Chapter 21
"Privacy, you say?"
"Yes, privacy."
Xiao answered back with a blank expression. Jun Shang's right hand had already been treated and wrapped in bandages. It was all thanks to the first-aid kit that Rong Ming had hurriedly found.
To think that he left such a lover, who cherished him so much, to have an anniversary dinner with his wife whom he did not love. Xiao was beginning to feel a bit sorry.
"I know that the way Ming Yin and I contact each other may seem a bit laughable to you."
It was strange calling Ming Yin, but this was a role she had to play. This was an opportunity to clearly define her and Jun Shang's positions in this marriage.
This marriage was rolling into dangerous territory. If she could end it here, that would be for the best. If he declared that he didn't want to stay married with this kind of wife, she'd be grateful. Because she wanted to separate from him this instant.
Don't be afraid, Yun Xiao. It's impossible to retrieve data from a phone without a SIM card. No matter what they did, they wouldn't be able to obtain the text messages between her and Ming Yin.
"But that's my private life, isn't it? You also have your own private life. Have we ever showed interest in the other's personal life before?"
His eyes coldly looked back at her.
"So you're telling me to stop being concerned over your supposed other man because it's your privacy, is that right?"
"Isn't… that obvious?"
Xiao smiled brightly. Behind the graceful smile, she hid her rage, her bitterness.
"Don't you have other women you meet as well? Was there a clause in this contract marriage stating that we had to stay devoted to each other? I was under the assumption that we were to respect each other's privacy…"
I'm talking about Secretary Rong. She swallowed those words back and merely smiled coldly.
Their marriage was a contract. No matter how one looked at it, it would always be that way.
No matter how… strong their physical chemistry was.
When they returned from their honeymoon, Xiao realized how draining her husband's schedule was. The director's role wasn't one he could pull off easily. As the leader of the international branch in charge of the global businesses, he couldn't take his eyes off it for one second.
His business trips were a week long if they were short. They could go up to a few months at a time if they were long. So it was surprising that he would always come find her when he returned from them.
He would visit her bedroom. Without any notice or warning, he would come find her as if it was routine.
Those sudden nights never failed to surprise Xiao. She had lost count of the number of times she had welcomed Jun Shang into her room in the middle of the night.
The problem was Xiao herself. She could have always pushed him away. However, she wasn't able to. Whenever she felt his touch, she would be paralyzed in pleasure, her body bursting into flames and melting into a puddle. She was unable to block it.
When it came to sex, he was persistent and unforgiving. Thankfully, he didn't have any perverse tastes. After he left her, she would be too exhausted to move a finger for a few days.
However, after seeing Rong Ming leave his room, Xiao couldn't accept him anymore. She didn't expect him to be faithful, but she couldn't stand being touched by the hands that had also touched Rong Ming.
Xiao closed her bedroom door on Jun Shang using all kinds of excuses. He took her rejections in stride and respected her decision like a gentleman. If they ever needed to attend an event together, Xiao barely managed to fulfill her role as Jun Shang's perfect wife. However, when they were alone she was extremely cold to him.
She didn't want to waver anymore because of him. She wanted to stick to the purpose of this marriage. She was merely the most convenient woman for him to embrace under the law as his wife. Additionally, Xiao was definitely deceiving him. What she actually did might even be worse than having an affair.
Therefore, they needed to end things here. Before everything came to light, she needed to block everything. The stolen 500 billion won… Wouldn't it be better to have a cheating wife than a wife who threw away his life's work?
"Jun Shang-ssi."
Her smile was polite, but her eyes were colder than ever.
"You know what the purpose of our marriage is, right? I performed my role as your wife perfectly. But this is business, and our private lives are separate. Whether it's another man or not, you shouldn't be concerned."
"So that's why you began this covert operation to contact that man?"
"Yes…"
Xiao's smile widened.
"I know that my every move is watched and recorded. Of course I'd be careful. It wouldn't be too much of an issue if you or your family found out, but if it got out to the public, the problem would be catastrophic."
Aha, she wanted to keep her outward image intact, did she?
Jun Shang laughed.
The cellphone in her bra didn't have a chip. Judging from the sound of the flushing toilet coming out of the bathroom, Jun Shang guessed that the chip would be at the bottom of the filthy sewage by now.
Actually, he didn't need it to begin with. When her father called her, Jun Shang had been waiting to see what her reaction would be. Because she wasn't the only one being watched…
The more his wife explained herself to him, the more he lost his appetite. The food didn't look as pleasant as it first did.
The perfectly cooked food and the impeccably decorated dishes began to annoy him. This tatami room that reminded him of their honeymoon, the large window across the room that showed the charming garden outside, and the blooming purple wisteria flowers… He didn't like any of it.
No, that wasn't it. He wasn't annoyed. He was enraged. An unexpectedly violent rage was boiling inside of him. Should he just close down this damn Japanese restaurant? Now that he looked closer, he didn't like the interior decorations at all. Should he just get a bulldozer and run this building down into pieces?
His wife returned to her normal calm expression. The same expression he had seen her wear for 2 years like a mask.
"How fun."
As he said those words, his jaw clenched. Jun Shang now realized that he was angrier than he had ever been in his life. He knew that he was more dangerous than he ever was before. The problem was that no one, least of all his wife, knew that he had become this angry.
He felt as if there was a fuse in his heart, the string going deeper into his chest before reaching the hidden powder keg. What would happen from here on? How explosive would this become?
How far along the fuse was the spark traveling?
Xiao stupidly stared back at him shamelessly, not knowing the damage she had done.
"You know what the purpose of our marriage is, right? I performed my role as your wife perfectly. But this is business, and our private lives are separate. Whether it's another man or not, you shouldn't be concerned."
Foolish YunXiao.
It would have been better for you to say that you stabbed your father in the back instead.
It would have been more enjoyable than hearing that she had another man.