CHAPTER 54: CHAPTER 55: THE AFFECTION IN THEIR EYES

Lu Shifeng really disliked her like this.

That night, in the bedroom, he forcibly lifted her chin: "How long are you going to keep sulking?"

She looked at him indifferently, without speaking or crying out in pain.

He tightened his grip: "I’m asking you a question!"

Only then did she hiss in pain and said with some difficulty, "I’m not sulking. I’ve done everything you asked me to do. What more do you want?"

Lu Shifeng was agitated. He didn’t know what was wrong with him, but the more he saw her like this, the more the urge to destroy inside him felt like a volcano, hard to control. He pressed her hard onto the bed, tormenting her with every means he could imagine, but she would only cry out in pain when it was too much to bear. Once the storm was over, she would return to her indifferent state.

His methods grew more and more cruel.

Until one day, she fainted under him, the bed covered in blood.

Then she had a high fever that wouldn’t go down. For a whole week, she didn’t open her eyes.

Lu Shifeng panicked and took her to the hospital, where the attending doctor looked at him sternly: "Mr. Lu, although you are wealthy and powerful, I must still tell you—your behavior constitutes domestic violence, and evidence can be established to charge you! Your wife’s physical condition is very bad. You must stop this behavior immediately! Otherwise, next time it won’t just be a coma. You’ll have to prepare for her funeral!"

The accompanying housekeeper, Mr. Zhong, was very nervous, giving the attending doctor looks, hinting him not to provoke Lu Shifeng.

But the usually unyielding and unapproachable Lu Shifeng just fell silent, sitting by her bedside and gently holding her hand.

Her hand was very thin, unlike the delicate beauty when she first married him, but an unhealthy slenderness, bony and frail.

He clasped her hand in both of his palms, bowed his head, and wondered, when did things become like this? He married her to take care of her for a lifetime, not to hurt her.

He left her in the hospital, leaving Mrs. Gui as well, as he had an important meeting tomorrow and had to go back to the home study to research the materials.

With the housekeeper Mr. Zhong, he rode in his usual black Bentley, with the driver steadily driving back to that wealthy district.

Passing by a villa full of blooming red roses.

There was a Rolls Royce parked in front of the villa, seemingly about to leave.

The girl named Xia Ling stood in front of the car, reluctantly tugging on Pei Ziheng’s sleeve, throwing a small tantrum.

Pei Ziheng said something to her, coaxing the girl into a smile, and moments later, she tried to put on an angry face, hugging his arm to stop him from leaving.

Beside the Rolls Royce, the white-gloved driver looked unfazed.

"Mr. Pei is going on another trip, right?" The speaker was Lu Shifeng’s driver, who remarked as he drove the Bentley past them, "He spoils Miss Xia so much, no wonder people suspect Miss Xia will become the future chairman’s wife of the Emperor Group."

Lu Shifeng’s eyebrows slightly twitched: "Them? Isn’t she the girl he adopted?"

Xia Ling was a super-celebrity, flamboyant, and living in this neighborhood, everyone knew she was in an adopted relationship with Pei Ziheng.

The driver chuckled, "Young Master, you don’t know, all of us servants privately say that the way Miss Xia looks at Mr. Pei is not how an adopted daughter looks at a foster father, nor like a sister looks at a brother. That’s the look a woman gives a man. And Mr. Pei, his way of looking at Miss Xia isn’t simple either. Young Master, when a person likes another person, you can see it from their eyes without saying a word."

The speaker was unintentional, but the listener was attentive.

Lu Shifeng asked, "And how about me and the young madam?"

"What?" The driver didn’t understand.

"I’m asking about your young madam," Lu Shifeng stared intently at him from the back seat, "When she looks at me, what kind of look is it?"

"This..." The driver was speechless, and for the first time, he almost veered the typically smooth steering wheel.

After an awkward silence, the driver racked his brain: "The young madam... she naturally likes you, Young Master."

But even Lu Shifeng could hear the insincerity in his words.

The air pressure in the Bentley suddenly dropped, and the driver secretly regretted his words, why did he have to bring up Mr. Pei and Miss Xia, wasn’t this poking his own young master?

This low air pressure lasted for several days.

The hospital informed him that Su Xingyu had woken up. He went to see her, but her expression towards him remained indifferent.

Lu Shifeng had never taken care of a woman in his life and didn’t know what to do apart from ordering people to serve her or buying her nutritional supplements. He only visited her once in her hospital room, and because the atmosphere was too awkward, he left early.

He buried himself in his work.

Secretary-General Xie Jian worked overtime with him for several days and finally noticed something was off with the BOSS’s mood: "The strategic plan for the next year is already formulated, and the recent financial reports are excellent. All major projects are progressing on schedule. BOSS, you can take a break, even though you’re still young, you should take care of your health."

Lu Shifeng, engrossed in documents, didn’t even lift his eyelids: "No need."

Xie Jian: "But I need to take care of my health."

Lu Shifeng: "..."

In this world, perhaps only Xie Jian dared to talk to him like this.

Lu Shifeng threw down the fountain pen in his hand and looked at Xie Jian: "Fine, have you ever been in love? Someone said that Su Xingyu and I don’t seem like a couple. What do you think?"

The mind of a technical BOSS is straightforward like this.

Xie Jian was a bit surprised, not expecting his BOSS to be troubled by love one day, but also thought it was inevitable. After all, besides such matters, what else could daunt their wise and mighty BOSS? However, he didn’t have much experience in this area either: "How could the madam be dissatisfied? You neither indulge in pleasures outside nor skimp on household expenses. Besides, some time ago, your mother insisted on you taking her back to the ancestral home for a banquet—a clear trap, yet you refused to protect her. Husband like you, I really can’t imagine why the madam wouldn’t like you."

Xie Jian paused here, "So, thinking inversely, she must like you."

Lu Shifeng wondered if he should ask someone else for an opinion.

Although he agreed with the Secretary-General’s answer, the reality was that Su Xingyu loathed him to the point of not even wanting to speak.

"Is career really that important to women?" He seemed to be speaking to himself, yet seemed to be asking Xie Jian, "Xingyu resents me for not letting her be a photographer."

Xie Jian found it hard to understand: "BOSS, look at the female employees in our office, even those female executives, who among them takes career as their foremost pursuit? Even Miss Zhuang, our group’s top photographer, always says that after getting married she’ll focus on family. Although a woman’s career is important, how can it be more important than family?"