“I’m ready.”
Soft background music started playing through the radio as Xu Wennuan’s voice settled. Ten seconds later, she slowly opened her mouth again. “To tell the story of my youth, I have to go back to 13 years ago.”
“I was a freshman then. There was a third-year senior chasing me; he was very handsome, and many girls in our school were in love with him. I only agreed to become his girlfriend after he persisted and chased me for half a year.
“He was older than me by three years. And he gave me everything. We rarely fought. The first time we had a conflict was when he graduated and went to Shanghai for university.
“Two years after that, I took the college entrance exam. As someone from Beijing, the score that I obtained was good enough for me to enter a better university in that city, but I chose to go to Shanghai for him. We didn’t study at the same university; in fact, our schools were not close, but still he came to visit me every weekend.
“And two years after that, he graduated and started working. To still be able to visit me often, he rented an apartment near my campus. He wasn’t considered wealthy at that time, but with the money his parents sent him he could manage the living expenses and was always giving me gifts.
“After I graduated, I chose to remain in Shanghai to work, as well. After one year, he decided to go back to Beijing to start his own business. I had no opinion other than wanting to be with him, so I followed him back to Beijing without hesitation. It was very tough when his business first took off, but we got through it. His company grew larger and he grew richer, as well…”
Xu Wennuan could be heard pausing through her phone. After a long time, she continued. “He even proposed to me and bought me a huge diamond ring. We were scheduled to get married on February 14th the following year. But we didn’t manage to make it to our wedding, because he cheated on me.”
“When that happened, I was in a lot of misery. I had never imagined that something so awful would happen to me. I started to run away from it but, in the end, I chose to forgive him.
“I really wanted to go on as though nothing had happened and continue our relationship. Unfortunately, the person he cheated on me with got pregnant, and then she lost her child because of me. And at that moment, someone else walked into my life.
“He was a friend of my boyfriend. I started growing mindful of him because he was the one who took care of me when the person my boyfriend cheated on me with went through a miscarriage.”
My friend took care of her when Jiang Qianqian was going through her miscarriage? Wu Hao frowned and quickly realized who it was. Lu Bancheng.
“As for my story with this second individual—it’s a nightmare that I’ve been afraid of recounting for the longest time.
“When my ex-boyfriend proposed to me, he gave me a million dollars as my dowry. My father lost it all on stocks, and in order to return the money to my ex, I faked a marriage with his friend. I really treated that man as a friend and relied on him, but on the night of our marriage… He forced himself on me.”
Wu Hao turned his head abruptly and looked at the radio.
He forced himself on her… Does she mean that Lu Bancheng raped her?
“Two weeks later, I discovered that I was pregnant. At that time, I really hated that man. I only wanted to be separated from him, and I was unable to face the child in my womb. So, I thought about it for an entire night and ultimately decided to go for an abortion the following day.”
Wu Hao’s breath was instantly taken away. He was petrified and did not move a muscle.