Shocked by the message, Zhou Ye quickly typed back, "Are you crazy? What good will it do you to blow this up and call the police?" However, he discovered he had already been blocked. Furious, he smashed his phone against the wall.
Li Ruoyao walked out of the bathroom wearing a silk nightgown. Frowning at him, she asked, "What's gotten into you?"
Zhou Ye strode over and pinned her against the wall. His large hands roughly kneaded her through the fabric, his face dark with fury. "It's that woman. She actually dared to threaten me."
He had assumed that given her personality, hearing those words would leave her too humiliated to show her face and force her to suffer in silence. Instead, she wanted to call the cops! She really was a shameless woman. But he wouldn't give her the chance. Since she didn't know what was good for her, she couldn't blame him for getting entirely ruthless.
Within moments, Li Ruoyao began to pant. "What did you do?"
"I told her to stop bothering me, but she's completely shameless and insists on pestering me." Zhou Ye leaned in to kiss her. "Ruoyao, are you really going to marry Congli?" He wouldn't tell Ruoyao about these dirty details. She was different from others; she was completely clean and pure.
Li Ruoyao's mood instantly soured. "Why are you bringing this up again? Besides, you haven't even resolved your own mess. What right do you have to make demands of me?" She pushed him away and turned to leave.
Zhou Ye's expression darkened. Every time Congli was mentioned, Ruoyao would turn hostile. Did she really like Congli that much? If she knew that the man she liked had long been rolling in the sheets with another woman, would she still like him?
"Ruoyao, I'll definitely take care of that woman. But... I also hope you can consider my feelings. I have a heart too, and it hurts." He hugged her from behind and coaxed gently, "I've loved you for so many years, and we're finally together. It would break my heart if you belonged to someone else again."
Forget it. He would let her be happy for a few more days. On the day of the wedding, she would see Congli's true colors.
Li Ruoyao's heart softened again, though she was still displeased. "What do you plan to do about Lin Zhi? Let me tell you, I really don't like her!"
Holding her close, Zhou Ye asked with keen interest, "What do you want me to do?"
Li Ruoyao rolled her eyes at him. "How should I know? But she occupied the position of your girlfriend for so long, and you even confessed to her in front of the whole school. Who knows how smug she must have felt!" Glaring at him indignantly, she added, "You have to make her pay for it!"
Zhou Ye quickly coaxed her. "Alright, alright, don't be jealous. I promise I'll do it!" He thought for a moment. "How about I expose everything about her so everyone knows, and make her return all the gifts I gave her?"
Li Ruoyao instantly blushed. "Who's jealous?" Her eyes were soft and alluring, intensely seductive. She paused. "Wouldn't that ruin her reputation? Is that really a good idea?"
Zhou Ye peppered her with kisses. "What's bad about it? She was only after my money anyway. Otherwise, why would she reject her class president when he pursued her? It's just because she despised him for being poor."
"The class president... It seems a lot of people like her."
"It just shows she's cheap. Anyone can have a ride. I wouldn't take a woman like that even if she were free."
"Mhm, don't say things like that."
"Alright, alright, I'll stop talking. Baby, squeeze tighter."
Soon, explicit sounds filled the room. Meanwhile, the nanny had been ordered not to go up to the third floor to disturb them under any circumstances.
The next day, Lin Zhi went to work looking haggard and utterly distracted. Even when someone bumped into her, she only numbly muttered, "Sorry," before squatting down to pick up her scattered documents and returning to her office.
Zhou Congli frowned when he saw this. Returning to the CEO's office, he was about to call for Assistant Zhang when he remembered the man was still in C City. Instead, he texted him for Lin Zhi's number and sent her a message asking if something had happened.
When there was no reply, he thought about it and sent another message, "This is Zhou Congli."
After a while, Lin Zhi finally replied, "Mr. Zhou, is there something you need?"
Seeing the message, Zhou Congli frowned, keenly sensing that her tone had become much more distant. He typed back, "I noticed you weren't looking well today. Did something happen? Do you need to go to the hospital, or go home to rest?"
Lin Zhi replied, "No need. I'm fine.
"I have to get back to work now, Mr. Zhou. Goodbye."
Zhou Congli was certain that something had happened to her. But since they were at the company, it wasn't appropriate for him, the CEO, to personally pry into it. He would have to wait until after work. However, by the time he finished work, the people from the finance department had long since left. He had no choice but to head home first.
Since returning to A City yesterday, he had been dealing with a backlog of company affairs. He had even slept in the company's lounge last night and hadn't been home yet.
The moment he arrived at the Zhou villa, he heard the sound of a man and a woman laughing and joking inside. He pushed the door open to see Li Ruoyao collapsed in Zhou Ye's arms on the sofa, laughing so hard she was in tears.
Suddenly, he recalled the woman's voice he had heard over the phone that day; it sounded remarkably similar to Li Ruoyao's. Moreover, for some inexplicable reason, he vaguely felt that Zhou Ye and Li Ruoyao were being far too intimate right now.
"Congli, you're back?" Zhou Ye sat up abruptly. For some reason, Congli's gaze made him feel incredibly uneasy.
"Congli." Li Ruoyao also scrambled out of Zhou Ye's embrace in a panic. Smoothing out her clothes and hair, she forced a smile and explained, "Ah Ye and I were just messing around. You must be tired after a long day of work, right? Let me pour you a glass of water."
"No need."
Zhou Congli lowered his eyes, changed into his slippers, and prepared to go upstairs. Suddenly, he paused and looked at Zhou Ye. "Have you gone to see your girlfriend recently?"
Zhou Ye's gaze instantly turned probing. "Congli, have you met Lin Zhi? This is the second time you've asked me about her."
Standing on the stairs, Zhou Congli's dark eyes carried a hint of oppression. "During our last phone call, who was the woman with you? Don't lie to me. If I find out otherwise, you know the consequences."
Zhou Ye scoffed instead, crossing his arms over his chest. "Congli, I've noticed you're especially interested in my girlfriend. What, do you have your eye on her?"
Zhou Congli looked at him expressionlessly. "Zhou Ye, whenever you have a guilty conscience, you love to change the subject and attack others instead." He turned and headed upstairs. "You'd better pray you haven't done anything the Zhou family can't accept."
Watching his figure disappear at the top of the stairs, Zhou Ye viciously kicked the table. The fruit bowl crashed to the floor, sending fruit rolling everywhere.
Startled, Li Ruoyao yelped, "What are you doing?!"
Zhou Ye's face was terrifyingly gloomy. He gritted his teeth and spat, "He's just throwing his weight around because he's the heir to the Zhou family!" He looked at her. "Ruoyao, if Congli finds out about us, what do you plan to do?"
Li Ruoyao immediately fell silent. Thinking of Zhou Congli's gaze just now, and the thought of him looking at her with disgust, made her feel as though she were suffocating.
That night, in a rare occurrence, Li Ruoyao didn't stay over at the Zhou villa but returned to her own home instead.
As soon as she walked through the door, her mother came up to greet her, cheerfully asking her which evening gown looked best. She casually pointed at one and made to head upstairs.
Mrs. Li, however, grabbed her arm. "Ruoyao, come with Mom on a trip to South Korea in a couple of days."
Li Ruoyao replied impatiently, "I'm busy. If you want to go, go by yourself."
"Busy with what? Fooling around with Zhou Ye?"