Chapter 5: Betrayal

Inside the car, the sudden phone call struck Zhao Qinglang like a thunderclap, instantly draining the color from his face. He instinctively reached out to grab the phone, but Gu Sheng’s fingers were quicker, snatching it away before him.

“Don’t move!” Gu Sheng frowned as she stared at the smiling face on the screen. She hesitated, feeling that the woman looked far too familiar. Yet, with her heart pounding, she dared not confirm it and answered the call with a complex mix of emotions she couldn’t quite define.

The next moment—

“Zhao Zhao, why did you take so long to answer? I’ve been missing you!” A woman's sweet and sultry voice filled the car as the call connected. “Oh, and my high heel broke. Can you come pick me up?”

Zhao Qinglang remained silent, unwilling to respond. Gu Sheng’s eyelids twitched, her lips trembling slightly as she hesitantly said, “Cheng Yan?”

As expected, silence fell on the other end of the line.

Gu Sheng’s face went pale in an instant.

Zhao Qinglang closed his eyes, his expression ashen. Seizing the moment while Gu Sheng was stunned, he quickly snatched the phone back.

He ended the call, switched off the phone, all in one swift motion.

“Shengsheng, listen to me!” Zhao Qinglang panicked, throwing the phone aside. “It’s not what you think!”

But Gu Sheng understood everything now.

It turned out Zhao Qinglang never had any unavoidable reason; this was the real reason he refused to come see her even once.

Her heart, which had been hanging on by a thread, finally plummeted. Once again, she recalled what He Wenzhou had said.

“Is it worth it?”

Those words carried such weight.

Gu Sheng closed her eyes in despair.

She wanted to shout, “Worth what?”

Beside her, Zhao Qinglang’s face flushed as he stammered an explanation. “It was all a misunderstanding. I was drunk that time, it wasn’t intentional…”

So, the two of them had even been in bed together.

“So what?” Gu Sheng looked at him with a mocking sneer. “Did I force you to take off your pants?”

Zhao Qinglang was momentarily speechless from her sharp retort.

“Zhao Qinglang.” At the moment she confirmed her betrayal, Gu Sheng took a deep breath, suppressing the bitterness in her heart. She raised her brow and fixed him with a steady gaze. “During the year I was in prison, I kept finding excuses for you. I thought you couldn’t come because of the Wang family’s influence, but—”

“Do you even know who she is?” Gu Sheng bit her lip in despair. “She’s Cheng Yan, my best friend!”

Zhao Qinglang closed his eyes in shame.

“We three grew up together!” Gu Sheng’s eyes reddened at the corners. She poked Zhao Qinglang’s chest repeatedly with her finger, choking back tears and tightening her throat as she demanded, “Is this how you treat me?”

She knew Zhao Qinglang was reckless and unruly by nature, but she never imagined these two would betray her.

They had known each other since childhood. Cheng Yan was her only friend. Zhao Qinglang could be with anyone else, but not her!

She couldn’t accept it.

Zhao Qinglang, ashamed and guilty, tried to explain something. He reached out hurriedly to grab Gu Sheng’s hand but caught only air.

“Don’t touch me!” Gu Sheng recoiled as if facing an enemy, her voice sharp. “I find you disgusting!”

At this, Zhao Qinglang’s expression darkened as if she had struck a sore spot. “Gu Sheng, what kind of words are those?”

“Disgusting?” He gripped Gu Sheng’s shoulders firmly, forcing her to look him in the eye, anger and humiliation rising in his voice. “Isn’t it you who won’t let me touch you?”

Gu Sheng wanted to slap him but couldn’t break free from his hold on her shoulders. “So now it’s my fault?”

“I was just fooling around with Cheng Yan. I never forgot that you are my fiancée.” Zhao Qinglang frowned angrily, then softened his tone. “I didn’t want it either, Shengsheng. Please forgive me.”

“Fooling around?” Gu Sheng laughed bitterly. “Should I help Cheng Yan sue you for rape?”

Zhao Qinglang’s expression faltered, disbelief in his voice. “Gu Sheng, do you have to be so cruel? So insulting?”

“It’s your own doing!” Gu Sheng pushed him away with disdain, sneering coldly. “You’re shameless, so who else can be blamed?”

Why was she supposed to take responsibility for his lack of self-control, while he shifted all the blame onto the woman?

She turned and flung open the car door. Before stepping out, she remembered something and looked back at Zhao Qinglang.

“Zhao Qinglang, do you know why I never asked your parents for money?” Now that she was thoroughly broken inside, Gu Sheng decided to speak plainly. “Because you lied. You know better than anyone the truth behind what happened back then. Who took the fall for it? Why was I the one who had to bear the blame?”

Zhao Qinglang’s eyelids twitched.

Gu Sheng’s gaze was cold and lifeless. “Remember this: the five million is what you owe me. Pay me back in full within three days, and we’ll part ways peacefully.”

Zhao Qinglang heard the unspoken threat beneath her words: she wanted money, but more than that, she wanted to sever all ties forever.

Without another word, Gu Sheng got out of the car, leaving Zhao Qinglang sitting there, fuming. In frustration, he slammed his hand hard against the steering wheel. Soon, the harsh roar of the engine filled the courtyard as Zhao Qinglang drove away.

Bathed in the fading sunset, Gu Sheng’s eyelids fluttered. Without looking back, she fought back tears that streamed down her cheeks.

—

Gu Sheng stood outside, composing herself for quite some time before finally knocking and entering.

The door was opened by the housekeeper. Zhao Cheng was away on a business trip, and the large house was quiet except for Jiang Qin, who was waiting inside.

Seeing her return, Jiang Qin’s eyes were red as she scrutinized Gu Sheng from head to toe. But when she saw the jagged, glaring scar on Gu Sheng’s right foot, she could no longer hold back her tears, repeatedly lamenting how much she had suffered.

Jiang Qin was a deeply emotional woman. Gu Sheng had always felt cared for by her since being adopted into the Zhao family. Seeing a family member again after so long softened Gu Sheng’s tightly wound emotions, and she shook her head repeatedly, denying that anything was wrong.

“What’s ‘good’ about it?” Jiang Qin tenderly stroked Gu Sheng’s hair, which was as dry as straw. “Look at you, a fine young woman reduced to skin and bones. Those damned bastards did this to you!”

Her outrage was fierce as she bent down to touch the scar on Gu Sheng’s ankle, but Gu Sheng instinctively pulled away.

Jiang Qin froze, tears streaming down her face. Seeing her cry so much, Gu Sheng quickly helped her up.

“Godmother,” Gu Sheng’s nose was red, her voice hoarse as she forced a smile. “I’m actually fine. I’m not missing any limbs, and since I’m no longer in prison because of this misfortune, it’s actually a blessing in disguise. Please don’t be sad.”

“It’s my fault for not visiting you,” Jiang Qin said, her frail body confined to the house and unable to do much. Seeing Gu Sheng limping pained her deeply, and tears welled up in her eyes again.

But being comforted by Gu Sheng in return made her feel guilty, burning her cheeks with embarrassment. She forced a smile and clasped Gu Sheng’s hand tightly. “You’re right. What matters is that you’re back safe. Let’s go upstairs.”

Back home, Gu Sheng looked around the tidy room, the familiar scent filling the air. After showering, she joined Jiang Qin for dinner. Yet, deep into the night, Zhao Qinglang still hadn’t come home.

Jiang Qin, accustomed to such things, said calmly, “Don’t worry about him. He’s just like his father.”

Both were wanderers.

Gu Sheng said nothing. She placed a piece of fish into Jiang Qin’s bowl when her phone suddenly vibrated.

It was a text message.

Gu Sheng glanced at it. From an unknown number, the message was brief: Zhao Qinglang got drunk.

She frowned, suspecting it was just a petty trick after their ugly parting, and deleted the message without a second thought. Unexpectedly, after finishing dinner and going upstairs, her phone buzzed again.

The same unknown number sent a terse question: Gu Lv, when do you plan to repay the money?

At that moment, Gu Sheng froze mid-step, startled. She suddenly recalled that harsh face of the man.

“He Wenzhou?”