The Tycoon's Daring Wife

He could see that he took the joke too far. He finally snapped back to his senses when he saw her tears. He had never seen her cry like this since he first met her. Guilt filled him as he tugged her pants back up and helped her sit up, pulling her into a hug. "I'm sorry. I'm really sorry." He whispered as her entire body began to shake and tremble. He could only hug her tighter and bury his head into her shoulders.

"I'm sorry, I won't do it again. Okay?" He pulled back and cupped her face, his heart breaking into pieces when he felt her wet cheeks. "Don't cry, I swear it was only a joke. I only wanted to scare you a bit." He mumbled. He only wanted to scare her a bit but after she had roughly slapped him, he lost it.

"Please, I'm sorry. I really won't do it again."

Her silence was deafening. He cradled her head to his chest, embracing her tightly. "I won't bother you again after this. I-I heard...no, I mean, I remember you like snacks, right? How about I bring you a box of chocolate pies and that weird tomato chips that I know you like to eat. I'll even send someone out to get a box of rice cakes."

With no one else to lean on, Zhao Lifei could only nod her head numbly. She was too terrified to go against his words, scared that this bipolar monster would violently react again if she broke one eggshell. When he reached his hand to touch her cheek again, she flinched back from him and trembled.

He was pained by her reaction as he placed a chaste hand on her face, leaned in to kiss her forehead, but paused. "Catch up on some sleep." He whispered to her, taking off the belt on her wrists and then helping her into the bed. He counted to three before standing up and walking to the edge of the door, pressing his body to the spot where the door will open.

He unlocked it and instantly, two women rushed into the room. "Xiao Li?" Bai Qingyi and Bai Jinshuang rushed over towards Zhao Lifei but paused halfway into the room. Wait, if the door was locked before and Zhao Lifei was huddled into the bed, who unlocked the door from the inside?

They did not get their answer because, by the time they turned around, the perpetrator was gone.

- - - - -

Zhao Lifei did not speak or move the entire night. She laid in her bed and would blankly stare at the wall. Even when Bai Qingyi and Bai Jinshuang tried to block her line of sight, she did not lookup.

In the end, they decided to let her be.

In the middle of the night, Zhao Lifei called her grandfather. He obviously did not pick-up, but she did leave a voicemail with a single cry, "Help...me."

Zhao Lifei fell asleep shortly after that. By the time she woke up, she found herself in a moving vehicle. She would've panicked if it was not for the comforting hand on her head, patting her back to sleep.

"Sleep, my child. Everything will be alright." Zhao Moyao quietly said as he tucked the blankets over her shivering body.

A few minutes ago, Zhao Moyao entered the base with permission and the two left with Zhao Lifei. Only Li Xuan went into the room to pick up Zhao Lifei, while Zhao Moyao stood outside. They were as quick as the night and as stealth as the wind. Not a single person detected their presence. Whether or not she was permitted an official leave, Zhao Moyao did not care.

Bai Qingyi did not disturb Zhao Lifei the entire night, for she thought a good rest would change her mind. Perhaps she could speak tomorrow morning. But she never did. 

When Bai Qingyi woke up the next morning, she saw an empty bed in front of her. Zhao lifei's blankets were neatly folded at the edge of the bed, her belongings were gone, and sitting on the cold, white mattress was a letter. She had departed from this place, would never return back, and the office would receive her military discharge paperwork.

She did not say where she was going, but they all had a brief idea. It was back to her hometown of Shenbei, where she would be safely hidden in the bustling city and far away from the clutches of Jiang Zihui.

Bai Qingyi and Bai Jinshuang did not need to know what happened. They had a suspicion about the event that took place when they found the dirtied boot prints that could only belong to a man.

- - - - -

Zhao Lifei did not reveal what happened until three months later. Every day she went to therapy, and every day she would numbly sit in the boring room where the only sound that could be heard was the clock ticking on the wall.

The therapist was patient with her. She sat with her tablet, legs crossed, and watching Zhao Lifei as she stared at the blue walls and pictures with soft, soothing music playing in the background. The cycle repeated until the end of each of their sessions. 

Day by day, it was the same routine, until one day, Zhao Lifei finally said one word. "General." Then, the next day, she gave a surname, "Jiang." And the very next, "Zihui." As the days passed by, the story began to unravel. Every day, she spoke one or two words, then became quiet. It took a while for the therapist to gather the full story of what took place that night. And after she did, she did not tell anyone, not unless Zhao Lifei herself was ready to share.

Zhao Moyao only learned the truth after those three months. By then, he was ready to hunt down the man but later found out such a thing would be impossible. He was deeply rooted in his position, highly-praised by the people around him and connected to other powerful people for support. There was no footage of him entering her quarters, no evidence of his presence in their common area. The boot prints on the floor could've belonged to any pair of male boots since it was the standard one used by almost everyone in the base.

Even with the influence of the Zhaos, they could not derank Jiang Zihui without evidence. They could not hurt or touch him, not when his father was a Major General and had other family members in high ranking positions as well. Sure, Zhao Moyao had a hand in the military, but his strings could not beat Major Jiang's thick ropes.

- - - - -

Present.

Zhao Lifei did not reveal the near-rape encounter. In the entire world, only two people knew of this. She only spoke of the delusional pursuit of Jiang Zihui and how desperate he was to obtain her. 

She tried to speak of what happened that night. She truly wanted to tell him, but when she opened her mouth, the words would not come out. It was the same as when she was in the therapy room. 

She was tongue-tied, for she truly had never recovered from that moment. It would take a while before she could speak of the incident ever again. She only hoped and prayed it would not be like the therapy sessions where she could only speak one or two words a day.

Yang Feng knew that was not the full story. He could see it in the way her eyes flooded with panic and the way she opened and closed her mouth, again and again, as if she wanted to say something more, but could not do so.

Yang Feng embraced her tightly, "It's okay. I can wait." His arms engulfed her tightly. "You will never be near him. I swear."

Zhao Lifei trembled in his arms, burying her face into his shoulders, breathing in his scent. It clogged her brain, calming her down. She cursed herself for being weak. She cursed herself for not being strong enough to speak of that night. She cursed herself from the bottom of her heart.

"He'll have to cross over my dead body before he ever touches a hair on you." He whispered to her, holding her tighter when she pressed her body into his.

"Promise?"

"Cross my heart and hope to die."

- - - - -

Yang Feng gingerly tucked her into bed, watching as her chest rose and fell with each steady breath. His thumb softly touched her cheek, his heart clenched for the pain that she had suffered. He could not bear to part with her, especially when he knew she could not sleep well without him. He climbed into the bed, hoisting her body onto his chest. She easily snuggled into his side.

Yang Feng wrapped an arm around her waist, holding her closer to him. He would not let her go, not without a fight. He understood the severity of the issue then because she had finally spoken up about it.

He reached over and grabbed his phone, calling Chen Gaonan who groggily picked up on the third ring. "Good evening, Boss."

"The man we're looking for is General Jiang Zihui. Go and find out everything there is to know about him."

"Yes, sir."

"Get out of bed. I want the report by tomorrow morning." Yang Feng did not give Chen Gaonan time to object by hanging up the phone.