The man had the kitchen prepare dinner early. An Ruo sat at the table, feeling a sense of unreality in her heart.
When had this man ever been so gentle with her?
She remembered that morning, when he'd flown into a rage over her soiling his clothes, only to calm down on his own before she could even try to appease him?
After dinner, An Ruo hurried to take a comfortable hot bath while the man was in his study, then changed into clean, cozy pajamas.
When he returned to the bedroom, she took the initiative to ask, "Want to take a bath?"
"Not tonight."
An Ruo asked blankly, "Why?"
Shen Xiaoxing glanced at her puzzled, innocent expression and felt like laughing. And he did laugh, the corners of his mouth lifting into a handsome curve. "Since you're not feeling well, I'll spare you the torment."
The way he said that...
Why did it sound so strange?
An Ruo's face flushed, but she replied coolly, "Then I suppose I should thank Master Shen for his great mercy."
Late at night.
The girl's body cramped from menstrual pain. She curled up, beads of sweat forming on her forehead.
A faint whimper of pain escaped into the still air. Afraid of waking the man, she bit her lip hard, trying not to make a sound.
A cotton blanket lay between them—something An Ruo had placed there before sleeping.
Her reasoning was that during her special time, she was worried she might end up sprawled on top of him like last night, and soiling his clothes again would be too embarrassing!
She tossed and turned in pain, disturbing Shen Xiaoxing's sleep as well.
"Does it hurt a lot?"
An Ruo froze for a moment, then quickly pulled the blanket over her head. "It's fine..."
The doctor had said menstrual pain was normal for girls. Shen Xiaoxing had seen her wake up seemingly fine and assumed she was okay, never expecting the pain to be this severe at night.
The man removed the blanket separating them, reached out, and pulled the girl into his arms from under the covers. An Ruo was so startled by his sudden move that she froze, unable to snap out of it for a long time.
Her back, separated only by her cotton pajamas, pressed against the man's broad, burning chest. She could feel the pulse of his heartbeat and the power of his masculine energy.
A large hand suddenly reached over, and she nervously grabbed it with both hands.
"What... what are you doing?"
The man's thin lips brushed against the top of her head, his magnetic, scorching breath spilling over her.
"You're wriggling around like a pig. How am I supposed to sleep?"
What?
Since when was she like a pig!?
An Ruo bristled at his comparison and twisted her body, trying to break free from his embrace.
The man held her down. "Don't move."
He was like a blazing flame of heat, the warmth of his palm easing her abdominal pain.
Gradually, An Ruo let down her guard, nestling in his arms and falling into a peaceful sleep.
This was the first time since their marriage that they had slept so close to each other.
She slept soundly and comfortably, but Shen Xiaoxing wasn't so lucky.
Holding such a soft, sweet-smelling person in his arms, his mind was filled with wicked thoughts. Her intoxicating scent filled his nostrils—for him, it was pure torture!
He wasn't a man driven by desire. His greatest obsession was bringing down the Shen family. Besides, he had never met anyone in all these years who could stir his desires, and he had always thought of himself as someone not overly lustful.
Until this girl appeared. More than once, he had wanted to... possess her.
Enduring until the early hours, Shen Xiaoxing saw that the girl showed no signs of discomfort, so he got up and went to the bathroom for a cold shower, using the biting chill to extinguish the heat within him.
---
An Ruo submitted her thesis and received school approval for her internship qualification.
At noon, she invited Chen Keqiao to hotpot, making up for the meal she had declined last time.
"Quite the splurge, inviting me to a place this upscale." Chen Keqiao bit her chopsticks. "Spill it—did you come into some money?"
An Ruo poured her a glass of juice. "Yeah, my internship application got approved by the school. I can start working in two days."
"Really?" Chen Keqiao looked at her with admiration and gave her a thumbs-up. "I knew you were awesome. You never join activities without rewards, but the moment there's a bonus, you're faster than anyone."
An Ruo smiled sheepishly.
"Have you decided which company to intern at?"
"No choice on the internship company," An Ruo said, pulling up her chat history on her phone. "But my advisor recommended these companies. They're all big names in Shencheng, and I get to pick one."
"Does our advisor have a thing for you?" Chen Keqiao winked suggestively. "No one else gets to choose—why do you?"
An Ruo laughed and refuted, "That's not true..."
Chen Keqiao didn't believe her. With her looks and figure, she'd had a stream of admirers confessing to her throughout college. But An Ruo was a bookworm—compared to men, she only preferred books.
And when she finally took an interest in their senior Zou Yikai, he turned out to be a jerk!
Chen Keqiao tactfully avoided mentioning Zou Yikai in front of her and leaned in to look at the well-known Shencheng companies on the list.
"Is there even a choice? It has to be the Shen Group."
An Ruo's smile stiffened. "I don't want to go to the Shen Group."
"Why?" Chen Keqiao thought she'd gone crazy from studying. "The Shen Group is the dominant force in Shencheng, with a deeply rooted business empire. If you want to hone your skills, the Shen Group is the best place."
Even a fool knew how massive the Shen Group's corporate empire was. But Chen Keqiao didn't know she was married to Shen Xiaoxing, the eldest son of the Shen family. If she rashly went there for an internship and ran into the Shen family, she'd be in for nothing but cold mockery.