"Come in," a voice devoid of any emotion summoned Jiang Ci into Lu Yudong's office.

She lowered her gaze and stood in the center of the room.

Leaning back in his chair, Lu Yudong scrutinized Jiang Ci.

"Am I useless, but money is useful, right?" Lu Yudong's tone was thick with sarcasm.

"If you have something to say, Mr. Lu, just say it. I'm busy doing the accounts," Jiang Ci replied coldly.

"Something's missing from my house. Did you see it?"

Jiang Ci frowned slightly and looked up at Lu Yudong. What did he mean? Something was missing from his house, and he was asking her?

Did he think she was a thief?

"What did you lose?" Jiang Ci's tone was already tinged with anger.

"The marriage certificate. Did you take it? If you didn't, then someone else broke in, and I'll have to call the police," Lu Yudong said seriously.

Jiang Ci's heart finally settled; it turned out he wasn't accusing her unjustly.

But she was afraid Lu Yudong would call the police, so she said, "I took it."

"Oh? What do you plan to do with the marriage certificate? Trying to take control of the divorce?"

"Yes," Jiang Ci replied.

Lu Yudong started to laugh, as if mocking Jiang Ci's naivety. "Do you know that a divorce requires both parties to be present?"

"I know!"

"Then how do you plan to hand me over to Yin Xuemo? Just because you have the marriage certificate?" Lu Yudong's gaze fixed on Jiang Ci.

His eyes seemed to pierce through her heart.

Jiang Ci's emotions surged, her mind a chaotic mess, and she felt a chill as if she had been betrayed.

How did Yin Xuemo tell Lu Yudong everything? And why did Lu Yudong believe it all?

Seeing Jiang Ci's helpless and angry expression, Lu Yudong seemed to understand her thoughts. He said, "It seems you really said those words."

Jiang Ci couldn't lie. What she had said couldn't be unsaid, so she remained silent.

"If you keep talking like this outside and someone catches you, be careful how I deal with you!"

Jiang Ci thought to herself: Isn't it just dealing with me in bed? What else could he do?

"If there's nothing else, Mr. Lu, I'll be going." Jiang Ci's defiance had already diminished by half.

Lu Yudong was well-versed in negotiation tactics; he knew how to talk Jiang Ci into submission.

Jiang Ci felt uncomfortable under his control.

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That evening, she returned to her dorm room, carefully opened the suitcase she had there, and checked Shao Zheng's diary. It was intact.

She placed the marriage certificate on top of Shao Zheng's diary.

Just then, Han Lan breezed into Jiang Ci's room, saying, "Jiang Ci, you're back? I just opened the door and found it unlocked. I knew it was you."

Jiang Ci wanted to hide it, but it was too late. Han Lan's eyes were fixed on the two small booklets.

"You... you got married?" Han Lan's eyes widened as she picked up the two booklets from the diary.

Lu Yudong and Jiang Ci.

Han Lan was incredulous.

She knew Jiang Ci was living with Lu Yudong, but she never expected they were married.

With Lu Yudong's status, wasn't he supposed to marry someone of equal standing?

Even Han Lan thought Mr. Lu would eventually marry Yin Xuemo and was only temporarily infatuated with Jiang Ci's youth and beauty.

Seeing she couldn't hide it, Jiang Ci had no choice but to come clean. "Don't tell anyone, it's a secret."

As for the marriage agreement, Jiang Ci didn't say a word. If she did, it would violate the agreement, and she'd have to pay a penalty.

"Don't you trust me?" Han Lan patted her chest. "Why are you back in the dorm? Did you have a fight again?"

"Don't mention it," Jiang Ci said, locking her suitcase and putting it in the cabinet. "He suspects me with Chu Shuo and set us up."

"Caught in the act?" Han Lan asked with a mischievous glint in her eye.

"How could it be? There's nothing between me and Chu Shuo. He's just guessing," Jiang Ci said anxiously.

"Then he must really love you!" Han Lan said dreamily. "I can't even imagine what our usually aloof, sharp-minded President Lu is like when he's jealous."

"Ha," Jiang Ci said dismissively. "That's just his possessiveness. It's not jealousy. He just won't allow anything marked by him to be tainted by another man's scent."

"He marked you? Where? Where?" Han Lan pretended to sniff around Jiang Ci's body. "Oh, I get it. He marked you inside, didn't he, Jiang Ci?"

Jiang Ci's face turned bright red. "Get lost!"

After finalizing the deal, Jiang Ci was very happy and excited. It was her first time handling a transaction over a hundred thousand yuan, and she felt a bit anxious. Worried about encountering scammers or criminals, she asked Han Lan to accompany her.

Han Lan, no longer needing to keep a low profile, was quite pleased and readily agreed to Jiang Ci's request.

"For something like this, it's best to have a guy with us. If Mr. Lu goes with you, who would dare to cheat him? They wouldn't dare even with ten times the courage," Han Lan said while munching on snacks.

"It's not that easy. We're having a bit of a spat. Besides, this matter involves my ex-boyfriend. Would I be out of my mind to ask him to come along?" Jiang Ci replied.

"Why are you making such a fuss? You can see how just a casual nod from him changes everything for us. People can't wait to flatter him, and here you are, picking a fight," Han Lan said, a bit exasperated.

"Don't mention it. I've been flattering him all along." To this day, Jiang Ci still didn't understand why Lu Yudong suddenly asked her to move out.

How could she cater to his whims without knowing the reason?

"Why not try to appease him? Mr. Lu is into that," Han Lan suggested.

"How do you know? Have you tried it before?" Jiang Ci asked, her tone slightly jealous.

"No, no, I haven't even met Mr. Lu," Han Lan said, trying to act coy. "But seriously, my sister is bringing me some food this afternoon."

"Your sister? Isn't she about to give birth? How can you let her bring you food with that big belly?"

"She's not coming herself; she's sending her brother-in-law. I heard he's quite a catch," Han Lan said dreamily.

"You haven't met him?"

Han Lan rolled her eyes at Jiang Ci. "No, he didn't attend my sister's wedding; he was out of town."

"I'll check him out for you this afternoon."

At six in the evening, the dormitory doorbell rang, and Jiang Ci went to answer it. As soon as she opened the door, she widened her eyes in surprise and said, "Deng Yue?"

"Jiang Ci?"

"Who are you looking for? Me?"

Deng Yue raised the food container in his hand. "I'm delivering food for my sister-in-law to her sister. I didn't expect you two to be roommates. What a small world."

When Han Lan came out and saw that Deng Yue was quite handsome, her eyes sparkled.

"How about I treat you two lovely ladies to dinner tonight?" Deng Yue offered.

"What about the food my sister sent?" Jiang Ci asked with a slight frown.

But Han Lan was already tempted. After all, who wouldn't want to dine with a handsome guy?

"We can put it in the fridge and eat it later. It won't spoil. Let's go, I'll treat you to hot pot," Deng Yue said enthusiastically.

Recently, Jiang Ci and Han Lan had been under a lot of pressure, so they were eager for some relaxation and quickly agreed. Besides, Jiang Ci loved spicy food—the spicier, the better.

During dinner, Deng Yue asked Jiang Ci, "Since we added each other on WeChat, we haven't chatted. I didn't know you worked at New East Group. That's promising."

"I'm just a low-level employee; there's no future in that. Han Lan has more potential; she's the New East Star, a future executive," Jiang Ci said, not forgetting to praise Han Lan.

Jiang Ci could tell that Han Lan had a good impression of Deng Yue. Han Lan and Deng Yue also exchanged WeChat contacts.

"Oh, by the way, Jiang Ci is going to the suburbs on Sunday to inspect a computer factory. We've never been there and are afraid of encountering scammers, so we want a guy to come with us. Why don't you join us?" Han Lan invited Deng Yue. "My sister told me her brother-in-law runs a gaming company, so you're perfect for evaluating computers."

"Visiting a computer factory? No problem. I'll drive you two ladies there. Planning to buy computers? Why not just go to the electronics market instead of the source?"

"Two hundred units. We're donating them to children in the mountains. It's the same school we visited together," Jiang Ci explained easily, as she and Deng Yue had visited the charity school together before.

"Two hundred units, impressive. You must have some money."

"Not really. I sold my dad's house in the countryside," Jiang Ci deflected, fearing Deng Yue would ask about the money's origin, putting her in an awkward position.

She hadn't even mentioned her contractual marriage with Lu Yudong to Han Lan, nor did Han Lan know the source of the money.

Her father's old house was in the countryside, and Jiang Ci had never been there. Besides, you can't sell a homestead.

Fortunately, Deng Yue didn't press further.

What could Jiang Ci say? That she sold herself for it?

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