Having changed into an off-white silk slip nightgown, Wen Yue had already taken a shower. As she drew this close to Qin Yuan, a faint, refreshing fragrance washed over him.
Even if she did nothing at all, her breathtaking looks and stunning figure were more than seductive enough, let alone the fact that she now had her hand resting on Qin Yuan's shoulder.
Back when Qin Yuan was still with Zhang Jiameng, he had never experienced anything remotely like this.
Perhaps such moments existed, but Zhang Jiameng certainly never showed this side of herself to Qin Yuan.
Qin Yuan swallowed hard. Faced with such temptation in a completely sober state, his mind inevitably went blank for a moment.
He hesitated, and subconsciously nodded, blurting out, "I'd love to. What's the reward?"
"The reward is a chance to share a quiet drink with me."
Wen Yue smiled faintly, and suddenly produced a pre-opened bottle of red wine from behind her back, the cork still half-protruding.
To Qin Yuan, it looked as though she had just performed a magic trick, but in reality, it was simply because his attention hadn't been on the other hand Wen Yue had kept hidden.
While she was speaking just moments ago, Wen Yue had picked up the bottle of red wine, tilted her head slightly, bitten the cork out with her teeth, and spat it softly onto the sofa.
She blinked at Qin Yuan and asked lightly, "Care to join me?"
Such a tantalizing gesture.
Just as Qin Yuan was about to nod and accept the invitation, his mind flashed back to the night they had first met at the bar a couple of days ago.
No.
Heaven only knows if, after finishing Wen Yue's wine, he'd end up blacking out again by the next morning and handing her another piece of leverage over him.
That was exactly how he'd been trapped the first time; he absolutely could not fall into the same "trap" twice.
"No thanks."
Qin Yuan shook his head and immediately stood up. "I'm going to take a shower first."
With that, Qin Yuan turned on his heel and walked straight to his room, picked out the clothes he had prepared earlier, and headed for the bathroom.
Wen Yue leisurely took a wine glass from the wine cabinet. Watching Qin Yuan's hurried, fleeing back, a mischievous smile suddenly tugged at the corner of her lips.
"Coward."
Wen Yue picked up her glass, took a small sip of the red wine, and a thoughtful smile spread across her face. She was finding it increasingly amusing to tease Qin Yuan.
"Such a little thing that really needs breaking in."
Whenever Qin Yuan wasn't around, Wen Yue always revealed another side of herself that usually remained hidden.
As a wealthy young socialite who had studied abroad and met countless people, her personality wasn't always cold and aloof. Even now, having only known Qin Yuan for a short time, that other side was already beginning to show.
The days ahead were going to be much more interesting.
Not long after, Qin Yuan emerged from the bathroom into the living room. He glanced around and found no sign of Wen Yue.
The living room curtains fluttered in the breeze. On the nearby table sat a half-empty bottle of expensive red wine and a single empty glass.
Qin Yuan blinked in surprise, but at the same time felt a sense of relief.
"Living like this really does feel like walking on thin ice with royalty. Why is it so suffocating?"
Qin Yuan muttered helplessly under his breath, then walked over to the balcony and sat down. A natural breeze at night, especially right after a shower, was quite refreshing.
He closed the balcony door most of the way, as if deliberately cutting himself off from the living room.
Hardly had Qin Yuan sat down when his phone suddenly rang in his pocket. He pulled it out and saw, to his dismay, that it was a call from Zhang Jiameng.
Qin Yuan knew she was calling because the events that had happened at Tianheng City today must have reached her ears. She was definitely coming to call him to account.
Without a second thought, Qin Yuan hung up on her.
Yet no sooner had Qin Yuan hung up than Zhang Jiameng called right back, repeating the process several times in a row.
"Since you're going to be this annoying, I might as well put an end to it and shut you up for good."
Qin Yuan muttered softly to himself, then went straight to his call log, tapped Zhang Jiameng's phone number, and blocked her without the slightest hesitation.
It wasn't as if he was going to cancel his entire phone number just to keep one person from reaching him, right?
No.
An adult's phone number was far too important to throw away over someone he was cutting ties with. He had so many accounts and services linked to it; why would he cancel his number just for her?
She, Zhang Jiameng, wasn't worth it. Blocking her was enough.
Qin Yuan leaned back in his chair, gazing out at the bustling night view from the 26th floor of Moxuan Apartment. But he had barely enjoyed the picturesque scenery for a moment when his phone buzzed with a continuous stream of messages from Zhang Jiameng.
He had almost forgotten about that.
He took out his phone and glanced at them.
Zhang Jiameng: [Video]
Zhang Jiameng: Qin Yuan, let me ask you, are you really hooking up with that woman? So staying out all night and threatening to break up and cut ties with me was all because you cheated on me, right?!
Zhang Jiameng: No wonder you've been dodging me for so long and refusing to come home—you were actually planning to go through with it! Fine, Qin Yuan, let me tell you something: if you want to break up with me to cozy up to some wealthy benefactor and that woman, it's not going to be as simple as you think!
Zhang Jiameng: Don't forget how my dad treated you back when you were in college, not to mention the three years of my youth I spent on you. And you think you can just pat your backside and walk away? If you really want to cut ties, you need to pay back every single bit of the debt you owe our family over the years, otherwise this isn't over!
Zhang Jiameng: Three years—let's call it one hundred thousand a year, that comes to three hundred thousand in total. If you've got the guts, transfer the money to me right now!
Even through the phone screen, he could easily imagine the fury burning inside Zhang Jiameng right now.
So what if she was furious?
If Zhang Jiameng had known things would turn out like this, she shouldn't have acted the way she did. Instead of living a peaceful life, she had insisted on entangling herself with her male best friend and challenging Qin Yuan's bottom line over and over again.
Now that Qin Yuan was seriously cutting ties with her, she wasn't happy about it and instead turned things around to blame him.
Three hundred thousand—she certainly had the nerve to open her mouth that wide.
After reading Zhang Jiameng's messages, the final two sentences in particular made Qin Yuan's mind drift for a moment.
In the end, he quickly typed out a reply to Zhang Jiameng.
Qin Yuan: That was Uncle Yue's kindness, not yours.
Qin Yuan: Your three years were three years, but my three years weren't youth? Don't be so utterly shameless. Don't make me curse you out. I told you not to contact me again—can't you understand human speech?
After sending these two messages, Qin Yuan tapped on Zhang Jiameng's profile picture, blocked her, and then deleted her entirely, leaving her with zero opportunity to message him ever again.
This way, she wouldn't even be able to add him back.
The entire operation was smooth as flowing water, without a hint of hesitation.
"Good riddance."
"Goodbye, and good riddance forever."
Feeling somewhat irritated, Qin Yuan turned his head to look at the half-bottle of red wine on the table, poured himself a large glass on the spot, and drank it down in large gulps as casually as if it were beer, as if venting the emotions bottled up inside him.
Little did he know.
Ever since Zhang Jiameng had started calling and messaging him, Wen Yue had been standing right behind him, silently watching the entire spectacle.
And Qin Yuan's recent actions once again brought a satisfied smile to Wen Yue's face.
Just at that moment, however, the phone in Wen Yue's hand suddenly chimed with an incoming call, its ringtone breaking the silence abruptly.