Lin Zhiyi’s body was instantly enveloped in a powerful embrace, the warmth on her neck spreading, leaving her mind completely blank.
At that moment, her body was lifted and placed sitting on the vanity table, causing the hem of her dress to roll up a few inches past her knees.
Revealing her legs wrapped in black stockings.
It wasn’t until the tearing sound echoed near her ear that Lin Zhiyi snapped back to reality, realizing the man had ripped her stockings.
She hastily raised her hand, attempting to block his advancing hands.
But the man continued to kiss her deeply, unhurried, throwing Lin Zhiyi into disarray, chaotic breaths escaping as images surged through her mind.
Her experiences with Gong Chen in this regard had always been far from pleasurable.
Her strongest impressions of these moments were fear and hurt. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮
As these thoughts crossed her mind, she instinctively turned her head and spoke without any desire, "Don’t."
Gong Chen’s breathing was heavy, his throat bobbing.
Having the person he loved right in front of him, kissed, held, and now asking him to hit the brakes at this moment—it was maddening.
Closing his eyes, he took two deep breaths. "Alright."
There was still a trace of desire lingering in his voice, but he restrained himself and released Lin Zhiyi.
Lin Zhiyi froze for a moment, then immediately adjusted her clothes and smoothed down her dress.
"I..."
"Was it because I didn’t make it comfortable before... hmm?"
Hearing this shameless question, Lin Zhiyi jumped down from the vanity table and covered his mouth firmly with her hand.
"Shut up, shut up, shut up..."
Her cheeks flushed bright red, and she didn’t even dare to glare at him.
She had a strong suspicion that Gong Chen had recently borrowed Zhou Zhao’s brain.
How else could he dare say something so outrageous? 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎
Before she could fully express her embarrassment, laughter rang out from outside the door—Liao Yi and Xingxing’s voices.
She quickly pushed Gong Chen towards the door.
"Go outside, don’t let Xingxing see this."
Before Gong Chen could respond, the wardrobe door had already been shut behind him.
As he turned around, Liao Yi and Xingxing walked in hand-in-hand.
Liao Yi was startled to see Gong Chen and quickly covered Xingxing’s eyes.
Peeking out cautiously from the wardrobe doorway, Lin Zhiyi signaled with her eyes and pointed at his lips.
Lipstick.
He had lipstick on.
Gong Chen acted as if he didn’t notice and pointed towards the living room. "I bought cake. You and Xingxing can have some together."
"Alright."
Liao Yi, still covering Xingxing’s eyes, turned around and made sure to close the door behind her as she left.
Lin Zhiyi, now dressed, emerged and pointed at Gong Chen’s lips. "Third Young Master, you still have lipstick on. Wipe it off."
Gong Chen casually wiped at his lips but missed the mark entirely.
"Where?"
"Here." Lin Zhiyi had no choice but to step closer and raise her hand to help him.
As she moved nearer and caught a look at the darkening expression in his eyes, she realized she’d been tricked.
Furious, she tried to pull her hand back, but Gong Chen loosened his grip slightly, brushing his fingers along her wrist as he said, "I saw Du Qian."
Lin Zhiyi’s brows furrowed slightly. "Meeting him means you’ve already exposed your intentions?"
Gong Chen replied coolly, "If I didn’t expose them, how else could I make him lose his footing? With Sang Li in front, me at the back, and you caught in the middle, bearing everything silently for your daughter, he won’t give you up easily. That leaves him with no choice but to challenge me and Sang Li, likely seeking help from whoever is supporting him. He has no escape."
Though Gong Chen’s words were rational, Lin Zhiyi couldn’t shake off a sense of unease.
"No, I had Li Huan take Xingxing’s medication for testing. Let’s see the results first."
Before he could finish, Lin Zhiyi had already hurried out the door.
Hearing the commotion, Li Huan looked up to see Lin Zhiyi rushing towards him.
He quickly said, "The medication tests are fine. He’s not foolish enough to make such a glaring mistake. Plus, he needs to use Xingxing to stay close to you, so there’s no way he’d risk harming her. The only possibility is that he’s controlling the dosage levels. But that could be explained as a medical preference—he could easily claim Xingxing is too young, and he didn’t dare use too much at once. So, it doesn’t really prove anything."
Gong Chen took the report and glanced at it. "In other words, he still has control over Xingxing’s condition."
Li Huan studied Lin Zhiyi’s reaction before nodding, then added with suspicion, "The more I look into Du Qian, the more baffled I become. His prescriptions are flawless, each step meticulously aligned with standard practice. Yet, he keeps altering Xingxing’s test results. Is he trying to save her or harm her?"
The room fell silent.
Chen Jin’s phone lit up. After silently reading the message, he approached Gong Chen and whispered into his ear.
"Third Young Master, we’ve found the media outlet that exposed Miss Lin and Mr. Sang’s whereabouts. And there was an unexpected discovery—they’ve tied it to someone else."
Chen Jin seldom sounded so surprised.
"Who?"
"Ye Feifei. The media outlet is a small studio run by a bored second-generation heir. Normally, they just post silly content with small internet celebrities. According to the owner, Ye Feifei sent him the information about Mr. Sang and Lin Zhiyi’s location."
Ye Feifei?
After hiding away for more than three years, why reveal their location now?
Gong Chen cast a glance at Chen Jin but didn’t provide further instructions.
Chen Jin nodded silently and stepped back.
Noticing the exchange, Lin Zhiyi asked, "What happened? Is there a problem?"
Gong Chen decided to keep the matter of Ye Feifei concealed.
"Someone anonymously tipped off the media about you and Sang Li. For this to happen, they would need to know you live in Gang City and also know Sang Li’s arrival here." Gong Chen carefully avoided mentioning Ye Feifei by name.
Lin Zhiyi didn’t overthink it and pondered aloud, "Seems like more people than I thought know I’m here, thanks to my manga."
In his peripheral vision, a deep ripple flashed in Gong Chen’s eyes before returning to stillness.

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