No Other Option but to Endure IV

"Gu Qingcheng, it looks as if I've given you too much credit," Tang Shi said coldly. He'd thought that finally she would reject his suggestion, but apparently that had just been in his imagination.

"He said that he'd given her too much credit..." Gu Qingcheng didn't understand what Tang Shi had meant by that. Raising her eyes to look at Tang Shi, she was shocked to see something in his eyes that terrified her completely, sending chills down her spine.

She lowered her eyes quickly and averted her gaze. She didn't enjoy seeing that look in his eyes.

When she'd first returned to Beijing, she'd thought that she was just feeling extra nervous every time they'd met. Slowly, she'd realized that she was really afraid of him, and was indeed getting increasingly more afraid of him. She was fearful of him saying cruel things to her and anxious about him humiliating her in public.

"You really enjoy demeaning yourself," Tang Shi declared, his tone scornful and insulting. With every pore in his body signaling an impending thunderstorm, he added, "Well, since you don't seem to care about what happens to yourself, I will not treat you with courtesy either."

With that, Tang Shi shoved her onto the car seat without waiting for her reaction.

Gu Qingcheng tensed up immediately and her fingers began to shake violently.

Within the confined space of the car, he didn't even bother to take off her clothes but proceeded directly to ravage her. Feeling ashamed and in physical pain, Gu Qingcheng kept her eyes tightly shut, trying to block out the humiliation.

As with the last time, she clenched her fists very tightly, so tightly that even when her nails pierced into the flesh of her palms, she felt no pain. This was because the pain that he was inflicting on her was so much worse than this physical pain.

He seemed like he was venting, and his actions got increasingly forceful and cruel. Finding it all a little unbearable, she felt tears starting in her eyes. She told herself not to cry. She just had to grit her teeth and endure it all. In fact, she consoled herself by imagining that she was just like the character Ah Q in the classic novel.

She told herself that everything would be all right. She shouldn't be too upset about the grief that he was giving her now because, once she got pregnant with his child, the Tangs wouldn't allow their flesh and blood to be excluded from the family. And since their families were neighbors, they would certainly be allowed to get married. Once they were married, she would no longer have to wrack her brains for ways to please him, tiptoeing around him and doing whatever he asked, however tough the task was and at whatever cost to her. Once they were married, the Gu family business would be saved and sustained. By then, all she had to do was make sure that she did a good job in her role as the mistress of the Tang family. She had no wish for them to be a loving couple. All she wanted was for them to treat each other with respect. Even just living each day ignoring each other would be fine too. By then, she would definitely be able to hide far away from him, as far away as she possibly could…

Gu Qingcheng could distinctly feel her nail breaking off in her palm, followed by the oozing of a gooey fluid, which she knew was blood.

She had never realized until now that she possessed such a high level of strength.

Eventually, Tang Shi subsided. Gu Qingcheng heaved a silent sigh of relief, feeling as if she had been released from a tortuous hell. She had survived yet another ordeal.