Chapter 45.1: “You dare to touch my people?”

Cheng Yao held back her disgust, her mind racing in all directions, but in the end, she did not immediately lash out. She remained in a crouched position, but one hand discreetly reached for her phone, switched it to silent mode, and started recording.

In modern society, to protect oneself and seek justice, evidence was essential. Otherwise, even the victim could be accused of “framing” someone. She had already suffered a setback in the Bai Xingmeng case—she wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice.

Suppressing her revulsion, Cheng Yao feigned a terrified and helpless expression, her voice trembling as if she were on the verge of tears. “Mr. Tang, please, I beg you… I… I have a boyfriend. Please let me go.”

This weak resistance—born from fear of powerful authority—only served to further excite Tang Bing. His hands continued to roam over Cheng Yao, and his words became even cruder. “Little Lawyer Cheng, how much does your boyfriend make in a year? Sleeping with him or sleeping with me—it’s all the same. But if you stay with him for a few years and break up, you’ll walk away with nothing. On the other hand, if you’re with me, it’s different. Even after we part ways, you’ll never need to work again. I’ll give you a generous settlement—houses, cars, whatever you want….”

“Mr. Tang, please don’t touch me anymore,” Cheng Yao choked out, suppressing her fury while keeping up her pitiful act. “Please don’t force me… If you make me do this against my will, that’s a crime….”

Tang Bing chuckled. “Little Cheng, let me put it this way—you should stop resisting. If you keep rejecting me, I’ll reject Lawyer Qian. I’ll tell him that your professional skills are too poor and that I no longer want your firm handling my case. Think carefully—if he loses such a major case because of you, do you think you’ll still have a job?”

This wasn’t the first time Tang Bing had done something like this—he was already an expert.

Young women like Cheng Yao, with little workplace experience, were easy prey. They knew they couldn’t afford to offend a wealthy and powerful client worth hundreds of millions. When faced with this kind of situation, they usually panicked, not knowing what to do. That made them the easiest targets.

All he had to do was threaten and tempt them a little. Even if they resisted at first, with his superior social status and a grown man’s physical strength, he could get what he wanted in the end.

Cheng Yao’s reaction was exactly as he had expected. Smirking with satisfaction at his control over the situation, Tang Bing finally removed his hand from her, though he did so reluctantly. Then, he reached down and unzipped his pants.

“Besides, don’t talk to me about whether it’s a crime or not. Even if I take you right now, if you try to make a fuss, you’ll be the one ashamed to face the world. For me, it’s just another romantic escapade, but for you? Do you think you’ll still be able to find someone to marry in the future? And who would believe you? Wouldn’t people just say you were the one who seduced me?”

Tang Bing’s voice was already laced with heavy breathing, full of smugness and practiced confidence. “I already locked the conference room door earlier. There are no surveillance cameras here. Just the two of us in a room together—who could possibly prove what really happened?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of you. You’re so beautiful and adorable—I wouldn’t even dream of treating you badly. If you stay with me, you won’t have to work as a lawyer anymore. I’ll provide for you, so you won’t have to struggle so hard….”

Tang Bing had already played both the good cop and the bad cop. One moment, he was threatening Cheng Yao with her future, her career, and her job, and the next, he was speaking to her like a confidant, earnestly analyzing how much better her life would be if she just went along with him. He mixed in words of supposed affection, looking for any opening to sway her.

With this multi-pronged approach, young women like her usually stood no chance of resisting.

However, just as Tang Bing was convinced he had everything under control and was about to make his move, Cheng Yao suddenly turned around and delivered a fierce kick, sending him sprawling backward. It was like a preyed-upon animal suddenly turning to fight back, unleashing a hidden weapon.

It was only then that Tang Bing saw the phone in Cheng Yao’s hand, its camera still recording. He panicked, instinctively trying to shield his face and cover his lower half, but it was already too late.

“Now, let’s take a look at how Mr. Tang Bing unzipped his pants and attempted to assault someone right here in the conference room,” Cheng Yao said coldly, narrating as she recorded. “And let’s also hear how he threatened his victim.”

She turned the camera toward his face, deliberately zooming in. “First, let’s get a nice close-up of Mr. Tang Bing so that everyone can see him clearly. And next—” She dragged out her words, glancing mockingly at his lower half before sneering, “—let’s take a look at Mr. Tang Bing’s… oh dear, it’s really quite small.”

“……”

Sure enough, at that remark, Tang Bing instantly deflated.

But Cheng Yao wasn’t done. She twisted the knife further. “Ah, why does it look even smaller now?”

“……!”

Tang Bing’s face turned red with fury, and he instinctively lunged to snatch her phone. But Cheng Yao was quick. With an agile spin, she dashed to the conference room door, unlocked it, and bolted out into the hallway where the security cameras were.

“It’s no use trying to take my phone,” she said coolly. “My iCloud has already auto-synced the video to the cloud.”

She glanced at the now completely disheveled and panicked Tang Bing, then pocketed her phone. Her voice was icy as she continued, “Mr. Tang, I hope you reflect on your actions. First, you’ve already signed an agency agreement with our firm. If you try to back out now using the excuse that I’m incompetent, you’re welcome to try—especially since I now have this evidence. Second, in any future dealings, you’d better conduct yourself properly. Because if you step out of line even once, this little video might just end up in front of a judge—or go viral online.”

Having said her piece, Cheng Yao couldn’t be bothered to deal with him any further and simply turned on her heel and left the conference room.

It wasn’t until she had returned to her own room that she finally let go of her tough facade, her body feeling drained and tense.

She had never dealt with anything like this before. In the heat of the moment, she had relied purely on instinct to get through it. She wasn’t even sure if she had handled it the right way.

If she were already an independent and experienced lawyer, and if Tang Bing were merely a client, she wouldn’t have put up with any of it. She would have slapped him across the face on the spot and used the recording to seek legal action against him.

But… but Tang Bing was Qian Heng’s client.

Cheng Yao had never been someone who prioritized the bigger picture. But at this moment, she didn’t want her personal issues to affect Qian Heng’s work.

Even though the thought of having to sit through another meeting with Tang Bing made her stomach churn, she knew what mattered more. In the workplace, women sometimes had to endure humiliation—at least until they were strong enough, until they had the power to decide which cases to take on.

She knew this was a kind of weakness, but in private, away from her earlier display of bravado, she couldn’t hold back the grievance in her heart. She cried.

The sense of violation and disgust from being touched lingered in her chest, like she had swallowed a fly—no matter how quickly she spit it out, the sickening feeling of having it in her mouth wouldn’t go away.

Just as she decided to splash her face with cold water to calm herself down, there was a knock at the door.

“Cheng Yao.”

She opened the door to find her boss, Qian Heng, standing there with some documents in hand. “These materials—”

Qian Heng was flipping through the papers as he spoke, but when he casually lifted his head, he suddenly stopped mid-sentence.

His brows furrowed. “Cheng Yao? What’s wrong?”

She quickly lowered her head, trying to conceal the emotions on her face. She forced a casual tone. “Nothing. I’m fine.”

“Look at me.”

But instead of obeying, Cheng Yao turned her head away. She still hadn’t completely composed herself after the ordeal with Tang Bing, and she didn’t want Qian Heng to notice anything unusual.

Qian Heng didn’t say anything.