William

Cheng Yu turned his head and looked at the sea, mysterious and dangerous beneath the night sky. He sighed. "Qi Sinian, do you remember what you said to me when you were little?"

Qi Sinian shook her head, unsure why he was bringing up their childhood.

"I was an illegitimate child. Mrs. Cheng couldn't give birth to a son. All three of her children were girls. The old man in the Cheng Family valued boys over girls, so they brought me home."

He spoke calmly of those painful childhood memories, as though they had happened to someone else.

Qi Sinian looked up at him, an indescribable ache filling her chest. Everyone knew Cheng Yu had had a difficult childhood. Why bring it up now?

Cheng Yu had been only three when they brought him home. His birth had been a complete accident.

Cheng Father and Mrs. Cheng had entered a business marriage and treated each other with polite respect. Cheng Yu's biological mother was Cheng Father's first love. By all rights, their paths should never have crossed again.

Then, at a class reunion, Cheng Father's classmates had gotten him drunk, and he had accidentally slept with Cheng Yu's mother. By then, however, Cheng Father already had a wife and two daughters.

He no longer loved her, let alone intended to take responsibility. He had given her a large sum of money as though handing out charity, then sent her away.

Once she received the money, the woman had stopped pestering him.

At the time, she and her boyfriend had been discussing marriage, but money was a problem. With that sum, she could finally marry him.

Who could have known she would get pregnant?

And her so-called boyfriend had run off as soon as he swindled her out of her money, without even asking whose child it was.

Not only had her boyfriend of so many years turned out to be a useless fraud, but she also had to give birth to a child whose father she couldn't identify.

His biological mother had hated him fiercely.

After a paternity test confirmed Cheng Yu was his son, Cheng Father had sent the woman money every month.

The Cheng Family's marriage alliance had created a tangled web of business interests. He couldn't tear his family apart over an illegitimate son, especially when he had never wanted him in the first place.

His mother had shown him no affection, only beating and scolding him. Even at that tender age, he had learned to read people's moods and act accordingly.

Only after Mrs. Cheng's third child had also turned out to be a girl had the Cheng Family patriarch forcibly brought him home.

His biological mother had taken the money, eager to abandon her burden and remarry, utterly ignoring his sobs and cries.

Arriving at his beautiful new home, he had thought he would finally be loved by his family. Instead, all he had received was his father's indifference, Mrs. Cheng's hostility, and bullying from his two "older sisters."

Even the Cheng Family patriarch had done nothing but beat and berate him. "I only brought you back because you're male. You'll devote your entire life to the company!"

"Look after the Cheng Family! Then find a respectable woman and have a son!"

"You're an illegitimate child! Don't ever dream of truly controlling the company!"

Those vicious words echoed in his ears, yet his expression remained perfectly calm. "People bullied me from my very first day of school."

"So I turned around and bullied every other child, because I was afraid they'd bully me too."

Even if it meant being cursed at and beaten when he got home.

If not for the Cheng Family's exceptional standing, they probably would have forced him to go door to door apologizing, too.

Qi Sinian found this baffling. "But I never bullied you."

He gave a soft laugh. "No, you didn't. You just said, right in front of me, 'He's a homewrecker's child.'"

"'He's a dirty child.'"

Embarrassment crossed her face. She didn't remember any of this, and she hurried to explain. "I-I was just a kid who didn't know any better. I was copying what other people said."

But he merely shook his head. "We were different from the start. Besides, people have to take responsibility for what they say."

Qi Sinian felt terribly wronged. She had only been a few years old. How could he blame her?

"If I looked down on you, why would I fall for you?" Her feelings for Cheng Yu were real. Every bit of them.

"I bullied Lin Xingye too. But later, whenever he saw other people mocking me or calling me names, he stood up for me."

Cheng Yu chuckled twice, though there wasn't a trace of amusement in his eyes. "He invited me to play with them. He said, 'You're just like all the other kids.'"

"'Why should they blame you for your parents' mistakes?'"

Little Lin Xingye had stood in front of him, wiping the wound a stone had cut into his skin with a soft handkerchief. "You didn't do anything wrong. You have to fight back."

His gaze had been unwavering. "Bully them the way you bullied me."

The other children had gotten their parents' support the day before and acted without restraint. He, meanwhile, had just been savagely beaten by Cheng Father and could only swallow the humiliation.

It wasn't until a teacher saw those children throwing stones at someone that she rushed over to stop them.

Those teachers had always treated people according to their status. They never intervened when Cheng Yu was bullied.

The teacher had fussed over Lin Xingye's injuries, her displeasure with Cheng Yu written all over her face. "Stay away from this child next time!"

Little Lin Xingye had angrily pushed the teacher away. "You're a bad teacher! They're the ones bullying him. Why should I stay away from him?"

"I'll protect you!"

A chubby little hand had reached toward him, like a sudden beam of light piercing his bleak life.

He had taken that hand and never let go again.

Qi Sinian thought nothing of it. "I could protect you too. What's so special about that? He was just a little kid playing hero, wasn't he?"

"Besides, how many years has it been since you last saw each other?"

Cheng Yu pushed her away and stepped back. "That's why I said we're not the same kind of person."

"Before I was sent abroad, the old man broke one of my legs."

"Because I refused to leave. Understand?"

Qi Sinian had met Cheng Yu again overseas. Only after falling for him had she learned he was the Cheng Family's illegitimate son from back then.

She didn't get it. She couldn't understand at all. "He only protected you for a few years when you were little. Why hold on to it for so long?"

Cheng Yu said, "So you know I only needed protecting when I was little? You've already missed that chance. What are you still hoping for?"

Qi Sinian didn't understand what he meant.

He glanced at his watch. He had been out for a while, and Lin Xingye had probably finished eating by now. Irritation crept over him. "I've secretly come back to the country plenty of times. Every time, it was just to see him."

"Running into him by 'chance,' following him from a distance, finding out what he liked, what his type was. Everything you can imagine, and everything you can't."

His tone grew colder with every word. "The Cheng Yu you know exists because that's what Lin Xingye likes. Everything about me was shaped to suit his preferences."

"Do you understand now?"

Those words all but overturned everything she had believed about Cheng Yu over the years.

She froze, tears instantly spilling down her face. He ignored them and merely turned to leave.

Unwilling to give up, she grabbed his arm, sobbing so hard she could barely speak. "Then why... why were you so good to me when we were abroad?"

Without looking back, Cheng Yu raised his hand and pulled hers away. Suddenly, he found Qi Sijing's younger sister pitifully stupid. "Because you're Qi Sijing's sister."

He strode away without hesitation. Ren Ruoxi, who had been waiting off to the side for ages, came over to find Qi Sinian trembling with sobs.

By the time Cheng Yu returned, An Shi and Bo Xi had arrived too and were sitting with Lin Xingye as he ate.

He had no idea how Lin Xingye could eat so much.

Qi Sijing came in almost at the same time, accompanied by a handsome blond, blue-eyed man.

He brought the man over. "Star, this is my business partner and friend, William."

William was a classic Western heartthrob, with striking, aristocratic blond hair, blue eyes as beautiful as the sea, and deep, smoothly sculpted features. He radiated the sensual charm of a mature man.

Even beside Qi Sijing, he held his own. He was taller and more powerfully built, the lines of his muscles faintly visible beneath his thin shirt.

Even a casual smile looked sexy on him. His every movement had a distinctive charm, and his gentlemanly manners were impeccable. If Lin Xingye remembered correctly, he even had noble blood.

Lin Xingye hadn't expected Qi Sijing to introduce someone to him. Presumably, he wanted to help him make a connection.

He had never met this man, but he had heard of him. Practically all the overseas business coming out of City A went through him.

Initially, he had served as an overseas agent for numerous companies. Later, he had founded his own company, which seemed to have grown quite large.

Lin Xingye had no head for business and didn't know much about it, but even he knew that offending this man would make overseas business difficult. His standing was no ordinary one.

A little embarrassed, Lin Xingye wiped his grubby paws clean and extended a hand for a handshake.

To his surprise, the man made a gentlemanly gesture, clasping his hand intimately before lowering his eyes and pressing a kiss to it.

Lin Xingye: ???

[Now there's a new type of male model. I absolutely have to get with this one.]

Everyone else: !!!