Rose Manor: Tycoon's Relentless Chase
Chapter 41 - 38: Endearing and Pitiful

Chapter 41: Chapter 38: Endearing and Pitiful

Zhu Yilan drove Shen Jianian back to Rose Manor, and the two remained silent on the road.

Zhu Yilan wanted to ask something several times, but upon seeing Shen Jianian’s ashen expression, she swallowed those words back.

When getting out of the car, Shen Jianian quietly said thank you, went inside, took the elevator upstairs, locked herself in her room, and didn’t disturb anyone.

In the kitchen, the busy Zhou Rongzhen seemed to hear the door open, was unsure, came out to take a look, didn’t see anyone and thought she misheard, was about to return to the kitchen when the doorbell rang.

Zhou Rongzhen wiped her hands and opened the door, and was stunned for a moment seeing the visitor: "Secretary Zhu?"

"Is Mr. Chen at home?"

"He is." Zhou Rongzhen stepped aside, allowing her to enter, "He went upstairs after dinner."

Zhu Yilan’s face briefly showed a very uncomfortable expression. That previous incident remained a shadow in her heart, and she dared not casually invade Fu Jichen’s private space again.

"Is Secretary Zhu here to see Mr. Chen for something?" Zhou Rongzhen asked cautiously, "Do you need me to go up and tell him?"

Zhu Yilan gave her a faint smile: "It’s not particularly important, I’ll mention it later. Sorry for the disturbance."

She turned to leave, but suddenly heard the elevator door open, and instinctively paused her steps, glanced over and saw Fu Jichen coming out of the elevator.

He was casually dressed at home, wearing a dark grey flannel shirt with black trousers, indoor slippers on his feet. His demeanor was lazy and relaxed, seemingly shedding a layer of cold exterior, possessing a unique charm.

Zhu Yilan forced her gaze not to linger on him for too long, to avoid revealing unintended thoughts.

"Mr. Chen." She calmly greeted him.

Fu Jichen glanced at her, his gaze quickly shifting away, as if looking for someone. Not finding anyone, he asked her: "Why are you alone, where’s Shen Jianian?"

"Isn’t she here?" Zhu Yilan was puzzled, "I drove her back."

"Perhaps she’s back in her room." Zhou Rongzhen interjected appropriately, "I vaguely heard a door opening before Secretary Zhu came in."

Zhu Yilan looked at Fu Jichen, hesitant to speak.

"What’s the matter?" Fu Jichen walked to the sofa and sat down, asking Zhou Rongzhen to brew a cup of coffee. He would take it upstairs later as he needed to handle some work matters at night and needed to stay alert.

As Zhou Rongzhen left the living room, Zhu Yilan stepped closer, recounting what happened at the store: "I don’t know that woman, but she seemed to have a grudge against Shen Jianian, purposely targeting her as soon as she entered the store."

Fu Jichen leaned against the sofa back, a cigarette hanging from his lips, not lighting it.

Who could have a grudge against Shen Jianian? He didn’t need to think much to know the answer in his heart.

It seems the lesson given to Yin Shuyao last time wasn’t enough for her to remember it.

Zhu Yilan was silent for a moment, having nothing more to say, she took the black card from her bag, bent down to place it on the coffee table in front of him, and bid him goodbye: "Mr. Chen, if there’s nothing else, I’ll be leaving first."

Fu Jichen raised his hand slightly.

Zhou Rongzhen brought over the brewed coffee to Fu Jichen: "Did Jianian have dinner? Should I cook something for her?"

"Cook something."

Fu Jichen turned his head to light the cigarette, and the rising pale blue smoke obscured his slightly narrowed black eyes. He leaned forward, picked up the black card, and holding the coffee, went to the third floor.

Passing by Shen Jianian’s room, Fu Jichen stopped and raised his hand to knock on the door. After waiting for a while with no response, he grasped the door handle, intending to go in directly.

Unexpectedly, the door was locked from inside, and he couldn’t open it from outside.

Fu Jichen frowned tightly: "Shen Jianian, open the door."

There was nowhere in the entire Rose Manor he couldn’t enter, she had quite the nerve to keep him outside.

"Shen Jianian." With a cigarette in one hand, patience wearing thin, and the other hand holding a steamy cup of coffee, making it inconvenient to take big actions, he had to resort to verbal threats, "If you don’t open the door, I’ll have someone bring the key."

Three seconds after his words landed, Shen Jianian opened the door. She didn’t have time to wash her face, streaks of tears were evident on her pale cheeks, and her reddened eyes glared at him: "Why are you so annoying?!"

Fu Jichen originally came with concern for her, but was amused by her sarcastic question: "Have I provoked you?"

Shen Jianian turned her head and walked inside. The door remained open, allowing him to enter or not as he pleased. After all, this was his territory, he could do whatever he wanted, she had no right to interfere.

Fu Jichen entered her room unceremoniously: "I heard you had a quarrel with someone?"

Shen Jianian’s silhouette paused as she faced away from him. How did he find out so quickly? View the correct content at NovelFire.

On second thought, Zhu Yilan is his secretary, she definitely reports everything to him.

Regarding this matter alone, Fu Jichen owes her nothing, she really shouldn’t have vented her anger on him. In fact, she did something that wronged him.

"Sorry, I impulsively charged more than three million on your card in the store. I’ll return it tomorrow." Shen Jianian’s voice was very low, apologizing to him.

Fu Jichen extinguished the cigarette in the ashtray, a light laugh escaped from his lips: "Who are you insulting? I told you to go pick a dress, your happiness is what matters."

Shen Jianian was speechless, looking back at him, she felt he was somewhat inexplicable. How long have they known each other? Was he bothered by having too much money to spend?

"Come here." Fu Jichen patted the sofa beside him as she looked over. View the correct content at NovelFire.

Shen Jianian hesitated and walked over, but didn’t sit down.

Fu Jichen had never seen someone as dull and lacking perception as her. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her over, Shen Jianian tilted and fell on his lap. Instinctively, she wanted to stand up, but he wrapped an arm around her waist and held her tightly.

"Fu Jichen, let go of me!"

Shen Jianian’s face was flushed, combined with an embarrassed and angry expression, it brought a peculiar charm that evoked a mischievous desire to tease her.

Fu Jichen’s eyes carried a smile as he teased: "Can you say anything other than this?"

"No!" Shen Jianian twisted her body to struggle, already agitated, being teased by him repeatedly only worsened her mood, "Can you let me go?"

"Don’t move."

Fu Jichen lightly rebuked, grasping her hand and lifting it to his eye level.

Zhu Yilan mentioned seeing her hand bleeding, indeed, there was a cut on her palm, the wound was quite deep and hadn’t healed: "Only fools would confront others head-on, smart people hold grudges and find opportunities to pay back later."

Shen Jianian stopped moving, thinking of the shattered jade bracelet, her eyes became warm and moist. She slightly tilted her head, her eyes flickering as she held back her tears.

She didn’t want to explain to him; he simply didn’t understand the importance of that jade bracelet to her. In such a situation, she couldn’t possibly remain rational.

Fu Jichen placed her on the sofa, went out for a moment, returned with iodine and cotton swabs to treat the wound, and applied a waterproof bandage.

Shen Jianian pursed her lips and allowed him to handle it, the pain at the wound was nothing compared to the turmoil in her heart.

Fu Jichen discarded the used cotton swabs and bandage packaging, looking up, meeting Shen Jianian’s eyes filled with stubbornness and tears.

Obviously heartbroken and despairing, she stubbornly refused to show any sign of vulnerability.

Perhaps she didn’t realize how endearing she looked like this.

Fu Jichen’s thoughts flickered, he pressed her head with one hand, pulling her closer, and lowered his head to kiss her lips with an assertiveness not present in earlier times.

Shen Jianian let out a short, low whimper, only for her lips to be sealed, without even a chance to resist.

In a confused and frustrated state, being taken advantage of, Shen Jianian was furious, stubbornly refusing to comply.

Zhou Rongzhen brought up the freshly cooked noodles to the third floor, froze at Shen Jianian’s bedroom door. She had experienced such awkwardness once before, and still didn’t know how to react this time.

She wanted to quietly retreat and return later; inside, Fu Jichen had already released Shen Jianian and said in a slightly hoarse voice: "Come in."

Zhou Rongzhen retracted her step, entered Shen Jianian’s room with her head lowered, noticing from the corner of her eye that her husband’s lip seemed to have some blood.

Shen Jianian’s face was flushed red, unable to lift her head in front of her as if she had been thrown into a pot of frying oil.

Zhou Rongzhen said nothing else, put down her items and left.

Fu Jichen calmly picked up the coffee from the coffee table, went to the study to work, leaving Shen Jianian alone in the room to have dinner.

The warmth on Shen Jianian’s face took a long time to dissipate, she ate a few bites of the noodles hastily, lacking any appetite.

Her phone chimed twice, it was the WeChat notification sound. She thought it was a message from the workgroup, opened WeChat to find it was from Yin Shuyao.

Even before seeing the message content, her brow furrowed deeply.

Yin Shuyao: "Dear cousin, don’t forget your cello is still with me, don’t you want it anymore?"

Yin Shuyao: "[Image]"

Shen Jianian clicked into the chat interface, just seeing the thumbnail made her hand tremble with rage, unable to hold her chopsticks.