C15 She Was Forced!

Xu Huanxi pulled out her cell phone and sent a voice message to Soong Ci, urgently requesting information on Chu Rusi. After all, forewarned is forearmed.

Soong Ci, hearing the ping of her phone, reluctantly pushed Ji Qianjun aside and groped for the device. But Ji Qianjun was quicker, snatching the phone and tossing it away before playfully capturing Soong Ci again. "Woman, focus," he chided.

Her response was a series of disheveled, amorous moans.

The phone lay on the ground, smashed to bits.

Xu Huanxi fired off several more messages, yet no replies came. What happened to the promise of an instant response? It seemed her friend had succumbed to the age-old adage of 'out of sight, out of mind.' And to think she had called them close friends! She might as well join those cursed Smurfs on the far side of the mountain or the distant sea!

A gentle breeze stirred, carrying with it twisting shadows that seemed to cloak a lurking darkness.

From that pitch-black void, a hand reached out, clamping over Xu Huanxi's mouth. Disregarding her frantic struggles, it dragged her from the dim light into the seclusion of a nearby pavilion.

Xu Huanxi fought back fiercely, the acrid scent of alcohol assaulting her senses. Her mind raced with horrific possibilities, her blood running cold with fear. Who was this? Someone drunk? What did they want?

The assailant pinned her hands and pressed his body against hers, leaving her no chance to employ any self-defense techniques.

"Huanxi, you're ignoring me. That hurts," a familiar, rich baritone voice cooed, reminiscent of a soulful violin.

Jiang Tunan!

The only man she had ever loved!

He was the one who had rescued her from her loneliness and insecurities, the one who claimed not to care about her having a child or her frigidity. Yet, this very man, who had vowed to shield her for life, had ultimately cast her into an abyss, turning instead to protect another woman.

Desperate, she shoved him away, refusing to let him tarnish her last cherished memories of him.

But Jiang Tunan's anger flared at her resistance, his kisses growing more aggressive. He pinned her down with one hand while the other brutally tore at her clothes.

Was he trying to force himself on her?!

Xu Huanxi shook with fear, biting down hard on Jiang Tunan's lip, her mouth filling with the metallic tang of blood. She had encountered a villain.

Jiang Tunan winced and let go of her, unexpectedly thrown into disarray. That gentle little woman had actually dared to bite him?!

Ignoring everything, she screamed, "Help! Assault! Pervert!"

If he was heartless, she was without honor!

He knew full well she detested such advances, and yet he had forced himself upon her. And under what pretense? As another man's betrothed?

He quickly clamped a hand over her mouth, his panic rising. "Don't yell!"

But she kept struggling, her muffled cries slipping through his fingers, relentless.

A sinister resolve flashed in Jiang Tunan's eyes. Gritting his teeth, he struck her, rendering her unconscious.

"Ugh—" Her eyes widened in defiance before she slumped softly into the man's embrace. The once resistant girl now lay quiet and submissive.

A tenderness stirred in Jiang Tunan's chest. He scooped her up in his arms—he was determined to have her.

As Jiang Tunan prepared to whisk Xu Huanxi away, a dangerous and infuriated voice pierced the darkness, threatening to chill the heat of the summer night: "Where do you think you're taking my woman?"

Jiang Tunan instinctively scanned the shadows, but all was pitch black.

"Put her down!" The furious command roared like a wild beast on the verge of breaking free.

Retreating step by step, Jiang Tunan weighed his options, his gaze fixed on the darkness. Who was this man daring to interfere with his plans?

A figure emerged, each step deliberate and forceful, as if treading directly on Jiang Tunan's heart, ready to send tremors through the ground.