There are still five minutes until the hero escapes from marriage. - Chapter 41

Gu Xianting looked at Wen Zhao, a fine cold sweat breaking out on his forehead.

He swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down. “Zhao Zhao… I just…”

“You just wanted to see how your Yaoyao is doing now, didn’t you?” Wen Zhao said, her expression full of disappointment. “You promised not to lie to me.”

Gu Xianting’s hands and feet were icy, and his whole body felt cold. He wanted to make excuses, but he knew that Wen Zhao appearing here meant she would not allow him to explain.

“Do you know? I’ve given you many chances,” she said as she walked slowly in front of him. She glanced at his legs, which had recovered, and then looked up at his face. “You said you only observed someone else with Su Mengyao, and I believed it.”

“Zhao Zhao, I can explain,” he managed to force out the words from his throat.

“Slap—!”

In response to his plea, Wen Zhao gave him a hard slap, her face showing a cold fury. “At this point, what is there to explain! Explain how you were secretly concerned about Su Mengyao, explain how you secretly met her during your rehabilitation? Or explain that you’ve been deceiving and brushing me off all along!”

He covered his face, tasting the blood in his mouth. He was stunned; after all, she had never laid a hand on him before!

The familiar feeling surged back. During this time, he had forgotten how terrifying she could be.

“Butler, take Mr. Gu home,” Wen Zhao said coldly.

The butler, who had been standing at the back and not intervening, now slowly approached.

Gu Xianting instinctively took a step back, a bad premonition rising in his mind. “Zhao Zhao, what are you going to do?”

She sneered. “What am I going to do? Of course, take the disobedient husband home. Don’t forget, a month ago, you made promises in front of so many media!”

He had not forgotten. He thought he had been very discreet during this period. Perhaps from the beginning, Wen Zhao had known what he was doing and never believed him.

The butler approached him, who frowned at him with anger and humiliation. What did Wen Zhao mean by this?

“Sir, will you get in the car yourself, or should I escort you?” The butler asked politely, his smile warm but infuriating to him.

“Get out of the way! This is between Wen Zhao and me!” Gu Xianting said, a bit enraged.

The butler’s smile remained unchanged. “It seems you need to be escorted.”

Before Gu Xianting could respond, the butler stepped forward and delivered a punch to his stomach. He doubled over in pain, and the butler helped him steady himself. “Sir, please stand still. We’re getting in the car now.”

Gu Xianting’s face turned pale with pain. “How dare you… you all…”

By now, he could see that this was clearly a trap. Wen Zhao had set him up; everything was a scheme!

He was taken back to the YUPIN residence. His phone was confiscated again, and he was locked in the master bedroom on the third floor.

“Zhao Zhao, you can’t treat me like this. I can explain everything. I can explain!” He panicked. He had no doubt that Wen Zhao could break his legs again if she wanted!

She sat on the sofa, her dark eyes quietly fixed on him. “Fine, I’ll give you a chance to explain.”

His words came to a halt. He looked at her in disbelief, as if he hadn’t expected her to say this.

But if she was still willing to listen to him, it meant she still had some expectations of him.

“Yes, I admit that I have been paying attention to Su Mengyao during this time,” his mind raced, knowing that she hated being deceived and that she must have known everything. It was better to confess directly. “But my attention to her is not because I love her or care about her!”

Wen Zhao remained silent, simply watching him with an expression that said she was willing to listen to whatever he came up with.

“Really, I haven’t lied to you. My concern for her is because I hate her!” He said through gritted teeth. “It’s because of her that we ended up like this. The person who occupied my body, who lied to you and kept hurting you, is unforgivable!”

The feeling of being deceived and toyed with by someone he cared about had left Gu Xianting filled with hatred and disgust. When he mentioned Su Mengyao, he no longer spoke with love.

“Why should she, after messing up our relationship, still be able to be with someone else without any consequences?” He was furious just thinking about Su Mengyao throwing herself into another man’s arms.

He had invested so much, not to welcome a lover who would betray him!

His feelings for her were now extremely complex. It was like his favorite thing had been tainted with the most hated stain. Yet, he didn’t want to easily give up on her because he had invested so much time and energy. In previous worlds, they had always ended up together, even in the immortal realms where lifespan was incomparable to mere decades.

So many years, day and night together, promises of eternal love—how could he just discard them?

Moreover, Su Mengyao made him angry and sad now, but he was still not sure if she had completely betrayed him. Perhaps she had some untold reasons, and her temporary infatuation with Shen Han Feng, after being rescued by him, was understandable.

Originally, Gu Xianting wanted to see how far they had gone. Although he was filled with anger, he still had some intention of reclaiming her.

But now, all of this had to be temporarily set aside. Whether it was hatred or love, he had to be resolute in his hatred in front of Wen Zhao!

“I won’t let her have an easy time!” His eyes were bloodshot, his expression even more ferocious.

He walked up to her and slowly squatted down, looking up at her. “Zhao Zhao, believe me, I could never have feelings for her. These days, I’ve thought a lot. The person occupying my body must have come for Su Mengyao. It’s all because of her!”

Wen Zhao found this both laughable and infuriating. The person before her was the so-called big shot, a guest from a higher civilization, as described by the system.

Unfortunately, to her, this person appeared arrogant, conceited, foolish, self-important, and despicable, possessing all the worst traits of humanity.

And yet, he still dares to call himself a big shot, to claim to be from a higher civilization?

It’s laughable!

She slowly tossed a photograph in front of him.

It was a surveillance photo of him sitting in a wheelchair, watching as Su Mengyao threw herself into Shen Han Feng’s arms, with a conflicted yet restrained expression.

She bent down and leaned close to him. “Pick it up and have a look.”

At this moment, he was stiff all over. He saw the photograph and even recognized his own expression.

He hadn’t realized he looked like this when seeing Su Mengyao run into Shen Han Feng’s embrace.

“Pick it up. What’s wrong, scared to look?” Wen Zhao leaned closer and pushed him hard backward.

He was caught off guard and fell awkwardly to the ground, the photograph pressed under his hand.

“No, I didn’t…” His hand pressed firmly on the floor as he picked up the photograph, his heart pounding because he remembered that day when he had called Su Mengyao right here.

“Do you need me to remind you what you said to her?”

Wen Zhao’s cold voice reached his ears.

He felt his teeth chattering; she had indeed found out.

“Gu Xianting, can you tell me one truth?” She asked. “Have you fallen in love with her?”

He was frozen in place. He wanted to say no, but looking into her eyes, those dark, penetrating eyes seemed to see through his soul.

The vile facade was useless at this moment.

He couldn’t bring himself to say it.

Wen Zhao, disappointed, stood up and slowly walked out. “Calm down and tell me the answer later.”

The door clicked shut behind her, and Gu Xianting sat on the floor for a long while, not moving. His hand tightly crumpled the photograph into a ball, gripping it fiercely.

Outside the door, Wen Zhao walked over to the butler leaning against the wall. The butler raised his hand and held her hand. “You’ve been inside for ten minutes. You clearly said you’d be out in five.”

“What, jealous?” She tilted her head, looking at him.

He turned his head away. “A pretty boy like me has no right to be jealous?”

She couldn’t help but laugh. “Isn’t it the way of a pretty boy to schemingly climb to the top?”

He still remained silent. She grabbed him and pushed him against the corridor wall, then cupped his face and pulled it down, leaving a flirtatious lipstick mark on his cheek. “How about now, still angry?”

“Ms. Wen, is this how you placate a pretty boy? So perfunctorily?” His hands wrapped around her waist, and he looked down at her, his gray eyes reflecting her face. “If it’s just like this, I’ll cause a scene.”

“Then go ahead and cause a scene,” her eyes held a challenge.

He stared at her for a few seconds before suddenly breaking into a mischievous smile. He lowered his hands, lifting her into the air, wrapping her long legs around his waist. Holding her, he turned and pressed her firmly against the wall, lowering his head to kiss her lips.

This kiss was passionate and fiery, full of possessiveness, unlike the perfunctory kiss on her cheek.

Wen Zhao felt overwhelmed by his scent. She wrapped her arms around his neck and bit back defiantly.

It was a kiss where neither was willing to give in.

Breathless gasps, dim lighting, and their faces close together.

She nestled in his arms, their foreheads touching, their eyes reflecting each other’s.

He chuckled softly, carrying her forward. He kicked open the door to the nearby room. The room was dark, only illuminated by the clear moonlight filtering through the clean window.

He laid her on the bed, following her down, burying his head in her neck.

Neither said a word; at such moments, words were unnecessary.

In the next room, Gu Xianting stood by the window, looking at the moon hanging in the sky. He closed his eyes, trying to communicate with the consciousness of the small world. At this point, he no longer cared if his attempts exposed the smuggling of the small world or altered its plot. Even if he faced punishment when returning to the Quick-Wear Bureau, he had to find a way to leave.

However—

As expected yet unexpected, the small world gave him no feedback.

0733 had disabled all his permissions in the small world to prevent detection of his smuggling. He had never anticipated failure.

Initially, 0733 was just a simple tasker, gradually climbing up to become the top figure in the Quick-Wear Bureau. As a big shot, he also had to take on hellish tasks every year to maintain his status; otherwise, he would be replaced by a tasker climbing from behind.

It was during a task that he met Su Mengyao. That task started with a death scenario, requiring him to endure more than an ordinary person could bear and turn the situation around against all odds. Su Mengyao had been by his side, unwavering during his most desperate moments. For her, he faced unimaginable hardships, and he fell in love with her in that world.

He opened his eyes, dispelling the past from his mind.

Meanwhile, the system, which had been in isolation, was trembling in fear.

It had received 0733’s probing but was too afraid to respond to the current situation. Wen Zhao had made a valid point: 0733 had thoroughly offended both Wen Zhao and Gu Xianting. Once he  left the small world and returned to the Quick-Wear Bureau, he would definitely not let the small world off the hook, and destruction was a possibility.