novelnext Chapter 413 - 412: If You Had Come Half a Minute Later, I Would Have Died
Chapter 413 - 412: If You Had Come Half a Minute Later, I Would Have Died
Red Hat grabbed Xu Su’s arm. The moment he felt her smooth skin, he grew a little more patient. He reached out with his other hand to pinch her cheek, a lecherous smile on his face. "Now, now, don’t even think about running. I’d hate to hurt that pretty little face of yours."
"What will it take for you to let me go? Rape is a crime! You’ll go to jail for it!"
Xu Su tried to unfasten her watch. "I have money. This watch is worth at least five million. Take it, and we can pretend none of this ever happened..."
Five million?
The eyes of the nearby workers instantly lit up. They had never seen a watch that valuable in their entire lives.
"You look rich, but I didn’t realize you were *this* rich." One of the men in yellow hats surrounding her chuckled and pulled out a phone, his voice full of malice. "What’s one watch? Once we’ve had you, we’ll snap some photos. You think you’ll refuse to pay up then?"
"What’s a crime? Once we’ve become your men, we’ll all be one big family. Are you really going to report us for rape then? We’ve got nothing to lose, but a pretty little thing like you... do you still want your reputation?"
"Yeah, let’s take plenty of photos later. Then she’ll have to do what we say."
A chill ran down Xu Su’s spine. She never imagined these men would be so ruthless.
They were even ready to blackmail her with nude photos.
’What do I do?’
"I have no grudge against you. I’m sure that since you’re able to work here, you can’t be bad people. Please, I’m begging you, let me go. I have a boyfriend. If he finds out..."
The workers nearby snickered lewdly.
"No grudge, no. If you have to blame someone, blame yourself for being so beautiful. Coming to a place full of lonely bachelors like us with all that smooth, delicate skin... Aren’t you just tempting us to commit a crime?"
"How old are you, little girl? You look so tender."
"Getting to screw a high-class chick like you once is worth breaking the law. How many years do you get for rape, again?"
"Once us brothers have taken good care of you, you probably won’t even want to leave."
One worker stared at Xu Su’s limbs, so delicate they seemed to glow. He swallowed hard and muttered a curse, "Damn it, why do those rich bastards get to play with chicks like this, while I have to settle for some washed-up old hag to get my rocks off!"
"You came to a construction site looking for a man, so what, aren’t we men? We’ve got nothing else here, but we’ve got men to spare." Another man in a yellow hat rubbed his hands together as he stared at Xu Su’s legs. After groping her, he was overcome by lust and immediately reached to lift her skirt...
Xu Su struggled with all her might, but Red Hat, the man behind her, clamped a hand over her mouth, muffling her cries for help.
The touch on her leg nearly made Xu Su break down. She could distinctly feel a rough hand creeping higher...
Red Hat stopped him with a look. "What’s the rush? Let’s take her over to the sheds first. This isn’t the place for that."
He had just been trying to lure the girl toward the temporary sheds where the workers rested. That area was even more secluded and better suited for their plans.
He hadn’t counted on the old gatekeeper spoiling his fun. Red Hat was the leader, so when he gave the order, the Yellow Hats didn’t object. The hand on her leg vanished as they began to drag Xu Su away.
’If they really drag me away, I’d rather die!’
Xu Su wished she could take a knife and carve out the spot on her skin where that worker’s hand had touched her.
’It’s so disgusting...’
Surrounded by the men, the stench of cheap cigarettes and acrid sweat mingling in the air, Xu Su felt so nauseous she thought she might faint.
According to what Red Hat had said, Zhou Mochen was probably still on site, just far away from her current location. It was just her rotten luck that she had picked the most remote entrance and, after coming all this way, had only run into these few men—all of them, except for the old gatekeeper, predators driven by lust.
As Xu Su struggled in despair, her eyes caught sight of a white megaphone sitting on a large rock up ahead. A sudden burst of strength came from nowhere. She threw off the hand gripping her arm, lunged for the megaphone, and continued to scream, "Zhou Mochen! Zhou Mochen, help me...!"
Red Hat had thought his prize was secure, but in a moment of carelessness, he was shocked to see Xu Su break free. The false kindness vanished from his face. "So you want to do this the hard way, is that it?"
He caught up in a few strides, snatched the megaphone away, and swung a backhand at her face, which Xu Su narrowly dodged.
The megaphone was torn from her grasp, but Xu Su kept screaming Zhou Mochen’s name. He was her only hope.
"What are you all gawking at?" Red Hat, furious and humiliated, barked at the other workers in white hats. "Gag her and carry her over to the sheds for me!"
Xu Su was utterly despondent. She couldn’t understand why she was so unlucky, why something like this was happening to her.
’Is it because Zhou Mochen has always protected me too well?’
’But isn’t this a legitimate construction site?’
’What did I do wrong?’
’I just came to the site in broad daylight to find Zhou Mochen. Why is this happening to me?’
’Could it really be like they said? Is it my fault for being too beautiful?’
’Am I so beautiful that I attract evil men and tempt them to commit crimes?’
Xu Su thought of Gu Yunjia’s words: *You have no idea how disgusting, vile, and terrifying men can be!*
Her mental defenses completely collapsed. She squeezed her eyes shut. ’If these men really take me away, I’d rather just die...’
Just then, a group of people who looked utterly out of place on the construction site rounded a nearby corner. The slender figure at their head was exceptionally handsome, and even from a distance, one could feel the intimidating aura radiating from him.
When the figure looked in Xu Su’s direction, his steps faltered for a moment. Then, as if unable to believe his eyes, he strode quickly toward her.
Red Hat and his men, just as they were about to gag Xu Su, also noticed the management team on their inspection tour. They couldn’t believe the girl had actually managed to summon them to this remote corner. Panic instantly flashed across their faces, and they unconsciously loosened their grip on Xu Su.
Having struggled for so long, Xu Su’s strength instantly gave out. She fought to stay on her feet as her vision went black, and then she was pulled into an embrace.
"What are you doing here?" Zhou Mochen held the girl—her hair a mess, her face streaked with tears—tightly in his arms. "What happened?"
A familiar scent enveloped her, and Xu Su trembled as a wave of post-traumatic fear washed over her.
’I was so close...’
Zhou Mochen held her arm, about to lean in for a closer look.
Xu Su hissed, her arm trembling in pain. Zhou Mochen immediately let go and saw a huge, red handprint on her arm...
One could only imagine the force behind that grip...
Zhou Mochen’s face went rigid. He turned to look at the workers who had surrounded Xu Su, a sinking feeling in his gut as he began to guess what had happened.
Still, he blinked as if in disbelief. "They..."
Xu Su clutched the hem of his shirt, her voice like the whimper of a frightened fawn. "Zhou Mochen," she sobbed, "if you had come half a minute later, I would be dead. Really, I would have died."
She would never have allowed herself to be taken away by those men, never have let herself sink to that level.
She would have killed herself, even if it meant biting off her own tongue.
*If you had come half a minute later, I would be dead...*
The arm around her waist tightened fiercely. Zhou Mochen wished he could pull the girl in his arms into his very being.