Rose Manor: Tycoon's Relentless Chase
Chapter 43 - 40: Leaving Yicheng

Chapter 43: Chapter 40: Leaving Yicheng

The sky was not yet fully bright when Shen Jianian was startled awake by the sudden ringing of the alarm. She was groggy and wanted to turn it off, but someone beat her to it, grabbing the phone charging on the bedside table and silencing the alarm.

The room returned to silence. Shen Jianian blinked, her eyes dry and aching, reminding her of the tears she had shed.

Last night, she had lost her mind and vented at Fu Jichen. She could feel his arm tighten around her waist, a gesture meant to comfort.

Reflecting on it now, Shen Jianian felt she must have gone mad to complain to Fu Jichen.

"Awake?"

Fu Jichen’s morning voice was a bit hoarse, shattering the room’s quiet.

Shen Jianian glanced around and unexpectedly locked eyes with him, feeling inexplicably awkward. She said nothing, lifted the quilt, got out of bed, and fled to the bathroom.

Fu Jichen lazily leaned against the headboard, watching as Shen Jianian closed the bathroom door. Her silhouette flickered behind the frosted glass, and a smile appeared in his eyes.

Is she embarrassed?

To be honest, her sudden crying last night startled him. He thought he had upset her somehow. Listening to her haltingly talk about some matters, he realized it was mostly because of that cousin of hers.

After washing up, Shen Jianian stayed in the bathroom for a few extra minutes. When she came out and didn’t see Fu Jichen, she exhaled in relief.

Sitting at the dressing table, Shen Jianian applied simple makeup, focusing on covering her swollen eyelids. The thought of having to sit at the same table as Fu Jichen downstairs made her want to avoid it altogether.

Can I temporarily avoid him?

Just as the thought crossed her mind, Zhou Rongzhen knocked on the door, her voice carrying from the entrance: "Jianian, the gentleman sent me to hurry you; you’ll be late for work."

"I’ll be right there." Shen Jianian set the eyebrow pencil down and turned to address her.

"Okay, I’m heading down first."

Zhou Rongzhen didn’t enter, turning to leave while her voice faded away with her footsteps.

Shen Jianian dawdled while changing clothes and headed to the dining room, where Fu Jichen had already finished his portion and was leisurely flipping through the day’s financial newspaper, legs crossed.

Hearing the scrape of the chair opposite, the newspaper in front of his face shifted downward slightly. Fu Jichen glanced at her, the corners of his eyes hinting at a smile.

Shen Jianian avoided looking at him, stuffing her mouth with a bun. Her cheeks puffed up, nearly choking her, so she scooped some congee and took a big gulp, swallowing the food down.

Fu Jichen shook the newspaper and laughed, "Eat slower; no one is fighting you for it."

Shen Jianian coughed a little, thinking, wasn’t it he who said she was going to be late?

The doorbell rang, and a servant went to answer it, having a brief exchange with someone outside, then bringing in a large white box that was unmistakably recognizable.

Shen Jianian glanced at it casually, then paused, her eyes widening as she locked onto the cello case in the servant’s arms, momentarily forgetting all awkwardness and unpleasantness. She turned to Fu Jichen for confirmation: "Is that my cello?"

Did it arrive that quickly? Shen Jianian couldn’t believe it.

Fu Jichen’s voice emerged from behind the newspaper with a deliberately mysterious tone: "I don’t know, why don’t you take a look?"

Shen Jianian put down the unfinished bun, stood up to wipe her hands, and quickly stepped over to take the cello case from the servant.

The case was quite heavy, and the servant struggled to hold it, but in Shen Jianian’s hands, it felt weightless.

The servant looked astonished to see her lift it effortlessly with one hand.

Little did they know that Shen Jianian used to carry it every day; it had become a part of her, as natural as breathing and eating.

Shen Jianian opened the cello case on the living room sofa. Her cello lay inside, perfectly intact.

Her fingers lightly brushed over the strings, emotions surged within her heart that only she could understand.

"How did you do it?" Shen Jianian closed the cello case and returned to the dining room to ask Fu Jichen.

"I bought it for ten times the price," Fu Jichen said nonchalantly.

Shen Jianian gasped, falling silent.

Three million, which was nothing to her once prosperous life, now seemed like a fortune. From yesterday to today, she had spent more than six million of Fu Jichen’s money.

Shen Jianian felt a little conflicted and thought for a moment before speaking softly, "I’ll pay you back in the future."

Once she regained Lingyue Group, she would repay Fu Jichen every penny she owed, and then they would no longer owe each other anything.

*

Last night, Yin Shuyao sent Shen Jianian several messages. Shen Jianian replied to the first few, but then fell silent, which angered her into selling the cello.

She wasn’t stupid; if she was going to sell, she’d obviously sell to the highest bidder.

Three million, almost the price of that gown; she could easily use this money to pick a dress of equivalent value. There were plenty of beautiful dresses; why should she fixate on the one Shen Jianian had tried on?

After successfully receiving the payment, Yin Shuyao barely swallowed the anger she felt in the store yesterday.

However, that didn’t mean she would let Shen Jianian off the hook.

Yin Shuyao worked busily at the company all day. Near the end of the workday, she picked up her phone from her desk and turned her chair to face the floor-to-ceiling window.

The evening sky was turning a shade of orange-red, with a few distinct white clouds framed by the window like a giant oil painting.

Yin Shuyao rested one hand on the arm of her chair, tapping her finger lightly, and after a full five minutes of silence, she turned on her phone and called her mother, Hu Yuzhi.

"Dear daughter, are you feeling better today?" Hu Yuzhi’s tone was light and gleeful. "I’m still at the hotel selecting dishes for the wedding feast. Come over when you’re done, and we’ll have dinner together."

Hearing about the wedding, Yin Shuyao couldn’t help but curl her lips and readily agreed, "Sounds good."

"By the way, what did you want to talk to me about?"

"Mom, is there anyone around you?" To be cautious, Yin Shuyao had to clarify this first.

Her tone was grave and unusual, prompting Hu Yuzhi to adopt a more serious expression and wave away the manager waiting nearby. The hotel manager, being perceptive, nodded lightly and exited, thoughtfully closing the door behind him.

Now alone in the spacious and bright luxury suite, Hu Yuzhi cleared her throat, "Okay, go ahead and tell me."

"Mom, you mentioned yesterday about finding a way to drive Shen Jianian out of Yicheng, and I agree," Yin Shuyao said. "But don’t worry about it; I have my own plan."

"What plan could you possibly have?"

Hu Yuzhi had been ruminating over this issue, finding it stuck in her throat all day, but she couldn’t come up with a feasible solution.

"Just don’t interfere. I’m telling you so that you won’t accidentally disrupt my plan." Yin Shuyao watched as the sky outside the floor-to-ceiling window darkened further, the brilliant sunset disappearing, gradually replaced by dimness. She smiled, "Just wait and see. I’ll make sure she leaves Yicheng in disgrace."

Shen Jianian was like a thorn lodged in her flesh, something that had to be removed sooner or later.

Yin Shuyao opened the encrypted album in her phone, which contained a series of photographs – her trump card. Just one of them released would be enough to seriously trouble Shen Jianian.

She needed to choose the right moment...

Why not seize the moment now?

With Shen Jianian heartbroken over the loss of her beloved cello, crying in some corner, a "fatal blow" delivered at this time would surely be too much for her to bear. She would obediently follow Yin Shuyao’s instructions to leave Yicheng and keep her distance.

So what if someone powerful backed her?

With pictures of this nature, there was no way Shen Jianian could confide in anyone else.