Copycat - Chapter 39

Chapter 39

◎Undisguised Disgust◎

The sounds in the villa returned to silence. Zhou Ziyan buried her head between her knees, silent tears dripping onto the expensive floor. After a long time, she stood up shakily and walked toward the bedroom.

After a peaceful second day, the day after that quickly arrived.

At the dining table, Zhou Ziyan’s expression was calm as she used her knife and fork to cut the steak into small pieces. Wen Jiao, who was sitting across from her, was, as usual, drinking coffee and looking at company documents sent by her secretary on her computer.

Zhou Ziyan was waiting for this day to come to confirm everything she had heard on that rainy night.

But Wen Jiao’s demeanor was so calm. Her every move was exactly the same as usual, as if she were a robot with a fixed program.

Perhaps it was all just a hallucination from an overdose of medicine, Zhou Ziyan tried to reassure herself. Her movements as she cut the steak became more and more absent-minded.

Just when she thought nothing would happen, the sound of porcelain hitting the table made her body jolt.

Wen Jiao put down her coffee cup and looked at her strangely. “What’s wrong?”

Zhou Ziyan weakly pulled at the corners of her mouth. “Nothing.”

“You know, I have neurasthenia. The sound of the rain last night made me sleep poorly.”

“Mm,” Wen Jiao said in a muffled voice.

Just as she was about to breathe a sigh of relief, Wen Jiao suddenly closed her laptop. “Oh, right.”

The hand Zhou Ziyan was holding her knife and fork with paused slightly. When she looked up, her gaze met Wen Jiao’s. The other person looked at her with a smile and slowly said, “The company is closed today. Didn’t you call me the day before yesterday and say you wanted to go to the beach?”

“I happen to have time today. I’ll go with you this afternoon.”

The memory of the rainy night was awakened, as if a surging wave had instantly drowned her life. Zhou Ziyan’s face turned pale. She subconsciously bit her lower lip and rejected her in a stiff tone. “I’m not going.”

Wen Jiao’s expression suddenly turned cold. The air was so quiet it felt like an ice mountain that never melted.

This was the first time Zhou Ziyan had refused a request from Wen Jiao, other than for things in bed, since the two of them had reconciled.

Zhou Ziyan held her knife and fork and repeatedly cut the same piece of meat. The dish, carefully prepared by the French chef, was cut into pieces. When she looked up again, her expression was well-controlled, and she explained in a soft tone, “The man-made lake at home is already very beautiful. I don’t have any obsession with going to the beach anymore.”

Wen Jiao was rarely swayed by anyone. There might have been exceptions in the past, but now, even if an exception sat in front of her, begging with red eyes, her expression would not be moved. She just softened her tone and pulled her into her arms.

“Yanyan, as long as I’m here, no one will ever hurt you. I will go with you to any place you want to go.”

“Let’s go see the sea this afternoon.”

The villa’s restaurant faced southeast, and the huge floor-to-ceiling windows showed the rising morning sun, shimmering with a dazzling red color. Zhou Ziyan buried her head in that warm embrace, but her body was bone-chillingly cold. When she spoke, there was a subtle hint of sarcasm on her lips. She only said, “Okay, whatever you say.”

Time passed by, minute by minute. The white clouds were tinged with a gloomy gray-blue. When they opened the villa door again, they could only see a white flash of lightning under the gloomy sky. The rumbling thunder made it difficult for the two of them to move forward or back.

Perhaps it was because it would have been strange to insist on going in this kind of weather, or maybe for other reasons. In any case, Wen Jiao canceled the trip.

The two of them returned to the villa in the heavy rain. After that, Wen Jiao received a phone call and had to return to the company to deal with documents. Wen Jiao stroked the woman’s soft hair. “Something came up at the company tonight. I might have to socialize. Don’t wait up for me.”

“Mm,” Zhou Ziyan said, nodding with a smile.

Zhou Ziyan watched as the luxury car drove out of the villa and onto the road in the heavy rain, her eyes deep. After making sure Wen Jiao wouldn’t be back, she quickly returned to the bedroom and locked the door. The smile on her face suddenly disappeared, and there was only endless disappointment in her eyes.

The truth had shattered all her self-deception. Wen Jiao was too perceptive. She had to leave this villa, which was her prison, as soon as possible.

Zhou Ziyan found the phone Aldrich had left for her from a hidden corner and tentatively sent out her first text message asking for help.

The cloudy sky made the night even more terrifying. Zhou Ziyan turned off all the lights in the bedroom, leaving only a dim lamp on the bedside table. From outside the bedroom, such a weak light couldn’t be seen. She pretended to have gone to bed early, but in reality, she was holding the phone in her hands, anxiously waiting for a reply from the other end of the message.

“Knock, knock, knock!”

The urgent knocking on the door made her body tremble.

She suppressed her guilt and said in a low voice, “Who is it? I’m already asleep!”

“It’s me.”

As soon as Wen Jiao’s voice came from outside the door, the sound of the bedroom door lock turning could be heard. In a panic, Zhou Ziyan quickly hid the phone under her pillow and double-tapped the bedside lamp to turn it on.

Wen Jiao walked in and saw this scene.

The sleepy woman sat up from the bed, turned on the bedside lamp, rubbed her eyes, and looked at the person outside the door with a hazy, dissatisfied expression.

Under the dim yellow light, as Wen Jiao got closer, Zhou Ziyan became a little flustered. Her heartbeat also quickened with her anxious emotions, almost drowning out the sound of the rain pattering outside the window.

“Are you surprised?” Wen Jiao said, crossing her arms over her chest. The dim light made it impossible for her to see the emotions in the other person’s eyes.

“No,” Zhou Ziyan said, forcing a smile. “I’m just a little surprised that you drove all the way back so late. I was about to…”

An ambiguous breath blocked the lie that was about to come out of her mouth. For a moment, the world spun. When she opened her eyes again, she was already underneath.

This face had moved her countless times. The indifferent eyebrows, the thin, beautiful lips, the black hair.

At such a close distance, she couldn’t even see the pores on that fair skin. This face had made Zhou Ziyan abandon her dignity and willingly become a mistress just to stay by the other person’s side. But this time, when those beautiful lips came to kiss her again, Zhou Ziyan turned her face away.

The phone under the pillow was a constant reminder that the lover in front of her was no longer the same person she had once been.

Wen Jiao’s tone was forceful. “Look at me.”

A slender, fair hand forcefully turned her face, which was turned to the side, and clasped her chin, forcing her to open her eyes and look at her.

Wen Jiao had been drinking.

Zhou Ziyan hid the disappointment in her eyes. She lowered her gaze and obediently opened herself up, letting the hot, murky kiss invade her tongue and greedily suck everything from her.

Just as the atmosphere reached its most heated point, Zhou Ziyan finally pushed away the weight of Wen Jiao on top of her. Before she could say anything, her neck was grabbed. Wen Jiao had drunk so much that even from a distance, she felt as if she had been drowned in a vat of wine, unable to breathe.

“Have I been too good to you recently, making you forget your place?”

“Wen Jiao,” Zhou Ziyan said, moving her lips with difficulty. “You’re drunk.”

“You’re not my lover now. You’re just a mistress I’m paying to keep here. Your only job is to please me.” Cold fingers clamped the woman’s chin, forcing her to look up at her. “What do you have now that gives you the right to refuse me?”

“I don’t have anything. I… I’m just worried about you,” Zhou Ziyan said, lowering her eyelashes. “You’re not well. You just came back from the cold and wet outside. If you take a hot bath, you won’t catch a cold tonight.”

Wen Jiao was stunned for a moment, and her expression softened a lot. She let go of Zhou Ziyan’s chin, looked at her with an unclear gaze, and turned around to walk into the bathroom. “You better not be lying to me.”

“How could I?” Zhou Ziyan lowered her eyelashes. The disgust in her eyes was almost bursting out. Under this beautiful facade was now a monster, who had imprisoned her freedom, broken her wings, and used drugs, money, and her guilt to control everything about her.

Hearing the sound of running water from the bathroom, Zhou Ziyan fiercely wiped her swollen lips a few times. She tried to gag quietly, but she still couldn’t get rid of the disgusting smell of alcohol.

She hid the silenced phone that was under the pillow in a small box under the easel. Just as she was about to lock the box, she saw the screen flash.

Zhou Ziyan turned her head to look at the lit bathroom, made sure the other person wouldn’t come out anytime soon, and quickly opened the message from Aldrich.

“Your plan is very well-thought-out. I’m willing to cooperate and help you escape from there.”