"I'll just add one more thing: be a little gentler with Ye Wan. Her life is too fragile to be treated this roughly by you," Jin Lan said before fleeing the study.
As expected, a moment later, the sound of things being violently thrown echoed from the study.
...
Ye Wan woke up the next day. Her head ached fiercely as she opened her eyes. She looked around at the unfamiliar surroundings and struggled to sit up. Her gaze landed on the man standing by the window, and her heart instantly tightened… Gu Yunting was still here!
Startled, she nervously jumped out of bed, only to realize she was completely naked. She quickly grabbed the duvet to cover herself.
Gu Yunting turned at the sound of her movement, his eyes filled with bone-chilling coldness. "Are you that afraid of me?"
Her eyes darted about in panic, as if she were a ferocious beast.
"I… I'm sorry, I'll leave right now!" Ye Wan had no clothes on, but she knew how much Gu Yunting detested and hated her. She dared not incur his displeasure and immediately wrapped herself in the duvet, heading for the door.
However, the duvet was too long, and she was in such a state of panic that her foot caught on the fabric trailing on the floor. She was about to fall.
Ye Wan closed her eyes in resignation, bracing for the impact. But after a moment, she didn't hit the ground as expected. Instead, she was scooped up into someone's arms. She abruptly opened her eyes to meet a pair of sharp, icy eyes…
Her heart trembled violently. She blinked and nervously said, "Young Master, I know I was wrong!"
"Oh? What was wrong?" Gu Yunting sat down on the bed with her in his arms, his piercing black eyes fixed on her.
"I… I…" Ye Wan didn't know what to say. Should she say her mistake was being her mother's daughter? No, she couldn't utter those words.
Although her mother had indeed done wrong, she had carried her for ten months. Everyone in the world had the right to condemn her birth mother, except for her.
"Who did you give your first time to?" Gu Yunting suddenly demanded.
Ye Wan froze, shaking her head blankly. "I don't know… I really don't know."
"You are truly despicable! Any man can have you!" Gu Yunting roared. He then stood up, turned, and threw her onto the bed before storming out angrily. The door slammed shut with a deafening bang.
Ye Wan's body trembled with pain, and tears streamed down her face uncontrollably. She truly didn't know who that man was. It had been too dark then, and she couldn't see his face. She only knew he had the same strength as Gu Yunting. Trapped in his embrace, she was like a kitten at the mercy of its butcher.
The door creaked open again. Ye Wan jumped, thinking Gu Yunting had returned. Turning, she saw two maids entering, and she let out a sigh of relief.
"Get up! Don't think that just because the Young Master slept with you, you're a real young lady. Look at your own character!" Xiao Hong sneered at the pale girl on the bed, her deep-seated jealousy only visible upon closer inspection.
"I don't know how you have the nerve to show your face to the Young Master! If I were you, I'd have smashed my head against the wall long ago! Hurry back to your own place. I'll need to disinfect three times the areas you've been in! Even the air stinks!" Xiao Ying said irritably as she began to clean.
Having lived in the Gu mansion for over ten years, these were the words Ye Wan heard most often. She ignored them, wrapped herself tightly in the duvet, and left the room, returning to her own small quarters.