Su Banxia felt the chill on her skin and struggled to get up, but she had absolutely no strength at all.
"Such delicate skin, I wonder if it can take a beating."
Li Yi's eyes were fixed on her. He had been with plenty of women, but rarely had he seen skin so pleasing to the touch.
"No!"
Fang Shiqing shouted anxiously, but before she could crawl over, the stick in Li Yi's hand came down on Su Banxia's hands one after another.
The force on her wrists was immense, each strike feeling like it could kill Su Banxia.
Lin Haoran stood to the side, frowning deeply. He had heard of Li Yi's little hobbies and knew that the women he toyed with rarely came out unscathed.
But witnessing it firsthand still felt brutal.
Su Banxia gripped the corner of the sofa tightly, forcing herself not to collapse. As the last blow landed, beads of sweat as big as beans rolled down her forehead.
Li Yi reached out, intending to tear off all her clothes.
Fang Shiqing lunged forward, shoving him away, and wrapped her arms tightly around Su Banxia.
"Banxia, it's okay, Banxia!"
"Bitch!"
Li Yi raised his hand and slapped Fang Shiqing across the face.
Half of Fang Shiqing's face instantly swelled red. Her eyes, as if laced with poison, glared fiercely at Li Yi.
"You'll die a miserable death! You bastard!"
"Oh, a little firecracker, huh? Looks like I need to tame you first!"
Li Yi turned and scooped Fang Shiqing up, carrying her to the side.
"No... don't..."
Su Banxia's lips were pale and bloodless, her whole body utterly drained of strength.
Li Yi touched Fang Shiqing's face—smooth, translucent, and pitifully endearing.
She refused to let her innocence be destroyed by someone like him!
"Mr. Lin says you're still a virgin. Today, I'll give you a taste of the real thing."
Li Yi grinned lewdly, lowering his head to kiss her. Fang Shiqing screamed and quickly turned her head away.
"So fiery, I love it!"
Li Yi grabbed her chin, about to kiss her, when the door was kicked open with a loud bang.
Lin Haoran and Li Yi turned around irritably to see Pei Shaoze glaring at them with murderous intent.
When Pei Shaoze saw Su Banxia lying there, barely clothed and covered in bruises, his face darkened even further.
"Mr. Pei... Mr. Pei..."
Li Yi quickly let go of the woman in his arms. Though he wasn't afraid Pei Shaoze would do anything bad to him, the overwhelming aura he exuded still terrified him.
"Get lost!"
Pei Shaoze kicked Li Yi aside, stepped forward, and took off his jacket to cover Su Banxia.
The familiar scent of this man brought Su Banxia an inexplicable sense of peace. A faint smile tugged at her lips. "You're finally here."
"Banxia!"
Fang Shiqing stumbled over, leaning on the sofa, and looked at Su Banxia's paper-pale face with deep concern.
"Mr. Pei, this is all a misunderstanding. I was just... just... Mr. Lin, it was Mr. Lin who wanted to set up a little game for me."
Li Yi's legs trembled involuntarily. The last time because of this woman, Pei Shaoze had canceled their partnership. On the surface, the Ding Sheng Group had lost 80 million, but in reality, who knew how many times 80 million they'd lost behind the scenes.
And now...
Li Yi looked at the frail Su Banxia, his heart pounding with unease.
Lin Haoran never expected Li Yi to be so disloyal, throwing him under the bus like that. He panicked too.
"Shiqing is my girlfriend. How could I do something like this? Shiqing, you know me best. If I weren't forced into it, how could I..."
"Are you taking me for blind or stupid?"
Pei Shaoze's voice was icy cold.
Just as the tension reached its peak, police sirens sounded outside. Yan Xin appeared right behind, stepping into view. He looked at the props scattered around the room, then at Su Banxia's pale face, and seemed to understand immediately.
A chill flickered in Yan Xin's eyes, his voice eerily cold. "Mr. Pei, as you instructed, I've submitted all the evidence of the Li family's bribery activities over this period."
"Boom!"
Yan Xin's words struck Li Yi like a thunderbolt.
If that evidence were made public, what he would face was obvious!
"Mr. Pei, this time I was fooled by some scoundrel. Please..."
"Whatever hand touched Banxia, cripple it. Clean up the scene. From now on, I don't want to see him again!"
Pei Shaoze lifted Su Banxia horizontally, didn't spare Li Yi another glance, and walked out of the villa.
Su Banxia nestled in his arms, feeling the steady, powerful beat of his heart against his chest, and found it strangely comforting.
Behind her came Li Yi's screams, like a pig being slaughtered.
"To the hospital."
Pei Shaoze carried Su Banxia into the car, his voice freezing cold.
Between the pain from her injuries and the drugs, Su Banxia's vision suddenly went black. She had no idea what happened after that.
When Su Banxia woke up again, the first thing she saw was a sea of white.
"Banxia! You're finally awake!"
Fang Shiqing felt the movement of the person in the bed and immediately opened her eyes, her heart brimming with joy.
"Shi... Shiqing..."
Su Banxia struggled to speak, her voice hoarse.
Seeing how weak she was, tears streamed uncontrollably down Fang Shiqing's face. "How could you be so foolish! You knew it was dangerous, yet you still... You knew all that was meant for me!"
Su Banxia saw her tears and managed a faint, beautiful smile. She reached out to wipe Fang Shiqing's eyes. "Don't cry. Crying makes you ugly. Besides, we're best friends!"
Too weak to speak loudly, Su Banxia's words came out barely above a whisper.
"Best friends forever!"
Fang Shiqing gripped her hand tightly, but couldn't stop her tears.
"So ugly, still crying..."
Su Banxia teased with a light laugh.
Fang Shiqing wiped her face haphazardly with her sleeve. "You've been unconscious for three days! If you hadn't woken up soon, I would've come to drag you out of your dreams!"
Three days? Had it really been that long?
"Thank goodness Mr. Pei showed up in time that night. Otherwise, the consequences would have been unthinkable."
Fang Shiqing shuddered at the memory of that night.
"Where is he?"
Su Banxia looked around the room but didn't see him. Somehow, she felt a pang of disappointment.
Fang Shiqing glanced at the door and smiled faintly. "You kept not waking up, so Mr. Pei got worried and went to find you a better doctor. He should be back soon."