Using Marriage as Bait : Extra 3
Extra 3
Lin Xiyu buttoned her blouse, unzipped the window, and shot the man an annoyed look. “Middle of the day, and you have no shame.”
The once timid girl, cautious around Mr. Lu, was now becoming increasingly adept at putting him in his place.
Lu Junting was used to his wife’s scolding, and he was in a good mood after getting what he wanted, so this man, who ruled with an iron fist outside, just smiled at her comment.
Lin Xiyu’s hair was a mess, and her face was flushed with a slightly embarrassed blush. In contrast, Lu Junting looked as put-together as ever, his suit perfectly straightened, with just a few creases in his trousers.
Looking at his well-mannered appearance, Lin Xiyu cursed him inwardly as a “beast in gentleman’s clothing.”
With his hands in his pockets and a relaxed smile on his face, Lu Junting said, “No need to curse me in your head. I can hear it.”
Lin Xiyu wasn’t afraid of him anymore, so she continued to retort, “If you don’t want me to curse, maybe you should act like a decent human being.”
This girl had grown bolder, no longer the timid sweetheart she once was in front of him. But Lu Junting enjoyed this side of her, seeing her relaxed enough not to hold back. In fact, he believed her occasional insults meant she didn’t treat him as an outsider. So, despite being scolded, he was quite pleased.
He didn’t get upset and said, “Weren’t you the one who wanted a second child? I’m just being proactive.”
Shameless.
Lin Xiyu ignored him, straightening her hair, adjusting her clothes, and spraying some air freshener. Once done, she shot him another glare and said, “I promised to be back early for Little Baby. You held me up for ages—who knows if Little Baby is heartbroken by now.”
“That little guy should be taking his nap. No need to rush. You can stay a bit longer.”
Stay, my foot.
Lin Xiyu went straight to the door and left. As she passed by the secretary’s office, she overheard the secretaries murmuring.
“Should we tell Mr. Lu about this?”
“No need, it’s not a big deal. We can just notify security to be a bit more vigilant.”
“But I feel like this could hurt the company’s reputation. If we don’t inform Mr. Lu and it escalates…”
Lin Xiyu approached and casually asked, “Is there a problem?”
Everyone at Changheng knew she was the boss’s wife, so they couldn’t ignore her. One of the secretaries explained, “Recently, people have been coming to make a scene outside the Changheng building. We haven’t decided whether to inform Mr. Lu.”
Someone actually dared to make trouble at Changheng? Lin Xiyu was curious. “Do you know who they are?”
“They say they’re relatives of Vice President Liu.”
“Vice President Liu?”
“They claim to be Vice President Liu Manqing’s biological parents and siblings.”
Lin Xiyu remembered that Liu Manqing had told her parents abandoned her as a child and raised in an orphanage. Where did these “biological family members” suddenly appear from?
Lin Xiyu brought a secretary down with her to see what was happening. Before they even reached the entrance, they could hear loud voices. At the door, several security guards were tangling with a family. The family seemed determined to enter, but the guards blocked them.
“She’s my own daughter, Liu Manqing, your Vice President. Tell her to come out and talk to me,” a middle-aged woman yelled.
A guard pushed her back, saying, “You think you can just see our Vice President whenever you please?”
“Look closely!” A slightly overweight man stood with his hands on his hips. “We’re her real family! The one you just pushed is her mother, and I’m her brother. How dare you block us? Call her out now!”
The family wanted in; the guards wanted them out—it was a standoff. The middle-aged woman began wailing, sitting on the ground, slapping her thigh. “My life is so hard! How did I raise such a heartless daughter? Her father’s sick with no money for treatment, and she won’t even see her own family! What’s the point of all that money if she’s so heartless?!”
Watching this for a bit, Lin Xiyu got the gist. Whether or not they were actually Liu Manqing’s family, it was clear they’d come for money.
If they weren’t family, this was outright extortion. If they were, then after abandoning her as a child, they were showing up now to ask for money. Shameless.
Lin Xiyu asked the secretary, “Does Vice President Liu know about this?”
The secretary replied, “She’s aware. She said we don’t need to inform her if they show up again; just try to get them to leave.”
Since they were as sticky as gum, Lin Xiyu said, “Call the police and report them for causing a disturbance. Let the authorities handle it.”
Lin Xiyu’s words held authority in Changheng, essentially speaking on Lu Junting’s behalf. Since the boss’s wife had made the call, the secretaries had no hesitation. One whispered to the head of security, who made the call.
Lin Xiyu didn’t bother with it any further. This small issue could easily be handled by the security department. After instructing them, she returned home, arriving just as Little Baby woke up from his nap.
Later, when Lin Xiyu returned to Changheng, she didn’t hear of that family causing any more trouble.
One day, Lin Xiyu went to Changheng to see Lu Junting. The moment she entered the building, she sensed a tense atmosphere. The entire office seemed on edge, as if bracing for something big. When she got on the elevator, she noticed a few police officers getting off.
Lin Xiyu was puzzled and didn’t quite know what was happening. Seeing the police around, she assumed it wasn’t anything good. Feeling uneasy, she went to Lu Junting’s office. He was on the phone when she entered, and she heard him say, “After the investigation, just send her straight home. No need for her to come back to the office. Yes, she won’t need to come in for a while.”
Once the other side responded, he hung up and turned to look at her, raising an eyebrow. “Why are you here now?”
“Did something happen? I saw police downstairs.”
“Nothing major.”
“Come on, what’s going on?”
“You remember that family who came to Changheng to cause trouble, right?”
Lin Xiyu nodded.
“Last night, the one claiming to be Liu Manqing’s brother was murdered, so the police came to investigate.”
For someone like Lin Xiyu, who’d grown up in a stable society, hearing about a murder—especially one so close to her—sent a chill down her spine.
She thought back to the family she saw that day. The one claiming to be Liu Manqing’s brother was probably the slightly overweight man with that arrogant look, pointing in the guard’s face.
She asked, “I heard you say on the phone that someone doesn’t need to come back. Who was taken in for questioning?”
“Liu Manqing was taken in as a suspect by the police.”
Though Lin Xiyu and Liu Manqing weren’t super close, they’d grown friendly over time. From what Lin Xiyu knew, Liu Manqing was ambitious and driven. She couldn’t imagine her being involved in something as self-destructive as murder.
“Why would the police suspect her?”
“I’m not too sure. Let’s wait for the results. Don’t worry too much—if she didn’t commit the crime, the police won’t do anything to her.”
Lin Xiyu nodded, looking troubled as she sat down on the sofa. Lu Junting’s phone rang again, and he moved to the window to take the call. Meanwhile, Lin Xiyu pulled out her phone and searched the news in Ancheng. Sure enough, she found a report on the murder from the night before.
Out of curiosity, she clicked on a post from someone claiming to have seen the crime scene. Suddenly, an image appeared on her screen, shocking her completely.
It was a high-resolution photo of the corpse, and she’d never seen anything so horrifying. The victim’s limbs had been severed and placed on either side of his torso in a strange arrangement. His mouth had been torn open all the way to his ears, and his eyes were gouged out, leaving only empty sockets.
The killer had turned him into a gruesome clown face, with the torn mouth giving the impression of a sinister smile. The sight made her stomach churn, and she immediately tossed her phone aside, running to the bathroom, hand over her mouth, where she retched and vomited everything she’d eaten at lunch.
Lu Junting finished his call and found her in the bathroom, catching her breath after vomiting.
“What happened?”
He stepped forward to wipe her mouth, but Lin Xiyu instinctively moved away, feeling a bit disgusted with herself. Just as she turned her head, his hand followed, and she had no choice but to let him help her clean up.
After catching her breath, she said, “I saw a disturbing image.”
“What image?”
“The murder scene.”
“Why would you look at that?”
She’d just been curious about the situation—she didn’t expect such a revolting image to pop up.
“I’ll take you to the hospital later. You’re vomiting so much; you don’t want to hurt your stomach.”
“Aren’t you busy lately? I can go on my own.” Lin Xiyu said.
Lu Junting had a meeting soon, so he said, “I’ll have my assistant go with you.”
“No need. I’m not a kid; I can go myself.”
After leaving Changheng, Lin Xiyu went to the hospital. She initially wanted to ask the doctor for something to calm her stomach, but she remembered she was preparing for pregnancy. Some medications weren’t safe to take if she was pregnant, so she decided to get a checkup first, just in case.
She hadn’t expected anything, but the checkup confirmed she was indeed pregnant.
The author has something to say:
Lu Junting: Looks like I really am quite capable.
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