Chapter 217: A Corpse Wrapped In A Body Bag
Lian Cheng sat in the back seat.
The car door was locked by Xiao Da, and the windows were not opening. She looked out through the glass.
Hong Kong’s night view had a unique style, retro yet trendy.
In the lower areas, within the cracks of the walls, one could always glimpse shadows from the last century.
Looking up, countless grid-like cool white lights of modern skyscrapers formed a bright, sleepless panorama of finance and technology.
Yet, Lian Cheng felt a cold, detached sense of being left behind.
She was somewhat sensitive.
Lin Lanfeng’s attitude was too detached. Upon their first meeting, he was neither surprised by her resemblance to Lin Xianzi, nor did he show the basic expectation of family recognition.
Lian Cheng even perceived him as frivolous, teasing, and even… perfunctory.
Had Lin Xianzi already confirmed she couldn’t be Mo family’s daughter, or was there another reason?
Lian Cheng’s gaze drifted among the crowd. Amidst the flowing gray shadows, her eyes suddenly met Liang Chaosu’s.
He had just left the boxing gym and was crossing the pedestrian lane.
The night wind billowed his white shirt. The entire bustling, dense light and shadow of the street was reflected in his sharp, bright, and solitary eyes.
The next second, a faint unlocking sound came from the car door.
Lian Cheng immediately opened the door. As her foot touched the ground, she was blocked there, with the door still in her hand.
“Running away again?”
Lian Cheng glared, not responding. She pushed his arm away, trying to squeeze out from the side gap.
The man embraced her fully, his palms cupping her hips. Like an angry kitten, she thrashed and struggled, and he pushed her into the back seat.
Lian Cheng was so angry her eyes turned red. She truly didn’t want to.
Liang Chaosu also truly wouldn’t let go. He hit her buttocks with a third of his strength and scolded her sinisterly, “Behave.”
Xiao Da stepped on the accelerator.
Liang Chaosu owned properties in Hong Kong, with luxury cars always ready in the garages of his hillside villas. But the Aston Martin Xiao Da was driving had no partition.
Looking in the rearview mirror at the back seat was completely unobstructed.
Lian Cheng feared struggling would anger him, causing Liang Chaosu to go crazy. She gritted her teeth and endured, “Let go, I’ll sit in the co-pilot seat.”
Liang Chaosu’s face was stern as he stared at the rearview mirror, “The co-pilot seat has the highest risk factor.”
Lian Cheng struggled to pull her head out of his embrace, bumping into his tensed jaw. His stubble was cleanly shaven, his skin pressed close, and she smelled the cool scent of his aftershave.
“You—”
Lian Cheng’s perspective spun. Liang Chaosu sternly pushed her into the back seat and pulled out the seatbelt to secure her.
Xiao Da’s gaze was also on the rearview mirror, “Miss Lian Cheng just got in the car; that taxi was parked at the street corner.”
Liang Chaosu wasn’t wearing his seatbelt. He put one arm around Lian Cheng and turned his head to observe from the rear window.
“Not back to the hillside villa, go to the Regent.”
Lian Cheng realized something was wrong. A chill ran down her spine, and her scalp tingled.
She had experienced something like this before.
The year she took leave from school, she wandered in her villa cage every day, not wanting to speak, not wanting to see the light. The only opportunity to go out was when she accompanied Liang Chaosu on business trips.
On a stormy night, with strong winds, on a mountain highway, a 27-kilometer downhill slope.
Red and yellow warning signs lined the roadside, dense like grave mounds. Three cars with maximum horsepower chased them.
Later, they lost control on a curve, crashed through the guardrail, and plunged down the mountain cliff.
Liang Chaosu timely protected her by having her jump out of the car. In the unstoppable tumble, Lian Cheng suffered extensive soft tissue contusions, and Liang Chaosu sustained multiple bone fractures.
Fortunately, they were blocked by the guardrail. However, due to a head impact, Liang Chaosu fell into a coma.
In the face of life and death, she was shocked and horrified to the extreme. Her only rational thought was not to disturb Liang Chaosu unnecessarily.
Kneeling beside him, she shielded him from the rain.
It was pitch black all around, the sound of rain incessant, and the ground covered in a thick white mist. She couldn’t find her phone, and for a long time, no passersby appeared. She couldn’t distinguish between the living world and the afterlife, whether they were dead or alive.
Despair and fear washed over her, and she sobbed uncontrollably.
She begged him, “Brother, wake up—”
Before she lost body heat in the heavy rain, he was luckily saved. Without feeling fortunate, his first words upon waking were said with extreme disgust, “Shut up, I’m not your brother.”
Lian Cheng was already very afraid of him then. This stern command felt like her throat was being choked, or her heart was being ripped out.
Desolation, grief, and confusion surged like a tsunami, shattering her.
Memories flooded back, and Lian Cheng’s entire body trembled again. She looked up at him, “I have a room at the Grand Meridian.”
Liang Chaosu glanced at her, sat up straight, and put his arm around her neck, pulling her and the seatbelt together, “We’re not going to the Grand Meridian. From now on, you are prohibited from having a paternity test with anyone, you are not allowed to leave my sight, and in two days, you will return to Qi Province with me.”
Lian Cheng reacted intensely, “No.”
The car cabin was dim, and Liang Chaosu’s eyes were even darker, resolute, with no room for doubt.
Xiao Da drove into the parking lot.
Liang Chaosu unbuckled Lian Cheng’s seatbelt. As soon as the car stopped, Lian Cheng was almost lifted off her feet, dragged along in an elevator, straight to the top floor, and into a room.
Lian Cheng was shocked and angry, “You planned this long ago, booking a room in advance.”
Liang Chaosu sneered, “Secretary Liang, Liang Family often prepares guest residences in areas where we have business dealings. You’ve accompanied me on business trips so many times; didn’t you notice anything?”
His tone changed.
It was reminiscent of his unpredictable moods from the past four years.
Lian Cheng took a breath, still unable to suppress her anxiety. She pulled at the door handle, “You’ve revealed your true colors. I’m not the Lian Cheng I used to be.”
Liang Chaosu forcefully pressed the door panel, and it slammed shut with a bang. Lian Cheng shuddered.
“What do you want to do?”
The man’s other large palm also pressed against the door, his solid build trapping her, slowly leaning down.
The shadow pressed down, engulfing her. Lian Cheng’s face turned ashen with fear. She tried to bend down to escape.
Liang Chaosu forcefully wedged his knees between her legs, his chest and abdomen pressing close. Lian Cheng felt the rigid barrier of his building muscles, the shape of his bulge through their clothes, burning hot, dangerous, and out of control.
She warned him sternly, “Liang Chaosu, do you believe I’ll call the police immediately?”
The man lowered his head and buried it deep in the crook of her neck. His breath was so hot that Lian Cheng flinched, “You call. I’ll give you the evidence. I’m prepared.”
Lian Cheng didn’t like this.
She held the rope to restrain the beast but couldn’t stop the violence. Instead, it amplified the beast, unbound and unrestrained, acting with impunity.
“Lian Cheng.”
Liang Chaosu caressed her waist and the ends of her hair, his touch varying in strength, losing self-control.
“You are clearly intelligent and perceptive; why are you always so dull in front of me? The Lin family’s attitude is so obvious; I don’t believe you haven’t suspected anything.”
Lian Cheng’s face was pale, “I look seven-tenths like Ms. Lin, and I have an intuition about her.”
“Intuition?” Liang Chaosu’s forehead touched hers. His eyes, so close, were deep and angry.
The wave that surged instantaneously was cold, chilling, with a subtle hint of resentment and sorrow.
“Then what about your intuition towards me? A single photograph could make you willing to take risks. I’ve been with you for four years, over two million minutes, over one hundred and twenty million seconds. Why are you biased and refuse your intuition?”
Lian Cheng felt completely caught off guard.
She thought Liang Chaosu was a pervert because he was too open and passionate in bed, explosive in his intensity.
Usually, he spoke little and remained silent, never questioning, never accusing, never showing overt emotions.
As a result, she suddenly felt speechless, yet also like she had a thousand words to refute, stuck in her throat.
“Or, intuition is just an excuse,” Liang Chaosu’s voice was gloomy and hoarse. “You insist on staying, not to find your birth mother, but because you’re eager to have the ability to withstand Liang Zhengping’s backlash, so you can get rid of me as quickly as possible?”
Lian Cheng breathed with difficulty, regaining her thoughts, “Setting aside whether it’s an excuse or not, is it wrong for me to want to leave you?”
In an instant.
Liang Chaosu’s face fell into a deep haze. His eyes were always bright, deep-set against the light, with sharp aggression, a ferocity on the verge of erupting.
Lian Cheng’s back was against the door panel. Her words were steady, but she felt numb, unable to find any emotion.
“You’ve been back in the country for almost two months; have you forgotten Iceland?”
“If there were a way to measure grudges in the world, I admit I misunderstood you before. That stab was revenge for your practical psychological exploitation; imprisoning you was your coercion.”
“And the child…”
At this moment, Lian Cheng felt like a corpse wrapped in a shroud. Her throat had rotted, and she had ripped open the zipper herself, allowing people to glimpse her festering maggots.
“We both bear responsibility. With a life between us, I want to no longer be entangled with you for the rest of my life, to live in seclusion and repent. Is that wrong?”
