"I'm asking you a question, Xunxun"

Zuo Tingyue freed one hand and brushed the pad of his finger over the crimson corner of her eye, catching a trace of moisture on his fingertip. His fingers shifted, rubbing it away between them.

His movements were slow and casual, steeped in lust.

Xun Yuan's heartstrings tightened with his movements.

The next second, Zuo Tingyue caught her chin. Xun Yuan blinked, and in her field of vision, the man found her rosy lips with unerring precision, lowered his head, and kissed her without giving her a say.

As their lips and tongues entwined, his every movement carried an overwhelming force, stealing all the oxygen from her breath. Even a single kiss offered a glimpse of the domineering streak at the core of his character.

Xun Yuan could not take it and tried to dodge him. He was simply wicked, holding her slender waist and deliberately pressing her into his arms, refusing to stop until they were flush against each other.

Xun Yuan had never been a match for his strength, much less now, when his kisses had left her weak.

She panted, the curves of her chest rising and falling sharply. She truly could not hold her own.

Wicked.

The smooth, soft silk shawl slipped from Xun Yuan's shoulders, revealing two snow-white, lotus-root arms hanging limply around the man's neck. The moon-white cheongsam suited her beautifully, like a delicate flower after being ravaged.

Only she had even more allure, more lovely than any flower.

By the time Zuo Tingyue pulled away, Xun Yuan had no strength left to resist.

She lifted her eyelids and glared at him, her eyes brimming with aroused moisture and tender softness. As her gaze shifted, only seductiveness remained. It looked far more like she was acting coy.

Zuo Tingyue's Adam's apple bobbed hard. She really was seductive without knowing it, bewitchingly so.

Oh, no.

How could she not know? She was doing it on purpose. Overcoming strength with softness-she wielded that trick against him with practiced ease.

"I'm asking you a question, Xunxun."

When he spoke, his rich, deep bass was sexy. To put it even more simply: pure desire.

He was a master at bewitching women's hearts.

He had called her Xunxun again, for the second time today. Xun Yuan went soft at the sound, her heart softening too. Everyone called her that, yet coming from him, it was impossibly tantalizing.

There was no helping it. He was different. He was not just anyone.

"No."

Xun Yuan heard her own wavering answer. How could she admit it? How was she supposed to say it? What was there to be unhappy about? She could not even put it into words herself.

"Liar."

Zuo Tingyue chided her quietly, the word falling from his thin lips.

Xun Yuan could not say it, nor did she want to. She had that little bit of stubbornness in her, after all. She simply would not say it.

"No," she said softly.

She did not want him dwelling on this. As it happened, strength had returned to her hands, so she wound herself around him, tilted her head up, and grazed his ear with her pearly teeth.

It was an intimacy that could make someone shudder.

"Hiss."

Xun Yuan heard Zuo Tingyue draw in a breath. She pulled back and looked up, a pert, triumphant smile appearing on her exquisite, alluring face. She had done it on purpose.

Zuo Tingyue pulled her arms down and pushed her onto her back on the sofa. Then his sturdy, broad frame pressed over her, casting a deep shadow across her. He clasped both her wrists together in one hand and pulled off his tie with the other. The next second-

Xun Yuan's pupils contracted sharply.

The black tie was wrapped brazenly around her slender, snow-white wrists.

Xun Yuan could not break free. Her hands were pushed above her head.

"Don't struggle."

His voice was low, its magnetic timbre tinged with the rasp of lust, his desire hard to quell.

Then he bent down.

That potent, masculine scent spread silently, enveloping Xun Yuan completely, without leaving a single gap.

At last-

Late at night, the lights of a Bentley with four consecutive eights on its license plate flashed twice.

Someone emerged from the shadows, tall and slender, his presence powerful as he strode over.

The underground parking lot's lights illuminated his figure. His shirt was haphazardly buttoned, open at the top to expose the sweat-covered skin around his collarbones. Droplets slid over his prominent Adam's apple, then followed its contours beneath his shirt, wild and charged with tension.

Most conspicuous was the small bundle in his arms. He was carrying a woman, her long, smooth black hair swaying through the air in a lovely arc. A suit jacket covered her, hiding her face, while her exposed calves were fair and toned.

Then the car door opened. Zuo Tingyue placed her inside and drove away.

Harbor City at night was divided into two sides: one quiet with the warmth of everyday life, the other lost in glittering extravagance.

Xun Yuan was exhausted to death, unable even to open her eyes. She slept without a care.

The next day, however, a piece of news swept across all the major media platforms.

Xun Yuan slept until the sun was high before getting up. She opened her phone and found a pile of messages and missed calls.

She frowned, instinctively sensing that something had happened. Otherwise, so many people would not have gone to the trouble of bombarding her with messages.

She went straight into the messages in her small group chat-

"Xunxun, you and Tingyue were photographed. It's only a back view, but anyone who knows you can recognize you."

A link followed. She tapped it and saw the pictures the media had posted.

Xun Yuan could tell at a glance that they had been secretly taken in the parking lot. They were not entirely clear, mainly showing their backs and profiles, but even that was enough.

In the photos, the tall, straight-backed man had an exceptional bearing, his commanding air of nobility apparent even from behind. He held a woman whose exposed skin was snow-white, visibly warm fragrance and soft jade.

It really did look quite like an idol drama, a wealthy-family idol drama at that. No wonder the internet had exploded.

She read the comments.

-Whose CEO is this with his delicate little wife?

-Can we get a front-facing picture?

-One word: sexy.

-Did anyone notice the car behind them? You won't find more than a handful in all of Harbor City.

-Could some young master come explain this?

Xun Yuan furrowed her brows. This was a little tricky. She considered calling Zuo Tingyue and asking him to handle it. After all, he was the top dog in Harbor City. Her own influence was not based here, so dealing with it certainly would not be as quick or convenient for her as it would be for him.

Then, the very next moment-

The link she had opened turned into a blank webpage, showing that it did not exist.

Her gaze paused. She guessed the Zuo Family must have intervened.

She was quite familiar with this procedure.

A message popped up on her phone screen.

Jiang Yulin: "The Zuo Family has stepped in. Even the search terms are blocked now."

Xun Yuan: "Figured."

Jiang Yulin: "Xunxun, the old residence called Tingyue and told him to come back for a meal."

Xun Yuan: "Mm."

Jiang Yulin: "Tingyue's already gone."

Xun Yuan: "Got it."

Jiang Yulin did not know what to say. Xun Yuan was even calmer than he was.

Xun Yuan truly was not flustered. She genuinely did not think she had anything to be flustered about. At their level, as long as marriage was not involved, none of it counted.

Jiang Yulin called Zuo Tingyue again.

"Tingyue, they didn't give you a hard time at the old residence, did they?"

Zuo Tingyue's voice was very mild, with little inflection in his words.

"No."

"Stop worrying so much."

Each remark was more indifferent than the last.

Of course Jiang Yulin was not worried that anything would happen to Zuo Tingyue. He was the family's sole heir; they did not call him the crown prince for nothing. He was afraid Xun Yuan would get dragged into it. The Zuo Family were not easy to deal with-not in that sense, but because they were lofty, their threshold high.

Sandalwood Mountain, the Zuo Family's old residence.

Climb high and gaze far. The Zuo Family's old residence was built on this mountain, a grand estate standing alone, overlooking all of Harbor City.