On the luxurious king-sized bed, two bodies were pressed tightly together. The only sounds in the spacious room were two soft, shallow breaths.
Suddenly, a streak of light shot through the window from outside, sinking directly into the woman on the bed.
The woman's body stiffened. Inside her sea of consciousness, invisible to all, two figures began to fight.
Soon, the original consciousness was devoured by the intruder. The next second, the woman's eyes snapped open.
'The room is filled with modern furnishings,' she thought. 'A bolt of tribulation lightning struck me. Instead of obliterating my soul, it blasted me back to the modern era?'
Suddenly, a sharp pain flared in her chest. Thinking she was under attack, Riley Perry instinctively raised her leg and kicked the person clean off the bed!
THUD! The man hit the floor with a painful thud. His eyes shot open, his face ashen and his gaze dark as he glared at the woman on the bed.
A moment ago, half-asleep, he had suddenly caught a faint, sweet scent and subconsciously reached out for it. Who would have thought…
Well, he was wide awake now.
Riley Perry turned on her side to look at the man on the floor. 'Tsk, tsk,' she mused. 'Long legs, six-pack abs, and most importantly, that face. 'Handsome' doesn't even begin to cover it. Even in this rather undignified state, he can't hide that innate aura of a man in power.'
Having just devoured the consciousness that had occupied her body for the past three years, she had also inherited all its memories. The man on the floor was her sponsor.
'I have to admit, that imposter had good taste in men. And now he's all mine. Not bad at all.'
Seeing the man was about to erupt, Riley Perry propped herself up and shot him a flirtatious glare. "You dare to be angry? It's all your fault. You squeezed me so hard... now I'm all swollen..."
Cole Sinclair was speechless. Riley Perry's voice was exceptionally captivating. A delicate, pouty complaint like that could extinguish the anger of even a man with a heart of stone.
His gaze drifted involuntarily to the spot he had squeezed. When she turned on her side just now, the silk nightgown had rippled... 'Hmm, it really is quite swollen!'
Seeing his face still cold, Riley Perry quickly extended a slender, delicate hand toward the man on the floor.
Her nails were painted a captivating dark red. The corners of her charming, almond-shaped eyes were tilted slightly upward on her delicate face. When he fell off the bed, he had pulled the blanket with him, leaving her long, fair, and straight legs completely exposed, her waist dipping into a perfect curve.
The silk nightdress concealed only two critical areas, leaving her beautiful collarbones and cleavage completely bare. And then there was that sudden, exotic fragrance... Everything about this woman ignited a nameless fire in Cole Sinclair. He swiftly scrambled to his feet, climbed back onto the bed, and pinned her beneath him, silencing her babbling little mouth with his own.
He hadn't planned on doing anything, but now he felt there was no reason to deny himself.
After more than an hour of "tussling," the man, who had just quieted down, felt another foot kick his leg. Annoyed, Cole Sinclair turned his head to see Riley Perry pouting again, her cheeks flushed like a peach, her lips a rosy red. Her little face was utterly irresistible.
The fire in his heart inexplicably subsided.
"Have you not seen a woman in eight lifetimes? This was my first time, and you weren't the least bit gentle. I'm so~ sore now, I can't even move to take a shower.
"Aren't you going to carry me to the bathroom?"
'So pure, so incredibly pure,' she thought. 'If this were The Cultivation Realm, just sleeping with him once would be enough for me to break through to the next minor realm.'
Cole Sinclair was speechless. 'When has anyone ever ordered me around like this?'
'But, whatever. I really was too rough with her. Why argue with a young woman?'
The noble heir of the Sinclair Family resignedly scooped Riley Perry into his arms and carried her to the bathroom.
A smug smile touched Riley Perry's lips. 'I knew it. There isn't a single person in heaven or on earth who can escape my charm!'
"Hubby, you're the best."
'His waist is so strong,' she thought, 'and these abs feel so good. And also... and also...'
Cole Sinclair's eyes turned cold. 'Does she really think sleeping with me means she can marry me? It seems this woman still doesn't understand her place.'
"Call me President Sinclair or Mr. Sinclair."
Riley Perry's little feet, which had been swinging playfully as he carried her princess-style, stilled for a moment before starting to swing again. She looked at Cole Sinclair with a bright, bewitching smile, tilted her head, and planted a kiss on his bare chest. "Alright, Mr. Sinclair." 'I hope you don't regret this later.'
Cole Sinclair's throat bobbed sharply, but in the end, he managed to restrain himself from touching her further.
His large hands, however, didn't stop their mischief on her body. Riley Perry let him tend to her through the bath, then carry her from the bathroom back to the bed. The moment Cole Sinclair lay down, she immediately rolled to the other side, nuzzled her head against the pillow, found a comfortable position, and fell into a deep sleep.
A classic case of "hit it and quit it"—used and tossed aside.
But the man she had left hanging was now wide awake.
Before, his friends had advised him that it wasn't good for a man to be abstinent for too long. They told him to find someone, even if it was just to satisfy his physical needs. Today, as if by some strange compulsion, he had taken on a young mistress, only for her to take advantage of him being a bit drunk and climb into his bed. And to his surprise, he had completely lost control!
'How could this happen?'
The next morning, Riley Perry was awakened by her phone ringing. The caller ID read: Joanna.
As soon as she answered, a fiery female voice exploded from the speaker. "Riley Perry! Do you have any idea what time it is? Are you still in bed? Do you even want this job or not? I worked my ass off to get you this opportunity. If you dare show up late, I'll kill you!"
Riley Perry patted her chest. 'Oh, so scary, so scary.'
She quickly held the phone away from her ear. 'This woman is way too loud; she's making my ears hurt. Such a temper. Not good, not good at all.'
"Nana~" The single word, dripping with sweetness, immediately silenced Joanna on the other end. 'Oh my god,' Joanna thought, 'since when did my brainless actress learn how to act cute? How am I supposed to yell at her now?'
"You... Where are you?" Her tone was gentle, as if she were a completely different person from a moment ago.
"At my sponsor's place. Nana, I'm getting up right now. I promise I won't be late for today's event." After saying that, she hung up, completely ignoring how Nana was reeling from the two words she'd just dropped: "my sponsor."
She rummaged through the memories she had absorbed. Right, at nine o'clock today was the public audition for the great director Seth Quinn's new drama, *Starfire*.
The series told the story of a group of passionate young people during the Republican Era who hid their identities and went undercover in various industries to gather intelligence and supplies for our party and army. For the greater good of their country, they would unflinchingly sacrifice their own lives.
They yearned for the light but were mired in darkness, all so that more people could live in the sun sooner.
Gathered, they were a ball of fire; scattered, they were a sky full of stars.
They longed to see the dawn but fell in the darkness just before it broke. Yet even in death, they would burn themselves to cast one last ray of light, illuminating the night so that more people could wait until the moment the day finally dawned.
Strictly speaking, it was an ensemble piece, lacking the heavy individualism of contemporary war dramas. Every character was a protagonist, and each had their own moment to shine.
Riley Perry wasn't professionally trained. By a stroke of luck, she had been cast as a campus belle, playing the part naturally with her good looks. After the show became a hit, she shot to fame and was later signed by Stardust Entertainment.