"Now, the final step for the dramatic look..." Wei Yan murmured in a measured, cold tone.
Without hesitation, he stripped down to his bare bottom, exposing his athletic body to the cool air of the room. He then tapped several nerve endings on his chest and neck, creating a reddish hue that resembled the marks of aggressive kisses. Not stopping there, he added a few small scratches to his arms, as if he had just been through an intense struggle.
His gaze shifted to the bed. With deliberately chaotic movements, he ruffled the silk sheets, creating a mess of wrinkles and creases. He then splashed a little water on several corners of the bed and used energy manipulation to transform the scent into the distinctive scent of a tiring night's activities. The effect was so obvious that anyone who entered would immediately draw the same conclusion.
Once the stage was set, Wei Yan lay down beside Xia Chunyu, who was still sound asleep. he picked up his phone and typed a short but instructive message to Li Yuantong:
"Tomorrow morning, come to this room in a loud voice. Assume your identity as my adoptive mother. Make a scene as if you caught your adopted son being 'ravaged' by this woman. Demand that she MUST attend my coming-of-age ceremony in two days' time to take responsibility. Make sure she has no choice but to comply."
Wei Yan put down his phone, turned off the nightstand lamp, and let the room sink into a deceptive darkness. He closed his eyes, waiting for dawn to begin the drama that would bind the COO of Megastar Group to his grasp forever.
----
The morning sunlight began to peek through the messy curtains, illuminating the dust particles dancing on the crumpled bedsheets. Wei Yan lay still, her eyes closed but fully awake, listening to Xia Chunyu's heartbeat accelerate beside her—a sign that she was beginning to awaken from her deep sleep.
Just as Xia Chunyu opened his eyes with a small groan and began to notice his naked body and the bloodstains on the bedsheets, the silence was shattered by an explosive sound that shook the bedroom door.
BRAKKK!
The sturdy hotel room door slammed open, hitting the wall, creating a thud that made Xia Chunyu scream and instinctively pull the blankets over himself. In the doorway stood Li Yuantong, radiating an aura of incredible fury. He hadn't arrived as the KTV boss, but rather dressed in an elegant yet sharp suit, perfectly portraying his role as Wei Yan's adoptive mother.
"WHAT THE HELL?!" Yuantong's voice boomed, shaking the room. She stepped inside with heavy stomps, her eyes sweeping across the 'messy' room with disdain.
"Mother... it's not what it looks like..." Wei Yan replied in a deliberately hoarse and weak voice, trying to sit up while covering her chest, which was covered in fake red marks.
"Shut up, Wei Yan! I entrusted you here for school work, not to be ruined by a wild woman like her!" Yuantong pointed at Xia Chunyu with a finger trembling with feigned anger. He turned to Chunyu, who was now trembling violently and his face ashen. "Miss Xia, I know who you are. The esteemed COO of Megastar Group is nothing but a predator preying on my underage adopted son!"
"N-no... I... I don't remember... I..." Chunyu stammered, tears streaming down his cheeks as the false memory of attacking Wei Yan last night began to haunt his mind.
"Don't you dare defend yourself! Look at the marks on his body! Look at the state of this room!" Yuantong snapped, his voice rising. "You've ruined my son's future and purity right before his coming-of-age ceremony! If news of this gets out, not only will your career be ruined, but Megastar Group will be buried in scandal!"
Chunyu hung his head weakly, crushed by the guilt instilled through Wei Yan's dream manipulation. He felt he was truly a monster who had raped an innocent teenager.
"I-I'm sorry... what should I do? Please, don't report this..." Chunyu whimpered through her sobs.
Yuantong narrowed her eyes, as if weighing a difficult decision. "In two days, Wei Yan's coming-of-age ceremony will be held. You will attend as an official act of responsibility. You must attend and demonstrate your loyalty to our extended family. If you dare to be absent for even a moment, I will make sure you'll be in prison before sunset that day. Understand?!"
"Y-yes... I will come... I promise," Chunyu replied softly, surrendering her fate and dignity to Wei Yan's scheme.
"Since this is a private event and only a few people are attending—all of whom are relatives—you must come alone. No assistants, no bodyguards," Li Yuantong stated coldly, his voice unwavering. His eyes fixed on Xia Chunyu, still curled up under the blanket, as if she were dirt stuck to his fancy shoes.
"Now, get dressed and get out of here before I change my mind about calling the police," he added. Yuantong then turned to Wei Yan, grabbing his newly dressed arm in an overly protective gesture. "Come on, Wei Yan. Let's get out of this damned place."
Li Yuantong pulled Wei Yan out, leaving Xia Chunyu sitting dazed on the bed. The COO's face was ashen, his body trembling with a combination of extreme exhaustion, the bleeding he believed to be evidence of his lost innocence, and the moral burden of the false memories crushing his soul.
----
As soon as they left the hotel corridor and entered the secret door connecting the complex to the private room in his KTV, the atmosphere between them completely changed. The tension evaporated. Li Yuantong released his grip and turned around, smoothing his hair with a mischievous grin.
"How did I look, honey? Did I look like an angry foster mother enough?" Li Yuantong asked, wrapping his arms around Wei Yan's neck.
"Very satisfying," Wei Yan replied curtly with a small, satisfied smile. "Your acting left her with no room for doubt. She's now officially our pawn."
Yuantong chuckled, and they sat down on the comfortable velvet sofa in the soundproof room. "Good. So, how's the Shen Ruolin project going? I hear she's already made her move with the data you provided last night."
Wei Yan nodded, lighting an alchemy cigarette. "Everything is on schedule. Ruolin is preparing a great project that the media in the future is in our hands. With those concept that I gave to Ruolin, we can be the 'eye' of the world."
"I like the way you work," Yuantong whispered with a passionate gaze. He leaned in, closing the distance between them. "You truly are an Emperor who knows how to run this circus."
The strategic discussion ended there. No more words needed to be spoken as Li Yuantong grabbed Wei Yan by the collar of his shirt. The two of them sank into a deep, intense French kiss—a celebration of their recent dark victory, sealing their alliance in a passion as intense as the plan they were executing.
----
Xia Chunyu drove back to his private villa, his hands still trembling on the steering wheel. As soon as he arrived, he immediately locked all the doors, as if the outside world were a threat ready to swallow him alive. He sent a text message to the office, requesting sick leave for the next few days without providing further details.
In the quiet of his spacious villa, Chunyu curled up in the corner of the sofa, staring blankly at the tranquil swimming pool. However, inside his head, a storm of memories was raging.
"Why..." he muttered softly, his voice cracking in the silence of the room. "Why did I agree to that meeting? I should have known Manager Mo was a cunning fox. I shouldn't have gone alone."
He closed his eyes, but the images of last night only became sharper. The memories manipulated by Wei Yan replayed like a broken record in his mind.
"I... I remember it," Chunyu whispered, his fingers gripping the fabric of the sofa until they turned white. "That heat... that uncontrollable thirst... but why did I do this to that child? He was only trying to save me from Manager Mo, but instead I... I attacked him like an animal."
She covered her face with both hands, sobbing softly. "Oh my God, he was so young. His calm face, his eyes so innocent when I dragged him to bed... How can I live with this? I'm the COO of Megastar Group, but I'm nothing more than a rapist."
Every inch of his body ached and the red marks on his skin seemed to be a silent witness, screaming at him. He recalled the angry face of his "adoptive mother," Wei Yan.
"In two days... his coming-of-age ceremony," she muttered in despair. "He has to go through the most important ritual of his life after I destroyed his purity. How can I look him in the face? What if his extended family finds out that the woman sitting there is the one who corrupted their son?"
Chunyu chuckled, a laugh that sounded bitter and almost insane. "Responsibility... they were right. I had to come. If I ran, that woman would destroy me, destroy Megastar. I had no choice. I'd thrown myself into their trap because of my own stupidity."
He continued to mutter in the darkness of his villa, drowning in a deep pit of guilt and fear, completely unaware that every second of his suffering was part of Wei Yan's perfectly orchestrated symphony.