The night was exceptionally grim.
The room was stifling.
A pair of large, calloused hands landed on her fair, delicate skin.
'Beast!'
Gu Jiaojiao's face flushed crimson with rage, and she immediately went to slap him.
THUD!!!
Before her slap could land, she was shoved off the bed, crashing hard onto the floor.
"???"
Before she could even react, a voice ground out from above her, dripping with contempt: "Gu Jiaojiao, you're utterly shameless. Don't think I'll want you just because you stripped naked and climbed into my bed."
"Dream on."
?!
'Does this man have a persecution complex? I'm Gu Jiaojiao. My family is top-tier, my background is impeccable, and I'm gorgeous. The line of men trying to date me could circle Beijing eighteen times over. Do I really need to throw myself at a man???'
It was because her standards were so high that Gu Jiaojiao, now in her twenties, had never even had a boyfriend. This had become her wealthy parents' single greatest worry.
To find her a man, they'd resort to any means necessary.
'This must be my parents' latest scheme.'
With that thought, Gu Jiaojiao calmed down.
She scrambled up from the floor and lifted her chin, her face a mask of pure arrogance.
"I know you're doing all this to get my attention, but this will only make me hate you more."
"Heh..." The man let out a humorless laugh. This woman stuck to him like glue day in and day out. She'd even drugged his drink to get him, and now she had the gall to play the victim!
Gu Jiaojiao's shamelessness infuriated him.
He didn't waste any more energy on it, though. He just pointed to the door. "Get out."
The man had a temper, but so did Gu Jiaojiao. She snatched her jacket off the floor, her eyes narrowing as she glared toward the bed. With a sneer, she said, "You don't have to tell me. I'm leaving."
She was eager to find Mr. and Mrs. Gu and give them a piece of her mind.
'In the past, their arrangements were at least a "chance encounter" at a café or on the street. The most they ever pulled was a clichéd hero-saves-the-damsel scene. But setting someone up in my bed? This was going way too far!'
She had just put on her jacket when a wave of heat surged through her. She staggered, most of her strength suddenly gone.
'I... I'm so hot.'
'My mouth is so dry. I need some ice water.'
CRACK! A flash of lightning tore across the sky, illuminating the room for an instant.
Gu Jiaojiao's gaze locked with a pair of eyes filled with restraint. The moment they met hers, they became sharp as daggers. Sweat slicked his bangs to his forehead, framing a face that was caught somewhere between demonic and divine, capable of being both hard and soft...
'Is a face like that even real?'
In that instant, Gu Jiaojiao lost all reason.
'I'm not going to settle the score with Mr. and Mrs. Gu anymore. This man is mine.'
Leng Yuan watched as Gu Jiaojiao turned back toward him, and he began to struggle fiercely.
Even drugged, he was far stronger than Gu Jiaojiao.
Gu Jiaojiao touched the man's hand, and the heat in her body subsided slightly. The memory of his face made her dizzy with lust. "There now, don't be afraid," she said. "I'll give you whatever you want, including making things official."
"Let's get married tomorrow, okay?"
For the first time in over twenty years, despite having countless suitors, she had found a man so outstanding, so perfectly aligned with her tastes in every way, that she had blurted out a proposal.
More sweat beaded on Leng Yuan's forehead as he pushed her away with increasing force.
Gu Jiaojiao groped for him for a while, but her arms were too short to get close. She immediately grew furious.
"Are you even a man? A gorgeous woman like me is right in front of you, and you're not even tempted? You're worse than an animal!"
"Worse than an animal? Gu Jiaojiao, you asked for this."
The man's strained voice showed his restraint had finally snapped.
The next moment, her world turned upside down as her body was thrown hard onto the bed.
She never even got the chance to ask his name before he silenced her.
'Before she drifted off, she was still thinking about telling Mr. and Mrs. Gu how satisfied she was with this match. She was going to make things official with him.'
In the dim light, the man watched the girl. Her expression was one of pure contentment. She looked soft and delicate, yet with a hint of demureness that could easily endear her to anyone.
His gaze shifted downward, landing on the crimson mark on her neck. Leng Yuan's expression softened for a fraction of a second, but when he remembered why she was with him, his eyes immediately darkened.
'I lost control last night.'
'In the past, he'd had absolutely no feelings for Gu Jiaojiao. Even when they were drugged and put together, he had felt not the slightest stir of emotion.'
'But last night... when the lightning had flashed, her coquettish face, her eyes as clear as a spring, even the petulant tone of her voice—it was as if everything about her was designed to enthrall him, causing his formidable self-control to crumble in an instant.'
'The drug must have been too strong!'
'Otherwise, how could he have taken her, knowing perfectly well that Gu Jiaojiao already had someone else in her heart?'
The thought of the huge scene Gu Jiaojiao was sure to cause in the morning made his expression darken further.
...