342: The Coffee Wasn't Bitter Anymore

The Coffee Wasn't Bitter Anymore

"And watch your hand. I don't like women touching my face, not even a light pat." He flung her arm away, losing some patience.0

Li Manni rubbed her sore wrist and glared at him hatefully. All her life, she had always been treated like a treasure by everyone. She had never suffered such mistreatment and humiliation before.

Her eyes welled up with tears, but evidently, like the man had said, he would not take pity on her.

"Follow me if you agree. If you don't, you can await the consequences." The man's cold lips raised into a smile, and he turned away. Every step he took made Li Manni's heart tighten once more.

She bit her lip, tears falling endlessly at last. They fell, drop by drop, but all she could do was quell them down.

Biting her lip, she turned back and took another look at the Chu villa; but she finally turned around and followed the man. She could not refuse. No matter how great the humiliation, she would maintain everything here: her reputation, her relationship, and Chu Lui.

At the front, the man's smile widened.

She was indeed a smart woman who made clever decisions.

…

Li Manni opened the door to her room, her face pale. Her arms wrapped tightly around herself. Her lips were imprinted with teeth marks. She rushed into the bathroom immediately, unable to even undress herself.

She raised her chin, letting the hot water wash down her face while she clawed at the clothes at her chest—as if she wanted to tear the clothes apart and tear herself apart in the process.

There were bruised marks all over her body. She felt dirty, and no matter how hard she scrubbed, she could not get rid of the smell and the trace the man left on her.

Suddenly, she bent down and covered her mouth, letting muffled sobs out. She really felt like dying. Every time she thought of the man's hands, his body, his everything, she felt so much hatred she wanted to shred him to pieces.

Covering her face, she wailed, feeling mistreated. She shook her head continuously. No one can find out about this. They must not; otherwise, she would really be destroyed.

Night came, and as if following orders, Chu Lui took off his clothes and rolled over on top of Li Manni. However, Li Manni just shook her head weakly and said, "Lui, I can't today. I'm not feeling well."

Chu Lui murmured assent and laid down at the side with a calm face. He did not show any reaction. It did not matter whether she wanted it or not now.

Li Manni's lifeless eyes were wide open. She turned her head and looked at the man sleeping beside her, and then leaned closely into him. She wanted to be closer to him. It might let her forget the thing that scared her. However, it was useless. She still clearly remembered the man's hands massaging her breasts and his disgusting lips touching hers.

She covered her mouth, suddenly feeling like she needed to vomit.

"What's wrong? Do you want me to take you to the hospital?" Chu Lui opened his eyes and wrapped his arms around her. She was acting weirdly today, but it might be because she was feeling unwell like she said.

"I'm fine. I just need some sleep." Li Manni smiled at him quickly. She did not want others to know the condition of her body now. Not even a fool would believe that her battered body was caused by her knocking into something. One look was all it took to know what had happened to her.

Chu Lui raised his hand and placed it on her forehead. When he realized that her temperature was normal, he wrapped the blanket around both of them. "Sleep." He patted her shoulders lightly, giving her an absolute warm space. Yet, despite how close their bodies were, this time, their hearts were the furthest.

…

Li Manni carried the coffee in her hands, feeling out of sorts. She had long stopped using the medicine so it should be fine. The man must have been lying to her. Chu Lui was never poisoned. Yes, that's right. This was modern civilization, and poison could be easily detected. He went for health checkups every year so she must have been deceived by that man.

She reassured herself constantly.

She walked into Chu Lui's office and placed the coffee on his desk. She followed him every day now because she was afraid that man would come looking for her again, but a few days had passed, and what she was worried about had never happened. It was as if it was all just a bad dream.

Chu Lui flipped through the documents in his hand and picked up the cup with one hand and drank. His eyebrows furrowed slightly after drinking.

"What's wrong? Is it too hot?" Li Manni noticed his furrowed eyebrows. He drank coffee like it was water and seldom showed that expression.

"It's fine." Chu Lui placed the coffee back on the table and continued to read through the document. "Manni, did you add sugar to the coffee today?"

Li Manni shook her head. "No, I didn't." She brewed pure coffee as she knew that Chu Lui never takes his coffee with sugar.

"Then why isn't it as bitter as before?" Chu Lui said and picked up the cup again to drink from it. It definitely was not as bitter as it was before. Perhaps he was too used to the bitterness, making him unaccustomed to the sudden change.

Li Manni was taken aback and blanched. She looked down immediately, not wanting Chu Lui to realize her uneasiness. "Maybe because I changed the coffee beans. I'll make you another cup."

She picked up the cup from the table and walked out with turmoiled footsteps.

"Man…" Chu Lui wanted to tell her that he did not want it anymore, but Li Manni had already reached the door. He could only shut his mouth. She wanted to brew another cup, and so he let her be.

Li Manni stood in the pantry and brewed a new cup of coffee carefully, but she knew that no matter how she brewed it again, it would not be the same taste as what Chu Lui wanted. She had already thrown away that medicine.

She walked out again, her eyes slightly dimmed and walked past someone.

"Hey, Cousin-in-law…" A voice called from the back, but she did not respond and continued walking forwards. Du Jingtang just put a hand up to his head and grabbed his thick black hair softly. What was wrong with these people recently?

Cousin changed, and so did Li Manni. The two of them were acting strangely.

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