Dangerous Liaisons: I’m So Poor, All I Have is Money! - Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The First Pillow Talk with a Scumbag Husband

Jiang Jun stayed out for several days in a row.

The media eventually caught wind of the situation and began speculating wildly. Paparazzi started hunting for evidence of my “widowed” life at home, and various internet influencers set up camp near the Jiang manor.

Even with all of Jiang Shitian’s wealth and power, he found it difficult to please everyone and suppress these unsightly rumors all at once. While the Zhou family didn’t care whether I lived or died, the Jiang family didn’t want things to look too ugly.

Jiang Shitian applied pressure by cutting off Jiang Jun’s allowance. Forced to submit, Jiang Jun returned home, looking utterly disgruntled.

“You’re quite ruthless,” Jiang Jun said to me through gritted teeth. “Now even my father follows your lead.”

I didn’t bother to explain. I simply walked back to my room to sleep.

Likely acting on Jiang Shitian’s orders, Jiang Jun followed me in shortly after—entering the room that was, in name, our bridal suite. Ironically, this was the first time he had stepped foot in our room since the wedding several days ago.

I was already lying in bed when he entered. I turned on my side, not even deigning to look at him. I closed my eyes as if no one else were there, intent on sleeping. Then, I heard Jiang Jun’s footsteps gradually approaching.

Jiang Jun seemed a bit flustered. Standing by the bed, he said, “Hey, Zhou girl. You forced me back, yet you won’t make room. What exactly do you want?”

I remained silent.

Jiang Jun continued, “Don’t tell me you’re waiting for me to apologize and beg for your forgiveness? You’d better kill that hope now. I did nothing wrong. You’re the one at fault—you insisted on marrying in and tearing Mianmian and me apart.”

I still kept my back to him, unmoved.

Jiang Jun finally lost his patience and barked, “Don’t think playing mute will work! Get up. You’re sleeping on the floor!”

I ignored him.

In a fit of desperation, Jiang Jun actually laid hands on me, trying to drag me off the bed. I bolted upright and stared directly into his eyes. I spoke calmly, each word clear and sharp: “You can love whoever you want. But this place—this bed—is my position.”

I thought I sounded fierce, but my eyes were already bloodshot. I didn’t back down, stubbornly forcing the tears back. Jiang Jun was stunned by my words, momentarily frozen, unsure of how to react.

Perhaps he finally remembered that I was his legal wife. He didn’t try to pull me down again.

I didn’t mind him further. I lay back down and pulled the covers over my head, letting the world outside crumble for all I cared.

After a while, Jiang Jun’s voice sounded again, this time much calmer.

“Zhou girl, move over a bit. We can live and let live. Don’t say I’m bullying a woman, but this place belongs to me too.”

Hidden under the covers, I said, “Sleep if you want. I’m not stopping you. Also, I have a name. It’s Zhou Li.”

My voice was thick with a nasal tone from stifled crying.

Jiang Jun seemed taken aback for a second. Then, he actually had the nerve to climb into bed, squeezing himself in.

The grievances in my heart could no longer be contained. All the unhappiness since the wedding flooded my mind at that moment. Right there in front of Jiang Jun, hidden under the quilt, I stopped hiding it and began to sob, gasping for air.

Jiang Jun’s conscience seemed to prick him slightly because of my crying. He nudged my back with his elbow and said, somewhat awkwardly, “Hey, look… you don’t need to be that sad, do you? I didn’t actually pull you off the bed, did I?”

I ignored him. My crying only became more overwhelming.

Jiang Jun grew anxious. He tried to peel back my covers, but I gripped them tighter. Finally, he simply flipped me over, quilt and all.

Now, Jiang Jun was leaning over me, his weight pressing down on my upper body. We were so close that for the first time, we could hear each other breathe.

Though tears blurred my vision, I could still see his silhouette. The lights in the room were a bit piercing. I quickly wiped the tears from my face.

Jiang Jun stared at me. I looked away and gave him a shove. He hurriedly sat up and looked elsewhere.

Then, Jiang Jun said rather unnaturally, “Look, Eldest Miss Zhou, can you stop crying? What happened just now was my fault, okay? But you can’t cry like this. What if it wakes my father?”

I pulled the covers back over myself and turned on my side again.

I said petulantly, “If it wakes him, that’s your problem. You were the one in the wrong. You deal with it; you deserve it! And don’t call me ‘Eldest Miss.’ There is no ‘Eldest Miss’ here. After all, I live a life worse than a dog’s.”

Jiang Jun seemed to find that funny. He chuckled. “You mean that old dog of yours? It’s losing its fur and you still brought it to the Jiang house; it’s quite pathetic. Do you want me to help you replace it with a new one?”

I sat up abruptly and snapped back, “Then can I replace your White Moonlight too?!”

Jiang Jun froze. He turned his head away and sneered, “I was just trying to be kind. If you don’t want to, then don’t. But I won’t allow you to talk about Mianmian like that.”

He sounded displeased.

I looked him in the eye and said stubbornly, “And I won’t allow you to talk about Lili like that!”

Jiang Jun turned back and looked at me playfully. “Oh? Your dog is named Lili? You’re Zhou Li. It’s the same name as yours.”

I couldn’t tell if there was any kindness or malice in his words, but I didn’t care.

I retorted righteously, “So what if it’s the same? I gave her that name. In the Zhou family, only Lili stayed by my side. Now Lili is old and dying, yet the Zhou family still tormented her and threw her here to the Jiang family!”

Jiang Jun frowned again. “Hey, don’t talk as if you aren’t a Zhou yourself.”

I lowered my eyes, my voice dropping. “In the Zhou house, I am just as lowly as Lili.”

After saying that, I lay back down.

Jiang Jun looked thoughtful. He gazed ahead wistfully and said, “I guess nobody in this world has it easy.”

Seeing that I wasn’t responding, Jiang Jun leaned against the headboard and continued, “Actually, I’m not much better off than you. My parents divorced when I was little. My father wouldn’t let me see my mother. So, I’ve hated him since I was a kid. But I’m useless. I have no way of escaping his shadow.”

My heart tightened. Hearing about Jiang Jun’s past, I felt a rare sense of shared destiny and sympathy for him.

I rolled onto my back and said softly, “Before that woman fell ill and came to me for help, I had never actually met her.”

Jiang Jun was visibly startled. He turned to stare at me, searching for the truth.

I continued expressionlessly:

“I’m talking about my biological mother. When she had me, she was only eighteen and had only finished the sixth grade. Because of a chance meeting with my father, she carelessly got pregnant and irresponsibly gave birth to me.

At that time, the Zhou family wasn’t as powerful as it is now; at most, they were just well-off. However, my grandmother—the matriarch—despised that woman. So even after she gave birth to me, the Zhou family refused to let her in. My grandmother said she wasn’t good enough for my father.

Moreover, I was just a girl. My father has always been weak-willed; he did whatever my grandmother told him. So, he just fooled around and never married her. Once the woman realized she couldn’t enter the Zhou family, she decisively abandoned me shortly after I was born and vanished.

I had never seen her until she came to find me this time. My grandmother told me that all these years, she was afraid the Zhou family would ask for child support, so she acted as if she never had a child.

To be honest, growing up hearing things like that, I didn’t like her at all. Since she acted as if I didn’t exist, why come to me now that she’s sick? I could just as easily act as if I don’t have a mother!”

I took a deep breath. A trace of sorrow seeped through my words.

Jiang Jun asked cautiously, “You’re saying that after your mother fell ill, she found you and asked for help? Do you still acknowledge her?”

I looked up at Jiang Jun and said with total sincerity, “The only reason I agreed to this marriage was to raise the money for her medical treatment.”

Jiang Jun was stunned!

“I always thought you married in for profit,” he said. “I didn’t expect it was for the dowry—for money to save the irresponsible mother who abandoned you.”

I replied, “I hated her when she first found me. But in the end, I couldn’t bear it. She brought me into this world, after all. She carried me for ten months; I have to repay that debt.”

Jiang Jun smiled—a rare, genuine, and kind smile. He reached out his hand, and it looked as if he was about to stroke my face.

Suddenly, his phone rang. A message had arrived.

“It’s Mianmian,” Jiang Jun said, clicking the phone open.

I said nothing.

After reading the message, Jiang Jun stood up immediately. He said with a hint of panic:

“Something happened to Mianmian. I have to go see her!”