A Different Way to Live

I froze when I saw him. He was actually one of my dad's former business partners.

He clearly recognized me too. "Oh, it's Xiao Han! I never imagined you'd grown up so much. You just keep getting prettier."

I'd thought he would rein himself in once he recognized me.

Instead, he leaned even closer and said in an utterly disgusting tone, "Your dad and I go way back. I ought to support your business. How about this-spend tonight with me, and I'll order a million yuan's worth of drinks?"

I stared at the room key card, a cold sneer slowly curling my lips.

"If you're supporting my business, how could a million yuan's worth of drinks be enough? Anything less than ten million wouldn't do justice to me calling you... Uncle."

The man's face flushed crimson. He snorted in furious embarrassment. "Don't think you're still worth anything! You're nothing but a drinks server now, and you dare bargain with me?"

I refused to back down, lifting my chin as I retorted coldly, "You can't even come up with ten million, yet you're out here trying to pick up women?"

His eyes narrowed, fury blazing, and he suddenly raised his hand as though to slap me.

At that very instant, a hand with well-defined knuckles seized his wrist, gripping so hard that the older man hissed in pain.

A familiar presence enveloped me. I froze and turned my head, coming face-to-face with those stern features.

It was Gu Hansheng.

He stood tall and straight, his bearing utterly at odds with the noisy clinking of glasses around us.

His brow and eyes were deep-set and sharply chiseled as he stared coldly at the man.

"Get lost!"

The man went deathly pale. His lips trembled before he forced out a smile. "Mr. Gu, I... I was only joking. I didn't mean anything by it."

With that, the man hurried away.

"Yu Han, it's only been a few days. I never thought you'd have sunk this low." He stepped closer, frowning at me.

"What I do has nothing to do with you." Before I could put any distance between us,

my body suddenly lifted-someone had hoisted me up around the waist!

I cried out, and every wineglass in my hands fell and shattered.

By the time I came to my senses, I had been flung heavily onto a soft sofa in a lounge.

The light before me dimmed as his tall figure loomed over me, bringing that familiar scent and oppressive presence.

Before I could speak, Gu Hansheng bit down on my lips...

He wasn't gentle. There was an almost angry forcefulness and restraint to him.

I was forced backward, my spine sinking into the soft sofa, my heartbeat falling out of rhythm as my fingers instinctively clenched his shirt.

I abruptly snapped out of it and reached up to push him away. "Gu Hansheng, let go of me!"

He finally stopped, his breath hot and ragged against my ear. From that unbearably close distance, I could see the fire tightly suppressed in his eyes, as though it could set someone alight.

He gave a low laugh, his voice icy. "Weren't you out here trying to sell yourself anyway? What difference does it make who you sell yourself to?"

I shoved him away, my voice trembling as I struggled to stay calm. "That's right! I am selling myself. But I'd sell myself to a beggar before I sold myself to you!"

I pushed him aside, stumbled up from the sofa, and shoved the door open before running out.

The truth was, I wasn't averse to his touch. Even just now, the moment his lips met mine, my heart had unmistakably fluttered.

But I couldn't accept it.

I couldn't accept him humiliating me like this, treating me like merchandise he could price however he pleased.

I had just wiped away my tears when my mother called.

I answered, and her heart-rending sobs came through the phone:

"Yu Han! Your brother's in trouble! He hit someone while riding, and now the police have arrested him! They're demanding a huge sum in compensation. If we don't pay, he'll go to prison! Hurry and think of something, or your brother's whole life will be ruined!"

My legs buckled, and I nearly dropped to my knees.

Dad was still in the hospital, and now my brother was in trouble too.

The sky really was about to come crashing down.

I hung up in a daze and stood there, even my breathing trembling with despair.

It seemed I had no other choice-he was the only one who could help me.

I closed my eyes briefly, forced myself to calm down, then turned and went back to Gu Hansheng's private room.

Gu Hansheng sat on the sofa, toying with a wineglass between his fingers, his gaze unfathomable, as though he had known all along that I would return.

"Changed your mind?"

My throat felt tight and dry. I walked up to him and suddenly gave him a seductive smile. "Who would turn down money?"

I could sense a trace of disappointment in the way Gu Hansheng looked at me.

"You gave in so quickly. Now I find it rather boring," he said mildly.

I deliberately teased him, leaning against him and gently pinching his earlobe with my fingertips. "Having second thoughts?"

Gu Hansheng's Adam's apple bobbed involuntarily, but he went no further. Instead, he stood up. "I'll have my driver pick you up tomorrow."

With that, he left the private room, his words devoid of any feeling.

At last, I slumped helplessly onto the sofa. From now on, perhaps my life would change completely...

Early the next morning.

A large sum for medical expenses appeared in my dad's hospital account.

My mother clutched the receipt, sobbing so hard she could barely speak, repeating, "Hansheng helped us! He still cares about our family."

By evening, my brother had been bailed out too. The compensation that had nearly driven our whole family to despair was paid off with ease.

When he came home, his eyes were red, his voice choked. "Sis, my brother-in-law saved me..."

Hearing that, my mother cried even harder with joy. "Hansheng truly loves you. Why else would he help our family like this? He's the most dependable man!"

I merely smiled without explaining.

How could they know that I was no longer Gu Hansheng's wife, but the secret mistress he kept?

Toward evening, Gu Hansheng's driver came to pick me up.

My parents suspected nothing. They were even overjoyed.

They were still hoping Gu Hansheng and I would reconcile so they could go on living the good life.

But I knew perfectly well that this was a transaction I had no choice but to see through.

The black sedan drove into an estate. The wrought-iron gates slowly opened, and my breath caught as I looked at the villa before me.

Even at the height of the Yu family's prosperity, we might not have been able to afford anything this luxurious.

"Miss Yu."

An older woman who looked like a housekeeper came forward to greet me.

She led me to the bedroom door and said mechanically, "Sir said you're to wait for him in the room... He also instructed that you must make sure you've cleaned yourself up before he returns."

The words sounded like blatant humiliation.

But what else could I do?

Since I had agreed, I had to endure it.

I showered in the bathroom, changed into the nightwear he had had prepared, and lay back down on the bed.

Outside the window, the night was dark. Inside, all was so quiet that only my own heartbeat remained.

After days of exhausting rushing about, I fell asleep without realizing it.

Half-asleep, I felt a heavy presence pressing down on me.

I opened my eyes to see Gu Hansheng, his dark gaze fixed firmly on me.

His hand had already slipped inside my nightwear.

"You..." I cried out instinctively, raising my hands to push him away.

But the next second, he caught my wrists with a grip I couldn't break free from.

In my haze, I felt the bed beside me dip slightly.

I looked up to see Gu Hansheng leaning over me, wearing only a bath towel.

His shoulders were broad, his legs long, his waist taut. Water droplets trickled down his chest, and my breathing instantly grew ragged.

For four years, I had never once allowed him to bare his body in front of me. On our wedding night, I had even made him sleep on the floor.

Yet today, I found myself staring at him in a trance.

Realizing this, I panicked and hurriedly averted my eyes.

The light in his eyes was dark and searing, filled with naked desire.

My heart raced. I knew perfectly well that, as his "mistress," I should obediently submit and please him now.

Yet my limbs were too stiff to move.

Just as panic seized me, he abruptly bent down and kissed me.