Chapter 5 All I Desire Is for This Woman to Remain
962 Words
Beneath his artfully disheveled short locks resided a countenance of peerless comeliness, not a solitary flaw to be detected upon its expanse. His orbs, with a scarcely perceptible lift, cast a disdainful gaze towards Shi Xiaonian, suffused with an ineffable scorn, and every movement of his limbs was redolent of an overweening loftiness. Gong Ou. When she sought “Warm Color Novel Net” and delved into the annals of Gong Ou, recognition dawned. The instant of his grand entrance, the cacophonous shrieks of the female guests were abruptly silenced, leaving naught but the sonorous cascade of water gushing with vehemence from the showerheads in the bathroom hall and a smattering of involuntary gasps of admiration... The man who now stood before her was of such superlative calibre that any onlooker would be instantaneously stricken with a sense of their own inadequacy. Yet, Shi Xiaonian was far from disposed to admire his aesthetic allure. Her visage was as pallid as death as she beheld Gong Ou in a state of stupefied incredulity, as though she had been transfixed by a thunderbolt. At this juncture, had she still remained oblivious to the gravity of the situation, she would have been a simpleton indeed. It was no phantasm. Reality stared her in the face. A week prior, that sumptuously appointed chamber with its vertiginous temperature, the man whose form had been pressed so intimately against hers... All had transpired in the corporeal world. Since the morn when she had first sensed an undercurrent of unease due to her own malaise, she had elected to delude herself into believing it naught but a figment of her slumbering fancy... “Bang—” Shi Xiaonian collapsed in a heap upon the floor, drained of all color. She had been violated. The realization of this fact plunged her into an abyss of inexpressible consternation. How could such a travesty have come to pass... But why, pray tell, could he, who ought by rights to have been burdened with the weight of guilt for his heinous act, reappear with such nonchalance? Gong Ou stood there, his gaze lowered in an aloof perusal of the metamorphoses playing across her countenance. The corners of his mouth twitched upward in a sardonic curl, betraying a mélange of disgust and derision. Then, with a languid grace, he elevated his right hand and executed a simple gesticulation, intoning with the imperiousness of an emperor, “Herein, the sole presence I desire is that of this woman.” It was a decree befitting a sovereign. “Yes, Mr. Gong!” The bodyguards inclined their heads in obeisance and then, with alacrity, seized the female guests who had yet to don their garments and hauled them forth. The women’s screams rent the air anew. This time, their terror was palpable. But in less than the span of a minute, the capacious women’s bathroom was once more enshrouded in a sepulchral silence. All had departed. Only Shi Xiaonian, crumpled upon the floor, and Gong Ou, standing with an indolent grace, remained. Gong Ou was in no haste. He regarded Shi Xiaonian with a condescending eye, as one might survey a stricken cur, and upon his handsome visage flickered a cruel glimmer of perverse enjoyment.
A few minutes elapsed before Shi Xiaonian clawed her way back to a semblance of lucidity and rose unsteadily from the ground, her features numb and vacant as she made her way towards the exit. She was desperate to flee. The overpowering aura that radiated from Gong Ou, compounded by the mortifying recollections that haunted her, bore down upon her with such oppressive force that she could scarcely draw breath. She needed to clear her muddled mind... As she brushed past Gong Ou, his gaze hardened into a steely glint and he shot out his hand with a swiftness that belied his languor, seizing her arm in a vice-like grip. Anger lent an edge to his voice as he snarled, “Shi Xiaonian, did you truly believe you could abscond from this place without so much as a murmur?” What folly. What, in her estimation, did she take him, Gong Ou, for? Mere air? His fingers dug into her skin, and Shi Xiaonian’s body convulsed violently. The scenes of her ignominious downfall a week ago flooded back with a vengeance. So vividly did they play out... and yet so shamefully. She marshalled her frayed nerves and managed to maintain an outward calm as she retorted, “Mr. Gong, I deem this an inappropriate venue for our discourse. The courtroom, methinks, would be a more fitting arena for our confrontation.” After all, he had assaulted her. “Courtroom?” Gong Ou swiveled his head to regard her, his tone laced with incredulity. “A custody battle? First and foremost, I, Gong Ou, would never deign to set foot in a courtroom on account of a woman of your ilk. Secondly, should you truly entertain such a notion, you would not live long enough to cross its threshold.” What, pray, did he mean by “a woman of your ilk”... A custody battle? Shi Xiaonian’s mind raced back to the occasions when he had incessantly demanded that she relinquish a child she was purported to have borne three years ago, a demand as bewildering as it was confounding. “Mr. Gong, I confess I am at a loss as to your meaning.” Shi Xiaonian ventured. “But I am of the firm belief that the court will concern itself with the r**e case that transpired a week ago.” “Hah.” Upon hearing this, Gong Ou erupted in a mirthless laugh. “A woman who clings obstinately to her denial. Truly, a thorn in one’s side.”
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