thumping heartbeat was clearly audible through the ultrasound.
He stood by Lin Xinyan’s side. Holding her hand, his heart stirred as he listened to those sounds. Inferring from the vigor of the pulses, he sensed his baby’s vigor and imagined how lively child it would grow up to be.
Zong Jinghao was so moved that he subconsciously intensified his grip on Lin Xinyan’s hand.
Lin Xinyan felt a little pain and a lot of sweat between their palms but she did not complain. When she had Zong Yanxi and Zong Yanchen, their father did not have the opportunity to experience this. Now that he could finally do so, his excitement was understandable.
At this moment, the cellphone in Zong Jinghao’s pocket rang.
When he pulled it out and saw that it was Guan Jing, he rejected the call. Zong Jinghao then leaned close and whispered in Lin Xinyan’s ear, “I’m going out to return this.”
She nodded. “You go on ahead.”
