Men's Hearts Were No Easier to Fathom

"Qiao Hua!"

Water kept dripping from Gu Wenze's hair. His handsome face was dark with anger, and a chilling menace lurked in his eyes.

Qiao Hua shrugged without a trace of guilt. "Sorry, my hand slipped."

As if she would fall for that again. She had already suffered once; there was no way she would let Gu Wenze get his way a second time.

That splash extinguished all the heat burning inside Gu Wenze. He stared fixedly at Qiao Hua's face, looking ready to kill.

Perhaps his expression was simply too ominous. Sensing danger in the air, Qiao Hua quietly set down the glass, then turned and ran.

Watching her flee, Gu Wenze wiped his face with one hand. He glanced down at his groin, his brows drawing even tighter.

Not long afterward, Gu Wenze went upstairs. He looked toward the guest room, where the door was firmly shut and even the lights were off.

Apparently, Qiao Hua knew she had done something wrong and was too guilty to come out.

But Gu Wenze had no time to deal with her now. He returned to his room with a dark expression and called Gu Jinman.

"Wenze, why are you calling me all of a sudden?" Gu Jinman's voice came through the phone. The background was noisy, with faint announcements suggesting she was somewhere like a shopping mall.

Gu Wenze got straight to the point. "Did you message Qiao Hua tonight?"

The other end went silent at once, confirming his suspicions.

After a long pause, Gu Jinman stammered, "Wenze, what are you talking about?"

Gu Wenze's voice was low, edged with a dangerous chill. "Stay out of things between Qiao Hua and me. Otherwise, don't ever show your face in front of me again."

"Wait, Wenze..."

He hung up before she could finish.

Gu Jinman stamped her foot in anger. That woman Qiao Hua had actually tattled to her brother. How underhanded!

"What's wrong, Jinman?" Jiang Nan emerged from the fitting room to find Gu Jinman sulking in a chair.

Gu Jinman complained, "It's my brother! I sent Qiao Hua that photo of him helping you at the restaurant, and he called to chew me out!"

Jiang Nan's expression stiffened slightly. Forcing a smile, she said, "Maybe Qiao Hua said something to him. Don't do that again. It wouldn't be worth damaging your relationship with your brother."

"Hmph, it's all Qiao Hua's fault. I underestimated that scheming woman. We'll see about this!"

Jiang Nan offered a few distracted words of comfort as her thoughts drifted elsewhere.

Gu Wenze had actually called Gu Jinman over something so trivial.

It seemed she had underestimated his feelings for Qiao Hua.

The two might not be as incompatible as the rumors claimed. Otherwise, they could hardly have lived together for three years.

The next morning, Qiao Hua deliberately waited until Gu Wenze had left before slowly heading downstairs.

Sure enough, he was nowhere to be seen in the villa.

As she ate breakfast, Qiao Hua thought back to his reaction the previous night.

Gu Wenze seemed rather sensitive about divorce. She probably shouldn't push him too hard for now. What if he lashed out when cornered?

But if she didn't bring it up, how long would it take for them to finally get divorced?

How annoying.

People said women's hearts were unfathomable, but men's hearts seemed no easier to read.

After breakfast, Qiao Hua headed to the office. Just as she was about to enter the building, a bright female voice called out to her.

"Qiao Hua!"

Puzzled, Qiao Hua turned around. A sweet-faced woman with a petite, shapely figure stood at the foot of the steps, looking up at her arrogantly.

Who was this?

She didn't think they had met before.

When Qiao Hua failed to react, Gu Jinman grew annoyed. "What's with that reaction? Don't tell me you've forgotten who I am!"

The voice did sound familiar. Qiao Hua quickly remembered: wasn't this the person who had answered Gu Wenze's phone yesterday?

"Oh, it's you." Having roughly guessed who the woman was, Qiao Hua asked flatly, "What do you want?"

Gu Jinman walked up to her in high heels, holding her head high. "You know Jiang Nan is back, right?"

Qiao Hua nodded. "I do."

"Then you must also know my brother used to like her." Gu Jinman said smugly, "If you have any self-awareness, you'll divorce him as soon as possible and let them be together. Someone like you isn't good enough for the Gu Family."

Do these people from the Gu Family have nothing better to do than pick fights every day?

You say I'm not good enough for your family? I don't think Gu Wenze is good enough for me.

Instead of meddling in other people's business, why don't you keep an eye on your own boyfriend? He's already sleeping with your best friend, yet you still have time to fight someone else's battles.

Gu Jinman's eyes went as wide as saucers, her face filled with shock. She rushed forward and grabbed Qiao Hua's sleeve. "What did you just say?"

Qiao Hua frowned at the hand gripping her sleeve. "Did I say anything? Are you hallucinating?"

"You're the one hallucinating! I clearly heard you..."

Seeing Qiao Hua look at her as though she were crazy, Gu Jinman abruptly fell silent.

Had Qiao Hua really not said anything?

But she had clearly heard her voice.

Before Gu Jinman could recover from this baffling situation, she heard Qiao Hua's voice again. This time, they were close enough for her to see clearly that the words weren't coming from Qiao Hua's mouth.

With a temper like that, no wonder your boyfriend fell into your best friend's comforting arms. They've said plenty of nasty things about you behind your back, too. You're the only one who thinks they genuinely care about you.

Gu Jinman stared at Qiao Hua as if she had seen a ghost. Were these her thoughts?

But how could she hear them?

Qiao Hua didn't notice Gu Jinman's increasingly strange expression and continued grumbling to herself. What a shame. Your best friend and boyfriend don't just cheat behind your back; they eventually sell you to human traffickers, too.

The Gu Family's cherished little princess ends up sold to a mountain village, forced to bear seven or eight children for an old man, and never escapes.

Gu Jinman shuddered.

Her own best friend and boyfriend would sell her to a mountain village?

No. Her boyfriend loved her so much, and her best friend treated her so well. They would never do something like that!

Qiao Hua must be trying to drive a wedge between them!

Those words threw Gu Jinman's mind into such turmoil that she forgot the speech she had prepared. She stammered, "A-anyway, stay away from my brother. He'll be with Jiang Nan soon, and then you'll be kicked out."

"Are you finished?" Qiao Hua asked coldly. "If this nonsense is all you wanted to tell me, sorry, but I have to clock in."

She shook off Gu Jinman's hand and walked into the office.

Normally, Gu Jinman would never have let her go so easily. But her mind was full of the thoughts she had just heard, leaving her no room to trouble Qiao Hua any further.

Once a seed of doubt was planted, however, it would take root and grow. Although Gu Jinman insisted she didn't believe it, she still called her boyfriend, intending to ask him what was going on.

The call didn't connect. He was already on another call.

An uneasy feeling stirred in Gu Jinman's chest. She called her best friend, only to find that her line was busy too.

Gu Jinman's legs gave way, and she sank onto the steps.

Could Qiao Hua have been right? Were her best friend and boyfriend really cheating behind her back?