The two characters "Auntie" on the mobile phone screen hissed like venomous snakes, indicating ill omen. Su Wanwan's fingers hung above the answer button, trembling slightly, and she subconsciously looked at Lu Tingchen.
Lu Tingchen's expression was stern. He nodded slightly at her, indicating that she would answer the call, and at the same time, he signaled Qin Hao to prepare for recording and tracking the equipment.
Su Wanwan took a deep breath, pressed the answer button and turned on the hands-free device.
"Wanwan!" Oh, Wan Wan! "Bad!" " Wang Meijuan's shrill and anxious voice immediately burst out in the quiet living room, with a crying tone, "Mingwei!" Mingwei is going back to her home country!"
Su Wanwan's heart sank suddenly. The thing she was most worried about had still happened. She forced herself to stay calm and said, "Auntie, please tell me slowly. What's going on?"
"Just now!" Mingwei called me secretly! She said she couldn't stay in Macau anymore. Although the people there paid off their debts, they still kept harassing her! She said... She said that her aunt from the Lu family sent someone to find her and told her that as long as she came back, they would help her get back everything that belonged to her! It's said that the position of the current wife in the Lu family was originally hers! Wanwan, what should I do! If she comes back, won't everything be exposed? ! The Lu family surely won't let us off the hook!
Wang Meijuan was incoherent and clearly terrified. The shrewd calculation she had when asking for money before had vanished, leaving only panic.
Su Wanwan's complexion gradually turned deathly pale, and the knuckles of her fingers holding the phone all turned white. Lu Meilin's move is just too venomous! Cut off the fuel supply directly!
Lu Tingchen's eyes had completely frozen. He made a gesture to Qin Hao. Qin Hao immediately understood and gave instructions to the communication equipment in a low voice: "Lock the signal source and block all communications from Macau to this number."
"Wanwan?" Wanwan, are you listening? Why don't you say something? You're Mrs. Lu now. You have to think of a way! You can't let your sister come back and cause trouble!" Wang Meijuan was still chattering away on the other end of the phone, urging her on.
Su Wanwan felt a splitting headache. The immense pressure and fear made it almost impossible for her to breathe. What can she think of? What can she stop?
Just then, a warm big hand landed on the back of her cold and trembling hand. Lu Tingchen sat down beside her at some point, his gaze calm as he looked at her, silently conveying strength.
He spoke into the mobile phone, his voice as cold as ice, with an unquestionable authority: "Mrs. Su." "
Wang Meijuan on the other end of the phone seemed to have her neck choked. She fell silent instantly, leaving only heavy breathing sounds. Clearly, she didn't expect Lu Tingchen to be listening as well.
"Mind your daughter's business." " Lu Tingchen's voice had no trace of warmth. "Tell her that if she still wants to stay abroad safely, she should behave herself and not listen to anyone's instigement anymore." Otherwise, I wouldn't mind letting the creditors in Macau know her new contact information.
The threatening tone in these words was raw and cold, scaring Wang Meijuan so much that she couldn't speak clearly: "Lu..." Mr. Lu... I... I will surely tell her! Make sure she behaves properly! Please don't..."
"Besides," Lu Tingchen interrupted her, "if you let me know again that you or Su Mingwei have disturbed Wanwan for any reason..."
He paused for a moment, each word crashing down like an ice cone: "I can't guarantee that the Su family can still exist as' stably 'as it does now." Understand?"
"... Understood! Understood! Absolutely not! "Never again!" " Wang Meijuan repeatedly assured, her voice shaking uncontrollably.
Lu Tingchen directly ended the call, snatched the phone from Su Wanwan's stiff hand and threw it aside.
The living room fell into a deathly silence.
Su Wanwan was still immersed in the huge impact just now and Lu Tingchen's cold threat, her whole body shivering. She had never seen him like this... The fierce side. That is not merely a domineering attitude towards the outside world, but also an indifferent and disdainful look towards lives as insignificant as ants.
She suddenly realized that he could protect her so easily and also so easily... Destroy the Su family.
An indescribable fear and sadness seized her. In this game of the rich and powerful, she was ultimately just a powerless pawn, and all her stability was built on the mood of the man beside her.
Tears welled up without warning and rolled down in big drops, silent yet desperate.
Lu Tingchen was about to instruct Qin Hao to intensify the interception when he turned his head and saw Su Wanwan sitting there, silently weeping. Her pale face was filled with brokenness and despair.
All his words got stuck in his throat.
He had seen her cry many times, wronged, scared, touched... But I have never seen her look like this... An expression as if losing hope for the entire world.
Those always clear and lively eyes were now filled with a sense of desolation that made his heart tighten for no reason.
He frowned, almost subconsciously reaching out his hand and clumsily wiping her tears. His fingertips touched the cold dampness, and a strange, faint tingling sensation also rose in his chest.
"Why are you crying?" His voice remained deep but had slowed down a lot, even carrying a hint of barely perceptible helplessness. "The problem is solved."
He thought she was frightened by the phone call just now or worried that Su Mingwei would come back.
Su Wanwan shook her head, but her tears fell even more fiercely. She wasn't afraid of Su Mingwei; she was afraid... I'm afraid of this feeling of always hanging in the air and relying on others, and I'm afraid of the insurmountable, vast chasm between me and him.
She raised her teary eyes to look at him, her voice choked up, and with a hint of despair, she questioned, "Lu Tingchen, for you, can everything be resolved by threats and interests?" Is it everyone... Can all be like chess pieces, keeping what is useful and discarding what is not?
Including her? Could it be that one day, if she loses her value or provokes him, she will also be so ruthlessly abandoned or even destroyed by him?
Lu Tingchen's hand, which was wiping her tears, stopped.
Looking at the deep sorrow and doubt in her eyes, for the first time, he couldn't quite understand this woman.
He solved the trouble and protected her. Why was she even more sad instead? Even... It seems like you're afraid of him?
A kind of inexplicable irritability and... A vague and indescribable panic rose in his heart. He didn't like the way she looked at him at this moment, as if he were such a terrifying existence.
"Su Wanwan," he withdrew his hand, his tone sinking, carrying a hint of frustration that he himself didn't even notice, "I'm helping you."
"I know!" Su Wanwan's tears streamed down even more fiercely, and her emotions were somewhat out of control. "I know you're helping me!" You're helping me in your way! But your way... Is it to always be so high and mighty, controlling everything like this? Is it that one can decide others' life and death, honor and disgrace at any time? And what about me? What exactly am I to you? A rather interesting pet that you haven't got tired of yet? Or is it still a face that needs to be maintained and cannot be damaged?"
The emotions that had been pent up for too long, such as the grievance of the substitute marriage, the anxiety about her status, the fear of being neither too close nor too distant towards him, and the dependence and fear of his powerful control, all erupted completely at this moment.
Lu Tingchen was completely stunned.
He watched her break down in tears and listened to her questioning with a crying tone. Those words pierced his heart like needles.
Pet? Face?
So that's what she thinks of him?
A sudden, nameless rage flared up, but not at her, but at the one who had made her have such thoughts... "Himself?" Is it still this damn situation?
He suddenly stood up, paced restlessly in the living room for two steps, then stopped in front of her, took a deep breath, and tried to suppress that strange emotion.
"Su Wanwan," he looked at her, his gaze deep as if he wanted to suck her in, "Listen."
"I, Lu Tingchen, have very precious time and no time to keep pets." "
"The Lu family has a lot of face and doesn't need you to maintain it." "
"As for control..." He gave a cold laugh, with a hint of self-mockery, "If I could have complete control, I wouldn't have let you cry me here..."
He paused, and the words that followed seemed hard to utter.
He bent down again, propping his hands on the backrests of the sofa on either side of her body, trapping her between himself and the sofa, and stared intently at her tear-streaked face.
I don't care what's going on in your mind. You just need to remember one thing -
"You are my legal wife, the woman I, Lu Tingchen, have rightfully married." As long as this identity remains, your personal safety and your emotional joy will all be under my control."
If others make you unhappy, I'll make them even happier.
"You're crying," his fingertips brushed her cheek again, a little rough, his voice hoarse a bit. "I'll try to make you stop."
This is my way. Perhaps not gentle enough, not considerate enough, but this is me.
His words were still domineering, his logic was strange, yet it carried a resolute commitment and... An almost clumsy candor.
Su Wanwan stared at him blankly, forgetting to shed tears. His words, "If you shed tears, I'll find a way to make you stop," were like a feather, gently scratching the softest part of her heart, bringing a wave of sour and bitter palpitations.
So... He did all this not because of responsibility or face, but because... Care?
Looking at her dazed appearance, Lu Tingchen frowned, as if he felt that his expression was not clear enough. He was silent for a moment, as if he had made up his mind, and suddenly added in a very stiff tone:
And that kiss...
He mentioned that forehead kiss in a somewhat unnatural tone: "..." It's not a joke."
Having said that, he seemed to have accomplished some difficult task. He suddenly straightened up and resumed his usual stern posture, as if the man who had almost confessed just now was not him.
"Qin Hao," he turned around, his tone returning to calm, "Increase the number of personnel and make sure to stop Su Mingwei before she boards the flight back home." When necessary, extraordinary measures can be taken.
"Yes!" "
Having given the instructions, he didn't even glance at Su Wanwan again and walked straight towards the study, but his back seemed a little stiffer than usual.
Su Wanwan sat alone on the sofa, her face still streaked with tears, but her heart felt as if it had been thrown into a bomb of mixed emotions, causing her thoughts to be in a mess, yet... Miraculously no longer in despair.
He said... That kiss wasn't a joke.
He said... Her joys and sorrows are in his hands.
So, to him, she was ultimately... It's different, isn't it?
Just then, her phone vibrated again. It was an anonymous message: "Do you want to keep your position as Mrs. Lu? See you at the Blue Bay Coffee Shop at 3 p.m. tomorrow. Come alone. Otherwise, the information about Su Mingwei's return flight ticket will appear in all media emails." - Insider
A new storm has already lifted the corners of one's clothes.