Chapter 60: I Am Tainted, I Am Worthless, I Admit It

Wang Haiqiong was taken away, and even after the celebration banquet ended, many people were still discussing what had happened. Naturally, there were also those whose smiles grew strained and awkward whenever the topic arose nearby, for they, too, had had some dealings with Wang Haiqiong.

Meanwhile, Wang Haiqiong lay on a hospital bed. As the doctor finished treating her wounds, a woman wearing sunglasses suddenly entered the room. The doctor assumed she was a friend visiting and paid little attention. But a quarter of an hour later, the room was filled with anguished, heart-wrenching screams: “Ah! My face! My face hurts so much! Someone help! My face!”

Clutching her bloodied face, Wang Haiqiong tumbled from the bed onto the floor, crying out as pain overtook her. The woman in sunglasses watched coldly, her gaze merciless. “You wretch! Let’s see how you’ll seduce men now, with that foxy charm of yours!”

The agony was unbearable. Wang Haiqiong could almost hear the corrosive hiss of chemicals eating away at her skin. Her beauty—her face and figure—was her livelihood, maintained at great expense and effort each month. Now, with her face doused in powerful acid, her entire being collapsed.

Before the doctors could return, the woman with sunglasses slipped away swiftly. When the doctors finally arrived and saw the suffering, writhing Wang Haiqiong, they were momentarily stunned. “Hurry! Get her to the emergency room—now!”

Acid burns are nearly impossible to reverse. Even if her life could be saved, her face was irrevocably destroyed. No amount of reconstructive surgery could restore what had been lost.

Wang Haiqiong was rushed, wailing, into the emergency room, while the woman in sunglasses gripped her purse and left without a glance back.

Wen Zhixia only learned of Wang Haiqiong’s disfigurement when she happened to overhear a phone conversation between Gu Pingsheng and someone else.

“...Is there any hope of recovery?” she asked.

Gu Pingsheng took her hand, gently rubbing her knuckles. “Do you hope she can recover?”

Wen Zhixia hadn’t truly considered the question—whether she wished for it or not. “For someone like her, her face and figure are everything. If she loses them, she’ll likely lose the will to live.”

Wang Haiqiong was never a stunning beauty, but her curvaceous figure was favored by some men. She spent extravagantly to maintain her appearance. Now, with all her efforts undone, for a woman as proud as she, this fate was surely worse than death.

“She has only herself to blame for provoking someone she shouldn’t have,” Gu Pingsheng said, his meaning elusive.

Wen Zhixia hadn’t heard what Gu Pingsheng had said when Wang Haiqiong was attacked, so she assumed he was referring to the woman who’d thrown the acid.

She said nothing more. Over the years, Wang Haiqiong had always treated her as an eyesore; any friendship between them was nonexistent.

Her concerns now lay elsewhere—with Hua Qianjiao.

At the celebration, Qing Qi’s gentle advances and shower of flowers easily swayed Hua Qianjiao’s naive heart, and she believed his honeyed words. After the banquet, Wen Zhixia made a point to call Hua’s father, urging him to keep a closer watch over his daughter, lest she be taken advantage of.

“If only Qianjiao were half as sensible as you, I’d be at ease,” Hua’s father sighed.

Wen Zhixia hesitated. “...Has Qianjiao’s condition shown any improvement?”

At this, Hua’s father’s weariness became evident. “The doctors say the brain is incredibly complex. There’s no rushing recovery—it could be half a year, a year, or... ten years...”

Or perhaps a lifetime. Even the most skilled doctors could only assist so much; none could offer certainty.

“Qing Qi has already ruined one outstanding daughter of mine, and now he wants to use her as a bargaining chip? It’s outrageous!” How could Hua’s father not be angry, or not harbor resentment? It had been Qianjiao’s choice to save him, and he couldn’t blame Qing Qi for that. But now Qing Qi openly sought to use his daughter for exchange—how could any father accept it?

Realizing his own agitation, Hua’s father took a steadying breath. “But Qianjiao won’t listen to any of this from me. She still listens to you. If you have time, try to talk some sense into her. I’ll also have a word with the Qing family.”

Wen Zhixia agreed softly.

At her response, Hua’s father sounded somewhat comforted. “Qianjiao is fortunate to have a sister like you.”

Wen Zhixia’s attention was drawn away by Hua Qianjiao’s situation, and she paid no further heed to the aftermath of Wang Haiqiong’s incident. The next she heard was via a termination notice.

It stated that discrepancies had been found in Wang Haiqiong’s accounts. The company had terminated her contract and reserved the right to pursue further action.

To outsiders, this might appear to be a simple matter. But those within the company knew better—this was the classic tale of “the cunning hare is cooked once the hound is no longer needed.” With Wang Haiqiong’s reputation ruined and her face destroyed, she had lost all value to the company. The mistakes in her work, once glossed over during her heyday, were now dredged up for belated reckoning.

With no more use for her, there was no reason to keep her.

In just three days, Wang Haiqiong’s name had become synonymous with scandal; her reputation and beauty were in ruins. The hospital had contacted her family immediately, but they found her an embarrassment, denying any relation. “We’ll just consider her dead,” they’d said before hanging up abruptly.

When the dismissal message arrived on her phone, Wang Haiqiong immediately reached out to her former superior, trying to appeal emotionally, hoping the company would rescind its decision.

“Haiqiong, you ought to recognize the situation. Look at yourself—if you represented the company, who knows how many clients you’d frighten away? The company has only terminated your position and isn’t holding you liable for losses. That’s thanks to my mediation. If you keep making trouble, we’ll have to settle this in court.”

Her face was swathed in bandages, leaving only her eyes and mouth exposed. Each twitch of her facial muscles brought stabbing pain, yet she couldn’t suppress her emotions. “I’ve done so much for the company! You just fire me like that? Aren’t you afraid I’ll expose our dirty secrets?”

Her superior patted his stomach and sneered, “Slander the leadership? Do you think our legal department is idle? And do you need me to remind you what your reputation is now? If you’re smart, leave quietly and don’t make a scene, or you won’t even have money for your ghastly face’s treatment!”

Wang Haiqiong gripped her phone tightly. “You can’t just cut me off like this. Even if we don’t count all the contracts I brought in... we had something between us, didn’t we?”

“Something between us?” Her superior laughed as if she’d told a joke. “How many men have been through you? Can you even count? I didn’t mind your filth only because you were useful to the company. Otherwise, you wouldn’t even be fit to carry my shoes.”

Once the veil was torn away, the festering filth was laid bare.

The man who once whispered sweet nothings in her ear now sneered, saying she wasn’t even fit to be a rag. Suddenly, Wang Haiqiong laughed. “Zhang Xinli, to hell with you! May you die a miserable death!”

“You bitch, you—” The curse was cut short as Wang Haiqiong hung up.

She then proceeded to contact, one after another, several men she’d been involved with. The more patient ones claimed they were too busy; many hung up immediately, and some even told her not to drag them down with her.

A bitter laugh escaped her.

She glanced at the torrent of hateful messages sent by the wives of these men, listened to their calls, and found it all absurdly funny.

Yes, she was despicable. She’d climbed the ladder by willingly lying with men who could help her. But how clean were those men? If not her, it would have been someone else. So why shouldn’t she strip off her clothes in pursuit of her goals?

“Your husband told me in bed that he found you so greasy with fat that he couldn’t stand holding you. Everyone’s kicking me while I’m down now, but don’t act like you’re victims. Don’t you know what kind of man your husband is? How many women has he had? Aren’t you all the same as me—willing to be with him for money? Who the hell is nobler than whom?”

These so-called society wives were no better than her. They knew their husbands were serial adulterers, bedding countless women, yet still pretended nothing had happened.

Sitting on the rooftop, Wang Haiqiong seemed to find a release for her anger. “Yes, I’m filthy, I’m cheap, I admit it! What about you? You lofty ladies share the same man with women like me!” She tore off every last mask, her words venomous. “You only curse me because you see I’m done for—why didn’t you say anything before? You were afraid of making a scene, of fighting with your husband. You’re no different from the women at Junyue—you just have one man, and it’s for free. At least those women get paid. You’re not even worth as much as them! Hahahaha...”

Her laughter pulled at her injured face, causing fresh blood to seep through the bandages, but she seemed beyond caring.

The wind on the rooftop tugged at her clothes, faintly outlining the shapely figure she’d maintained for years.

After hanging up, she scrolled through her contacts, realizing that at a moment like this, there was not a single person she could talk to.

Until her finger finally stopped on one name—Wen Zhixia.