The two in the room were immersed in a sea of desire when an untimely phone ringtone suddenly broke the silence.
An Qing playfully punched the man's chest, pulled her phone from the handbag that had fallen to the floor, and saw it was An Deyu calling.
She froze for a moment, quickly signaled the man on top of her to stop, and pressed a finger to her lips for silence. An Deyu's voice on the other end was stern as he asked where she was.
"I'm at a party..."
The man opened his mouth and sucked on her slender finger, biting it ambiguously with just the right pressure, sending a wave of tingling through An Qing's body.
"Mmm... I'll be back soon." She was enjoying the thrill.
The man seemed to read her mind and thrust into her maliciously. An Qing let out an unexpected moan, and An Deyu frowned suspiciously.
"What are you doing? Did you hear me?"
An Qing kicked the man, signaling him to behave, and replied into the phone, "I know, I'm heading back now..."
After hanging up, they hastily finished their final intense round, dressed, and walked out the door.
Once the room fell completely silent, An Ruo cautiously emerged, saved the video on her phone, and lifted her gaze with cold, dark eyes.
She left the room and took the elevator straight out of Saint Rosalie Hotel.
Sheng Nanzhou glanced at the man. "She took a cab back to the Seaside Villa."
The man's voice was flat. "I'm pretending to be blind, but that doesn't mean I'm actually blind."
He didn't need a play-by-play; he had eyes and could see!
Sheng Nanzhou pursed his lips. He'd just been nosy enough to mention the girl had left. Was this man on edge today, so quick to snap?
Shen Xiaoxing kept his eyes fixed on the video where the girl had disappeared. He instructed Ye Feng to protect her discreetly and to report back as soon as she was safely home. After giving these orders, he got up to leave.
"Where are you going?"
"Back to Li City."
Sheng Nanzhou was exasperated. He'd come all this way just to see his wife. He'd already said she was safe—was it really necessary to be this worried?
He'd never seen this man care so much about any woman before.
He'd have to look into who this An Ruo really was, to have their A-Xing treating her like a treasure!
...
An Ruo used An Qing's ID to buy a new phone number and anonymously posted the video online under that number, though she blurred both faces.
Sticking to the principle of an eye for an eye, she still softened at the last moment. The video in high definition could stir up a storm of public opinion, turning An Qing into a pariah. But the risk was too high; going too far might make An Qing refuse to cooperate in clearing up the photo incident out of spite, and that would be a loss.
The next day.
An Ruo's cheeks were slightly flushed. She'd had a very embarrassing dream, and even after waking, she could vividly recall the man's hot palm tracing fire across her body, leaving her skin tingling and pink...
She opened her eyes, staring blankly at the pale blue ceiling, when a deep male voice suddenly sounded beside her, carrying the seductive huskiness of morning.
"Awake?"
An Ruo froze, quickly turning her head to see the man who was supposed to be on a business trip, lying right next to her, smiling softly at her.
"You..." she stammered, "Weren't you supposed to be away for three days?"
"I missed you, so I came back early." Shen Xiaoxing had never said anything cheesy before, but looking into her clear eyes at that moment, with her dazed, sleepy expression, the words slipped out.
As soon as he said it, he realized what he'd done.
Trying to take it back now would be hard.
But that line hit An Ruo like a soft cotton punch to the heart. Her heartbeat quickened, and her sparkling eyes darted away from his burning gaze.
This man was too good at flirting!
Even without saying it, the way his slightly upturned phoenix eyes looked at her with a half-smile, that seductive and wicked aura, would make any woman go weak.
"Have you had breakfast?"
The man curled his lips into a mischievous grin. "Waiting for you, little sleepyhead, to eat together."
An Ruo bit her lip lightly. Every time she got close to this man, her heart raced for no reason. Was something wrong with her heart?
Breakfast downstairs was as lavish as ever. Maybe it was because the man was there, but she, who usually had no appetite, was now ravenous and ate even more than usual.
After breakfast, to keep the man from finding out she'd been expelled from school, she went to An Che's apartment.
An Che was in class, so she tidied up the room while opening her laptop to check the forum at An Qing's school.
The video she'd anonymously posted needed no caption. Even with both faces blurred, the embarrassing moans had already led many students to guess the female lead.
After a night of spreading, the name An Qing was thrust into the spotlight, with countless students sharing and discussing it.
When An Qing saw the video, she nearly fainted from rage. She gritted her teeth, vowing to find the culprit and give them a beating!
She had someone investigate the original poster of the video. An anonymous account still needed phone verification, right?
But as they traced it step by step, they found the number was registered under her own identity. An Ruo had used Shen Xiaoxing's name to get the number, so only an ID was shown without facial verification.
An Qing was famous at B University, nicknamed the once-in-a-century pure campus beauty. She'd sung for the whole department, and many could recognize her voice.
Besides, once one person identified her as the lead, the mindless followers piled on, spreading it like wildfire. Soon, she wasn't just the campus beauty—she was a joke!
Just as An Qing was about to burst with fury, she got a call from An Ruo.
Just seeing her name made her angry!
"You actually dare to call me?"
"Why wouldn't I?" An Ruo lounged on the sofa watching TV, utterly relaxed, and chuckled lightly. "Did you see the video on your school forum? But that's not enough. Want me to send you the unblurred HD version?"
"It was you!?" An Qing's face changed instantly. She stood up from the sofa in anger, her hand trembling as she held the phone. "What do you want?"
"That's what I should ask you, Miss An. When you posted my photos online, slandered my reputation, and got me expelled from school, what did you want?"
An Qing's brows knitted together. She hadn't expected this little bitch to be so clever, figuring it out in just a few days!
"What photos? I don't know what you're talking about."
"Oh?" An Ruo smiled sweetly. "Looks like you really want that unblurred HD video on B University's forum..."
An Qing couldn't hold her temper and was easily provoked. Before An Ruo could finish, she shrieked, "An Ruo, you bitch, how dare you spy on me!"
An Ruo gave a cold, silent laugh, not wasting more words, and hung up.
Seeing she was serious, An Qing panicked and immediately called back, her tone no longer arrogant but meek, as if her lifeline had been cut off. "Let's talk this out... I'll agree to anything if you don't post the original video online."