Jiang Ye was eight years older than Wen Shushu, her closest confidante despite their age difference, and the formidable owner of Lingjie Racing Club.
It was Jiang Ye who had helped Wen Shushu break free from the suffocating rules and expectations that had governed her life. She had carved an opening through those rigid restraints, giving Wen Shushu a place where she could finally let herself bloom freely beneath the cover of night and embrace her true nature.
Jiang Ye always wore her hair short and neatly styled, with a pair of gold-rimmed glasses resting on the bridge of her nose. She was strikingly beautiful, effortlessly bold, and just a little crazy.
Wen Shushu affectionately called her Brother Ye.
Of course, that was a nickname reserved exclusively for her.
Wen Shushu struggled out of bed, one hand pressed against her aching waist. She limped toward the bathroom, but the moment she caught sight of herself in the mirror, she froze.
Her neck, collarbones, the hollow of her waist…
They were covered in reddish marks of varying shades.
Even the sensitive skin between her thighs hadn’t been spared. Some of the marks had darkened into purplish bruises.
She bit her lower lip.
Was that man secretly a dog?
Why else would he have left so many marks on her?
Then again, when two drunk people got together, there was hardly any restraint to speak of.
Fortunately, despite everything, her first experience had been a pleasant one.
He had been fierce enough to send her soaring into the clouds, yet gentle enough to catch her with tender kisses when she came back down.
And he…
He seemed to…
Really, really enjoy kissing her.
After freshening up, Wen Shushu wrapped herself in a bath towel and settled onto the sofa.
She picked up her phone and began scrolling through the schedule of upcoming races.
Before long, the doorbell rang.
Jiang Ye entered briskly, carrying a shopping bag.
Her sharp gaze swept across the room before finally settling on Wen Shushu.
A knowing smile appeared on her face.
“Well, well, Wen Shushu. I haven’t seen you for a few days, and you’ve certainly become daring! What happened to our dignified young lady? Have you decided to abandon your proper upbringing and start having one-night affairs?”
Wen Shushu took the bag from her and began changing clothes.
“Stop teasing me.”
Then she turned around and presented her back.
“Help me with the zipper.”
Jiang Ye stepped forward and pulled the zipper up, clicking her tongue as she examined the marks scattered across Wen Shushu’s skin.
“My goodness, what a fierce battle you must have had! You went this wild on your very first time? Make sure you take care of things afterward. Don’t get pregnant.”
Wen Shushu turned her head and shot her a glare.
“I brought you breakfast,” Jiang Ye added, gesturing toward the low table.
“Brother Ye really does treat me the best.”
Wen Shushu gave her a quick hug before unwrapping a sandwich and taking small, delicate bites.
Between racing the previous night, drinking herself into a stupor, and the exhausting encounter that followed, she was absolutely famished.
Even so, she didn’t wolf down her food.
Years of carefully cultivated manners had become second nature to her.
No matter how hungry she was, she still ate slowly and gracefully.
“So, tell me,” Jiang Ye began, watching her with amusement. “What made our esteemed Young Miss Wen suddenly decide to rebel?”
She couldn’t help being curious.
Ordinarily, Wen Shushu was the very picture of a refined young lady from a distinguished family.
Quiet, reserved, and so restrained that getting her to speak her mind was practically an ordeal.
Yet this time, she had done something so reckless that even Jiang Ye was surprised.
Wen Shushu took another bite of her sandwich.
Without even raising her eyes, she gave a single, quiet answer.
“I’m tired.”
Jiang Ye studied her for a moment.
When she noticed the exhaustion lingering in Wen Shushu’s eyes, the teasing smile slowly faded.
She sighed softly.
“Then do whatever you want to do. If anything goes wrong, I’ll take care of it.”
Wen Shushu finally looked up.
“Then help me get rid of the hotel’s surveillance footage.”
“No problem,” Jiang Ye replied without hesitation. “You just go ahead and be as wild as you like. Leave cleaning up the mess to me.”
Warmth spread through Wen Shushu’s chest.
To outsiders, the Wen family was a distinguished scholarly household with generations of refinement behind its name.
And she, Wen Shushu, was the perfect daughter raised according to its strict traditions.
Gentle, quiet, and graceful.
A young lady who carried herself with the elegance of someone who had spent her entire life surrounded by books and proper etiquette.
Even her voice was always soft.
But Jiang Ye knew better.
She knew that beneath Wen Shushu’s obedient exterior lay a fiercely untamed spirit.
The moment Wen Shushu stepped on the accelerator, she became someone who wouldn’t hesitate to challenge anyone.
Someone who could face the entire world head-on without flinching.
And last night, she had completely shattered that carefully maintained image of gentleness and obedience in front of a stranger.
Wen Shushu lowered her eyes.
Perhaps that had been her final act of defiance.
Once she walked out of this room, she would become the same Wen Shushu everyone knew.
The obedient daughter.
The refined young lady.
The woman who never stepped outside the boundaries drawn for her.
She would simply treat everything that happened last night as a dream.
A dream that should disappear the moment she wakes.
After all, adults had to bear the consequences of their own choices.
And the price she would pay for her brief rebellion was obedience.
From now on, she will do as she was told.
After finishing breakfast, Jiang Ye slipped an arm around Wen Shushu’s shoulders, and the two women left the presidential suite together.
At that very moment, Fu Yan had just left the hospital and was hurrying back to the hotel.
He had every intention of continuing what had been so rudely interrupted the previous night.
Under Jiang Ye’s protective guidance, Wen Shushu stepped into the descending elevator.
Her eyes remained lowered.
She was dressed in an elegant, modest qipao, its graceful lines concealing every trace of the wildness she had unleashed the night before.
She looked every bit the gentle, well-mannered young lady she was supposed to be.
At almost the exact same moment, another elevator on the opposite side of the top floor arrived with a soft chime.
The doors slid open.
Fu Yan stepped out.
He wore a sharply tailored black suit, his imposing figure still carrying the cold, intimidating air that had surrounded him since the early hours of the morning.
His long strides were purposeful and hurried.
He emerged from the elevator.
She stepped in.
The two elevators were only a few meters apart.
Wen Shushu kept her head slightly lowered, her long hair neatly pinned up, revealing only a slender stretch of fair skin at the back of her neck.
Fu Yan, meanwhile, was completely preoccupied.
His thoughts were filled with the enchanting woman from the previous night, the one he hadn’t had nearly enough of.
His gaze remained fixed on the door of the presidential suite.
He didn’t spare so much as a glance toward the elevator beside him.
A faint fragrance of gardenias still lingered in the corridor.
For some inexplicable reason, Fu Yan’s footsteps faltered for half a second.
His Adam’s apple moved unconsciously.
That scent…
It seemed strangely familiar.
It was almost identical to the delicate fragrance that had clung to the soft, warm woman in his arms last night.
He frowned slightly.
Then he dismissed the thought.
It was probably just the hotel’s incense.
Without looking back, he continued toward the suite.
Behind him, the elevator doors slowly slid shut.
And just like that, the two were completely separated.
Fu Yan reached the presidential suite and swiped his key card.
The door clicked open.
He stepped inside.
The room was empty.
Not a single person remained.
His eyes darkened.
A low, humorless chuckle escaped his lips.
“She certainly ran away quickly.”
His gaze swept across the room.
Then something near the corner of the carpet caught his attention.
A small gardenia-shaped hairpin lay quietly on the floor.
Its delicate petals were crafted from lustrous white mother-of-pearl, complemented by gilded leaves of rich emerald green.
The workmanship was exquisite.
It looked almost like a freshly picked gardenia, its petals still carrying the softness of a living flower.
Fu Yan bent down and picked it up.
He examined it briefly before slipping it into the pocket of his suit.