The lanterns first come on, stars speckling the sky, and the bustling streets below are awash with red and green lights, the neon glow spilling over everywhere. Skyscrapers line both sides of the street, a sight to dazzle the eyes.
The nightlife in Imperial Capital had just begun.
The biggest entertainment spot in the Capital: Night Banquet International, a place that wins many young hearts over because here is where the wealthy gather.
Inside a dimly lit room, atop a chic English-style bed, lay a man as striking as a prince, with an alluring charm. His features were delicate and pronounced, physique balanced and slender but not appearing frail. His forehead was slicked with sweat and his face bore an unnatural blush.
The room door gently creaked open, a petite silhouette darted in, too shadowed to distinguish in the dimly lit room but from her graceful figure, one could tell she was a young woman.
The woman went up to the bed, watching the man intently for a while, seemingly hesitant. After quite some time, she bashfully undressed the man with a reddened face.
Becoming flustered, she quickly turned her back, begun undressing herself bit by bit. Beneath the dim glow, her blushing face was visible, her awkward expression, as well as trembling fingertips all indicating her present state of bashful trepidation.
Before the woman could climb onto the bed, she paused. Hesitant, and also nervous, she remembered her father's admonishment: "Memory Snow, climb his bed, bear his child, and then you will be able to boldly stay by his side to save your child. What does the process matter when the result is what you want?"
They've done it numerous times, but he always initiated it. He would call her 'baby', and he was never satisfied. To think that she would one day have to climb onto his bed shamelessly, sneaking around!
Memory Snow's eyes gradually moistened. No matter what, she would do anything to save her child.
Gradually, the woman, with her curvy and delicate body, slowly leaned her body down, pressing her lips to the man’s cold yet sensuous lips...
Just then, the man in the bed suddenly woke up, his eyes blurred as he took in the sight before him, instinctively pushing the woman off him. His mesmerizing purple eyes filled with terrible fury.
"Memory Snow, have you no shame? Failed to seduce me last time and now you're resorting to drugging?" His face was as cold as ice, his mysterious and noble purple eyes filled with disdain and disgust. He looked at the woman as if looking at a pile of filth, feeling so sick that he wanted to throw up.
The woman at the edge of the bed, her pretty face flushed white intermittently. She looked both embarrassed and penned in, as if she was caught doing something wrong but also carrying a deep sense of shyness and grievance.
"I... I..." In the face of the man's anger and accusations, she was lost for words.
"Do you think that by getting pregnant with my child, you can stay by my side? Let me tell you, I would rather mate with a sow than let you bear my child because you are simply not worthy!" The man stood up, spouting the most venomous words, yet his movements while dressing remained polished and gentlemanly.
"Shen Zhenan, you still can't remember who I am, can you?" The woman looked into his eyes full of contempt and disgust, forcing a bitter smile. She stood up and adjusted her clothes, her tearful eyes shimmering as she watched him.
"Hmph! Spare me the sight of your disgusting acts, I've seen this charade far too often."
The man got up to leave, uttering a final sentence before he left: "Don't let me see you again, otherwise, I wouldn't mind throwing you to a group of men, to show them your base character."
Listening to his heart-wrenching words, her heart felt like it was being fried in oil and grilled over fire. Her shoulders trembled slightly as she bowed her head, refusing to let herself cry out loud, but the burning tears dripped one by one, searing her numbed, chilled heart.
Zhenan, please don't hurt me like this. I just want to save our child. There's a 'devil' by your side. Only by staying by your side can I protect you and our child.
Xia Yixue suddenly felt very tired.
This kind of exhaustion, from the depth of her heart, pierced through with a sharp, bone-deep pain.
She sat blankly by the bed, her eyes gradually emptiness, pondering, would she not be in such pain now if they hadn't met in such a way two years ago?
In the whirl of her thoughts, it felt like she was transported back to two years ago...