Chapter 35: I Hold Quite Some Value in Your Eyes

Inside the elevator, Gu Shenshen could no longer bear the tormenting anxiety that gnawed at her.

"Ah Ci, can we talk?" she broke the oppressive silence, hoping to stave off a worse outcome.

But before she could say another word, Zhou Ci shoved her hard, slamming her against the elevator wall. Her back tingled with numbness from the impact. Zhou Ci seized her jaw and pressed his lips to hers—not a kiss, but something harsh and painful.

Gu Shenshen was drowned in that tearing, violent kiss, her voice trembling with helpless sobs. She could no longer control Zhou Ci as she once had, could no longer coax obedience from him. He was a demon now.

He might truly have lost all restraint; his grip was violent, devoid of gentleness or mercy.

When the elevator doors finally opened, Gu Shenshen's mind was in a daze as Zhou Ci dragged her out.

She had never seen him so volatile, so irrational. Fear clawed at her heart, growing ever more suffocating.

When Zhou Ci flung her onto the sofa, she watched in terror as he began to remove his clothes.

"Zhou Ci... don't do this." Gu Shenshen had drunk a great deal that night, and dread made her limbs weak and heavy.

Still, she forced herself to sit up, scrambling to her feet and staggering away, desperate to escape.

But Zhou Ci only needed a few strides to catch her again.

"So I’m worth a hundred million to you, is that it?" he stared at her, his eyes bloodshot with rage. "Am I really that valuable, Gu Shenshen?"

She gazed at him, searching for excuses and explanations, but confronted with such a wild, out-of-control Zhou Ci, she dared not speak.

One should never provoke a person teetering on the edge of madness.

Her breath came in trembling gasps, shaken by emotion.

"It’s my fault. Do whatever you want to me—I have nothing to say," she whispered.

At her words, Zhou Ci's voice turned icy. "Take it off."

Gu Shenshen froze, unmoving. She knew this was inevitable, but she still wanted to fight back, even if only a little.

"Zhou Ci..." she murmured his name.

He sneered, "Why are you pretending to be pure now? Still think you’re some innocent girl? You can leave if you want—but tomorrow, I’ll have your whole family begging on the streets, and those private properties you have in the countryside..."

He trailed off deliberately, watching her reaction.

A frown creased her brow. So not only did he hold all her weaknesses in his hands, but he also knew every secret she had—nothing was hidden from him.

Gu Shenshen closed her eyes briefly, then took a deep breath, surrendering completely. Zhou Ci was a madman, and after two years, she could no longer endure his twisted games.

Her slender hand clung weakly to the edge of the sofa. Even as she begged, even as she bowed her head in submission, Zhou Ci, consumed by the fury of betrayal, ignored her pleas.

For two years, he had relived this moment in his dreams countless times—never imagining that, even now, she could make his soul tremble.

Let her go? That was a fantasy.

That night, neither of them slept. Zhou Ci’s long-buried emotions erupted without restraint.

Even at dawn, Gu Shenshen had barely closed her eyes for an hour before she was roused.

Zhou Ci sat in a bathrobe and slippers on a single sofa, holding a thin contract page in his hand. Watching Gu Shenshen clamber naked and disheveled from the sofa, his eyes glimmered with a mix of desire and unrestrained mockery.

"From today on, you’ll live next door—be at my beck and call. And that hundred million my mother gave you—find a way to give it back."

His tone was light, almost casual, but his intent was to push her to the brink.