Chapter 1

"Already 28 years old and still not married?" "It's pointless, I don't want to get married." "Then what do you think *is* pointful?" Gu Lishang sat on the genuine leather sofa, his slender fingers lazily twirling a string of black prayer beads. "Would becoming a monk be more pointful?" "You unfilial son!" "If there's nothing else, I'll be leaving first. Speak less and sleep more—you're getting up there in years, so don't get so emotional. Watch out for shortening your lifespan." Gu Lishang stood up and left the old family estate with a swagger. Elder Gu trembled all over with rage, glaring at the back of the figure leaving as he shouted angrily, "Today I'm going to make sure he gets laid, one way or another!" - "Box 11, one bottle of Rémy Martin XO!" The noise around the bar counter was deafening; Song Xi couldn't even hear clearly whether the person had said "Number 1" or "Number 11". She could only shout back and ask, "Which number?" Yet the other person had already rushed off to busy themselves with something else, turning back only to glare at her fiercely. "What are you still standing there for? Hurry up and go! The customer's in a rush. If you mess this up, I'll dock your pay!" "I'm going right now!" Ever since the Song family found their true daughter and drove her out of the Song family, every single cent she earned was tied to her living expenses and tuition fees for the future. Without this money, she might end up living on thin air or unable to afford her tuition. She had no father and no mother; the only person she could rely on was herself. Besides, it was just a fifty-fifty probability between two private rooms; at worst, it just meant running an extra trip. Song Xi went to Box 1 first. Two bodyguards in black suits stood at the entrance of the box, looking heavily guarded. She knocked on the door cautiously. "Hello, is this the one you ordered..." The door opened, and before she could finish speaking, she was already pulled inside. "Get in here quickly! They're about to arrive." "I'm just here to deliver wine..." The man looked flustered and panicked, paying no attention at all to what Song Xi was saying as he kept rambling on to himself. "The flirty lingerie is on the bed in the inner room. Go change into it right now. No matter what method you use today, you have to get this done. As for the money, don't you worry, we will definitely not treat you unfairly." "Huh?..." "Alright, go get ready quickly, hurry up!" With that, the man quickly retreated from the private room, leaving Song Xi standing alone in utter bewilderment. What kind of strange business was this? Wasn't she just here to deliver a bottle of wine? Maybe this wine belonged to them after all. Song Xi placed the wine on the coffee table. The private rooms here were suites; the outer area was set up like a KTV, while the inner area featured a luxurious single room. After setting down the wine, she prepared to head out, only to find that the door to the box had been locked from the outside. She pounded on the door anxiously. "Hey! Why did you lock the door? Open up!" "Somebody help!" "Private room doors aren't allowed to be locked! Help! Let me out quickly!" "Is anyone out there?!" Song Xi battered the door desperately, but received no response at all. Only then did she realize the gravity of the situation. Shouting anything right now was useless; no one was going to pay attention to her. Since it was a futile effort, she might as well conserve her energy and figure out how to get out of here. Could she have been kidnapped? Find someone to ask for help? Yet employees here had to hand in their phones; right now she didn't have any communication tools at all, and couldn't contact anyone... There seemed to be an inexplicable fragrance in the room, making her head feel a bit dizzy. Not sure if the air conditioning was set too high, she felt her breathing grow a bit rapid. Suddenly, the door to the private room opened. Song Xi hurriedly got up, wanting to seize the opportunity to get out, and shouted, "I'm a waitress here, you can't lock me—" Before she could finish, a tall figure was suddenly pushed in. Because she had been running toward the door, the moment this person entered, he crashed squarely into her arms.The man stood nearly six feet three inches tall, with an impressive physique. Song Xi felt her shoulder pressed against his chest, the solid, muscular frame beneath her skin causing a dull ache.

As for his face, the man was currently slumped over her shoulder, making it impossible for her to see what he looked like.

Song Xi glanced toward the door, her eyes filled with desperate anticipation.

"Hey! I’m still in here!"

"Just wait a moment!"

But the door closed heartlessly nonetheless.

She tried to push the man away, only to find he was incredibly heavy. He weighed her down so much that she could barely walk, let alone push him off. Though he appeared lean, he felt as if he weighed three or four hundred pounds; she was being crushed to death!

"Sir, could you please stand up on your own?"

"So hot..."

"The air conditioning might be set a bit too high. Please hold on a moment; I’ll contact my colleague to adjust the temperature for you."

"You smell... so good..."

Suddenly, the man reached out and wrapped an arm tightly around her waist.

The polite distance that had existed between them was instantly shattered. They were pressed so closely together that she could clearly feel the heat radiating from him through their clothes—a terrifying, burning temperature—along with the powerful rhythm of his heart.

Just like her own, her heart was pounding uncontrollably.

This was the first time she had ever been this intimate with a man, so intimate that it triggered an instinctive sense of crisis, making her struggle to break free.

"Let go of me!"

Because of her frantic movements, the weight they had been balancing precariously shifted, and they collapsed together onto the soft cashmere rug of the private room.

Only then did Song Xi get a clear look at the man’s face.

His skin was a ghostly, pale white, and his features were exquisite, with deep-set eyes and a sharp brow. He was so perfect he looked like a masterpiece sculpted by the gods themselves, and the tear mole at the corner of his eye added a touch of ascetic coldness.

The man was stunningly handsome—a beauty the likes of which Song Xi had never seen before.

She couldn't help but wonder: could such a handsome man actually exist? Or was this all just a hallucination?The man narrowed his eyes slightly as he looked her over, a cold smirk suddenly playing on his lips. It seemed he had regained a bit of his senses by now. "Are you the woman they found for me?" "What are you talking about?" "A woman who would sell herself out for money—truly cheap." "Slap—!" Song Xi decisively reached out and dealt the man a tight slap across the face. "What are you talking nonsense about!" The man's head was knocked to the side by the blow, and when he raised it again, his eyes were bloodshot. "How dare you slap me?" Frightened by the look in the man's eyes, Song Xi decided she wanted nothing more to do with him and got up to leave. She had to find a way out of here. Yet the moment she made a move to rise, her wrist was caught in a tight grip as the man yanked her fiercely back down. "Ah!" Losing her balance, she tumbled straight—coincidentally or not—into the man's arms. A cold laugh sounded right beside her ear. "Hah, you've certainly mastered the art of playing hard to get." "Get away from me!" As she struggled to get up, the man pressed down on her with even greater force. A lock of hair brushed against the tip of the man's nose. That pleasant fragrance once again stirred an unbearable itch in the man's heart. "What is that scent on you?" Even as Song Xi struggled on, the man pulled her tighter into his embrace, burying his face in the crook of her neck to inhale. "An aphrodisiac?" "Let me go! I don't know what you're talking about!" "A double insurance—it seems Elder Gu really put a lot of thought into this." Narrowing his eyes as he looked at her, the man was rapidly losing his grip on reason. "Very well, you've succeeded." A wave of dread washed over her. "What are you going to do?" Without answering her, the man pulled down the face mask she was wearing and kissed her. That tender, exquisite kiss was like poison, gradually stealing away her senses and pulling her down into surrender.