Chapter 151: Bound Hand and Foot

Wen Zhixia’s clear and elegant brows twitched slightly, but she remained silent.

Zhao Fuhe seemed to expect no reply. Asking such questions was merely meant to make her uncomfortable, dripping with thick, heavy mockery.

"Him and me..." Zhao Fuhe intentionally dragged out her words, her fingers sliding rhythmically across the pet carrier, "We never slept together."

Wen Zhixia spoke up, "On the day of the first snow three years ago..."

Zhao Fuhe sneered, "It wasn't him."

Wen Zhixia frowned, her gaze turning evaluative, clearly skeptical of such an answer.

"I have no reason to lie to you now," Zhao Fuhe said. "I know what you're doubting. The man that day wasn't him, but... it had everything to do with him."

Mentioning the events of three years ago, Zhao Fuhe felt as if a lifetime had passed. Sometimes people simply cannot afford to take a single wrong step; one misstep leads to another, and greed knows no end.

Wen Zhixia waited quietly, listening for what she had to say next.

"He ordered his driver to sleep with me, making me believe the man who took my virginity was him. He made me think I was carrying his child, and that I could use the child to rise in status and become his wife... That night was the same. I was drunk, and the driver wore his clothes and drove his car..." At this, Zhao Fuhe laughed aloud, though it was unclear whether she was mocking herself, Gu Pingsheng, or Wen Zhixia. "Don't you think this is what they call retribution? Gu Pingsheng must never have dreamed that the trap he meticulously set, treating me like a complete fool, would ultimately ruin his own marriage. Hahahaha..."

The waiter served the coffee. Wen Zhixia felt a slight jolt in her heart, stirring it gently without taking a sip.

"Wen Zhixia, sometimes I truly hate you." Zhao Fuhe wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, her fingers curling tightly against the tabletop. "My entire life was ruined by you! When you fell ill, why must I always be the one standing by, ready to step onto the operating table for you? You didn't even love Gu Pingsheng that much—back in college, you were the one who publicly rejected his confession. Why did you have to show up right when I went to find him?!

"Where am I inferior to you? If you were the pampered young miss of a wealthy conglomerate, I would concede defeat gracefully. But our family backgrounds, our social standings, and even the university we graduated from are identical! It’s simply because you stole Gu Pingsheng that our lives turned out worlds apart!!

"Gu Pingsheng sent me to the Underground City. Do you have any idea how I survived these past three years? Did anyone treat me like a human being?! I owe all of this entirely to you!! I'm going to watch, from somewhere else, to see what kind of miserable end awaits someone like you. I curse you—I curse you to lose the one you love most, to never get what you desire, and to meet a desolate end!"

An end a thousand times, ten thousand times, a million times more wretched than mine!!

When she reunited with Gu Pingsheng three years ago, Zhao Fuhe thought she could start over. But in the end, it was merely a fleeting dream; from beginning to end, no one had ever taken her seriously. Yet, stubbornly refusing to yield to fate, she had wanted to make one last desperate struggle, self-deceptively ignoring the chilling indifference in his eyes.

It was all fake—everything was fake in the end!

Wen Zhixia raised her eyes, her voice cold and detached. "Take care of yourself."

Watching her stand up, Zhao Fuhe dug her fingernails deep into her palms. Always, it was always like this!

No matter what she did, it seemed incapable of causing the slightest ripple in Wen Zhixia, who always looked down from on high as if viewing a lowly ant.

"Do you know what is most detestable about you? You rely on men just as much as I do, and you're no better than me, yet you always maintain this lofty, high-and-mighty posture! You simply have good luck, simply rely on Gu Pingsheng liking you, and simply possess a face capable of bewildering men. By what right do you always act so condescending, like a goddess unsullied by the mortal world?!"

She should have been just as lowly as her, living in the same filth, treated just like a plaything by others!

Yet somehow, Wen Zhixia had walked an entirely different path and lived an utterly opposite life. How unfair!

Wen Zhixia glanced down at her watch, her gaze calm, cold, and aloof. "You and I are not the same."

She had never thought of using her appearance to gain anything, nor would she ever trade her body for wealth that did not rightfully belong to her. She took only what she deserved.

"Right, you're successful now, standing up high, so naturally you can say whatever you please," Zhao Fuhe retorted bitterly.

If she were the victor today, she could have stood just as high and uttered those exact same elegant words.

Having learned what she wanted to know, Wen Zhixia had no appetite to continue talking with her.

Zhao Fuhe’s groundless hostility and resentment toward her could not be washed away overnight, nor could she make everyone in the world like her.

Having stood in the path someone else wanted to take, right or wrong, she was destined to be treated as an enemy.

Wen Zhixia turned and walked away. Zhao Fuhe watched her retreating figure, her eyes burning red with hatred. Her life had been a total failure from the very moment she started comparing herself to Wen Zhixia.

She simply couldn't accept it. Why did two people starting from the exact same point end up with only her sinking into the mire?

If Wen Zhixia hadn't been living so well, the gap in her heart wouldn't have felt so crushing. But the reality was that, whether three years ago or three years later, Wen Zhixia had always lived in absolute luxury, backed by both a Gu Pingsheng and the centuries-old elite Xu family!

The heavens were simply too biased, giving Wen Zhixia everything while stingily withholding even a shred of good fortune from her!

Zhao Fuhe hugged the pet carrier tightly to her chest. Inside was her only bargaining chip to turn the tables and start over. Her phone displayed flight details for a departure in three hours.

When Wen Zhixia returned to the car, Gu Youzhi was holding a bag of snacks, munching away like a little squirrel with crisp crunching sounds. Seeing her return, he tossed the snacks aside, burrowed into her arms, lifted his little head, and smiled sweetly at her. "Mommy, Tuanzi missed you so much."

Had Wen Zhixia not known about his condition, she would have found it hard to believe that a child who could act this soft and spoiled in front of her suffered from autism.

Held by him, the depressed mood she felt after dealing with Zhao Fuhe vanished completely. "I'll take you back to—"

"Can I work with Mommy today?" The little guy guessed what she was going to say the moment she opened her mouth. The uncle at the villa had wanted Mommy to send him away, but he refused.

He wanted to stay with Mommy, always and forever.

No one could separate them, absolutely no one!

"Okay? Please, Mommy, is that okay?"

"Tuanzi loves you the most."

"..."

Wen Zhixia figured that this child’s clinginess must have been directly inherited from Gu Pingsheng. She could remain completely unfazed by adults, but when it came to children...

"After I finish work, I'll send you to your father," Wen Zhixia said, feeling slightly dizzy from being shaken by him.

The little fellow blinked his bright, sparkling eyes, planted a wet kiss on her cheek, having heard only her promise to let him work alongside her while conveniently ignoring her mention of sending him away later that afternoon.

At Gu-Xia Group, the President's Office.

"President Gu, the items have been found." Zhou Anbei knocked and entered, holding a USB drive.

Gu Pingsheng, who was reviewing documents, paused his fingertips and slowly looked up. Zhou Anbei pulled the curtains shut and projected the video onto the screen. It was an old affair from fourteen years ago.

In the video, Zhao Fuhe appeared much younger and more naive than she did now. In a descriptive tone, she recounted the events she had witnessed with her own eyes fourteen years ago, complete with bank transfer records and a recording of the person who had tracked her down to offer hush money...

Listening to the audio, even though he had long suspected the truth, Gu Pingsheng’s eyes still turned blood red as he heard firsthand how his closest family member had been pushed down the stairs and left covered in blood.

"Where is Zhao Fuhe?" he asked in a deep, menacing voice.

"I'm sorry, President Gu... Zhao Fuhe should... already be on a plane by now." As soon as they gathered the physical evidence, they immediately set out to find Zhao Fuhe—after all, with material proof in hand, human testimony was also necessary—only to find the bird had already flown.

Gu Pingsheng clenched his fists, his narrow eyes narrowing as he cast a dark, lethal glare at Zhou Anbei. "She left the country? You couldn't even keep an eye on a single person?!"

"This..." Zhou Anbei hesitated. "Zhao Fuhe went to see President Wen today. Our men were afraid of being recognized by President Wen, so they didn't dare get too close."

Ever since Zhao Fuhe was released from the Underground City, people had been secretly monitoring her to prevent her from turning back on them or colluding with Wu Wenjing. However, because she had sought out Wen Zhixia, the men Zhou Anbei assigned didn't dare close in for fear of being detected, choosing to maintain a distant surveillance instead. In the blink of an eye, the woman had slipped away through a secondary exit of the coffee shop.

By the time they traced her flight information, the plane was already about to take off, and pursuing her was no longer an option.

With a sharp *clack*, Gu Pingsheng slammed his fountain pen onto the desk, his sharp, icy gaze locking onto Zhou Anbei. "Why are you only telling me now that she went to see Xiaoxia?!"

What could that woman possibly have to say to Wen Zhixia?!

Gu Pingsheng had not forgotten the exact reason why Wen Zhixia had made such a fuss and tried to leave him three years ago.

Zhou Anbei stammered, "This... didn't President Gu say that as long as we watched her to make sure nothing went wrong..." The rest didn't need to be reported?

Wishing to avoid hearing anything more about Zhao Fuhe, Gu Pingsheng hadn't requested minute-by-minute updates.

Yet now, under Gu Pingsheng's dark and chilling stare, Zhou Anbei could only swallow his words. "It was our incompetence... President Gu, should we go after—?"

With a gloomy expression, Gu Pingsheng stood up, grabbed his coat, and strode out of the office, leaving the open documents half-read. "Yihe Zhixia!"

Who knew what kind of nonsense that woman Zhao Fuhe might have spouted in front of Xiaoxia!

His heart was in turmoil, and naturally, he had to go see for himself to attain any peace of mind.

Zhou Anbei hurried to follow.

Meanwhile, Zhao Fuhe—whom Zhou Anbei was convinced had already boarded a plane—was currently bound tightly in a dimly lit basement, a strip of tape across her mouth, staring in absolute terror at the woman standing before her.

She had been drugged and abducted just as she was getting out of her car near the airport. When she regained consciousness, she was already trapped here.