Chapter 4: “I’m an Adult Too!”

The city was swallowed by darkness that night, neon lights flickering and casting everything in a blur of light and shadow.

Fu Yanshen didn’t say a word. He simply dragged me straight back to the hotel.

Looking at his tall, solid back, I knew exactly how hard he was trying to hold back his anger.

The moment we entered the room—

Bang!

He slammed the door shut and pinned me against it.

His breath brushed dangerously close to my face, and suddenly it felt as though all the air had been sucked out of the room.

“Shen An An, who taught you that it was okay to share a hotel room with another man?”

His voice was hoarse, stripped of the calm he usually carried so effortlessly.

I stubbornly lifted my chin.

“You can share a room with Miss Jiang. Why can’t I?”

“Because we’re adults.”

His answer was cold and matter-of-fact.

It was like having a bucket of ice water dumped straight over my heart, extinguishing the last flicker of hope I’d been clinging to.

My eyes stung, but I stubbornly shot back,

“I’m an adult too!”

Fu Yanshen gave a soft laugh.

The dangerous smile appeared right beneath the tip of my nose.

“Are you sure you can handle the things adults do?”

“Of course!”

I answered without hesitation, even though I was trembling inside.

His jaw tightened.

His dark eyes seemed capable of swallowing me whole.

His lips pressed into a thin line, his expression unreadable, his eyes churning with an intensity I couldn’t quite understand.

This feeling…

It was exactly like that fateful night.

Only this time, it was far more intense.

Far more overwhelming.

…

The next morning, Fu Yanshen gave me a meaningful look.

“Awake?”

I glared at him.

“You beast.”

Instead of getting angry, he let out a quiet laugh.

I summoned every ounce of courage I had and looked straight into his eyes.

“Y-You don’t… happen to like me, do you?”

I stared at his face, desperately searching for even the slightest flicker of emotion.

But nothing.

His expression remained perfectly calm, as if we were discussing the weather.

In an instant, the distance between us felt like it had stretched for thousands of miles.

“Get up. I’ll take you home.”

His voice was cold.

I pouted and buried myself under the covers.

“Whatever!”

The days that followed turned into a full-blown cold war.

I avoided him like the plague, even keeping my head down during meals.

One day at the dinner table, Uncle Fu suddenly asked,

“Yanshen, how are things going between you and Xiao Jiang lately?”

Fu Yanshen answered casually,

“Nothing’s going on.”

“What happened? You two seemed pretty close at his birthday party.”

I nearly choked on my water.

Pretty close? What the hell did that mean?

Fu Yanshen calmly added,

“I only brought her home because I wanted to show Uncle Jiang some respect.”

My mother immediately jumped in to play matchmaker.

“Then what kind of girl does Yanshen like? Come on, tell Auntie.”

I pretended to focus on my food, but my ears instantly perked up like radar dishes.

I waited.

And waited.

When he still didn’t answer, I finally looked up.

His eyes were already on me.

Then, slowly, he said,

“I like girls with long hair, round faces, big eyes… someone just like An An.”

Pfft!

I immediately choked on my water.

That so-called “Buddha” really knew exactly how to mess with people!

That night, my mother and Uncle Fu continued their travels.

The moment I saw them off, Fu Yanshen walked straight into my room, the faint scent of alcohol lingering on him.

“You’ve been drinking…”

I hadn’t even finished the sentence when he pulled me into his arms and kissed me.

Before I could even process what was happening, he had already let me go.

I quickly regained the upper hand, sitting up and leaning close to his ear.

“Brother, you never answered my question from the other day.”

I lowered my voice.

“Do you like me?”

Fu Yanshen looked at me.

Then he turned the question back on me, his voice deep and meaningful.

“What about you? Do you like me?”

Of course I did.

I liked him so much I was practically losing my mind.

But my pride wouldn’t let me confess first.

I wanted him to be the one to say it.

I wanted to be the one who finally conquered this untouchable Buddha.

Suddenly, Fu Yanshen gave a mocking laugh.

“Shen An An, are you playing games with me again?”

I froze.

“What?”

“First, you pretended to be drunk and wandered into my room.”

His gaze was sharp.

“Second, you hired someone to put on that little ‘damsel in distress’ act.”

My heart sank.

“And third, tonight’s ‘I’m so scared’ performance.”

I was completely speechless.

So all this time, I hadn’t been the hunter at all.

I was the little rabbit willingly hopping straight into the trap of a seasoned fox.

Every little act I’d carefully staged had been nothing more than a performance taking place under the watchful eyes of a master director.

In his eyes, I wasn’t some clever seductress.

I was just a ridiculous little clown.

Fu Yanshen lowered his head and whispered into my ear, amusement laced with something cold in his voice.

“Shen An An, you really are an adorable little con artist.”

His final words that night sent a chill down my spine.

Damn it.

I’d really picked the wrong person to mess with.

…

Fu Yanshen went away on another business trip.

Before leaving, he told me to stay home because he had something important to discuss with me when he returned.

I took the opportunity to… “clear my head.”

After being exposed by him several times, I finally realized the truth.

I wasn’t the hunter.

I was the prey willingly offering myself up to the cunning fox known as Fu Yanshen.

No.

I couldn’t let myself fall any deeper.

So, in secret, I submitted my application to study abroad.

Everything went suspiciously smoothly.

All I had to do was wait for the day I could leave this house and disappear from his life—for the sake of my survival…

and my heart.

That night, I was half-asleep when I sensed someone standing beside my bed.

I opened my eyes.

Fu Yanshen was standing there, looming over me like some god dressed in a loosely tied bathrobe.

He was back early.

Just as I was trying to get my bearings, his eyes shifted toward my desk.

That was where my study-abroad application sat in plain sight.

My face went pale.

I scrambled out of bed to cover it, but I was already too late.

Fu Yanshen picked up the papers.

His voice was deep and heavy.

“You’re planning to leave the country?”

“Yeah.”

I nodded, forcing myself to sound firm.

“Your mother agreed?”

“Yeah.”

“Dad agreed?”

“Yeah.”

He raised an eyebrow.

“What about me?”

He took a step closer.

“Did you ask for my permission?”

I crossed my arms and lifted my chin.

“I don’t need your permission for this.”

Fu Yanshen sighed.

“My little An An really has grown up.”

He spoke as he approached.

I panicked.

“What are you doing?”

“What am I doing?”

Before I could react, he slipped under the covers and wrapped his arms tightly around me as though I were some limited-edition human body pillow.

“Don’t touch me!”

I shouted, even though I didn’t understand why I was suddenly so upset.

He leaned close to my ear, his voice low and almost hypnotic.

“What? You’ve already had your fill of me, and now you’re planning to run off without paying the bill?”

His tone was as calm and innocent as a Buddha’s.

But his arms tightened around me until I couldn’t move.

“Be good. I’m not going to do anything. I’m just holding you while we sleep.”

And he kept his word.

He really did nothing but hold me.

In the quiet darkness, listening to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat, sleep slowly overcame me.

Before long, I no longer had the energy to think about my escape plan.