She checked the time again; it was already past nine in the evening. If she didn't return soon, Yang Sijie would worry. After telling Sophie, who was still busy clearing the venue, she left the exhibition hall alone, preparing to hail a taxi.
Because the exhibition hall was in a somewhat remote location, and most attendees had driven themselves, she walked along the roadside, looking for a taxi.
She had arrived in Emma's car, but Emma was currently chatting with some friends. She didn't want to trouble Emma again.
Thinking that there would surely be taxis, she walked slowly. Suddenly, a private car stopped in front of her, startling her. The car looked familiar.
The driver was indeed Qin Tianyi. She steadied herself and spoke first, "Hello."
"What a coincidence. It's hard to get a taxi here. I'll give you a ride back," Qin Tianyi said, obligingly opening the passenger door on the right.
Gu Susu remembered how Yang Sijie had almost misunderstood the last time he had given her a ride, and she quickly waved her hand, saying, "No, thank you. A taxi will pass by."
After speaking, she quickened her pace, looking for taxis in the distance.
She didn't notice that Qin Tianyi hadn't driven away but had gotten out of the car and grabbed her wrist tightly from behind.
"Mr. Qin, please let go," she said, startled.
But Qin Tianyi not only didn't let go, but his grip tightened, dragging her towards the shadows where the streetlights didn't reach.
Gu Susu tried to struggle, but his strength was overbearing, and her struggles were in vain.
"Mr. Qin, I really am not suitable to be a designer for your company! My academic workload is very heavy now, and I also work part-time in Teacher Emma's studio. I don't have enough energy..." She thought he was acting rudely because she had rejected his offer of employment.
Qin Tianyi chuckled, staring intently at her. "Gu Susu, if you still can't remember who I am by now, it only proves that you've never had me in your heart."
"What was our relationship in the past?" Gu Susu looked at him as well. She had a vague feeling that their relationship was not as simple as that of a boss and an employee.
Qin Tianyi's expression turned grim. "What is your relationship with that Yang now, is what our relationship was!"
He hadn't intended to tell her so directly, but he had given her many hints, and she still didn't remember who he was. Seeing her again tonight, she still treated him as a mere acquaintance.
He truly couldn't bear it anymore and wanted this woman to remember him completely!
"That's impossible! Whether before or after my amnesia, Sijie has always been my only boyfriend, and there will be no one else," Gu Susu said, kicking him, wanting only to break free.
He said with amusement, "The benefit of amnesia is that it allows you to deceive yourself."
However, Gu Susu found that kicking was useless. This man was like an impenetrable fortress. She softened her voice and said, "Mr. Qin, I don't know what I did to offend you, but if you want me to apologize, I can apologize to you. Please let me go immediately, or I will call for help."
Qin Tianyi remained unmoved, his grip on her wrist almost crushing it.
Gu Susu felt unbearable pain in her wrist and said, "Mr. Qin, please don't be like this. Let's talk properly..."
As she spoke, she struggled again. She actually broke free from his grasp. Just as she thought she could shout for help, she suddenly felt his breath rush towards her.
He grabbed her by the neck with one hand and her waist with the other, kissing her forcefully.
When she recovered, she pushed against him with all her might.
His kiss made her almost suffocate before he suddenly stopped, his eyes red as he sneered, "What, still haven't remembered? Such intimacy between us was once commonplace. Do you still think you're so loyal and pure? In fact, I was just one of the men around you..."
"No, it's not like that!" Gu Susu was trembling all over, her voice shaking.
Qin Tianyi's hand on her waist unbuttoned her shirt and reached inside her clothes, caressing her back and slowly moving upwards. "What did that Yang tell you, or how did he deceive you, to make you believe you're so clean and beautiful... He didn't tell you that he made you pretend to reconcile with me for his own benefit?"
Some incomplete fragments suddenly flashed in her mind. The faces of the men who had wanted her again and again became clear. It was him, it was him... Qin Tianyi!
While she was stunned, Qin Tianyi pulled open her inner clothing and stared at her coldly, asking, "Finally remembered? Remember how unbearable you are?"
Gu Susu's face turned pale. She still couldn't recall the complete events, but some fragments seemed to confirm that what he said was true.
Qin Tianyi disdainfully pushed her away. "Don't think I'll really do anything to you. You disgust me. Go back and tell Yang Sijie that what he made me lose, what he took from me, I will get back from him, one by one."
Gu Susu's heart suddenly ached terribly. In extreme shock, her voice became incoherent. "Mr. Qin, thank you for telling me this. So this is what my past was like."
Qin Tianyi smiled wryly. "Yes, don't think that just because you went abroad and lost your memory, I won't get back what you owe me. Get lost!"
Gu Susu turned and walked forward, her steps unsteady, as if her soul had been drained.
Just then, a taxi happened to pass by. She numbly waved her hand and got in.
Qin Tianyi watched her dejected figure leave without any sense of revenge. Instead, he felt increasingly agitated!
He remembered how unbearable her headache had been last time and feared she might have an accident on the road. He immediately got back into his car and drove after the taxi.
Until he saw her get out of the taxi from a distance and walk into the upscale residential building, he kept telling himself that such a woman was not worth pitying. The harm they had caused him, he should repay them tenfold, a hundredfold!
After Gu Susu entered the lobby, she didn't go straight back. Instead, she found a corner in the back and tidied her clothes, not wanting Yang Sijie to notice anything.
It seemed she would have to find her lost memories herself. Yang Sijie seemed to be hiding many things from her and might not want her to fully recover her memory.
She perked up and acted as if nothing had happened. As she pushed open the door, she said as usual, "Sijie, I'm back."
"Miss Gu, hello."
Instead of Yang Sijie, a woman in her thirties with short hair, dressed in professional attire, came out to greet her.
Gu Susu looked at the woman inexplicably, feeling that she looked familiar but couldn't recall where she had seen her.
"You..."
"Susu, her name is Wendy. I called her from New York," Yang Sijie said, walking out of his study and smiling at her, as if giving her a surprise.
Gu Susu put down her bag and said, "Oh." She added, "Do you have business to discuss? Then you talk, I'll go back to my room."