When Gu Yan pushed open the hotel-room door, she was still thinking about the knowing smile the man had given her just moments ago.
He was a friend of Jiang Shiyi’s. The group of wealthy young men had been drinking together that evening, and when Jiang Shiyi got drunk, his friend called Gu Yan and asked her to come pick him up. Without hesitation, she headed straight to the hotel.
A faint smell of alcohol lingered in the room. Apart from the rush of water coming from the bathroom, there wasn’t a sound. She put her ear to the door and listened for a while, then couldn’t help knocking.
“Jiang Shiyi?”
There was no answer.
Growing anxious, Gu Yan knocked on the door from time to time, afraid something might have happened to Jiang Shiyi inside.
Half an hour passed. The water was still running, and she finally couldn’t hold back. Tentatively, she pushed open the bathroom door.
He was leaning against the edge of the bathtub, eyes closed. His pale skin was flushed, and he still had his clothes on. They were soaked through and clung to his body, outlining his muscles. The stern lines of his face, usually so cold, seemed softened by the steam.
Her heart skipped a beat, and her face grew warm.
They were, after all, only a pretend couple. This was the first time she had ever seen him like this.
She forced her thoughts back into order and tried to help him out of the tub. But as soon as she approached and her hand touched his arm, he abruptly opened his eyes and seized her wrist.
Their gazes met. His eyes were bloodshot, and only then did she realize how frighteningly hot he was.
Jiang Shiyi’s face was flushed, too. His dark eyes fixed on her as if he were suppressing some emotion.
Gu Yan endured the pain in her wrist. “Jiang Shiyi, you’ll make yourself sick like this. Could you get up first? Do you have a fever?”
He said nothing. She leaned forward and reached out her other hand to help him, but he gave her a hard tug, and she suddenly pitched forward against his chest.
The warm water from the showerhead kept pouring down above them, soaking her dress through in an instant.
The thin fabric clung to her skin, tracing her graceful curves, their outlines faintly visible.
Jiang Shiyi’s Adam’s apple bobbed. He let out a heavy breath, the woman’s sweet scent filling his nostrils. His brows drew tight. At that moment, Gu Yan raised her head from his chest, flustered.
They were so close that her forehead brushed lightly against his lips.
The next instant, a strong hand pressed against the back of her neck, and something warm pressed against her lips.
It took her a few seconds to come to herself. Jiang Shiyi was kissing her—deeply and fiercely.
The temperature in the bathroom seemed to climb.
Gu Yan felt dizzy, almost unable to breathe. She had never imagined her first kiss would happen with both of them soaking wet.
A few minutes later, she realized something was wrong with Jiang Shiyi. He roughly pulled her into the bathtub, his hands roaming over her body.
Gu Yan trembled all over. The bathtub drain was open, and water poured over them both. She turned her face away in a panic and called Jiang Shiyi’s name, but he paid no attention. His lips moved down her pale neck.
Their ragged breathing mingled. Gu Yan’s long, thick lashes trembled. She knew Jiang Shiyi wasn’t himself, but she couldn’t think clearly; her heart pounded wildly.
No one knew that she had loved Jiang Shiyi for more than ten years.
She closed her eyes, choosing to endure his forceful possession.
Then she let out a pained moan.
That night, they tangled together from the bathroom to the large bed outside. The sounds that made her blush and her heart race went on for a long time.
The next morning, when sunlight filtered through the sheer curtains and fell across the bed, Gu Yan opened her eyes first.
Her whole body ached. The moment she moved, the soreness made her draw a sharp breath.
The movement woke the man behind her. Jiang Shiyi frowned and slowly opened his eyes. First he saw the woman’s bare shoulders and back, then she turned her face toward him.
For a moment, the air went still.
Gu Yan’s face slowly reddened. She clutched the blanket and couldn’t find the words, but a glimmer of light remained in her eyes.
Overnight, they had gone from being a pretend couple to a real one. She secretly hoped their relationship could become like that of a true married couple, too.
Jiang Shiyi looked away, rubbing his temples as he got out of bed. He spotted the clothes scattered on the carpet and went over to pick up his shirt. It was still wet.
What a mess.
He flung the shirt back down. Still soaked, it slapped against the carpet with a sharp smack.
Gu Yan flinched. The color drained from her face as she sensed how foul his mood was.
Jiang Shiyi found his phone on the bedside table and called He Liang, his personal assistant, asking him to bring some clothes.
As soon as he hung up, he went to shower without looking back at Gu Yan once.
Gu Yan knew all too well that this young master would treat everyone around him as if they did not exist when he was in a bad mood. She struggled to sit up, only then remembering that her dress was still in the bathroom.
With nothing else to wear, she could only stay huddled under the blanket, her mind in turmoil. Jiang Shiyi’s condition the night before hadn’t seemed like simple drunkenness. It was more as if he’d been drugged. But who would have drugged him?
Before she could work it out, Jiang Shiyi came out of the bathroom wearing a hotel bathrobe. He tossed another bathrobe onto the bed.
“Put this on for now.”
Gu Yan quickly picked it up and slipped it on. As she moved, Jiang Shiyi caught sight of the shocking kiss marks from her neck down to her chest. His brows knitted tightly as he turned away, then he opened the pack of cigarettes on the table and lit one.
Jiang Shiyi wasn’t much of a smoker. Most of the time, he smoked when he was irritated.
Gu Yan got dressed, unsure how to face him. She smelled the smoke in the air and sat stiffly on the bed, her back to him, picking at her fingers.
Only after finishing his cigarette did Jiang Shiyi speak, his voice low and heavy. “I was drugged last night. I didn’t know it was you.”
Gu Yan slowly tried to make sense of what he meant. Was he saying that if he’d known it was her, he wouldn’t have done this? Her fingers dug a red mark into her palm, and a sharp pain pricked her heart.
The man’s low, cold voice came again. “I’ll compensate you. Is one million enough?”
Gu Yan felt as if she had fallen into an ice cave, her blood nearly frozen. Stiffly, she turned to look at him. “Jiang Shiyi, what do you take me for?”
Her eyes were full of disbelief and hurt. Under her gaze, Jiang Shiyi felt inexplicably uneasy, but he didn’t look away. He had never been one to avoid a problem.
“No. It was an accident. I’m offering a solution now. Otherwise, how do you want to handle this?”
Gu Yan said nothing. In those brief seconds after she’d first opened her eyes that morning, she had thought that they were already married, and now that they had consummated the marriage, perhaps they could make their pretend marriage real and live together like a true married couple. But now…
Jiang Shiyi frowned, seeming impatient. “Don’t tell me you want to make this real? You actually want to be Mrs. Jiang?”
In an instant, all the color drained from her face. She was mortified.
“Actually, I’ve been meaning to talk to you these past couple of days.” He glanced at her, his tone indifferent. “Let’s get a divorce.”