When Su Chen drove downtown, it was rush hour. He wasn't in a hurry, so he drove slowly and arrived at the Belle Building after eight o'clock.

Just as he was heading to the public relations department, he received a call from Lin Ruoxue, asking him to stop by her office.

As his wife commanded, he scurried right over.

"Honey, what did you need me for?" Su Chen asked, pushing open the door to Lin Ruoxue's office. Only Chen Guo, the junior secretary, was there.

"What were you up to this morning?" Lin Ruoxue asked, seeing him walk in with a grin. Her expression was unreadable.

That morning, Lin Ruoxue had woken up to an empty bed. She asked Wang Ma, who was making breakfast, where he was.

Wang Ma said her son-in-law had called and had something to do, so he'd left early and would go directly to the office.

Su Chen's recent absences in the morning had made Lin Ruoxue both angry and somewhat panicked, as she had grown accustomed to seeing him first thing each day.

The first time was okay, but the second time, Lin Ruoxue began to feel scared, fearing that he might suddenly disappear from her life.

Without his presence, even breakfast seemed tasteless. She constantly wondered what he could be doing so early in the morning.

Could it be that our lack of intimacy is too much for him, and he snuck out last night?

Although Lin Ruoxue had not yet experienced sexual intimacy, she sometimes secretly read books about it.

The books claimed that men are creatures of the lower half and find it hard to withstand prolonged solitude, a natural result of their physiology.

Thinking this, Lin Ruoxue felt both angry with and a bit guilty towards Su Chen.

As a wife, am I being too harsh? Should I start fulfilling my duties as a wife?

Although reason told Lin Ruoxue to take a step forward and truly confirm their marital relationship, the thought of doing such intimate things with him made her uncontrollably nervous, and her face flushed.

In this ambivalent mood, Lin Ruoxue called Su Chen. She had to clear up what he had been up to early in the morning these last two times; it was her right as a wife.

"Oh, just helping a friend with a small favor," Su Chen replied casually.

"What friend? What favor?" Lin Ruoxue looked at him sharply, unwilling to let him off so easily.

"This... this..." Su Chen was at a loss for words, not wanting to tell Lin Ruoxue about his cultivation yet, as it wasn't something that should be part of her life.

"You couldn't stand the loneliness, so you went out fooling around, didn't you?!" Seeing his evasive behavior, Lin Ruoxue was more certain of her suspicions, her eyes turning cold.

Although I haven't fulfilled my duties as a wife, couldn't you, as a man, hold back a little bit?

The thought made her feel a surge of anger, as if something of hers had been taken by someone else.

Su Chen, hearing her words, widened his eyes in shock, then felt a mixture of laughter and tears.

So Lin Ruoxue actually thought he had been fooling around!

But Su Chen didn't argue back, instead giving her a resentful look. "Can I be blamed for this? I do have a wife, but it's like seeing without eating. If my wife were an ugly ogre, maybe my interest would have died out long ago."

"But you, my wife, happen to be such a heart-throbbing beauty. Naturally, I can't help but feel itchy, so I had no choice but to look elsewhere for satisfaction."

Lin Ruoxue felt depressed. He had used the same excuse last time when he looked at swimsuit photos in a magazine.

However, the nature of the two incidents was completely different. Last time, it was just looking at pictures, and although she felt slightly uncomfortable, she could tolerate it.

But this time? He had actually gone and done it, something Lin Ruoxue couldn't tolerate!

Su Chen had only intended to tease her a little, but seeing her face colder than ever before, he felt flustered.

"Wife, I was just joking earlier, just teasing you!" he said with a sheepish laugh, nervously approaching her. "Please don't believe it!"

"Really? Why do I feel like you were speaking your true thoughts?" Lin Ruoxue glanced at him. How could she believe him now?

Her gaze was cold, ominously so, making Su Chen's heart feel stabbed.

Only then did he truly understand what it meant to shoot himself in the foot. He had initially just wanted to give her a slight stimulus, to make her reflect a bit on her shortcomings as a wife.

This way, he could also fulfill his long-held wish of sharing a bed with her!

But unexpectedly, this incident had completely crossed her red line, making it impossible for her to forgive!

Su Chen was filled with regret. What was the point of demeaning himself? He'd played with fire, and now it backfired!

"Wife, I was telling the truth. You don't believe me? I'll strip naked for you to check!" Su Chen had no choice but to resort to his shameless trump card.

"Oh really, go ahead and strip, then?" Lin Ruoxue's voice was chilling and dripping with irony.

She didn't believe that Su Chen would do something so shameless in her office; he must be deliberately provoking her, thinking she wouldn't dare let him strip!

A cold smirk emerged on her face, as if she had already seen through his little trick!

But moments later, she was completely dumbfounded, having totally underestimated the shamelessness of her husband!

Because her roguish husband really did start stripping off his clothes right there in her office.

In the blink of an eye, all he had left was a pair of underwear – oh, and a pair of socks.

He stood there with his arms open like that. Looking at his expression, anyone who didn't know better would think he was about to make a heroic sacrifice!

Lin Ruoxue took one look at his nearly half-naked body, her pretty face instantly blushing, and she covered her eyes. "What are you doing? Hurry up and put your clothes back on!"

"A gentleman may be killed, but not humiliated!" Su Chen replied resoundingly. "I need to prove my innocence! Most importantly, I need to prove my loyalty to you, my wife!"

Hearing his words, Lin Ruoxue hesitated again.

Could it be that he was really just joking with me earlier? Could it be that he hadn't really cheated?

Thinking this, Lin Ruoxue couldn't help but glance over Su Chen's body. Because she knew, while other marks could be easily removed, love bites were not so easy to hide.