Boundary - Chapter 11

“Your thigh muscles have become much stronger, but the muscles in your waist are overly tense.”
After finishing an hour of yoga, Gu Yetong lay prone on her mat, grimacing as she “enjoyed” the post-workout muscle relief from her yoga instructor and close friend, Yue Ruolin.

“Have you been overworking yourself lately?”
Indeed, she had. Gu Yetong thought about it. Her already unhealthy lower back, strained from long hours of sitting at work, felt like it was about to break after being subjected to Jin Nanting’s weekend escapades.

Despite his seemingly refined and dignified appearance, the man had a penchant for making love in various places, with a particular preference for animalistic positions from behind. Every time she arched her back to endure his thrusts, it felt as though her bones were about to fall apart.

She was immensely grateful that the man, as usual, had booked a late-night flight to Europe on Sunday. Otherwise, she wasn’t sure if he would have tormented her again the night before.

Before leaving, he told her that the restructuring project he had been working on for over half a year would be finalized next month, after which he would have more time to stay in the country. If it were like this every day… No, Gu Yetong quickly reassured herself. Jin Nanting was only like this because he had to vent a week’s worth of pent-up energy during the weekends. Once he was back in the country and spending every day with her, the novelty would quickly wear off.

Thinking this, she couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed.

“Next session, let’s focus more on core exercises,” Yue Ruolin said, having massaged her from her shoulders to her ankles, and then playfully patted her perky bottom. “Not only will it strengthen your waist muscles and relieve back pain, but it will also strengthen your pelvic floor muscles, making your husband even more enamored with you.”

“Get lost.” Her friend’s teasing made Gu Yetong’s face flush red, and she refused to get up from the yoga mat, afraid that her best friend would have another reason to tease her.

“Hey, isn’t a harmonious sex life a good thing?” Yue Ruolin squatted beside her. “I originally thought that marrying a man who takes work calls even during his wedding banquet would leave you lonely.”

Although only three months had passed, Gu Yetong’s memory of her wedding was already very hazy.

It all felt like a dream, a dream she had always thought would never come true. She had always believed that one of them would swallow their pride and call a halt before their angry decision became a fait accompli.

But in the end, that didn’t happen.

Her most vivid memory of her wedding was the wedding dress that had been so tight she could barely breathe—a dress that wasn’t even hers.

Because she had never truly believed that she would actually replace her sister and become Jin Nanting’s bride, despite having a month to prepare, she hadn’t bothered to alter the dress’s size. And during that month, she hadn’t had much energy to think about her and Jin Nanting’s situation, as all her efforts outside of maintaining the company’s daily operations had been focused on finding her sister, who had suddenly run away from home before the wedding.

She had contacted almost all of Gu Yetang’s classmates, friends, and anyone they could think of who knew her, and even hired several detectives both domestically and abroad, following up on leads every day.

Yet to this day, she still had no clues.

On the day of the wedding, she had worn the wedding dress she had personally helped Tangtang choose for the first time. Gu Yetang was taller and slimmer than her. The dress being short at the ankles wasn’t too strange, and the waist being a size too small could be fixed by tightening a corset, but the obviously too-small bust made it impossible to zip up.

In the end, the designer was called in at the last minute to add a rather mismatched bow to the back of the dress to barely cover the issue.

This last-minute recasting of the “Jin-Gu union” only had eight tables at the banquet, inviting only the closest relatives, friends, and business partners of both families. However, before they could finish toasting the remaining two tables, Jin Nanting received a phone call saying there was an urgent matter requiring a meeting, and he left her behind.

Without the groom by her side, she couldn’t toast alone, so she excused herself to touch up her makeup and secretly returned to the hotel’s honeymoon suite. As soon as she entered the room, she couldn’t wait to take off the bondage, breathing deeply and freely.

As for how long her so-called new husband’s meeting would last, she didn’t care.

After finishing her wash up, Gu Yetong realized she hadn’t brought any change of clothes. Her bridesmaid, Zhao Ruolin, had only been notified that morning after Jin Nanting had dragged her to the hotel, resigned to helping out. Now, she was still in the banquet hall, venting her frustration by drinking red wine, angry that her friend hadn’t told her about such a big event.

Helplessly wrapping herself in the hotel bathrobe, Gu Yetong curled up on the bed and habitually started scrolling through emails on her phone. She was surprised to find that HR had sent an email in her grandfather’s name notifying all employees: The general manager is getting married today, and he, who had already stepped back from the front lines on Monday, would personally come to the company to hand out red envelopes to everyone.

“Nanting has already consulted with me. Don’t worry about Tangtang; focus on living your own life well.”

That morning, when Jin Nanting came to her house to pick her up, her grandfather had lovingly advised her. She didn’t know what Jin Nanting had said to her grandfather or when he had said it, but it had made the old man accept without reservation that one granddaughter would replace another in marrying this scheming man.

Gu Yetong realized that while she had been burying her head in the sand, unwilling to think about this marriage, Jin Nanting had spent the past month laying the groundwork for their future.

She knew her grandfather loved her. He had always said that she cared more about Tangtang than herself, and that wasn’t good. Even if she had truly taken her sister’s love, he probably wouldn’t blame her.

But what about the others downstairs? In their circle, most people knew that it was the second daughter of the Gu family who had been dating Jin Nanting. When they discovered that the person exchanging vows with Jin Nanting had become her, how many malicious assumptions and speculations would there be?

Unknowingly, she fell asleep leaning against the headboard. The dream felt more real than reality. In the dream, she saw Tangtang, who tearfully accused her of deliberately questioning Jin Nanting’s love for her, sowing discord in their relationship just to break them up so she could get involved…

The dream was so bitter, but she could never ignore her crying sister. She wanted to stay there forever, comforting her, accompanying her.

But a pair of cold lips interrupted her dream.

During the wedding, as part of the vows, his kiss on her lips had been cold. Now, that coldness carried a sharp edge, as he mercilessly bit her lip until she opened her mouth in pain, allowing his tongue to invade.

His unexpected assault carried a heavy metallic taste, ruthlessly plundering every trace of oxygen from her lips and teeth. She forgot she needed to breathe, only passively defending against the invasion of his lips and tongue, until she was gasping for air and frantically waved her hands, pounding his shoulders to make him let go.

“Breathe through your nose.”