Lu Xuan rose, tossing the tiny camera between his fingers as if playing with a worthless coin.
He casually snuffed out the burnt cigarette butt on the messy table, then took a step forward.
His shoes crunched on the scattered porcelain shards, making a soft "creak, creak" sound, each one like a stomp on Lin Zhiling's heartbeat.
"You... what are you going to do!" Lin Zhiling felt an inexplicable panic; the fierce, all-or-nothing resolve that had just supported her was rapidly dissipating under the gaze of Lu Xuan's now emotionless eyes.
She was afraid, a primal fear that made her hands and feet turn cold.
"Get out! Don't come near! Stay away from me!"
She supported herself with her elbows, scrambling backward with hands and feet, her expensive qipao rubbing against the rough floor, picking up dust and wine stains.
She tried to get away from the slowly approaching devil, but the private room was only so big, and she quickly found herself with nowhere to retreat, her back hitting the cold wall with a thud.
Lu Xuan squatted in front of her, his face once again sporting that wicked, charming smile, though this smile held not a trace of warmth. "Auntie, weren't you quite fierce just now? What, scared now?"
"What exactly do you want! Don't come any closer!"
"Hehe," Lu Xuan chuckled, his laugh full of malicious mockery, and the sound piercing her ears made Lin Zhiling shiver. "Does that even need asking? Of course... we'll continue what we didn't finish just now."
He shook the miniature camera in his hand, saying in a light tone, "Auntie, I suddenly have a great idea. Don't you like making videos? Coincidentally, I have a friend who also enjoys that. Let's not bother with sneaky filming; that's so boring. Come, let's film openly and honestly. How about you be the leading lady for once?"
With that, Lu Xuan actually took out his own phone and unhurriedly opened the camera function.
He looked around, picked up a miraculously intact red wine glass, steadily propped his phone in the rim, adjusted the angle, and the lens pointed precisely at Lin Zhiling in the corner.
This series of fluid movements completely shattered Lin Zhiling's psychological defenses.
Her mind went "buzz," a complete blank.
She knew what Lu Xuan wanted to do.
This was no longer just humiliation; this was about trampling her dignity underfoot and then grinding it into dust with his toes!
The do-or-die determination she had felt earlier was now completely gone. She even began to regret using that ridiculous honey trap; this was simply inviting a wolf into her home, digging her own grave!
Lu Xuan, this devil, was the second man she had truly interacted with, besides her husband, Zhang Jianguo.
Just thinking about those brief and humiliating ten minutes made her tremble all over, yet even so, she used her last ounce of strength to shriek, "I am Ningning's mother! You beast!"
"Oh?" Lu Xuan raised an eyebrow. "Auntie, when you were actively setting a trap for me just now, why didn't you think about being Ningning's mother? Weren't you quite invested then?"
Lin Zhiling's face turned red then white, leaving her speechless.
Her frantic gaze swept over the messy floor, and suddenly, as if grasping a lifeline, she lunged towards a nearby chair, grabbed a remaining wine bottle from the table, and with a "smash," like those people on TV, brutally shattered it against the table corner!
She picked up a sharp glass shard and trembled as she pointed it at Lu Xuan.
"You stop right there! Don't come any closer!"
"Don't force me... Be careful or I... I'll kill you!" she screamed hoarsely, but the hand holding the glass trembled violently, completely lacking any deterrent power.
Lu Xuan watched her feigned bravado like a comical one-man show; not only did he not stop, but he moved even closer to her.
Seeing her threat was ineffective, Lin Zhiling's madness surged again. She suddenly changed direction, pressing the sharp glass shard firmly against her fair, fragile neck.
"If you come any closer, I'll kill myself!" she shrieked hysterically. "Even if I die and become a ghost, you'll never touch me again!"
Lu Xuan finally stopped, not out of fear, but out of helplessness.
He sighed helplessly, shaking his head: "Auntie, this is no fun. Where did that spirit of self-sacrifice go? Now you're acting like a chaste woman?"
He scoffed, his tone full of undisguised mockery: "I've never heard of a chaste woman who would actively use a honey trap!"
Before he finished speaking, Lu Xuan's body moved suddenly!
Lin Zhiling felt a blur before her eyes, and before she could react, she heard a crisp "smack!"
A sharp pain shot through her wrist, and the glass shard she had relied on as her last resort was directly slapped away by Lu Xuan, spinning several times on the floor with a clear clinking sound.
Immediately after, there was another "smack!"
A louder slap landed squarely on her face, silencing all her remaining words.
"Auntie, I've really been too lenient with you!" Lu Xuan's voice suddenly turned cold, devoid of any further mockery.
He grabbed Lin Zhiling's slender neck, his arm muscles bulging, and with a single hand, he lifted her entire body off the ground, her feet dangling in the air!
"Ugh... H-h-h..."
Lin Zhiling's pupils dilated instantly, air was squeezed out of her lungs, and she frantically beat at Lu Xuan's steel-like arm, her legs kicking weakly in the air, like a fish pulled from water, only able to emit desperate, difficult gasps.
Lu Xuan pressed her against the wall, looking up at her face, which was flushed red from lack of oxygen, his eyes as cold as frost.
"It seems that girl Ningning hasn't had the chance to tell you properly... what kind of person I, Lu Xuan, truly am!!!"