Why would she help Zhu Hexuan when Zhu Hexuan had never treated her kindly?
She could not understand why Zhu Hexuan could hate her so much for thinking that she had a good life. Jealousy was a natural emotion that everyone had. That was why when Zhu Hexuan acted overboard, Lin Chu had never retaliated. Considering her current status, Lin Chu could have easily taken care of Zhu Hexuan by just a mere mention of it. It was not even necessary for her to personally take action.
Still, she had never done anything to Zhu Hexuan, even when Zhu Hexuan almost took the life of the old Princ.i.p.al. It was mainly because the old Princ.i.p.al had chosen to let it go that Lin Chu did not create any trouble for Zhu Hexuan. All she did was distance herself from Zhu Hexuan and made sure she stayed away from the orphanage. She did not want Zhu Hexuan anywhere near it.
It was all Zhu Hexuan"s own doing for landing herself in this situation. She just had to go making trouble for different people and ended up offending the wrong crowd. She had stepped on the tail of people who would not take any nonsense from her.
Lin Chu did not understand how Zhu Hexuan could be so driven by jealousy, to the point of almost killing the old Princ.i.p.al and trying to murder her unborn child.
Lin Chu touched her belly. It was not a secret that she was pregnant. Even Zhu Hexuan was aware. There was no need to hide it in front of her.
As a mother, she could never forgive someone trying to harm her child. It was the biggest sin one could commit against a mother. There was a life in her belly. Does Zhu Hexuan not know that she had tried to commit murder?
Zhu Hexuan had never considered what it would be like for Lin Chu to lose her child. Zhu Hexuan was so consumed by her jealousy that she could not stand seeing Lin Chu have a good life. She acted so viciously that she had not even stopped to think about how painful it was for a mother to lose her child.
Ever since she got pregnant, Lin Chu had a better understanding of how Dai Huimin felt when she abandoned her. Dai Huimin must have suffered a lot.
Lin Chu looked coldly at Zhu Hexuan. Zheng Yuntong had taken the opportunity to get the security guards. If Zhu Hexuan continued to hara.s.s Lin Chu or tried to attack her, the security guards would drag her away.
Zhu Hexuan saw the two security guards walking over to her. She did not want to embarra.s.s herself in public, but she had to look pitiful and begged, "Lin Chu, I"m begging you. I have nowhere left to go. The only choice I have left is to come here to you. I know what I did to you in the past was unforgivable. I"m someone who knows shame now. If it wasn"t because I"m truly desperate, I wouldn"t be able to look you in the eyes now. Lin Chu, I beg you to help me. If you don"t, death is the only way left for me."
She no longer wanted to be a reporter, but now, even changing another job and living a normal life was a luxury for her. The only thing she could hope for now was to survive.
Lin Chu gave her a cold look. She wondered what could have caused Zhu Hexuan to be fearful for her life.
"Okay, tell me what happened to you," Lin Chu asked coldly. She needed to know what it was before deciding if Zhu Hexuan was worth helping.
Zhu Hexuan looked over at the two security guards and then at Zheng Yuntong, who was holding on tight to Lin Chu"s arms in a protective mode. Zhu Hexuan licked her lips and said with much difficulty, "I"d like to… Talk to you in private. Can you…"
"No," Lin Chu rejected. Her eyes were still cold. Zhu Hexuan was chilled to the bone by the look in her eyes.
Lin Chu covered her belly. She narrowed her eyes and continued coldly, "Have you forgotten what you had done? You still dare to ask for me to talk privately with you?"
Zhu Hexuan"s gaze fell on Lin Chu"s belly. She no longer cared if anyone was watching and immediately begged, "Lin Chu, I was wrong. I was blinded by my jealousy and anger. It was wrong of me to have made a move at you. Please forgive me! I"ll… I"ll kneel before you!"
Zhu Hexuan might have said it out loud, but she did not kneel at all. She reached out to grab Lin Chu instead.
Lin Chu would not allow herself to be touched by Zhu Hexuan. She still remembered what had happened the last time. If she were to let Zhu Hexuan touched her again, that would mean she did not care for her child!
Lin Cu retreated quickly with Zheng Yuntong protecting her by the side. The security guard saw what was happening and stepped in quickly to block Zhu Hexuan from grabbing Lin Chu.
Seeing that she had failed to grab Lin Chu, Zhu Hexuan knelt on the floor and wailed, "Lin Chu, I"m kneeling before you now. Please forgive me! I beg you to forgive me and help me!"
Office hours were about to start and many people were walking by with most of them worried about being late. Even if they wanted to watch this highly entertaining scene, they did not have the time to stop.
Some had taken out their phones to make a short video recording.
Lin Chu replied coldly, "If you have something to say, just say it. There"s no need to kneel. If you have no integrity and like kneeling to me, then do it somewhere far away from me. Don"t act as if I"ve done you any wrong!"
"Lin Chu, I wouldn"t dare! I"m in the wrong! I know I"m wrong!" Zhu Hexuan acted as if she did not hear what Lin Chu had said as she continued crying and kneeling on the ground.
The way she acted was like Lin Chu was responsible for her predicament.
Lin Chu was getting very angry. Just how shameless was she?!
Zheng Yuntong immediately reminded her, "Lin Chu, don"t get worked up over this. You need to think about your baby"s condition. It"s not worth it. Is she even worth all this?"
Lin Chu did her best to calm her rage down. She took a few deep breaths and nodded.
Zheng Yuntong turned to the two security guards and said, "Could you both help this lady up? The way she is acting is like Lin Chu is forcing her to do something bad. She just appeared out of nowhere to kneel here, we don"t know why she"s doing this, and we can"t figure out what she"s saying. It makes no sense at all."
Zheng Yuntong purposely said this out loud to get the message across to the pa.s.sers-by as well.
Zhu Hexuan stiffened and forgot to wail for a moment. She did not know whether she should continue kneeling or stand up. She did not have to decide as the two security guards hauled her up.
Zhu Hexuan struggled in an attempt to fight them off. The two security guards had no choice but to let go of her. This could turn into a troublesome matter. One wrong move and she could accuse them of s.e.x.u.a.l hara.s.sment.
"Lin Chu, I have nowhere else to turn to, Zhao Zhide will kill me!" Zhu Hexuan no longer cared about her dignity. Her life mattered above all else. She could not touch Lin Chu with the two security guards standing between them. All she could do was stick her neck out to cry.
"He wants your life, so you came to take my child"s life in return? You claimed to know you"re in the wrong, but what did you try to do to me on Friday night? Were you aware you were wrong then? Have you thought about what would happen to my child if you pushed me to the ground? It may not be fully grown yet but it"s still life! Just because you were jealous, you went around hurting people. Do you truly feel remorseful? Zhu Hexuan, you always claimed to be in the wrong but no sooner have you turned your back you will continue to hurt people."
"You told the old Princ.i.p.al that you were remorseful and begged for her help. You were crying a second before about how much you knew you were in the wrong, and when she rejected you, you grabbed her medicine and threatened her life the very next second! On what grounds should I believe you when you tell me you"re aware of what you did wrong? That Friday night, you didn"t manage to push me down, yet you didn"t give up and tried to trip me with your feet instead. Why weren"t you remorseful then? You failed the first time, and tried a second time? Why didn"t you realize then that you were trying to murder someone? You"re fearful for your life because of Zhao Zhide, so you are begging me now. How about when you were trying to murder my child?"
Lin Chu"s eyes were red. How could she not hate Zhu Hexuan?
Even though it was lucky that nothing bad had happened to her, but it did not mean that she could not scold Zhu Hexuan! Just because nothing bad had happened, it did not mean that things are okay now and she did not try to push her on purpose!
Attempted murder happened because one had the intention to murder. Not being successful with the murder did not mean you are innocent!
"When you pushed me, why didn"t you think that you"re hurting someone? That you"re attempting a murder? Have you ever given a thought about what would happen if I lost the child? That my child was murdered by you before it was even born? How much pain would it be in? How much pain would I be in? Have you ever thought that if I got seriously hurt, I might never be able to get pregnant again? What would happen then? Who would I talk to if you had caused that much pain to me? Zhu Hexuan, I"ve never wronged you, yet, you"re always acting against me just because of your dark, jealous heart. You obsessed about me, waiting for any opportunity to get any dirt on me, malign me, make me feel pain, even to the point of wanting to take the life of my child! And now, you have the gall to come here and tell me you"re wrong?"
"You"ve done so much to hurt me and the old Princ.i.p.al, yet you"ve never felt any remorse. All you did was tell us you were in the wrong and after that, continue to hurt us. It"s only been two short days and you suddenly realized you"re wrong again, and want to change for the better? Forget about it, Zhu Hexuan. If it wasn"t for what happened on Friday, I would have still helped you even though I think you deserved your just desserts. Why would I still help you when you tried to murder my child last Friday? If I helped you now, would you stop hurting me? I think even you wouldn"t trust yourself not to do so. You"ll start hurting others again when an opportunity arises," Lin Chu said as she looked at her.
"When you tried to find trouble with me, I"ve never retaliated. The most I did was stay away from you and ceased all contact. Do you think I wasn"t aware of any of your wrongdoings? You think it"s only fair that you gave me trouble, that it serves me right to be hurt, don"t you? You think that we have no way of getting back at you no matter what you did, did you? It"s because we didn"t want to stoop to the same level to get back at you. Do you think we didn"t have any way of shutting you up? You treated our silence as incompetence. You misread our refusal to stoop to the same level as you as your competence in doing us in!"
"You think it"s only right that I should forgive you. You"ve been forgiven so many times that you think that it"s okay to hurt us again and again. We owe you that, do we? If you have succeeded even once in your schemes, I"d be too ashamed to continue living in B City. I would have even been forced by you to separate from my husband and get a scolding from the public. I"ve never done anything wrong to you, but from your point of view, it serves me right to be alone. The more pathetic and pitiful I am, the better. Unfortunately for you, each of your schemes has failed; but if any of them had succeeded, it would be irreparable damage to me! As long as you did not succeed, you feel that none of anything you did was your fault and I should not even hate you. When you"ve got what you deserve, you come running to me to bail you out. Zhu Hexuan, I don"t owe you anything!"
Zhu Hexuan opened her mouth but shut it again when she remembered what she was here for.
How was it that Lin Chu did not owe her?
Lin Chu was the one that took away her opportunity to be a rich man"s daughter!
If she was the one that had been sent to the Lin family, she would not have created so much trouble. If she had money and came from a rich family, there was no reason for her to bother with nameless characters. Why would she court trouble by writing fake news and getting involved with someone like Zhao Zhide for a little money?
It was because of her eating Lin Chu"s chocolate without her permission that Lin Chu went to that Chinese Scholar Tree in the backyard to calm herself down. She had wanted to go there too but left because Lin Chu was already under the tree.
It was that day that Lin Chu met Yan Beicheng under the Old Elm Tree.
If it was not for Lin Chu occupying that s.p.a.ce, if it was Zhu Hexuan there in the first place, she would be the one that Yan Beicheng met and not Lin Chu! Yet now, Lin Chu was the one that had a good life, that lorded over everyone. She was the one that had anything she wanted! She had big-hearted, benevolent in-laws, a perfect husband, and so much power!
Lin Chu took her family from her since young, she even took her predestined lover away from her. Lin Chu owed her everything!
Zhu Hexuan wanted to be with someone just as outstanding, but he treated her as nothing but a plaything. Now, Lin Chu is the young mistress of a n.o.ble family, and Zhu Hexuan was nothing but a common wh.o.r.e!
Lin Chu claimed she did not owe her anything, well, Lin Chu owed her everything!
A flash of rage and dissatisfaction flashed in Zhu Hexuan"s eyes. Lin Chu did not miss it. She exhaled in disappointment and retreated two more steps to distance herself further from Zhu Hexuan.
Zhu Hexuan woke from her reverie and saw Lin Chu"s actions. She cried and tried to kneel again but was stopped by the security guards in time. They could not help but wonder why this woman loved kneeling so much.
"Lin Chu, I really am remorseful. It was wrong of me to harbor all those ill intentions, I understand that now. Lin Chu, only you can help me now. I"ll tell you honestly, I wanted to beg Zhao Zhide to use his network within the news industry to get me a job as a reporter again. He promised me he would but ended up hurting me instead. Do you think that I would willingly get together with that fatty last Friday? I was forced to do so," Zhu Hexuan cried saying. She no longer cared for her dignity.
Lin Chu replied coldly, "You"re not telling me the truth. If you want me to help you, why would you lie to me?"
Zhu Hexuan clenched her teeth as she looked at the two security guards. She lowered her voice low enough for the few of them to hear and out of the earshot from everyone else nearby, saying, "Zhao Zhide said… He said that if I was willing to accompany him, then he"ll… Then he"ll help me."
She did not explain in detail, but everyone understood. Zhu Hexuan meant that she had agreed to sleep with Zhao Zhide.
There was no condescending look on Lin Chu"s face. All she did was quietly look at Zhu Hexuan.
"We met at a hotel as agreed, but when I got there, there were two other men in the room. Zhao Zhide left me there and those two men… Those two men…" Zhu Hexuan clenched her teeth in anger. She could not continue, but Lin Chu and the others knew what had happened.
The two security guards lapped up the gossip. They had no relations to Zhu Hexuan and treated this situation as an interesting sidebar in their job. There was no look of pity in their faces either, but now they were looking differently at Zhu Hexuan. It was as if she no decent woman, just a wh.o.r.e who would do anything for money.
The expression on their faces seemed to tear away the skin on Zhu Hexuan"s face. She wanted to gouge the eyes out of the two security guards so badly.
Lin Chu and Zheng Yuntong remained expressionless. They continued watching her calmly.
Since witnessing her situation last Friday, Lin Chu had guessed just as much. She was not aware of how bad her situation was, but at least she had a better understanding of it now.
Zhu Hexuan kept telling herself to ignore the two security guards. Who were they to judge?
She forced herself to continue talking to Lin Chu. "They… They took pictures, which are in Zhao Zhide"s hands. If I don"t follow his instructions, he will release the pictures. I"ll be finished then! I have no choice but to… Let him use me to please his clients. He"ll push me to accompany them whenever he meets his clients."
"Lin Chu, only you can save me now. I beg you, please save me! I know I"ve offended you last Friday and it got Zhao Zhide and that fatty in trouble with Yan Beicheng. Zhao Zhide and that fatty think it"s all because of me, so they"re coming after me. They won"t kill me because they are aware of the consequences of murder if they got caught. They"re very clear to not be liable for murder so they are torturing me to make my life worse than death."
Zhu Hexuan"s heart sank as there was no reaction from Lin Chu.
She quickly knelt the moment those two security guards were not paying attention.
Zhu Hexuan fell on her knees so hard on the hard cement road that a loud thud could be heard. One wondered if she had hurt herself.
It shocked the two security guards as they quickly stood between her and Lin Chu.
"Lin Chu, only you can save me now! Please help me for the sake of us growing up together in the orphanage. Help me, please."
Lin Chu looked at Zhu Hexuan. If she was happy to kneel, let her continue doing so. She no longer bothered to have others help her up.
"Why would Zhao Zhide want to harm you? If you didn"t get yourself mixed up in his business, would he do this to you for no good reason? I know what kind of person Zhao Zhide is," Lin Chu said. Yan Beicheng had explained to Lin Chu about Zhao Zhide"s background.
Zhao Zhide used to be involved with the triads. He had joined a street gang when he was 14 and was quite a vicious character. When he was 15, he almost beat someone to death with no remorse. His gang"s second-in-command was under investigation for drug dealing when he was 16. As Zhao Zhide was yet to be of age and could not be tried as an a.d.u.l.t, he covered for him and got sent to juvenile detention.
He was accepted into the core of the gang as he served his sentence on behalf of the gang"s second-in-command and was greatly favored by the gang leader. Zhao Zhide made a lot of money within a few years and started a business. He claimed that he was turning over a new leaf, but how could someone turn clean so quick after spending all his time on the other side of the law? Zhao Zhide never really planned to cut ties with the triads. There were many instances that he had involved the triads to help solve his problems.
"Zhao Zhide is a vicious man, but he would not come after someone without any reason. If you didn"t step on his tail, he wouldn"t have come for you. He may have done many unforgivable things, but there is still integrity when it comes to working with him. He would never do anything to stab someone in the back nor betray those who work with him. Zhu Hexuan, did you go courting for trouble by threatening him? You"ve worked with him before. You have evidence in your hands that you used to get him to help you. You thought that he would be scared and give in to you, am I right?" Lin Chu said coldly.
Zhu Hexuan was stunned. Her lips trembled. She did not know what to say because Lin Chu was right.
Lin Chu pressed her lips tight and took a deep breath before continuing, "You believe you could keep repeating the same trick, do you? You go around threatening us. When we refused to sink to your level and treat you as a harmless clown, you think we"re scared of you because you suffered no retaliation. So, you think it would be the same with others. You did think that they won"t come after you, did you? It can"t be that you weren"t aware of Zhao Zhide"s past. He won"t be as nice as us. He is capable of anything if he wants to. You were well aware of that and yet, you still threaten him. I really can"t tell if you"re brave or just plain stupid."
"You claimed that Zhao Zhide lied to you, and those two men had…" Lin Chu found it hard to continue. She clenched her teeth.
"Those two forced themselves on you. That"s a crime. Why didn"t you report them? Even if they did have those pictures, you could have reported them if you cared for yourself and not willing to be a "companion" for them. If the pictures are exposed, it might ruin your reputation, but at least you didn"t have to sell yourself. Even if the pictures were exposed, not everyone would have seen them," Lin Chu said.
"Online moderating is quite strict nowadays. It may be seen by some before it gets under control, but the police would never allow those pictures to be distributed and shared. It would not be long after your pictures can"t be found online. Some may see it, but after time has pa.s.sed, who would remember you? You"re not a public figure. If you want to start over, you wouldn"t have been taken hostage like this, do you know? You can move to a smaller city or a smaller town. If you continue staying in B City, there will still be many ways to earn money without stepping out of the house. There are so many SOHO groups out there. Do you think you can"t survive? The most important thing is to send those who had harmed you to jail, and not continue to be threatened by them and take pity on yourself. Placing your hatred in others because of your predicament is what brought you to this situation in the first place."