The Vicious, Vain Stepsister (10)

At that moment, Mother Lu was sitting in the Su family's living room, with Su Jiu on her left. Far off to her right, Jiang Xuefu was sprawled casually on the sofa with a throw pillow, looking at her phone.

Although Mother Lu was talking to Su Jiu, she kept glancing over at Jiang Xuefu.

The girl was used to making herself comfortable at home, and even in front of Mother Lu, she made no effort to sit properly. Her casual posture made Mother Lu frown repeatedly.

There were so many beautiful and accomplished girls in the world, so why had Xiaoyan set his heart on Jiang Xuefu of all people?

After she returned home last time, she had made a point of talking to her son and telling him everything she had seen, hoping he would come to his senses and break up with Jiang Xuefu sooner rather than later.

She had never expected Xiaoyan, who had never given her cause to worry, to be so stubborn.

He had said, "Jiang Xuefu is the only one I'll have in this life. If you want the Lu family line to end with me, do as you please."

A threat, a naked threat!

For the first time, Mother Lu understood what it was like to have the kind of headache-inducing rebellious son the other ladies talked about.

He was simply beyond saving!

The most serious argument in the Lu family's history had erupted. Neither mother nor son would give an inch, and in the end, Father Lu, caught in the middle, came up with a compromise.

Lu Zhiyan would go study abroad.

If they were still together four years later and Lu Zhiyan still held to his current view, then neither he nor Mother Lu would object to their relationship anymore.

Lu Zhiyan agreed.

Mother Lu thought it over and agreed too.

Time was no small test for a young couple in different countries. She believed in her son's devotion, but she didn't trust Jiang Xuefu.

Never mind how genuine their feelings could be when they had been together for less than half a year; from the information Mother Lu had uncovered, she knew Jiang Xuefu wasn't one to settle down.

There would be too many temptations over four years. Who knew when they might break up?

And so the matter was settled, but neither Father Lu nor Mother Lu noticed a bug in what they had said: neither of them had said Jiang Xuefu couldn't go abroad with him.

Perhaps, in their minds, even if Lu Zhiyan asked, Jiang Xuefu wouldn't agree.

After all, she was still young. She might be reluctant to leave her parents and friends, and she might be afraid of going to an unfamiliar country.

But to everyone's surprise, when Lu Zhiyan brought it up, Jiang Xuefu agreed to go abroad with him almost without thinking.

She agreed so quickly that even Lu Zhiyan was stunned for a moment.

Then came wild joy.

Holding his girl, he silently swore in his heart that he would never let down Fufu's affection and trust.

Little did he know that Jiang Xuefu had agreed purely because school in China was too boring.

Besides, all her homework and exam results were now Su Jiu's work. If anything went wrong and the truth came out, she would be the one who lost face.

She might as well go abroad, where the sky was high enough for birds to fly and the sea wide enough for fish to leap.

Four years later.

Thanks to his outstanding performance, Lu Zhiyan had completed his studies early, while Jiang Xuefu was also about to graduate and return to China that year.

Throughout those four years, the two had been as passionately in love as ever. Lu Zhiyan was still clingy, and now his possessiveness had grown frighteningly strong.

Possessiveness aside, someone's "stamina" had also become frighteningly strong.

Ever since the two had first tasted the forbidden fruit, it was as if the man had flipped some strange switch. Whether he was jealous, happy, or sad, Jiang Xuefu was always the one who suffered in the end.

She had no idea where he got so many tricks.

That said, Jiang Xuefu enjoyed herself immensely every time too. Otherwise, she could never have tolerated a man who went at it for several hours at a minimum.

Take today, for example.

Sunlight streamed gently through the sheer curtains into the room, flecks of light falling on the silk quilt and casting a hazy glow over everything. Golden lines traced the slender, curving figure of the young woman lying on her side in bed. The view of a peerless beauty from behind seemed like something that could only appear in a dream, enough to set hearts yearning.

Because the light was a little bright, Jiang Xuefu had buried almost her entire body beneath the quilt. Only her smooth black hair spilled across the pillow, proof that there really was a person in the bed.

Before long, Jiang Xuefu abruptly threw back the quilt and sat up. A glimpse of spring flashed into view: her neck, collarbones, and arms were covered in mottled, suggestive marks.

Jiang Xuefu raked an irritated hand through her hair, picked up her phone, and dialed a number.

"Lu Zhiyan, what is wrong with you? You had Auntie come into the room and open the curtains again. Don't you know how late you kept going last night?"

Far away on a business trip in Country M, Lu Zhiyan stood before a floor-to-ceiling window high above the ground, looking down at the city's buildings. Dressed in a perfectly tailored, high-end bespoke suit, the man stood tall, every inch of him radiating elegance and an imposing presence that came naturally.

The man, colder and more mature than he had been four years ago, still couldn't help smiling indulgently when he heard the angry scolding on the phone.

"Fufu, be good. If you don't get up now, you'll be up late again tonight. Your graduation defense is tomorrow, and you can't be late. I ordered lunch; if you get up now, you can eat it while it's hot."

"Get lost. I don't want to eat."

"I heard P just released a new collection."

"..."

"Thanks for ordering the food, hubby. I love you most, hubby. Mwah~"

She had changed her tune as fast as flipping a page.

The smile on Lu Zhiyan's face deepened. After postponing the meeting he was about to attend, he coaxed her some more and switched the call to video. Only after watching Jiang Xuefu finish lunch did he reluctantly hang up.

The moment the call ended, the man's gentle expression vanished, replaced by the domineering CEO aura his subordinates knew so well: the weather had turned cold, and it was time for a certain company to go bankrupt.

"Tell the heads of all departments to meet in five minutes."

The assistant, Little Zhou, marveled silently to himself. Even a beast of burden like him had gotten a close-up view of a domineering CEO in love.

Jiang Xuefu's graduation defense went smoothly, and if nothing unexpected happened, she could return to China the following week. Lu Zhiyan's work in Country M, however, would take a few more months to finish, and they had agreed to return together then.

For the past four years, Jiang Xuefu had spent every New Year and holiday traveling all over the place with Lu Zhiyan. It had never even occurred to her to go home.

Now that she had graduated, though, she had started wanting to go back.

Her father had told her that he had been secretly transferring the Su family's assets for the past few years. Although the Su family still bore the Su name, it was nothing more than an empty shell, having long existed in name only.

If that was the case, Su Jiu must be having a hard time.

Thinking of Su Jiu, Jiang Xuefu inevitably remembered Mother Lu as well.

Every New Year, Mother Lu hoped Lu Zhiyan would come back, but Jiang Xuefu refused to let her have her way. Whenever they were on the phone, Jiang Xuefu would start ordering him around.

She would ask him to fetch this, put that away, or do the laundry and cook, infuriating Mother Lu every time.

If not for their blood ties, Mother Lu wouldn't even want to acknowledge him as her son.

How was he any different from a servant at an ancient queen's side, obeying her so readily?

Whenever Jiang Xuefu thought of Mother Lu being thwarted, she was delighted.

No, no, she had to hurry and book a flight back to China.

Being abroad was fun, but back in China, there was entertainment to watch.

And so, when Lu Zhiyan returned to his office after yet another meeting and opened his phone, there was just one message sitting quietly in his pinned WeChat chat.

"Life without hubby is just too boring, so I'm going back to China first~"

After looking at it for a while, a cold sneer curled Lu Zhiyan's lips. Well, well, she had even learned to act first and report later.

So whatever "punishment" she received when he caught her this time, she couldn't blame him, could she?

The man's obsidian eyes grew darker, as though storm after storm were gathering within them.