Chapter 4:

I had barely unzipped my racing jacket when… BAM. The door burst open. Before I could process what was happening, I was hauled into a hard chest, and a fiercely passionate kiss crashed down on my lips. Dropping my guard because I assumed no one would dare barge into a private lounge, I had forgotten to lock the door, and someone had taken full advantage of my oversight.

His kiss was anything but gentle, it felt like he was trying to swallow me alive. I hammered my fists against his chest, straining to push him off. Only one thought ran through my mind: You were literally just standing outside flirting with another woman! What the hell are you doing here?!

“Let go!” I was about to resort to my old trick of biting him when he suddenly pulled back.

His brows furrowed, his voice dropping into a dark, displeased rumble. “Men’s cigarettes? Did you just smoke another guy’s tobacco?”

“None of your business!” I shot back, my face icy. Taking a deep breath, I articulated every single word with cold precision. “Mr. Pei, you have a girlfriend, and I have a fiancé. It’s best if we stop seeing each other like this. What happened that night was an accident. We were both in the wrong.”

The atmosphere instantly plummeted below freezing. His eyes darkened into an abyss. Reaching out, he pinched my chin firmly, forcing me to look straight into his gaze.

“First of all, I don’t have a girlfriend. I only have you, so drop the pointless jealousy.”

“Second, that ‘fiancé’ of yours means nothing. Just give me a little time.”

“Third, that night was not an accident. You were drunk, but I was completely sober.”

I froze. Was he… explaining himself to me? A distinctly un-humble thought crept into my mind: Could it be… love at first sight? But having this man throw so many words at me at once left me entirely speechless.

Right at that moment, footsteps and youthful chatter echoed from the track outside. Gasping in panic, I yanked his arm and dragged him into a narrow fitting wardrobe.

“Hey, do you guys think… if I hit on Sis Qianqian, she’d say yes?”
“Dude, she’s way too fierce… I couldn’t handle her.”

The lounge door clicked shut, and the lights snapped off. The confined space fell into a pitch-black, suffocating silence. Every sense felt hyper-amplified. I could hear a heart hammering wildly, though I couldn’t tell if it was mine or his.

“So our Qianqian is quite the hot commodity, huh~”

His voice was a lazy drawl, laced with quiet amusement. “Though he’s not wrong—you are pretty fierce, especially… in bed. I’m probably the only one who can handle you.”

I choked on my rage. Skipping the verbal comeback, I delivered a sharp kick right to his shin. “Watch your mouth! And get your filthy paw off my waist. I’m getting out of here.”

Instead of releasing me, his hand had the audacity to give my waist an affectionate squeeze, sending a violent shiver down my spine. I instantly slapped his hand away, hung my racing suit back on the rack, and turned to walk out. I couldn’t keep doing this; if this carried on, I was going to be the one who lost her mind first.

—

I originally intended to act like none of it ever happened. But it wasn’t long before I found myself storming straight into the headquarters of the Pei Group. Ignoring the receptionists and security guards, I marched straight toward the CEO’s top-floor suite.

SLAM! The heavy doors flew open.

Pei Moheng had been leaning over his desk, hard at work. At the sound, he looked up. The moment his eyes landed on me, a subtle glint flickered in his dark gaze, and his hands came to a halt.

“I’m so sorry, President Pei, I couldn’t stop her.” His assistant panted, bursting in right behind me.

He waved a hand, terrifyingly calm. “It’s fine. Miss Lin is free to enter my office whenever she pleases. You may leave and close the door.”

I swear, the look on the staff’s faces wasn’t just standard corporate gossip; they looked like they were watching an uncensored, high-stakes drama unfold live. By this afternoon, the name *Lin Qianqian* would undoubtedly be trending across the entire company.

The second the door clicked shut, I marched over, slammed both palms onto his mahogany desk, and glared down at him. “Pei Moheng, what the hell is your game? I spent weeks negotiating the Haitian Project into a done deal. You hijacked it out of nowhere, don’t you think that’s way out of line?!”

He sat back, looking as relaxed as if he were enjoying a movie, crossing his arms with a faint smirk playing on his lips. “Is my little alley cat puffing up her fur again? How adorable.”

“I am talking to you seriously!” My temper flared higher. “Pei Moheng, let me make one thing crystal clear: I felt absolutely nothing that night. NOTHING AT ALL!”

The room instantly turned dead silent. The smirk vanished from his lips, his eyes turning frigid. Seeing him thrown off gave me a fleeting rush of petty satisfaction, but in the next second, the air around him shifted—dangerous and suffocatingly dominant.

“That’s fine, sweetheart,” he purred smoothly. “I don’t mind letting you refresh your memory. I’ll make sure you’re crying and begging for mercy this time.”

I choked on my words. Lost again. I can never win a verbal fight against this man.

“Give the project back to me. I know it better than anyone.”

“Sure thing~ Beg me. Just like you did that night.”

Bastard! I was a woman of principle, but every principle had its price. Taking a deep breath, I flattened my tone into a monotone: “I’m begging you.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Is that what begging sounds like?”

I squeezed my eyes shut for two seconds, opened them, and forced out the most sickeningly sweet, coy pout I could muster: “Please, pretty please~ Won’t you give it back to me~ I’m begging you~”

It was the first time in my life I had ever acted spoiled like that, and I swore to God it would be the last. Pei Moheng’s throat tightened, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he froze completely motionless.

I arched a brow. “Well? Is that attitude satisfactory, President Pei?”

A low chuckle escaped his lips as he slid his phone across the desk toward me. “Fine. Add your contact info. It’ll make ‘business communications’ much easier.”

—

The project was indeed handed back to me, but it came with one massive catch: I had to co-manage it directly with Pei Moheng. From that day on, I spent more time at the Pei Group than at my own family’s company. And what drove me crazy was that this man was utterly addicted to physical contact.

For instance, while I was in the middle of a serious presentation, he would suddenly lean over and plant a soft kiss on my cheek. When I shot him a furious glare, he would assume a completely stoic face. “Apologies. Couldn’t help myself.”

Or when I took a sip of water and set my glass down, he would immediately pick it up and drink from the exact spot where my lipstick remained. “Sorry, I thought it was mine,” he’d say, only to pull an identical glass from under his desk seconds later.

I was completely at a loss for words. “If you keep pulling this crap, I’m not going to be nice!”

“Not nice how? This way or that way? I’m more than happy to cooperate,” he asked instantly, genuinely intrigued.

Right on cue, Pei Yu’s voice echoed from the corridor outside: “Uncle, why is the door locked? I heard Lin Qianqian is in there?”

My heart skipped a beat. Pure reflex made me jump up to find a hiding spot, but his leg hooked around mine. In a flash, I tumbled straight into his lap. One of his arms wrapped around my waist while his other hand pinned my thighs down, locking me firmly in place.

“What are you hiding for? Is there something here people shouldn’t see?”

“Then why the hell did you lock the door in broad daylight?!” I hissed under my breath.

Instead of releasing me, he deliberately raised his voice toward the door. “She’s not here. She probably went back.”

Outside, Pei Yu still refused to leave. “Ah, right. Mom told me to take her out to dinner to build some rapport… Guess I won’t bother you then, Uncle. By the way, is my future aunt in there with you?”

A second of terrifying, suffocating silence fell over the room.

“Yeah.”

My eyes widened in pure horror as I stared at him. *It’s over. My reputation is officially dead!*