Rose Lock - Chapter 73

The wind outside started to blow wildly, and the rain hammered against the windowsill, sounding like a shrieking ghost.

The wheelchair gleamed with cold metallic luster, and the floor was littered with articles of clothing.

On the soft, large bed, Hua Manyi panted and wiped a bead of sweat, looking at the woman beneath her and the masterpiece she had left. She angrily lay down beside her, pressing close.

Although her own body was no better, covered in bruises and marks.

“Do you have anything to say?” Gong Yan closed her eyes, then opened them, took a cigarette from the headboard, lit it, and slowly exhaled.

Hua Manyi had already cried all her tears. There were still streaks on her face. She glanced at the cigarette in Gong Yan’s fingers, snatched it without hesitation, and took a puff. “I have nothing to say.”

Gong Yan wasn’t annoyed about the stolen cigarette. “What about Jiang Yin then?”

Hua Manyi froze. The cigarette in her mouth suddenly turned bitter, making her cough several times. She stuffed the cigarette back, turned her back, and refused to look at her.

“Didn’t you just ask me if I liked Jiang Yin? Why, are you afraid to ask now?”

Hua Manyi clutched the blanket tightly, tears beginning to well up in her eyes, the corners of her eyes turning red. The answer was undoubtedly that she liked Jiang Yin, and asking again would only be humiliating. “I don’t want to know. After today, I’ll go back and won’t bother you again.”

“Hua Manyi!” Gong Yan was annoyed. “Where did the courage you had when you took off my clothes just now go?”

“What do you want me to ask?” Hua Manyi threw off the blanket, sat up, and looked at her, fighting back tears. “Ask you when you and Jiang Yin fell in love, or ask if you’ve done these intimate things with Jiang Yin?”

“What if I said no?” Gong Yan looked at her, her nose running and tears flowing, then pursed her red lips, her eyes filled with a smile. “Why are you so easily teased?”

Hua Manyi: “What do you mean?”

“Jiang Yin is just my friend. Since you’ve remembered the past, you should know that my feelings for you are the real ones.” Gong Yan wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes. When her thumb reached Hua Manyi’s lips, it paused. Hua Manyi noticed her hesitation, but as soon as she looked up, she saw a dark silhouette descend, and her nostrils were filled with a familiar scent.

…

Hua Manyi was lying in Gong Yan’s arms when a knock suddenly came from the door. It was Lin Wanyi.

“Gong Ma, are you in your room? I made some soup…”

Hua Manyi immediately pushed Gong Yan away, gave her a suspicious look, and shouted toward the door, “Gong Ma is tired, and she doesn’t like soup. Please take it away.”

Lin Wanyi was confused. “Miss Manyi? Why are you in Gong Ma’s room? Gong Ma, are you there?”

Finally, she simply called out to Gong Yan directly.

Hua Manyi was slightly annoyed. She turned back and glared at Gong Yan. Seeing that Gong Yan was about to speak in response to Lin Wanyi, she quickly covered her mouth. “Don’t speak. Lie down, close your eyes, pretend to be asleep. Don’t worry about the rest.”

Gong Yan had no choice but to comply. Before closing her eyes, she saw Hua Manyi get up, tidy the bed, pick up the clothes on the floor and put them on, stuffing the extra clothes under the blanket. She adjusted her hair and went to open the door.

“Miss Wanyi, please keep your voice down. Gong Ma is already asleep, and she doesn’t want anyone to disturb her.”

Lin Wanyi first examined Hua Manyi’s face, which clearly showed signs of recent crying. Although her clothes were proper, Lin Wanyi keenly noticed marks on her neck, and bruised marks were faintly visible through the slit of the qipao.

Her brows furrowed tighter. Her gaze went past Hua Manyi to the large bed inside. Gong Yan was indeed resting. She had no reason to bother her further, so she held out the soup. “This is the soup I made. Please remind Gong Ma to drink it when she wakes up.”

Hua Manyi took it and smiled. “Thank you for your thoughtfulness, Miss Wanyi.”

After seeing Lin Wanyi off, Hua Manyi placed the soup on the table and sulked alone. “Who is she? Why is she making soup for you? What are your servants doing? Why is she the one making the soup?”

Gong Yan had changed her clothes at some point and walked up to her. “It’s just soup. Wanyi means nothing more.”

“Then can I also assume that Ian writing to me was out of friendly concern?” Hua Manyi countered, her gaze burning.

In the next moment, Gong Yan’s expression indeed changed. “What exactly is your relationship with Ian?! Why are you still keeping her letters?”

Hua Manyi lifted her chin. “The relationship of ordinary friends who’ve kissed.”

This time, Gong Yan’s face turned completely black with anger. She didn’t speak to Hua Manyi for the rest of the day.

After the rain stopped, Hua Manyi followed Gong Yan to the small hotel. Gong Yan sent someone up to pack her luggage and brought her to the villa to live.

Lin Wanyi stood on the second floor, watching them enter and exit together, while servants carried Hua Manyi’s clothes, jewelry, and other belongings into a bedroom one by one. It was obvious that the room was about to have a new occupant. Even if she was naive, she understood what had happened.

Thinking of the call from the Lin family that afternoon, telling her that if she didn’t return soon, the Lin family would send someone to catch her. At this moment, Lin Wanyi panicked and hurried to find Gong Yan.

“Eldest Miss, may Wanyi ask you for a favor…” Lin Wanyi finally reverted to that title. She admitted that she still had a selfish motive, hoping the other party would remember their old friendship as a companion and help her.

Gong Yan was looking at the ledger on her office desk and gestured for her to speak when she heard her words.

“I…” Lin Wanyi found it difficult to speak. Under Gong Yan’s gaze, she gritted her teeth and began to undo her top. Gong Yan was about to say something when a figure suddenly walked in through the doorway and stopped Lin Wanyi’s hand.

“Miss Wanyi, please be respectful. Say what you need to say properly.” Hua Manyi’s gaze was as sharp as a sword, as if she saw through Lin Wanyi’s little plan.

Lin Wanyi was utterly humiliated, but the thought of the fate she would have to face brought a wave of grief, and tears streamed down her face. “I… I just want someone to help me, to help me escape that family…”

A few days later, Gong Yan and Hua Manyi watched Lin Wanyi board the ship and sail away. In the end, she chose not to return to the Lin family but, with their help, to go somewhere no one knew her and start anew.

“What if the Lin family comes asking for her?” Hua Manyi leaned her head against Gong Yan’s shoulder in the back seat of the car, asking worriedly.

Gong Yan took Hua Manyi’s hand resting on her lap, pursed her red lips, and said with a lazy look, “If the Lin family were truly that insistent, they wouldn’t wait until now to come for her.”

That evening, after dinner, Gong Yan planned to give Hua Manyi the ring, but unexpectedly, Hua Manyi took an iron box out of the cabinet and placed it directly on her office desk.

Gong Yan remembered the iron box. Before Hua Manyi could speak, her expression had already darkened.

“Gong Ma, I know you resent this, but I have to explain myself. Ian and I are truly just friends. I’m giving these letters to you now. You can dispose of them however you like.”

Gong Yan’s expression softened slightly this time. She called for Butler Fu to carry the box out, then pulled Hua Manyi into her arms. “Yiyi, come back to Nancheng with me in a few days.”

Hua Manyi vaguely guessed that the woman was taking her to meet the Gong family. She paused during their intimacy, looking at her worriedly. “What if we are put in a pig cage and drowned…”

After all, this matter was too shocking. She could even imagine the situation of being scorned and insulted by everyone.

Gong Yan was displeased with her distraction and exerted a little force with her hands. Hua Manyi nearly cried out. Her insteps arched, and her body was as pliable as a snake, clinging to Gong Yan’s waist with captivating beauty.

Hua Manyi wrapped her arms around Gong Yan’s slender neck, resting her chin on her shoulder, dripping with sweat, her limbs weakly clinging to her. “Gong Ma…”

“Call me A Yan…”

Hua Manyi bit her before she was willing to call her A Yan. Her long eyelashes fluttered slightly, and she slowly called out in a low voice, “…You still haven’t answered me.”

“Being put in a pig cage and drowned will absolutely not happen to us. If you want a wedding, or a child, I can promise you that.” She had already made arrangements for all the possibilities she could think of.

“A child?” Hua Manyi was startled, somewhat incredulous, her voice filled with unmistakable hope. “Can we really have a child?”

Gong Yan nodded. “Although we can’t conceive ourselves, adopting one is not a problem.”

“Then I will raise her well.” Hua Manyi beamed, even starting to fantasize about life with a child. Gong Yan laughed, saying that Hua Manyi herself was still a child yet was already worrying about raising one.

Hua Manyi, however, was not convinced. She woke up suddenly from a dream in the middle of the night, then tossed and turned, unable to fall back asleep. She woke up the woman beside her. “A Yan, I might not be able to raise the child… What should I do?”

“What child?” Gong Yan frowned. Where did they get a child from?

“The child you’ll adopt later. I might not be able to raise it.” Hua Manyi was too worried to sleep.

Gong Yan: “Why?”

Hua Manyi looked down at herself, pulled Gong Yan’s hand over her chest, and said earnestly, “I don’t have milk. The child won’t just struggle to grow up; it might not even survive… A Yan, what should we do?”

“…”

Hua Manyi looked at Gong Yan and said sadly, “Yours has even less.”

“…”

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