Shadow Bride - Chapter 4

Chapter 4: A Man She Could Not Provoke

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

She pushed everyone away and staggered out of the banquet hall.

No one was aware when it had started to rain outside the banquet hall. She rushed into the rain in a daze, not knowing where she was going.

She didn’t know how far she had run, but when she came back to her senses, she found herself standing in front of a vast glass wall. Behind it was a camera shop where a lot of expensive cameras were displayed. The cold and straightforward mechanical lines had a kind of beauty unique to the modern industry, attracting her gaze like a devil.

Her pale and slender hand gently touched the transparent wall.

Through the glass wall, she unconsciously traced the shape of the camera on the display rack.

She remembered when she was young; the Mu family had been making cameras before they went bankrupt. Her mother, Mu Yun, was a top international photographer. Her mother often carried her in her arms when she was young, and taught her how to fiddle with the camera and press the shutter step by step. She still could not forget the faint fragrance on her mother’s body and the feel of her long hair gently brushing against her small face.

Later on, the Mu family went bankrupt, and her mother passed away in an accident. Her stepmother, Liu Meizhi, entered the family and wanted to throw away all the camera equipment in the house. She cried and tried to stop her, but there was nothing she could do. She watched helplessly as the servants threw her mother’s precious cameras and flashlights into the bin and dumped them into the garbage truck along with a pile of smelly leftovers. The six-year-old chased after the truck for a long time before she fell heavily onto the side of the road. In the end, the staff could not stand it anymore and stopped. They dug out a relatively intact camera from the pile of rubbish and stuffed it into her arms.

That camera became her most precious possession.

She hid the camera carefully and secretly placed it somewhere her stepmother and family couldn’t see. Every time she felt sad or aggrieved, she would pick up the camera and press the shutter. It was as if her dead mother was still by her side. She would smile and say to her, “Baby Xingyu, Mother is here.”

This became her support.

“Mother…” She looked at the cameras behind the enormous wall and sobbed.

If her mother was still alive, would she still be bullied so badly? The heavy rain fell on her, and it made her face pale. She felt dizzy, and her body was alternating between hot and cold. Initially, when she left the hospital earlier that day, the inflammation in her body had not fully recovered. Now that she was drenched in the rain, her condition had gotten even worse.

“Miss, are you alright?” Suddenly, she heard a voice.

She turned around and saw that the door of the shop had opened at some point. A male shop assistant in uniform was standing in front of her and looking at her worriedly. “Miss, it’s raining heavily. Are you going to buy a camera? Take a look inside our shop.”

She was welcomed into the shop by the staff and led to the middle of the exquisitely-made cameras. These cameras looked very high-end. Be it the shape, the material of the shell, or the parameters listed on the signboard. They were far superior to the one her mother had left behind.

She then realized that these cameras were all from the same brand—Sharp Edge, the best camera brand in the world.

The male shop assistant was well-trained. He brewed a cup of hot tea and handed her a large dry towel. “Miss, wipe the water off your body. Don’t catch a cold. Are you a photographer? Or are you an amateur? Our Sharp Blade has a variety of cameras specially tailored for different people. This is the flagship store, and the models are complete. Tell me which one you like.”

She looked around blankly. Which one did she like?

To be honest, she didn’t want any of them. She only wanted the one her mother had left behind.

Unfortunately, she lost that camera two years ago.

For the past two years, she had never touched any camera. Every time she was sad, Qin Mu would replace the camera to comfort her. However, the Qin Mu she trusted and relied on had hurt her so badly. Her heart felt like a knife had cut through it. It was like she was sinking into the bottomless abyss of hell… She wanted to grab onto something.

“Which one can I buy with this amount of money?” She took out all the money in her bag and handed it to the staff along with her only bank card.

There wasn’t much money. It was 459 yuan less than the cheapest camera in the shop. However, the shop assistant smiled and said, “You’re really lucky, Miss. I’ll give you a discount with my internal membership card. It’s just enough to buy our new model of cameras.”

The girl in front of him was in a daze. He guessed that she must have encountered something difficult. It was the training guidelines of Sharp Edge Group to provide high-quality services to guests. Under such circumstances, he would do his best to take care of her within his authority.

Su Xingyu did not know what he was thinking. After thanking him, she took the camera and walked out of the shop.

Her steps were unsteady. The rain had caused the inflammation to wreak havoc inside her body again. Her head was dizzy as she staggered into the rain. She used her thin arms to protect her camera and bent her back to shield it from the rain.

Quick…

She had to be quick…

She had to find the bus stop quickly and return to the hospital.

The camera in her arms made her feel at ease. It was as if she had something to protect, which gave her the courage to face the world again. She quickly got her bearings and ran towards the bus stop across the road. However, she had only run a few steps when a black Bentley suddenly rushed out of the rainstorm and headed straight for her!

Before she could react, she felt a pain in her calf and was sent flying.

The camera slipped out of her hand, the packaging dispersing in midair—all fell apart. Like in a slow-motion point of view, she helplessly watched as it shattered to the floor. The camera cracked, the lines spreading like spider webs.

It seemed like a long time, but it also seemed like only two or three seconds had passed.

She heard a voice by her ear. It was a man shouting at her, “Miss, are you alright?! Miss?!”

She turned her head in confusion and looked at the man in the black suit. She shook her head subconsciously.

“Camera…” she said.

“Why do you still care about the camera at a time like this?!” The man seemed to be flustered and exasperated as he shouted in the rain, “Your leg is bleeding! Can you still walk? Come, hold on to me tightly. I’ll take you to a safe place!”

Before she could answer, he bent down and helped her up, trying to carry her to the side of the road.

She endured the pain and cooperated with the man’s actions. She inadvertently turned her head and saw that the black Bentley that had knocked her down earlier was parked in the rainstorm. The car door near the roadside was open. This man had gotten out of the car.

She had only glanced at him slightly. She did not expect the man to notice her small action in such a chaotic situation. His voice suddenly sank. “Stop looking. Boss has something urgent to attend to. He can’t take you to the hospital. Miss, it was a red light just now. You were the one who crossed the road and got into an accident. We’ve already done our best to save you. I’ll find another car to send you to the hospital and give you enough compensation. You’d better be smart and not cause trouble. You can’t afford to provoke the person in the car.”

Of course, she knew she could not afford to provoke him.

It was obvious that this Bentley was very expensive. Even her father could not afford it.

The wound on her calf was hurting more. The heavy rain poured down on her body, making it difficult for her even to stand properly. At that moment, the rear window of the black Bentley not far away rolled down. Without any warning, she bumped into a pair of eyes.

A pair of man’s eyes.

Cold, deep, and unfathomable. The demonic eyes that had appeared in her countless nightmares.

Su Xingyu only felt her head explode with a loud bang as those unbearable images from two years ago flashed before her eyes. It was him… it was him! The man who had stolen her virginity!