The man had sharp eyebrows tapering into his temples, his face sculpted as if chiseled.
Despite the messy hair and kiss marks on his neck after a night of recklessness, none of it diminished his striking looks. On the contrary, it lent him a fatal allure, wholly different from the aloof dominance seen in financial news reports. Gone was the hard exterior of a man at the top; in its place was a casual and softer demeanor.
Ji Yu stood there with her mouth agape, utterly dumbfounded.
How was Gu Qixiao here?
Had she just slept with her ex-husband??
Not having seen him once in the three years of their marriage, they somehow ended up tangled together after the divorce?!!
Ji Yu found it utterly ludicrous. Trembling, she scrambled to pick up her clothes, intent on fleeing, but Gu Qixiao grabbed her.
"Where are you going?"
His cold, piercing gaze conveyed those four words as his hand clamped around Ji Yu's arm and his other held a phone.
From the other end of the line came a woman's voice. Ji Yu, standing close by, could clearly overhear their conversation.
"Xiao, where are you?"
Gu Qixiao replied flatly, "Not by your side, disappointed?"
Recalling last night's anger, he hadn't expected Song Xuan to drug him at the bar after indulging her whims.
Song Xuan, stung by his words, spoke with a hint of a sob, "Xiao, no, it's just that I like you so much. Besides, my brother…"
Gu Qixiao knew she was about to bring up Song Tingdong again and impatiently ended the call.
"Noted. I'll come find you later."
After hanging up, Gu Qixiao turned to Ji Yu, his eyes filled with scrutiny.
"I'll take responsibility for last night. Whatever you want, just say it."
Having been drugged and schemed against by Song Xuan, Gu Qixiao had originally intended to leave, but had inexplicably been pulled into another private room.
Though he had maintained some sobriety at first, the moment Ji Yu approached him, the faint fragrance from her neck ignited a heat within him that clouded his rationality.
Everything felt too coincidental—so coincidental that Gu Qixiao suspected this woman was another pawn in Song Xuan's elaborate trap, laced with more aphrodisiacs.
But seeing the bloodstains on the sheets, he realized she was a virgin, and no matter what, he had to compensate her.
Ji Yu mostly guessed what was running through his mind and curled her lips into a smile.
Gu Qixiao… hadn't even recognized her.
It made sense. They hadn't met even once during their marriage, so of course he wouldn't know what his ex-wife looked like.
As for Ji Yu, she had only ever come to know her husband's face through the news headlines glorifying the illustrious name of Gu Qixiao.
"Sir, that's really unnecessary. We're all adults—one-night stands are perfectly normal."
Ji Yu didn't want to explain further, shaking off Gu Qixiao's grip as she climbed out of bed.
From the purposely audible phone call earlier and his unusually fervent behavior last night, Ji Yu figured out that Gu Qixiao had been drugged.
Having ruled the business world for years, Gu Qixiao had a sharp sense of caution. He was likely wary that she might know the woman on the phone.
Unfortunately, Ji Yu didn't know her. But now Gu Qixiao had unwittingly revealed why her husband had never come home during their marriage. Turns out, he'd been keeping a mistress on the side!
Ji Yu scoffed inwardly, congratulating herself on filing for divorce—as if she'd spare even a glance at such a scumbag.
Gu Qixiao keenly picked up on the fact that the woman in front of him didn't seem to like him, a reaction he couldn't quite place.
"...Perfectly normal?"
If he hadn't known she'd been a virgin, he might have thought her composed demeanor meant she was a seasoned KTV hostess.
After all, Ji Yu's face alone was enough to captivate souls, especially those liquid eyes of hers, brimming with confident, haughty radiance.
"Getting drunk and finding a handsome guy to unwind—that's something my girlfriends do all the time."
Ji Yu smiled faintly and pulled cash out of her wallet, placing it on the bedside table.
How many chances did one have in life to tease the richest man in City S? Ji Yu wasn't about to let this opportunity slip away.
Her one sentence made Gu Qixiao's face darken, so much so that he didn't even notice her actions.
Excellent—such audacious behavior meant she couldn't possibly be one of Song Xuan's pawns.
Gu Qixiao didn't lose his temper, coughing lightly to mask the fact that this had also been his first time.
"In that case, make sure you take a contraceptive pill. Don't cause any trouble."
"Rest assured, I won't be seeing you again, sir."
Ji Yu deliberately emphasized her phrasing, planting subtle hints that Gu Qixiao couldn't quite decipher, though he sensed something amiss.
Gu Qixiao's gaze was heavy as it lingered on Ji Yu.
"That's for the best."
Parting on poor terms, Ji Yu left and immediately dialed her assistant.
"President Ji! You finally reached out!"
The news of Ji Yu's return had already swept through the industry, with many eagerly waiting for the renowned "master of aesthetics" to make her comeback.
"Tian, arrange clients for me. I'll be heading to the company now."
"Understood!"
The news that Ji Yu would visit the "Renewal Cosmetic and Reconstructive Clinic" that afternoon simultaneously reached Gu Qixiao.
"President Gu, Ji Yu herself is finally making her return—should you bring Miss Song…"
"Hmm, make an appointment."
As Gu Qixiao dressed to leave, his eyes landed on the stack of cash Ji Yu had left on the nightstand.
Two, three… Five hundred?
Was spending a night with him worth just five hundred yuan?
Gu Qixiao chuckled softly and pocketed the money.
Hopefully, the woman would keep her word and never show up in front of him again.
That afternoon, as soon as Ji Yu arrived at the clinic, she was met with the frantic shouts of a woman.
"Who's your boss? I want to see a shareholder! Get your person in charge out here!"
Ji Yu's brows knitted together. "I'm the person in charge. What do you want?"
The woman, her face wrapped in bandages, glanced at Ji Yu, a flicker of astonishment in her eyes quickly overtaken by fury.
"So it's you? Is your shady business robbing me of my money? I only had a birthmark on my face and came to your clinic for a restoration procedure. Now look—my entire face is ruined!"
Agitated, the woman grabbed the collar of Ji Yu's coat. "It's you, isn't it? You couldn't stand seeing other women prettier than you, so you deliberately destroyed my face, you b*tch! You did it on purpose!"
Frowning at the baseless insults, Ji Yu turned to the surrounding staff and demanded, "What on earth is going on?"
"P-President Ji... This is Miss Li, a former client of ours. She wanted to remove her congenital birthmark. We completed the procedure successfully, but about two months into the recovery period, she suddenly experienced facial disfigurement, which led her to come back to us."
"Sudden disfigurement?" Ji Yu coldly directed at the woman, "Remove the bandages. Let me take a look."
Three years ago, when Ji Yu married Gu Qixiao, she had passed on her foundational techniques to the clinic before departing. Those skills were sufficient to meet 90% of client needs.
Patients undergoing cosmetic surgery at her clinic could trust her expertise to create results so seamless that their beauty appeared natural, devoid of any signs of artificial enhancement or discomfort.
As for disfigurement? Ji Yu was certain no such flaw existed in their work.
However, once they entered the examination room and the woman peeled away the bandages from her face, Ji Yu caught a whiff of putrid rancidity. Her left cheek, originally marred only by a birthmark, was now completely ulcerated.
Devastated, the woman shouted, "Isn't Ji Yu's technique supposed to rival the gods? I spent so much money and waited so long for an appointment at your clinic. Now you've ruined me! You wretch, how do you plan to compensate me?"
One glance was all Ji Yu needed to understand the cause.
Her expression cooled as her eyelids lifted slightly. "Miss Li, this doesn't seem to be our clinic's fault."