Chapter 101: Rainy Night Part 2

Seeing the color return to Xu Yinian’s pale face, the assistant breathed a sigh of relief. She took the opportunity to steal a glance at her.

She hadn’t noticed it as much before, but now, seeing that fair face tinged with a rosy glow, she saw a breathtaking, vivid beauty beneath the girl’s docile exterior. She was indescribably lovely.

Little did she know, that flush and vividness weren’t just from the heater…

Xu Yinian was naturally introverted and felt awkward in the silence. When her phone lit up, she checked it immediately. Seeing the name srs, her heart skipped a beat. For a second, she thought her presence here had been discovered.

Then she read the message: [It’s pouring outside. Do you have an umbrella? Do you need me to pick you up?]

Is it raining already?

Yinian looked toward the floor-to-ceiling windows, but the heavy curtains were drawn, blocking the view.

[I left campus to visit my Uncle and Aunt at Jiang Ke’s house. Don’t worry about me.]

Yinian had prepared this excuse in advance. Her cousin, Jiang Ke, was the only person who had no connection to these “darlings of fortune.” Since it involved family and private matters, it was a perfect explanation for why she was off-campus and unlikely to be easily debunked.

On the other end of the phone, Shen Ruoshuang frowned reflexively at the name “Jiang Ke.” But remembering the Uncle and Aunt—and knowing Yinian had lived with them before university and even borrowed her tuition from them—she suppressed her jealousy.

She typed out: [Stay safe. Come back early.]

Before she could hit send, she heard the thunderous roar of the torrential rain hitting her balcony.

…She probably won’t come back tonight.

She imagined Xu Yinian being naturally convinced to stay by Jiang Ke, wearing someone else’s pajamas, being held and cuddled in bed under the guise of “sisterhood.”

She couldn’t tolerate it.

A flash of obsessive, cold light crossed Shen Ruoshuang’s eyes. Her fingertips tapped the icy screen, stubbornly sending the words: [Come back early.]

Xu Yinian was oblivious to these emotions. After all, the Jiang Ke excuse was just a lie.

As she waited, for some reason, the previously comfortable heating began to feel oppressive. The flush on her face deepened into something hazy and abnormal. But Yinian couldn’t tell the difference; she simply thought she wasn’t used to the heater or was just nervous.

[You can go now.]

The assistant saw the message on her own phone and felt an immense weight lift off her shoulders. For some reason, the young girl in the room had started to look strangely bewitching. The more she looked, the more she felt enticed by that natural, burgeoning allure. It was as if the very air in the room had become hot and sticky because of her.

“My boss is coming up now, so I’ll be heading out,” the assistant said, breaking the long silence.

Xu Yinian snapped out of her dazed, sluggish state. Fear welled up instinctively. Her eyes followed the assistant like a startled fawn, but as usual, she was too polite to say anything that might inconvenience the other girl.

The assistant looked away quickly, her mind screaming: Ahhh! First of all, I’m not gay… but if I keep looking, something is going to happen!!

Her mind in a muddle, the assistant hurried out, brushing past a figure coming the other way. She only realized who it was after she had passed.

The woman had a suit jacket draped over her shoulders, her presence sharp and commanding. Every strand of hair was perfectly in place.

Wait, was that CEO Shen herself?!

Only then did the assistant realize whose suite this was. Recalling the unforgettable, vivid beauty of the girl inside, a suspicion formed in her mind. N-no way… right?

After the assistant left, Xu Yinian didn’t stay seated. She felt miserable. The heat blurred her vision, making it feel as if her entire body was being scorched by an internal flame.

She wanted to tug at her collar, but her limbs were weak. Small, unconscious whimpers escaped her throat. Her mind clung to the only person she thought she could rely on, but that person had just left through the door.

A powerful sense of emptiness and a restless itch finally surfaced.

No… don’t let her leave…

Driven by pure instinct, Yinian only knew she desperately needed someone. She stumbled to her feet, her legs like jelly. Her phone slipped from her hand and clattered to the floor, but she didn’t even notice.

She staggered toward the entryway. Her fingers gripped the door handle, her very fingertips a vivid, shocking pink.

Before she could turn the knob, a beep sounded, and the door opened from the outside.

Losing her support, Xu Yinian fell forward.

A pair of strong arms caught her. Through her clouded vision, Yinian felt herself sink into a strange yet familiar embrace. A cold fragrance, similar to Shen Ruoshuang’s, filled her senses, giving her an inexplicable sense of safety.

“Shen…”

Yinian was so burned by the heat that she could only manage a blurred syllable, her voice syrupy and soft, laced with ragged breaths.

The noble woman heard the name, and her arm, which she had intended to pull away, froze.

To the current Xu Yinian, the woman’s cool body temperature was nothing short of an antidote. She knew no fear or shame; she only wanted to sink deeper into the embrace. Her hands unconsciously gripped the woman’s lapels, leaving unsightly wrinkles on the high-end designer suit, yet she had no strength, her movements like the soft kneading of a kitten.

“Look up.”

The cold command made Yinian tremble. Even in this state, her fear of Shen Yi was bone-deep. She looked up, timid yet submissive.

It was a pair of eyes that could steal one’s soul.

They were vivid and moist, shimmering with a hazy, overwhelming mist of desire, yet they were so innocent that they only reflected a single silhouette. She looked like a little fox spirit who had just stumbled into the mortal realm—allure personified, yet completely ignorant of her own power. She would never understand how a single look or a hint of grievance from her could be the deadliest poison.

Shen Yi’s eyes darkened, a momentary, shadowed daze flickering across her sharp, deep gaze.

But it was enough to confirm one thing.

The girl had been drugged.