Completely drunk, she entered the wrong room. Since then, her life had changed drastically. He helped her avenge herself. Not only did he fight back the shame and humiliation thrown at her by her stepmother, but he also protected her from her stepsister's dirty tricks. "Sign this contract and be my wife. I'll give you the whole world," he promised. But promises were made to be broken. When the contract was due, he didn't allow her to leave. "You stole my heart. How could I set you free?" No matter where she went, she couldn't escape from his hands and his heart.
The curtains of the French windows were tightly drawn, but the morning light managed to filter in through the thick layer of cloth. Save for those few specks of light, the whole room was immersed in ambiguous darkness.
Ding, ding, ding!
The phone alarm broke the silence in the room.
Shirley Rui had a blackout the previous night. She frowned and opened her eyes. There was a dull ache in her legs. She stretched out her hand to touch it, but her hand grazed something else, or rather, someone else.
She sat up with a jolt!
Shirley Rui realized that she was naked under the quilt. When she turned around, she saw a man lying beside her!
Something snapped inside her.
Fragments of memories from last night flooded her mind.
The revelry at the clubhouse, the raucous music, countless glasses of wine. It was not until she was pissed drunk that she went back to the hotel. What had happened after that? She searched her brain for answers.
How did she end up in the same bed with a strange man?
The man beside her opened his eyes.
He saw the shocked look on Shirley Rui's face and sneered. He pushed off the quilt and stood up without hesitation, completely confident in his skin, not to mention his sculpted body.
Shirley Rui quickly averted her gaze, unwilling to make eye contact with him. She didn't even get a good look at his face. She asked in a trembling voice, "Who, who are you? Why are we here? Last night...... What happened?"
The man chuckled, his deep voice hoarse and sexy from sleep. "What do you think happened?" he asked, raising one eyebrow.
No explanation was required. Shirley Rui understood.
A man and a woman in the same room? Naked? It was easy to put two and two together.
Shirley Rui's face turned pale.
She had slept with another man.
What about Baldwin Xu? She had cheated on the man she was going to marry. How would she face him?
How could she explain to him?
Shirley Rui's mind was in a mess. She had a fiance who she loved and yet she had spent a night with a strange man in a strange city.
She bit her lower lip tightly and squeezed her eyes shut, wanting to erase the memories of previous night's debauchery. She was racked with pain and guilt.
Shirley Rui swiped the screen of her phone and her fingers hovered on the name "Baldwin Xu" for a long time. Her hands were shaking. She did not have the courage to press the call button.
Suddenly, her phone vibrated.
A WeChat message popped up.
She had a picture message from Lana Rui.
Shirley Rui clicked it and the image opened instantly. Her pupils contracted and her jaw dropped.
The picture was blurry as it was taken in a dim room. Even so, she could make out the two people in the photo.
Lana Rui clung to a man's bare chest. Her white shoulders were half exposed. It was an intimate gesture.
The handsome man, against whom she snuggled, was smiling lovingly. Shirley Rui was very familiar with those soulful eyes.
It was none other than Baldwin Xu! Her fiance. The love of her life!
Shirley Rui was clenching the phone so tightly that her fingertips had turned white and her face turned ashen.
There was a voice message along with the picture. Lana Rui's voice came from the other end of the line
"Sis, how was your business trip? When will you come back?
By the way, I have some good news for you. I'm getting married to Baldwin in two days! He said he loves me and couldn't live without me. I'm sorry. Please let me have him, my dear sister. Hope you can make it back in time for our wedding. Bye!"
Lana Rui's sweet voice was filled with petulance and evil charm as if she was just a little girl asking for a toy.
Shirley Rui sank onto the mattress slowly, hugged her knees, and rocked back and forth to absorb the blow she had just received.
She couldn't believe it. Baldwin Xu. His name danced in front of her eyes. The memories related to this name used to be so sweet.
Flashbacks of their love story replayed in her mind like a movie.
Baldwin Xu had pursued Shirley Rui since college. They would meet often after work. He was always polite and courteous, but there was undisguised tenderness in his eyes.
Shirley Rui had always been indifferent towards love and she didn't lower her guard immediately. But Baldwin Xu did not rush her. He was kind, considerate, and patient.
Shirley Rui was neglected as a child in her family. Her young sister, Lana Rui, and her stepmother, Haley Zhou, alienated her in every way, while her biological father, Dan Rui, always took her unruly and wayward sister's side.
Baldwin Xu seamlessly filled the void in Shirley Rui's heart that was created by her family.
Gradually, she got used to Baldwin Xu's gentle company.
She still remembered the night before her business trip so clearly. Baldwin Xu had asked her out for a walk by the river. He had held her hand, and his eyes were aglow with excitement as he proposed to her. He had told her that he wanted to get engaged as soon as she returned.
Shirley Rui recalled turning scarlet and lowering her head. She had shyly blurted, "Okay!" She was overjoyed!
Never in her wildest dreams had she thought it would end like this. His vows were lies. Baldwin Xu couldn't control himself for the few days that Shirley Rui was away on a business trip. He had fallen for Lana Rui's trap and slept with her!
The sound of the running water in the bathroom suddenly brought Shirley Rui back to the present. She remembered that the stranger from last night was still in the room.
The man whose face she didn't dare to look at, had already slept with her.
Shirley Rui had dreamed of a happy life with her fiance, but now he was going to give that same life to her sister instead.
How ironic!
Shirley Rui's eyes stung. She gritted her teeth as she struggled to hold back her tears. She quickly grabbed her clothes, which were scattered on the bed, and put them on hurriedly. Then she ran out of the hotel without looking back.
After hiding her true identity throughout her three-year marriage to Colton, Allison had committed wholeheartedly, only to find herself neglected and pushed toward divorce. Disheartened, she set out to rediscover her true self-a talented perfumer, the mastermind of a famous intelligence agency, and the heir to a secret hacker network. Realizing his mistakes, Colton expressed his regret. "I know I messed up. Please, give me another chance." Yet, Kellan, a once-disabled tycoon, stood up from his wheelchair, took Allison's hand, and scoffed dismissively, "You think she'll take you back? Dream on."
“You need a bride, I need a groom. Why don’t we get married?” Both abandoned at the altar, Elyse decided to tie the knot with the disabled stranger from the venue next door. Pitying his state, she vowed to spoil him once they were married. Little did she know that he was actually a powerful tycoon. Jayden thought Elyse only married him for his money, and planned to divorce her when she was no longer of use to him. But after becoming her husband, he was faced with a new dilemma. “She keeps asking for a divorce, but I don’t want that! What should I do?”
"I've warned you from the beginning. Don't marry him, but you won't listen." She stood close to me and smiled with concern. "You are not a woman worthy of a man as handsome, rich, smart, and virile as Blaze." My whole body trembled at her words. "Have you no shame?" I asked in a quivering voice. "Take a good look at yourself, Heather." She looked at me in the mirror. "You can't even look at your ugly face. Do you think Blaze can endure a lifetime of looking at that face?" Heather Bailey had a surprise from her husband that night: a divorce agreement. After a year of marriage and facing ups and downs, she couldn't believe Blaze intended to divorce her. But she was devastated when she saw him gazing lovingly at another woman because that person was closest to her. Shortly after she put her signature on their divorce papers, shock waves caught her up. Her flower shop was severely burnt, beyond repair. Her father's company collapsed, and her parents blamed her. She struggled to rebuild her life from the ground up and became more successful than ever. Having many customers who came from influential families, she started her action against Blaze. She won the very thing he wanted. But that was just the beginning.
Belinda thought after divorce, they would part ways for good - he could live his life on his own terms, while she could indulge in the rest of hers. However, fate had other plans in store. "My darling, I was wrong. Would you please come back to me?" The man, whom she once loved deeply, lowered his once proud head humbly. "I beg you to return to me." Belinda coldly pushed away the bouquet of flowers he had offered her and coolly replied, "It's too late. The bridge has been burned, and the ashes have long since scattered to the wind!"
As a simple assistant, messaging the CEO in the dead of night to request shares of adult films was a bold move. Bethany, unsurprisingly, didn't receive any films. However, the CEO responded that, while he had no films to share, he could offer a live demonstration. After a night filled with passion, Bethany was certain she'd lose her job. But instead, her boss proposed, "Marry me. Please consider it." "Mr. Bates, you're kidding me, right?"
22-year-old Evelyn Carter is attempting to start over in California while avoiding her past. She will be embarking on a new career path as a private school teacher. She is smart, attractive, and doesn't put up with nonsense. Who wouldn't notice her? However, what happens when she attracts the attention of someone unwilling to let her go? Who wants her and nothing else after falling in love at first sight? A 25-year-old billionaire CEO and single father, Lucian Carrington. He takes what he wants and he is also a very dangerous man. All it needed was one look at a stunning woman to realize she was HIS, even though he doesn't believe in relationships because they always end. Preview: Miss Carter, you will be mine. I say firmly. "Release my arm, Mr. Carrington, before I force you to." She says, seeming to smile at me. I give her a sly smile. Squeezing my wrist with her other hand, she twists it uncomfortably. I gave a painful hiss. "Don't underestimate me, Mr. Carrington." "This is the only time I will allow you to walk away from me, Miss Carter." She glared at me as she turned. "Mr. Carrington, I am no possession of yours." I was left standing there when she opened the classroom door and left.