<strong><b>Chapter 4: The Heroine’s Psychological Shadows! She’s Furious…</b></strong>


    <strong><em><b><i>Ding</i></b></em></strong><strong><b>… Su Wanqiu feels fearful of you. Emotional Value +234…</b></strong>


    Xu Hao picked up his chopsticks and began eating. The luxurious dishes before him were irresistible. After a while, noticing Su Wanqiu sitting motionless across the table, he frowned.


    “What’s wrong? Not to your taste?”


    Snapped out of her fear by Xu Hao’s words, Su Wanqiu quickly shook her head. “No… It’s not that.”


    “Then why aren’t you eating?” he asked, cing a piece of beef into her bowl.


    <em><i>Skipping meals was uneptable. Her body was already weak, without proper nutrition, how could she keep up with him?</i></em>


    Seeing Xu Hao serve her food, Su Wanqiu was both surprised and nervous. Tentatively, she picked up her chopsticks and began nibbling at her rice.


    “Late Autumn… how long have we been married?” Xu Hao suddenly asked in the quiet dining room, where only the sounds of eating echoed.


    Su Wanqiu was confused by the question but still answered. “Fifteen years.”


    “Fifteen years… It’s surprising how time flies,” Xu Hao sighed, though his mind was clear. After tormenting her for so many years, no wonder her affection score was so deeply in the negatives.


    Something felt off to Su Wanqiu.


    Xu Hao’s demeanor today was strange. His sudden kindness and question about their marriage length seemed ominous.<em><i>Could it be…</i></em>


    A sudden realization struck her like lightning. Her body trembled as she thought of Xu Hao’s first wife, who had borne him eight children and passed away from cancer.


    Over the years, she had noticed subtle oddities.


    The youngest child had been abducted at the age of three, shortly after she married into the family. Su Wanqiu had no idea what the child looked like now.


    However, from the appearances of the other children, none bore the slightest resemnce to Xu Hao.


    Coupled with the fact that Xu Hao had never touched her from the start…


    Su Wanqiu had her suspicions.


    <em><i>It was likely that none of Xu Hao’s children were actually his, and he had issues in that area. </i></em>She had never dared to voice this thought, keeping it buried deep within.


    <em><i>If Xu Hao were to find out…</i></em>


    A shiver ran through her. She couldn’t forget that his first wife had died under mysterious circumstances. <em><i>Officially, it was cancer, but who knew the truth?</i></em>


    Knowing Xu Hao’s true nature, it wasn’t hard to imagine him staging a murder as an ident.


    <em><i>Could it be… Xu Hao was nning to silence her?</i></em>


    As this terrifying thought took root, Su Wanqiu’s face turned ashen, and her body trembled uncontrobly.


    <strong><em><b><i>Ding</i></b></em></strong><strong><b>… Su Wanqiu feels extreme anxiety and fear. Emotional Value +666…</b></strong>


    “Hmm?” Xu Hao noticed the tense atmosphere and had only tried to ease it with casual conversation. Instead, it seemed to have made things worse.


    Given the current state of affairs, achieving mutual affection and a seamless connection seemed impossible.


    If they couldn’t share love willingly, at least some interaction was necessary. Otherwise, how was this different from dining with a corpse?


    Puzzled by her fear, Xu Hao noticed the bottle of red wine nearby. Opening it, he poured a ss for each of them.


    “A candlelight dinner without red wine would be a waste,” he remarked, raising his ss to Su Wanqiu with a smile.


    “Late Autumn, let’s be romantic for once.”


    The more Su Wanqiu thought, the more terrified she became. However, she couldn’t disobey Xu Hao’s words. Hesitantly, she raised her ss and clinked it against his.


    Watching Xu Hao down his drink in one go, she reluctantly sipped hers.


    After the meal, Xu Hao picked up a napkin and wiped his mouth.


    Life for the wealthy is absurdly extravagant.


    Therge table was piled with food, yet barely touched.


    Now that he had eaten his fill, it was time to do something meaningful.


    Xu Hao’s gaze fell on Su Wanqiu.


    Sensing his stare, Su Wanqiu’s hand trembled, and she nearly burst into tears.


    Xu Hao’s behavior today had been unnervingly strange, leaving her feeling as if this meal was akin to a prisoner’s final one.


    <strong><em><b><i>Ding</i></b></em></strong><strong><b>… Su Wanqiu feels fear toward you. Emotional Value +888…</b></strong>


    <em><i>Huh?</i></em>


    <em><i>So, all the small talk and wine earlier were for nothing?</i></em>


    <em><i>I tried to ease your nerves, and yet you’re even more terrified?</i></em>


    But no matter. Today, he was in a foul mood.


    And there was no way he’d let this fatmb slip away…


    Seeing Su Wanqiu frozen in ce, barely eating, Xu Hao decided to intervene. He shifted closer to her and picked up his chopsticks, cing a piece of fish in her bowl.


    “Here… Su Wanqiu, this is something you like to eat. Uh… wait, what do you like to eat again?”


    Awkward.


    After all these years of marriage, they’d never shared a proper meal together. He genuinely had no idea what she liked.


    Su Wanqiu’s fear grew.


    Faced with more and more food being ced into her bowl, she had no choice but to eat small bites reluctantly.


    Finally, her fear reached its peak. She put down her chopsticks and burst into tears.


    “President Xu, I was wrong! I won’t tell anyone your secret. Please don’t kill me!”


    …


    <em><i>What?</i></em>


    Xu Hao was utterly baffled.


    <em><i>I’m being so nice to you, and you think I want to kill you?</i></em>n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    How deeply had he scarred her psychologically?


    Still, her words piqued his curiosity.


    “What secret do you think you know about me?” he asked.


    Su Wanqiu looked up, her tear-streaked face both pitiful and endearing.


    She opened her mouth but hesitated, struggling to speak.


    Seeing Xu Hao’s expression turn serious, panic overcame her, and she blurted out, “You’re… you’re impotent. Those children aren’t yours…”


    The moment she said it, regret flooded her, and she quickly tried to backtrack.


    “But don’t worry! I swear I’ll never tell anyone. Please spare me!”


    To her surprise, Xu Hao didn’t get angry. Instead, heughed and countered, “Who told you I’m impotent?”


    Su Wanqiu froze, dumbfounded.


    <em><i>Did someone need to tell her?</i></em>


    None of the seven daughters looked like him, and in over a decade of marriage, he had neverid a finger on her.


    <em><i>Wasn’t that evidence enough?</i></em>


    “Hmph… Daring to say I’m impotent? Tonight, I’ll show you just how capable I am.”


    Xu Hao grabbed her hand, startling Su Wanqiu.


    Before she could react, she felt her hand being guided in a direction against her will…