Early in the morning, at the White House Club, in Presidential Suite 666.
"You want to use me and toss me aside?"
"Didn't you enjoy it too? We just got what we wanted from each other!"
The girl was wrapped in nothing more than a blanket, her fair, slender legs dangling over the edge of the bed as her dark eyes scanned every corner of the room in search of her clothes.
From behind her came the man's aggrieved voice:
"That was my first time!"
"As if I'd believe that!" The girl replied without a change in expression, completely unfazed.
"I'll be damned..."
Huo Qi was annoyed, and he almost wanted to say: Just because you've seen a lot of things doesn't mean you're still a virgin, right? Which man doesn't watch adult movies?
It was just that he was exceptionally clever with a photographic memory; after watching a few times, he had mastered the essence of it.
Huo Qi narrowed his phoenix eyes slightly, giving a meaningful look at the young woman who, from the moment she woke up until now, had not once turned back to look at him.
Out of nowhere, he blurted out a sentence that even he felt sounded pathetic:
"You... have to take responsibility for me."
"Ha~"
Le Mei's shoulders trembled slightly, and she let out a cold snort, as if she had heard the most ridiculous joke in the world.
She turned her head slightly, the corners of her mouth curling into a disdainful sneer:
"Take responsibility for what? Did you get pregnant with my child? Or are you injured? You look perfectly fine to me!"
Right now, Le Mei was aching all over, feeling as though her bones were about to fall apart, yet he was still talking nonsense. She found the whole situation utterly absurd.
She and he had only met once.
Last night, she had received a cry for help from her cousin, Xiang Nan, and rushed to the White House Club immediately.
As soon as she stepped into the private room, she saw two men in black uniforms holding Xiang Nan by both arms to restrain him.
Xiang Nan looked at her with tear-filled eyes, pleading with a sob:
"Sis, save me! They're going to cut off my foot! Wuwu~"
Not far away, in a single leather sofa, sat a man. The lighting in the private room was dim, hiding any hint of emotion in the man's facial features, but the aura of unapproachability radiating from him was palpable.
Le Mei knew this man was the notoriously famous Crown Prince of the Modu circle. The Huo family's influence in Modu was nothing short of absolute.
Born with a silver spoon in his mouth, he was a true second-generation heir. His personality was eccentric, ruthless, and unruly; almost anyone who provoked him met a miserable end.
At best, they lost an arm or a leg; at worst, they lost their lives right then and there.
Mustering her courage, Le Mei asked:
"Crown Prince, I don't know how my brother offended you, that you want to cut off his foot?"
Their gazes met. Looking at Le Mei from the man's angle, he saw her clearly:
Blunt bangs, a bob haircut, a white T-shirt and jeans—she looked like a thoroughly ordinary girl!
If she hadn't used the word "brother," he almost would have taken her for Xiang Nan's younger sister, giving off the complete vibe of an underage student.
Perhaps accustomed to the heavily made-up, long-haired women around him who always deliberately posed and preened for him,
her appearance came across like a breath of fresh air.
Huo Qi raised an eyebrow, his tone lazy and casual:
"He got his dirty shoes all over my shoes!"
"I'll pay you for the shoe-cleaning fee. Can you please be the bigger person and let him go?"
Le Mei's attitude was very sincere, though inwardly she was cursing the man from head to toe. Being rich is such a big deal, huh?
So what if he stepped on you? It's not like you're going to die, yet you want to chop someone's foot off! You're sick in the head!
"Pay?"
The man lifted his eyelids, glancing at her with a half-smile:
"Can you afford it? These shoes of mine were designed by the top F-country designer Aiken, and they're one-of-a-kind. Lowly commoners like you couldn't afford them even if you worked hard for a lifetime!"
"Then what will it take for you to vent your anger? Why don't you step on my foot to get even? You can step on it as many times as you like!"
Huo Qi's handsome face froze for a moment, not expecting her to come up with such a tactic.
Though his nature was eccentric and ruthless, he had never laid a hand on a woman.
He tilted his head slightly, his narrow phoenix eyes staring at her with interest, and twitched the corner of his mouth as he said:
"It depends on your performance. If you perform well, I'll let him go!"
"Fine, tell me what you want me to do."
"Light a cigarette!"
Le Mei walked forward, picked up the cigarette case on the table, pulled out a cigarette, and handed it to him.Huo Qi did not reach out to take it. Instead, he leaned back lazily against the chair, his long legs crossed casually. A smiling glint in his eyes and brows betrayed a hint of ruffian charm.
Seeing this, Le Mei leaned slightly closer to him, bringing a cigarette to his lips.
He parted his lips and took the cigarette between them.
Le Mei's slender fingers offered a lighter.
With a click, a flame leaped up.
The man tilted his head slightly as a glowing red spark flickered at his fingertips.
Lifting his sharply defined jaw, he slowly exhaled a plume of white smoke, the corners of his lips curling into a teasing arc.
"Ahem!"
Le Mei frowned and turned her head away, coughing twice from the smoke, while feeling her cheeks burning intensely.
"Pour the drink!"
"Okay."
Obediently, Le Mei poured him a glass. On her left wrist was a pink camellia tattoo—exquisite, striking, and remarkably alluring.
Huo Qi lowered his long eyelashes, glanced at it indifferently, and issued his next command:
"Feed me!"
Holding a glass of amber liquor, Le Mei respectfully offered it to him. The man parted his thin lips, and finished the entire glass in one go.
He arched an eyebrow, his tone casual yet laced with a threat:
"Drink the rest yourself! Down it all in one breath, and I'll let him go! If you don't finish it, I'll chop off his feet!"
Le Mei swallowed hard. Before even tasting the alcohol, a sour wave already rose in her mouth.
Though her alcohol tolerance wasn't bad, that was for standard drinks like beer. She had never tried the expensive liquor sitting on the table and had no idea how potent it was!
Yet, for the sake of her own cousin, she was ready to risk it all!
With a swift motion, she uncorked the bottle, hoisted it up, and began chugging the contents straight into her mouth.
She downed the entire bottle in a single breath, dropping the jaws of everyone present!
Consequently, once the bottle was empty, she felt utterly wretched.
Not only was her throat parched, but her body felt burning hot and utterly weak and limp.
Moments later, she collapsed onto the nearby sofa, half-dead.
In her daze, she vaguely remembered someone patting her cheek and calling out, "Hey!"
Whether it was due to the excessive alcohol or something mixed into the drink, it awakened an unprecedented desire deep within her.
Her mind conjured up the secret collection she used to sneak-watch with her best friend...
She desperately wanted to kiss, to embrace, to... do that...
Right now, she wanted it more than anything!
Clinging to her last thread of sobriety, she raised a slender arm and hooked it around the person's... neck, it seemed.
Then, she proactively pressed her lips to his.
When the kiss ended, she said to him in a soft, tender voice:
"I want you!"
In her tipsy state, her cheeks flushed pink and her gaze was hazy, allowing her to make out only a blurred outline of the man.
Her impression of him was:
Not ugly! Quite fierce!
For she faintly heard the man say:
"All of you, get out of here!"
Though she couldn't clearly see the man's face, she remembered his scent.
A refreshing blend of mint and citrus, deeply intoxicating and addictive.
As a result...
This fragrance lingered around her all night long, while he kept introducing himself over and over as—Huo Qi.
The heart-pounding memories flashed through her mind...
"From now on, we are strangers!"
With weak legs, Le Mei could barely stand, and the burning pain caused her excruciating agony.
She struggled to bend down, picked up her clothes from the floor, threw off the blanket covering her, and haphazardly slipped the clothes back on.
Only after putting them on did she notice that the hem of her simple white T-shirt had been torn into ragged strips.
That someone's strength was truly formidable!
Just as she was about to leave, vowing to have nothing more to do with this man for the rest of her life, a strong, muscular hand suddenly reached out from behind her.
The world spun around her.
Her feet left the ground as the man hoisted her onto his shoulder.