Chapter 9: Fear

"Help! Sister Qi, come quick! Meng Zexiao is trying to assault me!" Kong Lingxin’s voice was laced with desperation.

Meng Zexiao looked at her coldly. "We are a legal married couple; does that count as assault? Furthermore, this is my house. Everything here is decided by me, Meng Zexiao. Do you really think those servants would risk their lives to rush up here and pull you away?"

Even if they were married, forcing intimacy without consent was still against the law! Seeing the sinister glint in his dark eyes, Kong Lingxin lost all interest in lecturing him on the law.

Meng Zexiao’s self-righteous words were like a bucket of ice water, completely sobering Kong Lingxin. At this moment, she felt even more terrified than when he had first slung her over his shoulder at the shopping mall.

He shoved her into the room and slammed the door.

Kong Lingxin immediately braced her elbows against Meng Zexiao’s chest as he moved in close again, glaring at him with fury. "What exactly do you want?"

Meng Zexiao curled the corner of his lips into a wicked, charming smile. "Weren't you constantly reminding me that we are a married couple? I’m just fulfilling your wish, doing what a married couple ought to do!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Meng Zexiao stole Kong Lingxin’s first kiss.

She recalled her martial arts classes, where her instructor had said that if a woman faced an emergency with a man, she should strike his most vulnerable spot with all her might. It might be dirty, but it was the most direct and effective way to protect herself.

However, at that moment, Kong Lingxin was pinned down by Meng Zexiao like a heavy mountain, unable to move a muscle.

*First, lull the enemy into a false sense of security, then strike when they are off guard!*

Kong Lingxin pretended to yield, ceasing her resistance.

She stared wide-eyed at Meng Zexiao, not realizing he was watching her just as intently; she could even feel the scorching heat in his gaze.

A deep sense of shame gnawed at Kong Lingxin’s heart. Meng Zexiao saw nothing in her eyes but anger and disgust. He realized she was truly completely different from before; he was no longer her center of gravity, and she no longer revolved around him.

Taking advantage of the moment Meng Zexiao relaxed his guard, Kong Lingxin lifted her knee and struck hard between his legs.

"Agh!!!"

Meng Zexiao clutched his groin, rolling on the bed in agony.

Kong Lingxin leaped off the bed and looked at him with a defiant gaze. "Hmph! You should have remembered my words: I will never let you bully me the way you used to!"

"You just wait! You wait!" Meng Zexiao gritted his teeth. Beyond the murderous look in his eyes, his entire body suddenly radiated a chilling, icy aura.

A second ago, Kong Lingxin had felt triumphant, but now she realized she had committed a grave error! She had just kicked the manhood of the richest man in City B, aside from his own father!

Although she knew disaster was looming, Kong Lingxin still refused to back down. "You provoked me first! If you hadn’t tried to force yourself on me, I wouldn't have kicked you!"

After saying this, not daring to look at Meng Zexiao’s terrifying expression, she turned and ran out of the room.

Just as she was about to head downstairs, she faintly overheard the servants whispering. "That’s wonderful. It seems the Second Young Master does want children after all. Doing that with the Second Young Mistress in the middle of the day—she’ll surely be pregnant with the Meng family’s heir soon."

"Yes! The Madam will be so happy."

Hearing their gossip, Kong Lingxin felt like crying. What was all this?

There was nowhere to retreat, nowhere to advance. In her twenty-one years of life, this was the moment Kong Lingxin felt most helpless.

Looking around the luxurious villa, she felt only a deep sense of sorrow. In this day and age, there were still women who could not control their own destinies. Her sister, who had died at such a young age, had been trapped in this grand, wealthy mansion until she withered away. Would she, too, end up like her sister, her fate entirely controlled by the Meng family?

No! Absolutely not!

Kong Lingxin seemed to see the scene of her sister, heavily pregnant, watching Meng Zexiao roll in the sheets with his mistress, Peng Nan. She had been so helpless, so pained, so desperate. Remembering this, the fear and guilt she felt from kicking Meng Zexiao vanished.

*Thump, thump, thump.* Kong Lingxin climbed the stairs to the third floor. While the servants were downstairs and Meng Zexiao was still writhing in pain, she decided to explore this villa where she didn't know how long she would be forced to stay.

After touring the layout, Kong Lingxin realized that the living room and second floor she had seen earlier were merely the tip of the iceberg. The villa had at least twenty rooms, not counting the bathrooms, dining rooms, living areas, or basement entertainment spaces.

The psychological impact was far greater than the visual one. Kong Lingxin had not expected that the villas described in romance novels truly existed—not only massive but incredibly opulent.

With her salary from the kindergarten, she wouldn't be able to afford even the solid wood sofa on the third-floor terrace, even if she didn't eat or drink for a year. If she wanted to buy this villa, she could live for a thousand years and save every cent, and she still might not be able to afford it.

Kong Lingxin couldn't help but sigh. Some lived in villas with dozens of rooms, while others huddled in slums. Just the day before yesterday, she had been a kindergarten teacher cramped into a room of less than thirty square meters with her mother. Now, she had become the second daughter-in-law of the Meng family of the Ding Sheng Group, a family that spent money without blinking. Was this a blessing or a curse?

After finishing her tour, Kong Lingxin entered her sister’s former study.

The room wasn't particularly large, but it was quiet and serene.

Large bookshelves lined two walls, and there were two desks—one for a computer and one for the Four Treasures of the Study.

Her sister had truly been a girl who loved literature and had dreams. The computer was the only tool the wealthy housewife had to connect with the world, and the books were the only things that helped her remember her own dreams.

A few books on prenatal education were still displayed prominently on the shelves, and a handwritten pregnancy diary lay nearby. Kong Lingxin couldn't bear to open it; she already felt the suffering her sister had endured, and opening that diary felt like tearing open her own wounds.

She tucked the diary into the least conspicuous corner of the shelf. There would come a day when she would take this diary and slam it into Meng Zexiao’s face with righteous indignation.