A fleeting trace of sorrow crossed An Ruoxue's face. Seeing it, Rong Che felt not the slightest annoyance; instead, he thought that a sad An Ruoxue possessed a fragile, tender beauty.
"What on earth will it take for you to let me go?"
An Ruoxue took a deep breath, raised her fair, slightly flushed face, held back the mist of tears welling in her eyes, and asked with helpless resignation.
Rong Che leaned in, his slender, pale fingers playfully hooking An Ruoxue's chin. His deep, dark eyes lowered, fixing an aloof, commanding gaze upon her.
"You could try to please me. Perhaps if I'm in a good mood, I'll let you crawl away."
A biting chill washed over her, and An Ruoxue's once-warm heart gradually grew cold.
"Rong Che, you can't treat me this way."
With tears brimming in her eyes, An Ruoxue said every word with firm conviction: "You may not love me, but you cannot trample on my dignity."
That was right—her dignity was quite literally the only thing An Ruoxue had left.
"I am going to take this so-called dignity of yours and grind it beneath my heel until it's shattered to dust."
"You..."
An Ruoxue felt a sharp, bleeding pain in her heart. She looked at Rong Che as if looking at some monstrous beast.
"A woman like you, who can sell herself for money, what right do you have to talk to me about dignity?"
*Drip, drop...* The tears An Ruoxue had been holding back finally slipped past her pain-stricken eyes.
That sorrowful teardrop slid down her beautiful cheek, heartbreakingly forlorn. Yet Rong Che's heart felt not a shred of pity.
"Since you're just a plaything, I'll give you a chance right now to entertain me."
Rong Che's icy voice felt like a knife carving ruthlessly into An Ruoxue's heart.
"Rong Che, you bastard."
"You dare curse at me? You've got a death wish." Rong Che's dark eyes narrowed. With a sudden roll, his sturdy frame pinned An Ruoxue beneath him.
"No..."
An Ruoxue struggled anxiously, but her resistance only earned her even rougher treatment from Rong Che.
"Nngh, mmh."
"Hah, hah, hah, hah..." An Ruoxue breathed in rapid gasps. Having spent four years by Rong Che's side, she knew exactly what kind of man he was.
"Mmh, nngh, I surrender, I give up!" At the very brink of disaster, An Ruoxue called out in a panic.
The situation suddenly flipped. Rong Che halted his rough movements and cast a sharp, piercing gaze down at the creature beneath him.
This woman surrendering took Rong Che completely by surprise. He had expected her to put up a desperate fight, sobbing and wailing as he tormented her.
"You surrender?"
His deep, cold voice possessed a rich, attractive timbre, yet it was chillingly devoid of emotion.
"Yes, I surrender."
An Ruoxue nodded like a pecking chick. This was no time to butt heads with Rong Che; if she did, she would only be the one to suffer.
"Why surrender?"
"Because... you are Young Master Rong. No one can defy you." An Ruoxue hurriedly explained. Rong Che stared intently into her eyes for a full second, and finally found her reason acceptable.
"Oh, um... Young Master Rong, if we're going to have some fun, you should probably go take a shower first, and then we..."
An Ruoxue's pretty face flushed slightly as she spoke in a soft, low voice.
"Hmph, pathetic woman." Rong Che cursed with utter contempt. An Ruoxue's facade had been stripped away so quickly that it only stoked his anger further.
"Young Master Rong, look, we're both drenched in sweat. We really should wash up first," An Ruoxue pressed on, trying to persuade him.
"I'm going to go take a shower right now. You had better pull out every trick you've got to make me satisfied, or else I'll finish you off."
Oh, right, of course... True to Young Master Rong's standard threats. An Ruoxue mechanically plastered on a flattering, ingratiating smile.
"Don't worry, Young Master Rong. I'll make sure to serve you until you're completely satisfied."
"Hmph."
"You'd better make it worth my while."
With a disdainful snort, Rong Che shoved An Ruoxue away in disgust, got up, and strode toward the bathroom.
"I will." With wide eyes, An Ruoxue watched Rong Che enter the bathroom and pull the door shut behind him.
*Huff, huff, huff.*
The moment the bathroom door clicked shut, An Ruoxue let out a long breath. She wasn't foolish enough to sit waiting on the bed for Rong Che to come out of the shower and torture her to death.
"If I don't run now, when will I?" At that thought, An Ruoxue hurriedly threw off the quilt. "My dress..."
The instant she picked her dress up off the floor, a flash of unmistakable sorrow crossed her pale face. Her nice dress was completely unwearable now.
Just looking at the shredded garment told An Ruoxue how fierce the battle between her and Rong Che had been last night.
"Sigh..." With a distraught sigh, An Ruoxue snatched up Rong Che's white button-down shirt and pulled it over herself. She had no time to worry about clothes now; she needed to get out of there immediately.
An Ruoxue quickly put on Rong Che's shirt, slipped into his oversized suit jacket, and grabbed two hundred yuan in cash from his wallet, clutching the bills tightly in her palm.
*Huff, huff, huff...*
Taking a deep breath and casting a nervous glance toward the bathroom, An Ruoxue carefully opened the door and slipped out.
"Who wants to serve you?"
Once she was out of the hotel room, An Ruoxue didn't even allow herself a moment to catch her breath as she bolted toward the exit on the run.
"Taxi!"
Standing at the hotel entrance, she frantically hailed a cab and hurried inside.
"Driver, step on it!" she urged the moment she was in the car, terrified that if she was too slow, Young Master Rong would drag her back.
She had zero desire to keep serving that beast Rong Che. Dammit, her whole body was aching; she felt like her bones weren't even her own anymore.
...
*Creeeak...*
Rong Che finished his shower and yanked the door open with force, only to find the spacious bedroom completely empty. An Ruoxue, who had been curled up on the bed wrapped in the bedding like a silkworm cocoon, had abruptly vanished.
"An Ruoxue, you have some nerve. You actually dared to pull a honey trap on me."
*Bang!* Enraged to the boiling point, Rong Che delivered a vicious punch straight into the wall, a murderous, icy glint flashing in his cold eyes.
No one had ever dared to play him for a fool. Yet this time, he, the great Rong Che, had not only been played—the one who played him was a woman, of all people.
"Damn it."
Rong Che's dark eyes abruptly narrowed, a dark cloud settling over his stern face. This woman's audacity was truly boundless.
In twenty-eight years of a brilliant, illustrious life, a stain this filthy had actually been dealt to him by a woman named An Ruoxue.
This was completely unforgivable.
She dared to play him!
"Fine. Very well, An Ruoxue. You'd better run somewhere I can never find you. Because if I catch you, I will finish you off."
If she had the guts to provoke his authority as Rong Che, she damn well better be prepared to pay a heavy price.
"Achoo! Achoo! Achoo..."
Sitting in the back of the taxi, An Ruoxue felt an itch in her nose and sneezed three consecutive times. "Ugh, oh well."
She rubbed her nose, thinking to herself that Young Master Rong must be cursing her out. Just imagining his furious rage—the kind where he wanted to grind her bones to dust—made a chill run straight down her spine.
"Rong Che... that man is truly terrifying."