Chapter 87: I Bully You—So What?

“How is that not bullying people?”

Bullying?

Wen Zhixia folded her arms over her chest and lifted her brows, a half-smile playing at the corners of her mouth. “Before we are officially divorced, this is my home. Letting you leave wearing the things from my house is already mercy enough. Besides... so what if I am bullying you? You came here. If I do not bully you, how are you supposed to stage your tragic little performance?”

She had no interest in pretending to be weak, and she hated even more for anyone to use weakness as an excuse.

Gu Pingsheng looked at Wen Zhixia with those deep, unreadable eyes, watching her sharp tongue and her confident, unyielding manner.

“Senior...” Zhao Fuhe clutched his arm and called out when he said nothing at all, only stared at Wen Zhixia without blinking.

“Aunt Zhao, Aunt Wang, what are you standing there for? Can’t you see Miss Zhao is desperate to leave?” Wen Zhixia said coolly, her gaze sweeping across the room.

Aunt Zhao and Aunt Wang glanced at Gu Pingsheng, as if still hesitating.

“Do you want me to do it myself?” Wen Zhixia’s clear voice carried a thin, icy edge.

Aunt Zhao paused, then exchanged a look with Aunt Wang. The two of them simultaneously grabbed one of Zhao Fuhe’s arms each.

Zhao Fuhe cried out, calling Gu Pingsheng’s name.

A flicker crossed Gu Pingsheng’s deep-set eyes. Wen Zhixia tipped her chin and shot him a sidelong look, as if waiting to see whether he would really go against her. Then she raised a hand and motioned Aunt Zhao over, lowering her voice to say something in her ear.

Aunt Zhao nodded.

When Zhao Fuhe’s frightened screams gradually died down, Wen Zhixia gave a cold snort, withdrew her gaze, and turned away.

After she got home, she had already taken off her coat. She wore only a soft, fitted knit dress with a V-neck that fell below the knees. Her thick, silky hair swayed with her movement, and the slender line of her waist appeared and disappeared beneath those dark waves, graceful and supple, as though one hand could close entirely around it—yet somehow there was a stubborn resilience in her that made one want to drag her back, subdue her, and watch her break beneath him.

Zhao Fuhe was thrown all the way to the entrance of the villa district. Aside from the shoes on her feet, which were still the same pair she had worn before, she had only a bathrobe on. Whenever a car passed by, the drivers would instinctively glance over a few times. Anyone who did not know better might have thought this was some sort of performance art.

Aunt Zhao and Aunt Wang had dragged her along for nearly twenty minutes. Throughout the whole time, Zhao Fuhe screamed and struggled nonstop, but the two of them ignored her completely.

“Miss Zhao, for the sake of your dignity, we advise you not to make too much of a spectacle of yourself. Otherwise, the only one who will be embarrassed is you.” They always said that people with the same surname were family, but Aunt Zhao could not have disliked this woman more.

After they dumped her at the east gate, the security guards looked over in surprise. “This is...”

Aunt Wang stepped forward two paces. “This woman, remember her face. Do not let her in here again. She came to our home to steal, and our madam caught her.”

Stealing a man was still stealing.

The security guard stiffened. “Stealing? That was our mistake. Should we call the police?”

Just throwing her out like this seemed far too lenient a punishment.

Zhao Fuhe clutched the collar of her bathrobe tightly. The cold wind outside seeped through every gap, making her teeth chatter. Being scrutinized by the guards as though she were a thief only made her bite down harder, wanting to pretend to faint. But Aunt Zhao said coolly from the side, “Our madam is magnanimous. She said that if someone suddenly collapses, you can just call the police and an ambulance and have her taken away.”

She deliberately emphasized the words suddenly, cutting off Zhao Fuhe’s retreat.

Looking at Zhao Fuhe’s pitiful, tearful expression, Aunt Zhao only became more convinced that Wen Zhixia had a sharp eye. She had seen through this woman’s intentions at a glance.

Only she did not understand. Mr. Gu did not seem like a man who would be bewitched by beauty. Especially not this woman, who in every way fell short of Wen Zhixia. Just where did she have anything worth favoring?

The security guard nodded. “Understood.”

But not long after Aunt Zhao and Aunt Wang left, the guard booth received a phone call. The guard who answered cast a strange glance at Zhao Fuhe, who was trembling nearby and trying to stop passing cars.

“Yes, she is still here...”

“You are... Mr. Gu? But the two aunts just left. I... yes, I understand...”

Wen Zhixia realized she had forgotten her phone and came back for it. Instead, she just happened to overhear Gu Pingsheng calling the guard booth. After taking her phone, she looked at him coldly.

Gu Pingsheng froze, clearly not expecting her to return, and not even make a sound while walking.

His deep gaze fell to her feet, and sure enough, she was not wearing shoes. Every winter, her hands and feet ran cold so easily, like they were made of jade. Yet for someone with such a good memory, she always forgot to put on shoes at home whenever she was in a hurry.

When the weather was warmer, she would go barefoot. Even now, though she was wearing socks, she still stepped straight onto the icy tiles.

“Why are you not wearing shoes again?” he frowned.

Wen Zhixia gave him a sidelong glance. Her tone was calm. “Who were you on the phone with just now? Who did you tell to send her back? If you can’t bear to let her go, Mr. Gu, why not send her back yourself?”

Gu Pingsheng bent down and lifted her into his arms. Annoyed, she struggled. Her fingers flailed and left a red gash of blood across his neck. Where she struck hardest, the skin had been broken and blood seeped out; lower down, though it had not bled, it had still scraped away a layer of skin.

She paused. He crouched lower and placed the soles of her feet in his palm. They were, as expected, ice-cold. Behind him came the sound of a door opening and closing, and Gu Pingsheng said in a low voice, “Bring Madam’s slippers here.”

Wen Zhixia drew her feet back and said flatly, “You do not need to concern yourself with my affairs.”

“Even if you are angry with me, you should not joke with your own body.” Gu Pingsheng took the slippers Aunt Wang handed over and set them on the rug in front of her. “Put your shoes on.”

Wen Zhixia stepped into the slippers and walked past him.

Gu Pingsheng paused, then followed. Once they reached the upstairs corridor, and she quickened her pace the farther she went, he pinned her against the wall. “What exactly are you fighting with me about, Xiaxia? My attitude toward her, and my attitude toward you—I do not believe you truly cannot tell the difference.”

“You touched her, held her, kissed her, slept with her. Does your attitude toward her still matter?” she shot back. But when he opened his mouth, she cut him off there. “Do not explain it to me. She is not here. You can say anything you want.”

“Have the surgery done. Once the surgery is over, I guarantee you will never see her again.” He stroked her face, his body pressed tightly to hers, every muscle taut. “I have you. How could I touch any other woman? You truly cannot feel that?”

A flash of restrained anger crossed Wen Zhixia’s face. She shoved him away. “We are in the middle of a divorce agreement. What do you think you are doing?!”