Volume 1 Chapter 1: The Bedtime Appointment

Ning Yu never imagined that her first reunion with her ex-boyfriend after eight years would unfold in such a scene.

“Don’t bite.”

“Has your fiancé ever been here?”

Ning Yu was pressed against the car, her waist held firmly.

The man’s deep, familiar voice assaulted her eardrums, stirring her desires.

Her reason had long been crushed beneath his fierce intensity, her voice escaping control.

Outside the car window, the rain poured down, concealing all the heat and madness within.

…

Dawn gradually broke.

The temperature dropped slowly.

The lingering warmth and ambiguous scent filled the entire car.

Her body ached as if it had been torn apart into countless pieces and hastily pieced back together; her limbs felt foreign.

A pulsating pain throbbed at her temples, and a sudden cold wind, sharp as a blade, whipped across her face, gradually pulling her mind back to clarity.

She rubbed her temple and realized he had rolled down the window.

The man exuded a rugged, handsome aura; his suit and shirt were unbuttoned, revealing a broad expanse of chest. Under his slightly tanned skin, blue veins bulged, muscles hot and iron-like.

Most striking were the countless red marks across his chest.

Seeing the familiar yet more mature face stirred something long buried deep in Ning Yu’s heart.

Long ago, whenever this man appeared, she couldn’t control her gaze. Now was no different.

She couldn’t help but look at him, her eyes tracing from his brows and eyes down to his lips, as if admiring a treasured work of art.

“What are you staring at?”

Between his slender, well-defined fingers, he held a cigarette. The smoke blended with the rain outside into a white haze, reflecting off a simple silver ring on his finger.

He didn’t look at her. “Not bitten enough?”

Ning Yu withdrew her gaze, avoiding his eyes, lowering her head to straighten her disheveled dress without a word.

Li Shiyan tilted his head to look at her. Her waist was slender, her skin tender.

She hung her eyes low, covering her legs with the damp dress; her legs were long and fair. When she had been entwined around his waist earlier, she hadn’t been so quiet and compliant.

Now, she resembled a turtle retreating into its shell.

His voice was cold. “Speak.”

Ning Yu had nowhere to avoid. She pressed her lips together, then said softly, “Long time no see.”

After what had just happened, saying this felt somewhat pretentious.

Their breakup years ago had been ugly, and Ning Yu never imagined she would see him again or have anything more to say.

“It has been a long time. You’ve come a long way.” The man looked at her with blunt, dark eyes, emotions she couldn’t read, icy cold. “Daring enough to use drugs with your fiancé for fun.”

…

Ning Yu couldn’t deny she had been drugged.

Under his burning gaze, she didn’t know how to respond; all she wanted was to run away. “Sorry for last night. If nothing else, I’ll go now.”

She lowered her head, fixing her messy dress, enduring the soreness and discomfort. Just as she grasped the door handle—

A burning hand clutched her wrist and yanked her back fiercely. He sneered at her. “Use and toss?”

Embarrassed, Ning Yu clenched the fabric in her hand, cheeks flushing. “But you enjoyed it last night too. It was just adults taking what they needed.”

Li Shiyan’s cold gaze swept her up and down. Suddenly, he seemed to see the turtle poking its head out of its shell.

He scoffed coldly, “With a face and figure as average as yours, nothing special from head to toe, being your antidote was already a stretch. You want to wipe the slate clean?”

His eyes drifted over his own body, indifferent, as if appraising a commodity for sale.

Ning Yu froze for a moment; blood rushed to her face, burning with shame.

She looked up at him, fixating on the plain silver ring on his finger, which stirred a flicker of defiance.

“I may be average, but Mr. Li, at thirty-two, you’re clearly aging. Your stamina and skills have declined since eight years ago. We’re even.”

The atmosphere tensed.

At that moment, her phone vibrated, breaking the suffocating heat in the car.

She glanced down to see three flashing characters—“Lin Haoyu.”

She instinctively looked up, only to meet his cold, dark eyes gleaming with frost.

Clearly not a good time to answer.

Just as she was about to turn off the phone, the man’s fingers lightly flicked, ending the call for her.

They locked eyes, silent in confrontation.

Before two seconds passed, the ringtone sounded again. He sneered, “Persistent.”

Under his icy, oppressive gaze and the tightening grip on her wrist, she braved the discomfort and hung up, then switched off the phone.

Struggling, Ning Yu wrenched her wrist free, closed her eyes briefly. “Maybe next time I’ll treat you to dinner. I have things to do today.”

Without another glance, she opened the car door and left.

Her steps were awkward as she walked away.

The man watched her retreating figure, fingers gently stroking a round sandalwood Buddhist bead bracelet on his wrist. A faint, almost imperceptible smile curved his lips.

…

When Ning Yu got a taxi back to the Ning family estate, it was eight in the morning.

The living room was filled with warmth and cheer.

Ning Yunyun, her fake half-sister, was acting spoiled, throwing tantrums, while Ning Yu’s parents—strict and heartless toward her—smiled as they coaxed their precious daughter to eat porridge.

They seemed to completely ignore Ning Yu.

She was about to head upstairs from the living room when her father stopped her. “Come eat.”

Ning Yu paused, then silently sat at the table opposite them, deliberately distancing herself from her parents and Ning Yunyun.

This was an unspoken rule in the Ning household ever since eight years ago, when Ning Yu was found and returned as the true heiress.

Though sharing the same table, Ning Yu was like an outsider.

Her father glanced up, merely shooting her a look. “Haoyu said you didn’t answer his calls?”

Ning Yu took out her phone. “It was dead and shut down. I didn’t get any calls.”

No concern, only reproach.

No one in the Ning family cared whether she was telling the truth.

What mattered to them was whether she could win over Lin Haoyu and help the Ning family climb into the Lin family’s elite circle.

The Ning family were nouveau riche, barely scraping into the upper class in the capital, incomparable to the Lin family.

So they pushed Ning Yu onto Lin Haoyu’s bed, never once considering her unwillingness.

In their eyes, Ning Yu’s opinion was irrelevant; she had no right to refuse.

Lin Haoyu had tested her many times, but she never gave in.

This time, he drugged her to force her virginity.

But as soon as she entered the hotel room, Ning Yunyun—her fake sister—called. Lin Haoyu dashed off after her without a second glance at the suffering Ning Yu left behind on the bed.

When the drug fully took effect, Ning Yu received Lin Haoyu’s call and heard his sordid conversations with Ning Yunyun.

Her mind clouded, she tried to escape to the hospital but encountered…

It was absurd even as a nightmare.

Ironically, Lin Haoyu thought she was a virgin, unaware that Ning Yu had already given her first time to Li Shiyan at eighteen.

“Xiaoyu, you know, being betrothed to the Lin family is a blessing you couldn’t have begged for in a lifetime. Haoyu treats you well; if you marry him honestly, the family business will prosper, and you’ll be better off, won’t you?” Ning Yu’s mother said, handing her a fried egg.

Ning Yu didn’t move.

Her mother glanced at her, reminding, “Today is Yanyan’s birthday.”

Yanyan!

Only then did Ning Yu move her fingers, silently stuffing the egg into her mouth and finishing it.

Her mother smiled, pleased with her obedience.

By noon, red rashes appeared on Ning Yu’s body.

Worse yet, she suffered abdominal cramps and noticed slight blood in her urine when using the bathroom.