Chapter 232: Chapter 232

The aura of the man was completely different from a moment ago, it was the dominating presence of someone in power, leaving no room for refusal.

Shen Jianian was both helpless and angry. Clearly, she had never dealt with someone so unreasonable before and was completely at a loss: "Mr. Fu, I’ve made myself very clear already, what more do you want..."

Before she could finish her words, her body suddenly lifted off the ground. In the blink of an eye, she was in the man’s arms, and the high heels on her feet fell off.

Shen Jianian was immediately frightened to death, screaming: "What exactly do you want?!" She struggled and pounded Fu Jichen’s chest and shoulders, "Let go of me! Don’t you hear me?"

Fu Jichen took several hits without so much as a twitch of his eyebrows, his arms like steel, firmly restraining her. Faced with her resistance, he only gave her three words: "Come with me."

Whether she agreed or not, he was going to take her away today. He couldn’t just sit back and watch her stay with Pei Che and get married right under his eyes; he couldn’t be so magnanimous and selfless.

She belonged by his side. The rightful source is n͟o͟v͟e͟l͟f͟i͟r͟e͟.net

Call him overbearing or call him tyrannical, he could endure it all, except seeing her with someone else.

"Why should I go with you? You’re crazy! Put me down!" Shen Jianian was sweating with the effort, while the man holding her was calm and unruffled, as if her strength was just a drizzle to him, "Fu Jichen, how many times do I have to tell you to believe that you’ve got the wrong person! I don’t know you!"

Her voice went dry, and she coughed twice, her face flushing a deep red.

Fu Jichen looked down at her, saying lightly, "No longer calling me Mr. Fu?"

Even though the face in front of him was unfamiliar, the expression she wore when she was angry was the same, even the way she spoke was identical to how he remembered. They had shared a bed for more than half a year; her every move, every expression, every glance was etched in his mind, how could he be mistaken?

Reaching the ground floor, Fu Jichen held her, unable to free a hand to open the heavy glass door, and instructed the person beside him, "Open the door."

The store clerk stationed on the first floor didn’t understand what was happening but quickly went forward to pull open the door.

Fu Jichen walked out; the Mercedes was parked in a roadside parking space.

Qu Mo followed closely behind, carrying Shen Jianian’s handbag and shoes, pressing the car key from a distance to unlock the vehicle.

Fu Jichen set her down first; Shen Jianian seized the chance to escape, only to be caught by Fu Jichen by the wrist. With his other hand, he pulled the door open and shoved her, wedding dress and all, into the car before getting in himself and closing the door.

In her twenty-some years of life, Shen Jianian had never seen such a bandit, a forceful kidnapping in broad daylight!

She grasped the car door handle on the other side, ready to get out.

The door was locked, no matter how she tried, she couldn’t push it open.

"Miss Shen, my apologies." Qu Mo sitting in the driver’s seat expressed his apology without any expression.

Zheng Yi was in the passenger seat, buckling up; at midday, the sun was astonishingly hot. He stared at the dazzlingly white sunlight ahead, his mind still muddled, feeling that how things had unfolded was completely contrary to what he had anticipated.

There was no joy in the reunion after a long separation, no hugs, no thousand words, only inexplicable entanglement remained, entirely initiated by Mr. Chen, while Shen Jianian only wanted to escape.

Pei Che ran out from the bridal shop, his face already drained of blood, his hand pressing firmly on his stomach, trembling with pain, shouting at the car, "Fu Jichen!"

Fu Jichen acted as if he didn’t hear: "Qu Mo, drive."

Shen Jianian pounded futilely on the car window, cursing "madman" and "lunatic."

Qu Mo floored the gas pedal, the car sped away, leaving Pei Che’s hopeless figure in the rearview mirror, growing smaller and eventually disappearing completely.

Pei Che couldn’t hold on any longer, collapsing to his knees, sweat from his forehead dripping into his eyes, causing a stinging pain.

The bridal shop clerks, seeing this, ran out to help Pei Che up, frantically asking, "Sir, are you alright? Do you need an ambulance?"

The car headed towards the airport, and all the way, Shen Jianian didn’t stop talking, trying everything to persuade, but Fu Jichen remained unmoved.

Nearing the airport, Zheng Yi took out identification from Shen Jianian’s bag, needed for booking plane tickets.

At that moment, a phone started ringing inside the bag, Zheng Yi instinctively took it out, the caller ID read "Bai Changxia."

Shen Jianian had a friend named Bai Changxia, Zheng Yi knew this, becoming even more certain that the woman in the back seat was Shen Jianian.

Hearing the ringtone, Shen Jianian lunged to grab the phone back, but Zheng Yi didn’t let her have it, looking at his boss through the rearview mirror.

Fu Jichen didn’t care to know who was calling, coldly spitting out two words from his thin lips: "Turn it off."

Zheng Yi gave Shen Jianian an apologetic look and turned off the phone.

Shen Jianian felt disheartened, slumping back into her seat, brushing away the strands of hair from her cheek. She now understood those two bodyguard-like men in front only took orders from Fu Jichen, and without his permission, she shouldn’t even think about getting out of the car.

She turned her body, with a stern face, looking at the man beside her: "Tell me, what will it take for you to let me go? Fu Jichen, Mr. Fu, Boss Fu, I don’t know where I offended you for you to treat me , I’m asking you, please, have mercy, let me go, okay?"

As Fu Jichen listened to those words eager to dissociate, he truly felt how sometimes words could wound more sharply than swords.

"I want to ask you instead, what did I do wrong for you to treat me ." Fu Jichen grasped her hand, placed it over his heart, "I’ve been looking for you for a long time, Jianian."

Shen Jianian was stunned, her eyes burned by the sorrow in his eyes.

After a long pause, she found her voice, once again emphasizing to him, "But I really don’t know you..."

Suddenly, she stopped short, Shen Jianian finally realized what she might have overlooked. Could it be that in the part of her memory that’s missing, she had some involvement with this man?

Just like she couldn’t remember Yan Qiusheng being her teacher.

A memory flashed through Shen Jianian’s mind of a scene she saw on a variety show. She was playing the cello on stage, and there this member of the Fu Family sat in the audience, eyes filled with admiration.

Immediately, she dismissed the notion. There was no way she could have had any relationship with Fu Jichen; the person she liked had always been Ah Che, it had always been him, never anyone else.

There was no way she would have changed her affections, and even if she had—looking at Fu Jichen, she still wouldn’t have been interested in a man like him.

Shen Jianian firmly withdrew her hand from his grip, insisting on her thoughts: "I think you’ve misunderstood, maybe we knew each other before, but I don’t have feelings for you, you shouldn’t be so persistent, letting me go is also letting yourself off."

The two people sitting in front listened to Shen Jianian’s words and felt heartbroken for Fu Jichen, much less him.

For the past three years, they had watched how Fu Jichen searched for her, going through untold hardships just to see her again, only for Shen Jianian to tell him not to be so persistent—anyone would find it hard to accept.

"You don’t have feelings for me?" Fu Jichen cupped her face in both hands, meeting her bright eyes, trying to see into her heart through them, wanting to know if she truly meant it.

Indeed, she never openly admitted liking him, but he could not have been mistaken about his feelings.

Three years ago, when they parted at the airport, her gaze, her words to him, and her initiating kiss all showed she had feelings for him. Now she told him she didn’t like him, was it that he was being delusional, or was it her going back on her word?

"So who do you have feelings for? Pei Che? Haven’t you truly let him go, have you? You’ve been with him for these three years, rekindling old feelings, pretending not to know me, acting like our relationship never existed, is that it? Huh?"

Fu Jichen asked one question after another, his tone low and slow. With each additional word, his heart ached more, his eyes full of unrequited love.

He stared at her lips, ready to do something rash if she dared to say yes.

Shen Jianian swallowed, fear rising from deep within her heart, sensing danger from the aura emanating from him. She had a premonition that if she dared to go against him, her neck would be snapped.

The airport was reached, Qu Mo parked the car, wanted to announce it but felt the atmosphere unsuitable for interrupting, so he silently got out of the car.

Zheng Yi also left the car without a word, closing the door behind him.

Fu Jichen didn’t get a response from Shen Jianian, his hand slowly lowered from her cheek: "Come back to Beicheng with me."

Having feelings for Pei Che was pointless, he had said, he wouldn’t allow it.