"Pain..."

Ming Shu woke up from unconsciousness, and the first sensation she experienced was pain.

Her whole body hurt.

She opened her eyes and moved. Her hands and feet were tied.

Her eyes, hazy from just waking from unconsciousness, suddenly widened as realization dawned.

She's been kidnapped!

She was in the hotel, drinking with a client, and after stepping out of the restroom, someone hit her on the head. She passed out.

Who was it?

What do they want?

Ming Shu suppressed the panic in her heart and struggled with all her might. But the rope on her hands and feet didn't budge.

The sound of a door opening rang out. A middle-aged, bald-headed fat man with a beer belly wrapped in a bath towel emerged from the bathroom.

Seeing Ming Shu had awakened, he gave her a lascivious smile, walked to the side of the bed, and touched her face, "I've been with countless women, but this is the first time I've come across a beauty like you. I'm incredibly lucky today!"

"Let me go, don't touch me!" Ming Shu cringed in disgust while trying to dodge his hand, struggling with all her might.

Her red silk miniskirt, slender arms, straight legs, and exquisite collarbones were all exposed to the air.

The provocative red only served to highlight her porcelain-like skin, and her incredibly beautiful face was enchanting.

The man instantly hardened, ablaze with desire. He impatiently tore at her dress, "Baby, don't rush, let me take care of you, I promise you'll be screaming in pleasure soon!"

"Going to get yourself killed? Get lost!" Ming Shu desperately dodged the horrendous fingers rubbing against her, struggling and calling for help.

With a "rip," her clothes were torn off, revealing large swaths of her snow-white skin to the man, seeming soft enough to pinch water from.

The man's eyes brightened even more, reaching towards Ming Shu's white roundness.

"Get away!" Ming Shu, her wrists and feet bound with rope till they bled, watched the fat hand reaching towards her, her eyes bloodshot, her screams of despair echoing like a bleeding cuckoo.

With a "bang," the door was kicked open.

The man barely had a chance to look back. Before he even had the chance to curse, he was grabbed by the hair and thrown out.

His plump body heavily slammed into the ground. Just as he was about to get up, his groin was stepped on, ground under a foot. He squealed like a pig being slaughtered, immediately passing out, silent.

Ye Qi Han looked with disgust at the unconscious man, then strode back to the side of the bed.

Ming Shu finally managed to break free of the ropes on her hands, at the cost of her wrists being rubbed raw.

Her clothes were torn apart. Ming Shu pulled a bedsheet over herself, looked up to Ye Qi Han, her body slightly trembling, her eyes, however, shone with bone-deep hatred.

Ye Qi Han saw the obstinate expression on Ming Shu. He pulled out a bank card, "The hospital said, without a million, Ming Han will be thrown onto the streets tomorrow."

Ming Shu stared at him, biting her lip, her body trembling even worse.

Ye Qi Han threw the bank card beside Ming Shu's hand, "There's a million in here. Stay with me for one night, and it's yours."

Ming Shu laughed bitterly.

Ye Qihan.

Her dear brother, Ye Qihan.

From a street urchin back then to the richest man in Jincheng now, that's Ye Qihan.

Despite her hatred for him that was so strong she would have him slashed a thousand times, she still gave a soft laugh.

She pushed back a loose strand of hair that fell around her ear, flickering her eyes seductively. With a captivating charm that was beyond words, she said, "Sure, Mr. Ye, one million for one night. Definitely better than letting that fat guy get it for free, isn't it?" Ye Qihan's eyebrows twitched and he regretted not kicking that guy harder just now.

Wrapped in a bedsheet, Ming Shu got up, sat down on her knees on the bed. Gently, her fair finger traced along the side of Ye Qihan's handsome face. Batting her enchanting eyes at him, she cooed, "Mr. Ye, could you please wait a moment? Allow me to take a bath so that I don't dirty you. Is that alright?"

Ye Qihan furrowed his brow slightly as he looked at Ming Shu.

This Ming Shu felt incredibly unfamiliar to him.

He and Ming Shu had grown up together, and the Ming Shu he remembered was clean, pure, and radiant.

Yet, the Ming Shu standing before his eyes had the same stunning face, but there was a seductive charm in her bones, attracting people like a demoness.

Thinking of the man from earlier, seeing Ming Shu like this, he suddenly felt a compulsion to gouge out the man's eyes.

Ming Shu rose from the bed, heading towards the bathroom.

Half an hour later, Ming Shu stepped out of the bathroom, wrapped in a white towel.

The towel barely covered her from just below her chest to above her thighs, leaving nothing to the imagination.

Ye Qihan watched as she held onto the bath towel across her chest, slowly getting nearer to him with each step, triggering a sudden response from deep within him.

Ming Shu stopped in front of him, still clutching her bath towel, placing one hand over his shoulder, gently pushing him to sit on the bed, her captivating smile and eyes filled with risqué charm, "Mr. Ye... let Shu serve you..."

Her sweet voice echoed in Ye Qihan's heart, setting it aflutter.

Even through his clothes, he seemed to feel her soft, petite hand on his shoulder.

Once upon a time, they... their hands were always intertwined...

Ming Shu straddled Ye Qihan's lap. Slowly, she moved her lips closer to his.

A fire ignited within Ye Qihan, his hands clenching around Ming Shu's waist, intending to pin her down on the bed.

"Don't move," Ming Shu's sweet, soft voice instantly turned icy cold.

A sharp shard of glass was pressed against Ye Qihan's carotid artery.

Ming Shu's smile remained flirtatious, yet her eyes no longer held their allure — rather, they were filled with deep-seated hatred.

With the sharp glass shard against Ye Qihan's neck, Ming Shu slowly sat upright. Her gaze at Ye Qihan was filled with cold derision, "Want to sleep with me? Heh, anyone but you."

Ye Qihan glanced at the shard of glass pressing tightly against his neck. He turned his gaze back to Ming Shu, "You don't dare!"

"Want to try?" Ming Shu increased the pressure on her hand, causing the shard to pierce his skin. The crimson blood dripped drop by drop along Ye Qihan's neck.

The blood, belonging to both Ye Qihan and Ming Shu.

The shard of glass came from a small mirror that Ming Shu had shattered in the bathroom, its shape irregular.

Grasping the shattered glass tightly, the irregular shards sliced Ye Qi Han's neck and also cut open Ming Shu's fingers.

Ye Qi Han turned his head, looking at the dripping blood. His eyes darkened with pain and his heart clenched.

He could ignore his own bleeding neck, but not the cut on Ming Shu's finger.

Ye Qi Han's gaze followed Ming Shu's bloody fingertips, landing on her defiantly pursed lips. He let out a soft chuckle, “Alright. You win this round. Leave now.”

As he watched her, he was all too familiar with her stubbornness. They had grown up together, after all.

She'd rather shatter than compromise.

When Ming Shu had that sort of expression on her face, she was truly ready to risk her life.

And he… he simply couldn’t let her do it.

Ming Shu laughed quietly, the glass shards pressing once again against Ye Qi Han's neck. “Do me a favor, would you? Please ask someone to buy me a new dress and send it over, Ye. Even though I'm down on my luck, I must keep my dignity. Wouldn’t you agree, Mr. Ye?”