In Vast Sea City, inside a private room at a luxury hotel.
The suite occupied the hotel's top floor, with the sea on three sides. Beyond its floor-to-ceiling windows stretched an endless expanse of blue water.
The furnishings were refined yet understated: dark leather sofas, a low table inlaid with shell patterns, and a waist-high celadon vase in the corner holding a few fresh flowers.
Judging by the decor alone, this was undoubtedly one of the finest rooms in Vast Sea City.
Its thick, soundproof walls could shut out both the roar of the waves and footsteps in the corridor.
But even the best soundproofing could not block the noises coming from behind that tightly closed bedroom door.
Qian Renxue sat on the living room sofa, her hands placed primly on her knees, her gaze fixed on Zhao Linchuan's door.
Waves of intimate sounds, rising and falling in pitch, kept reaching her ears.
Pained whimpers, moans that could not quite be suppressed...
"Whew—"
Qian Renxue squeezed her eyes shut.
"Good thing I didn't agree to join in..."
She patted her ample chest. Her heart was beating a little fast beneath her palm as she murmured with a touch of relief:
"With these delicate arms and legs of mine, he'd have taken me apart..."
Qian Renxue looked away and stared at the cup of tea slowly going cold on the coffee table, but the sounds showed no sign of fading.
Gu Yuena's "suffering" seemed to enter a new stage. Her voice climbed higher than before, its trailing notes taking on an odd quality, like a deliberate declaration.
As Qian Renxue listened, she suddenly frowned. An inexplicable feeling welled up inside her.
"Come to think of it..."
She turned her head and cast a suspicious glance at the bedroom door, her voice