C11 Chapter 11

The one in Gu Lijue’s arms should’ve been her. The woman he protected against his chest should’ve been her. Even the fleeting red marks on Bai Nuochu’s body should’ve been on her!

“If you don’t get out right now, you won’t even have the right to speak.”

Bai Ni’an’s carefully lined eyes flew wide. Gu Lijue’s icy words—and the pressure behind them—made it feel like an invisible hand had clamped down on the most fragile part of her throat. The cold light in his eyes told her she had only one choice: back off, or be destroyed.

If she wanted to become Mrs. Gu, she had to keep herself alive first.

Bai Ni’an bit her lip until it split, but she could only leave for now. She didn’t dare defy Gu Lijue.

“Ms. Vivian! How long have you been living with Young Master Jue?” “Ms. Vivian, is it true the Gu and Bai families are already discussing the wedding date?”

...

Bai Ni’an had just turned around when a sudden wave of noise surged in!

Reporters poured in with cameras on their shoulders, firing off questions they’d clearly prepared in advance, terrified of getting shoved to the back. They’d gotten word around noon that the hottest star, Bai Ni’an, was having a steamy rendezvous with Ningcheng’s most powerful man in the presidential suite!

And when they saw two figures tangled together on the messy bed, they went wild—like starving wolves spotting meat—aiming every lens at the pair, desperate to capture the “pure” Bai Ni’an looking disheveled and unable to stop herself!

“No! Don’t shoot!” But the Bai Ni’an who rushed into their frame looked utterly panicked.

She remembered now. To make headlines and secure her place in the Gu family, she’d arranged for the media to show up in the first place!

How could she let the footage of that bitch being held by Young Master Jue get caught on camera? The only woman who belonged at his side was her!

“What—if Ms. Bai Ni’an is here, then who’s the man in Young Master Jue’s bed?” But Bai Ni’an had forgotten: once reporters caught even a whiff of a story, they got excited like predators on the hunt.

Gu Lijue’s instincts kicked in the second the reporters burst in. He swept the person on the bed to the side, shielding them so not even a sliver of their face showed. At the same time, he snapped his head around, his hard, cold profile turning toward the commotion—his eyes flashing with the ferocity of a predator guarding its kill.

Facing the pack of eager reporters ready to surge forward like wolves, Young Master Jue didn’t say a single word. But one look was enough to make everyone understand: if anyone dared cross the line, they’d better be prepared to be wiped out.

It was a level of all-out protectiveness no one had ever seen from him.

Every reporter there knew the deal—his connection with Bai Ni’an had never been anything steady. They took their payoffs and played their parts. But now, out of nowhere, there was someone he protected on pure instinct. That was the real bombshell.

A discovery like that made a reporter’s blood run hot. But no matter how explosive the scoop, nobody was reckless enough to make an enemy of Gu Lijue.

“Why is Young Master Jue meeting a mysterious woman, but Miss Bai Ni’an is here too?”

Still, reporters were nothing if not relentless. Someone fired the first question at Bai Ni’an, and once it was out, the rest came pouring in like a flood. No one dared bother Young Master Jue directly, so every question swung toward the other person involved—Bai Ni’an.

“Miss Bai Ni’an, do you know who this mysterious girl is?” “Miss Bai Ni’an, what’s your relationship with Young Master Jue—and with this mysterious woman?”

“She?” Bai Ni’an sneered. “Bai Nuochu isn’t even worth as much as a servant in our family. She’s trash—cheap, dirty, and scheming. All she knows is how to use slutty tricks to lure men!”