Su Ning: You are the incurable plague of my lifetime, beginning with a heartbeat, ending with withered bones and scattered ashes.
Li Boyan: When you give your heart away, you should know it can never be retrieved unscathed.
Late night!
Thunder rumbled and rain poured torrentially.
A slender woman stood at the entrance of an estate.
Soaked to the bone and shivering from the cold, she remained motionless, her pale face filled with determination!
Inside the estate, a tall, straight-backed man in black robes stood by the massive floor-to-ceiling window. His distinct, bony fingers held a wine glass as he narrowed his eyes, a cold and dangerous light lurking in their depths.
With a deafening crack, a flash of lightning illuminated the woman at the gate.
Five years apart, and this woman was still as stubborn as ever.
She had been standing in the rain at the entrance for three hours.
Could her frail body endure much longer?
It seemed that even after five years in prison, she still hadn’t learned to behave…
Or to take care of herself.
Half an hour later, the estate’s gate finally swung open.
The woman finally got her wish and saw the person she had come to meet.
“Mr. Li!”
Su Ning was drenched, her clothes clinging tightly to her body, outlining her delicate curves.
Her small, oval face was framed by wet bangs plastered to her cheeks. The cold had turned her complexion pale and her lips purple.
She looked utterly wretched and pitiful.
But the man showed not an ounce of pity, spitting out a single harsh word:
“Speak!”
He was stingy with his words, forcing out a monosyllable through gritted teeth. Clearly, he had no desire to exchange even one more word with her.
Seeing his cold expression, Su Ning bit her lip. “Could you let me see my grandmother…”
The man let out a cold, inexplicable laugh and said, “If that’s what you’re here for, then get out!”
Li Boyan’s tone was icy, like sharp icicles stabbing straight into Su Ning’s trembling heart.
But she couldn’t leave.
Steeling herself, she continued, “Mr. Li, as long as you let me see my grandmother, I’ll do… anything you ask.”
As soon as the words left her mouth, a faint glimmer flashed in the man’s abyss-like eyes. He said, “Go take a bath.”
The bluntness of his words made Su Ning’s heart tighten inexplicably.
“Could we… discuss the matter first?”
His deep, cold gaze abruptly fell on Su Ning’s pale face:
“Are you sure you want to discuss matters looking like this?”
In the next moment, he strode forward, his tall, imposing figure pinning Su Ning against the back of the sofa.
His ambiguous gaze settled on her clearly visible curves.
“Or have five years in prison made you so desperate that you’re unwilling to even ‘sacrifice’ time for a bath, hmm?”
Su Ning was an adult. From Li Boyan’s suggestive tone, it wasn’t hard to grasp his meaning.
Suddenly, her cheeks burned. “Mr. Li, you’ve misunderstood.”
She looked at his cold, sharply defined face. Five years apart had added a mature sternness to his features.
But his tone had also taken on a strange, unsettling frivolity that she found hard to accept.
“Misunderstood?”
Li Boyan let out a cold laugh. “Coming to a grown man’s home in the dead of night, barely dressed—isn’t the suggestive intent obvious enough?”
With that, he unceremoniously tore open Su Ning’s clothes, his cold lips landing on her neck—so fragile it could snap with slight pressure.
The icy touch instantly made Su Ning’s mind reel: “My grandmother has gone missing. I heard it was your people who took her.”
So that was it!
Li Boyan narrowed his eyes slightly, his gaze fixed intently on Su Ning, filled with utter disdain.
“So, you came here in the middle of the night to confront me and demand her back?”
“I’m not here to confront you. I came to beg you, Mr. Li. I’ve already pleaded with you twice.”
“Hah, don’t you know that begging comes with a price?”
His tone was cold and merciless.
“I know.”
The next moment, Su Ning knelt humbly before the man:
“As I said earlier, no matter what price you ask of me, whatever you want me to do, I’ll do it. I only beg you to release my grandmother.”
Now it was “release,” not “see”!
The man glanced down at her emotionlessly. “If I told you to marry me and become my woman, would you be willing?”
Upon hearing this, Su Ning felt her blood run cold, her mind going blank.
Staring at the handsome yet aloof man, she stammered in disbelief, “You… want me to marry you?”
“Yes.”
His resolute words instantly petrified Su Ning.
She then shook her head and said, “No, I can’t marry you.”
It wasn’t that she was unwilling—she simply had no right to marry Li Boyan.
She knew all too well that five years ago, due to her negligence, a medical accident had occurred, resulting in the deaths of Li Boyan’s wife and unborn child!
For that, she had paid the price—five years in prison.
Now that she was out, how could she possibly marry him?
Even to save her grandmother, she couldn’t!
“Unwilling? If I heard correctly, you just said you’d agree to any condition I proposed!”
The man curled his thin, cold lips, his tone somewhat aggressive.
His sinister eyes stared directly at Su Ning’s panicked, pale face, waiting for her response.
“This isn’t about willingness. You know very well the history between us.”
“So, you refuse?”
“Mr. Li, please understand—I’ll agree to any other condition, just not this one.”
“This is my only condition.”
Li Boyan’s words were firm and left no room for argument.
He casually untied the sash of his robe, revealing his wild, taut, wheat-colored muscles.
Picking up the cigarette box from the table, he took out a cigarette and lit it right in front of Su Ning.
Pale blue smoke curled upward, blurring his sharp, profound features.
Every movement exuded an imposing, noble aura.
“I’ll give you three days. Think it over, then come back to me!”
The man’s attitude was resolute, even to the point of severity, which frightened Su Ning.
So much so that she had no recollection of how she left the vast estate.
She only vaguely remembered Li Boyan’s warning as she stepped out:
“Coming to a single man’s home late at night—for a man, that’s nothing short of a fatal sexual suggestion.””So, Li Boyan thought her visit was a “sexual hint” to him?”
Was that why he made such an absurd, unreasonable demand?
Su Ning felt utterly helpless, wanting to cry but having no tears left!
Marry him? How could she?
Outside the estate, the rain continued to pour heavily.
Stepping into the downpour, Su Ning’s already damp clothes were once again soaked through.
A gust of cold wind swept through, sending shivers through her body.
Su Ning was very thin—standing at 165 centimeters tall, she weighed only forty kilograms.
Battered by the storm and icy winds, she struggled to move forward, nearly stumbling several times.
Yet she continued to hug her arms tightly around herself, trudging ahead with difficulty.
She couldn’t afford to collapse. For her grandmother’s sake, she had to stay strong.
In the master bedroom on the second floor of the manor.
Li Boyan stood silently before the expansive floor-to-ceiling window.
His face was grim, his deep, abyssal eyes fixed intently on the frail, receding figure outside.