Chi Wan frowned.

She had sent her parents abroad precisely to prevent He Lingfeng from using them to cause trouble again.

After all, considering the He Family’s current situation, their reach didn’t extend that far.

But she never expected He Lingfeng to be so unscrupulous. When he couldn’t find her parents, he set his sights on her roommate.

In fact, He Lingfeng had probably noticed Qi Youyou back when he was first investigating Chi Wan.

She looked at Qin Shi with a complicated expression. "Aren’t you afraid He Lingfeng will find out you’re telling me this?"

Qin Shi shook her head. "I am. But I want to get away from He Lingfeng even more. I don’t know why, but he’s been getting more and more volatile lately... I’m afraid that one day, I’ll also..."

After a moment’s hesitation, a look of deep humiliation on her face, Qin Shi slowly pulled down her collar.

Chi Wan’s eyes narrowed.

Beneath the collar, on the skin hidden by her clothes, was a crisscrossing network of bruises. Though the skin wasn’t broken, the black-and-blue marks looked especially gruesome against Qin Shi’s fair complexion.

Qin Shi gritted her teeth. "I was just a house singer. But one day, a drunk customer grabbed me out of nowhere and started forcing drinks on me. No matter what I said, he wouldn’t let go.

"Then, as I was fighting back, I accidentally broke a piece of jade he was wearing. My boss said I’d offended a major client. He was going to fire me, and he said I had to pay for that Jade Token.

"The man said the jade was worth a million. How could I possibly afford that? I thought he was extorting me, but my boss said he was a regular VIP and wouldn’t lie. The man said I could get the broken jade appraised, but if the valuation was genuine, I’d have to cover the additional costs myself.

"I... I’d never been in a situation like that. The massive debt made my mind go completely blank. Then He Lingfeng showed up out of nowhere and helped me handle them."

What followed was inevitable.

He Lingfeng "paid off" Qin Shi’s massive debt, and naturally, she fell right into his hands.

Perhaps having already spoken the most humiliating part, Qin Shi seemed to relax a little. "He was actually decent to me at first. But later, he slowly started forcing me to do things I didn’t want to do. Whenever I resisted... it would just make him more excited. Until yesterday. That’s when he started hitting me.

"Chi Wan, I really don’t want to go after you. He forced me to make that post yesterday. I don’t want to be controlled by him forever. I want to escape from He Lingfeng, but I don’t know how."

Qin Shi suddenly grabbed Chi Wan’s hand. "You dare to stand up to him like this. I saw you hit him yesterday. You aren’t afraid of him, right? Can you... can you help me? Please, think of it as a reward for tipping you off.

"He’ll definitely come after you again. He’s an extremely obsessive person. Chi Wan, we can work together. Otherwise, sooner or later, you’ll end up just like me..."

After hearing it all, Chi Wan was almost too disgusted to comment. He Lingfeng was truly rotten to the core.

’And was this his one and only move when it came to women?’

She thought for a moment before saying to Qin Shi, "With someone like He Lingfeng, he has to be the one who dumps you; he would never tolerate being dumped. Also, about that so-called massive debt of yours... I suspect He Lingfeng orchestrated the whole thing." 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

Qin Shi was ultimately too naive, always assuming the best of people. But a man like He Lingfeng would do anything to get what he wanted.

Hearing Chi Wan’s words, Qin Shi froze. As a thought occurred to her, her teeth began to chatter. "Wh-why? To go to all that trouble, just to... But the IOU is real, and he even took pictures of me... Does this mean I can never escape?"

Looking at Qin Shi’s despairing face, Chi Wan, who had initially been suspicious, couldn’t help but feel a pang of pity.

Regardless of whether Qin Shi had come of her own free will or had been coerced by He Lingfeng, the plight she revealed was enough to evoke pity.

Chi Wan couldn’t help but sigh. "Back then, for his own selfish desires, he orchestrated an explosion to bankrupt my family. With a scumbag like He Lingfeng, running away is useless. The only place he belongs is prison."

The He Family’s illegal businesses had built the fortune for He Yunzhen’s branch of the family. He Lingfeng, in turn, walked all over the victims—mere flesh and bone to him—as he wantonly squandered that dirty money and power.

’What gave him the right?’

As Chi Wan spoke about the shady things He Lingfeng had done, she discreetly observed Qin Shi’s expression.

Upon hearing this, Qin Shi looked up in disbelief, a trace of confusion on her face. In her mind, no one, no matter how crazy, would orchestrate something as uncontrollable as an explosion just to ruin a woman’s family and have her at his mercy.

A chill ran down Qin Shi’s spine. She murmured, "He’s a madman... I can’t stay with him anymore..."

Otherwise, there was no guarantee that the things He Lingfeng threatened to do to Chi Wan wouldn’t happen to her instead.

If Qin Shi had initially sought out Chi Wan out of conscience and unease, after hearing Chi Wan’s story, all that remained was fear and loathing.

Qin Shi’s eyes were red-rimmed as she looked at Chi Wan, but her gaze hardened with a seething hatred. "What’s your plan? I’ll work with you."

She couldn’t stand the thought that she had once been genuinely grateful to He Lingfeng.

If it weren’t for him, she wouldn’t be living this life on pins and needles. Even when He Lingfeng laid a hand on her, she could only endure it in humiliation because she didn’t dare let her family know about the massive debt she supposedly owed.

But now, Chi Wan was telling her it might have all been a lie!

While Qin Shi had a taste for luxury, and her good looks had certainly attracted suggestive offers when she was a singer at the bar, she had always maintained her own principles and boundaries.

But He Lingfeng had not only destroyed her dignity piece by piece, he had expected her to be grateful for it!

Chi Wan gently patted Qin Shi’s shoulder. "Don’t be hasty. Right now, all of He Lingfeng’s attention is on me. Just do whatever he tells you to do. But if he really tries to make a move on Youyou or the others, you have to let me know beforehand."

He Lingfeng could never have imagined that Qin Shi, the woman he believed to be completely under his thumb, was slowly baring her fangs, preparing to break free from his control.

At that very moment, he was sitting in the He Family’s villa, toying with a photo of Chi Wan.

It was taken during her freshman year military training. In the photo, the girl had a radiant smile, her eyes curved into happy crescents. There was no hint of the fierce personality she possessed.

He Lingfeng pushed his tongue against the inside of his cheek. The spot where Chi Wan had slapped him yesterday still seemed to ache faintly.

He smirked, his eyes dark, and gently stroked Chi Wan’s face in the photo.

"Chi Wan... heh. I hope you’re this fierce in bed, too..."