The Maybach glided smoothly through the rainy night.
The cabin was eerily quiet, save for the muffled patter of raindrops against the windows.
Wrapped in the pure black suit jacket that still carried Linus’s body heat and the scent of his woody cologne, Potts curled up in the spacious leather seat.
Wet streaks of rain still clung to her pale cheeks, and her blonde hair stuck damply to the side of her face.
Linus sat beside her.
He didn’t waste breath on useless questions, nor did he seize the opportunity to make any untoward advances.
Instead, he casually reached into the car fridge, pulled out a room-temperature soda water, twisted the cap open, and set it down by her hand.
His voice echoed softly in the cabin, calm yet carrying an undercurrent of an undeniable command.
“Drink some.
Your lips are dry and peeling.”
Potts reached out to take the bottle, her fingertips brushing against Linus’s warm skin.
Her wrist trembled slightly as she whispered, “Thank you.”
…
Half an hour later, the Maybach pulled into the underground garage of a premier private hotel in the heart of Manhattan.
Linus took Potts by the wrist and led her into a private elevator, heading straight to the penthouse presidential suite.
The suite was comfortably warm, with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking a rain-slicked, bustling New York nightscape.
Linus let go of her hand and pointed toward the master bedroom.
“Go take a hot shower.
Wash off all that rain and the stale residue of your past.”
Linus took off his custom shirt, which was slightly damp with mist, and casually draped it over a bar stool, revealing the well-defined muscle lines of his upper body.
Seeing his powerful chest and perfectly proportioned abs, Potts’s cheeks flushed warm.
She quickly looked away and hurried into the bathroom with flurried steps.
Listening to the sound of running water from the bathroom, Linus walked over to the bar, retrieved two crystal goblets, and poured a small amount of a highly aged red wine.
He knew exactly what Potts needed most right now.
It was not a physical conquest born of opportunism, but a profound listening session that would systematically dismantle the worldview she had built over the last ten years.
To deal with a career-minded, strong-willed woman like her, one had to completely deconstruct her mentally, then rebuild her from the ground up with his own hands.
The sound of running water stopped.
Potts emerged wearing an oversized men’s bathrobe.
The collar hung slightly open, exposing her fair, delicate collarbones.
Thanks to the hot water, her pale complexion had regained a hint of rosy color.
Barefoot on the thick wool carpet, she radiated a sense of fragile vulnerability, stripped of all her armor.
Linus walked over with the wine glasses and pressed one into her hand.
Sitting down on the sofa, he patted the space beside him.
“Come, sit.”
Potts obediently walked over and sat down.
The distance between them was less than half a meter.
Linus made no move to wrap his arm around her waist, nor did he make any provocative gestures.
He simply leaned against the backrest and turned his head to look at her.
“Feel better?”
Potts took a sip of the wine.
The slight warmth of the alcohol relaxed her tightly strung nerves.
Holding the glass in both hands, she said in a raspy voice, “Much better.
Linus…
did I look incredibly ridiculous today?”
“Why ridiculous?”
“I spent ten years cleaning up his messes.”
“He got drunk and caused scenes, I cleaned them up.
He built weapons and got sued, I dealt with the Pentagon.
He went missing, and I practically laid down my life to protect his company.”
Potts’s voice grew lower and lower, a thin layer of tears welling in her eyes.
“And the result?
In his eyes, I’m just a paid nanny running his errands.
He wouldn’t even look at me twice.”
Linus gently swirled his wine glass, his gaze deep.
He spoke with blunt honesty.
“You indeed were ridiculous.”
Potts’s body stiffened, and tears nearly spilled over.
Linus set his glass down and leaned forward, closing the distance between them.
He reached out, his long fingers cupping her chin, forcing her to lift her head and look directly into his eyes.
“What makes you ridiculous isn’t that you gave him ten years.
It’s that you took a priceless diamond and handed it like a glass bead to an overgrown infant who doesn’t even know how to appreciate it.”
Potts’s breathing faltered.
“Linus…”
Linus’s thumb gently wiped away the tear trace at the corner of her eye.
His voice was deep and incredibly magnetic.
“Without Tony, Stark Industries is merely down one mechanic hammering sheet metal in a basement.”
“But without you, the wolves of Wall Street would tear Stark Industries to shreds the moment the market opens tomorrow.”
Linus stared straight into her eyes, his tone absolute.
“You are the one who single-handedly held up a hundred-billion-dollar commercial empire.”
“You were born to sit at the head of the negotiation table, making all of Wall Street bow to you.
Yet, you chose to go down to that basement and endure his cold shoulder.”
Potts stared blankly at the man before her.
No one had ever cared about her business competence.
Everyone thought she was just riding Tony’s coattails.
Even she had begun to grow accustomed to being a mere accessory.
Yet Linus, with only a few words, had unearthed all the buried grievances and resentment in her heart, offering her unprecedented validation.
Her voice broke with a sob.
“Am I…
am I really that important?”
Linus’s fingers slid from her chin down to her smooth, delicate neck.
He applied no pressure, but the fleeting, feather-light touch sent uncontrollable shivers across her skin.
Linus chuckled softly, his tone turning domineering.
“Of course.”
“You are a gemstone of the highest grade.
That useless fool doesn’t know how to polish you, but I do.”
“The moment you stepped out of that dilapidated villa, the name Pepper Potts belonged solely to you.”
Potts broke down completely.
Ten years of suppression, injustice, and self-doubt collapsed instantly before this man who validated her unconditionally and offered her absolute security.
She set her glass down, leaned forward, and threw her arms around Linus’s neck.
Closing her eyes, she pressed her soft, luscious red lips firmly against his.
A surge of desire flared in Linus’s eyes.
He had planned to take things step by step, but now that his prey had delivered herself to his door, he saw no reason to hold back.
Wrapping a broad palm around the back of Potts’s head, he turned the tide from passive to active.
He parted her teeth and swept inside, hungrily claiming every bit of air in her mouth.
“Mmh…”
Potts let out a soft whine, her hands feebly clutching Linus’s hair.
Linus’s palm slid down her back, passing over the thin fabric of the robe to rest on her slender waist, gently kneading the soft skin there.
Potts felt her body turn completely to jelly.
Unable to muster even a shred of strength, she could only let herself collapse into Linus’s embrace, entirely surrendering to this fiercely aggressive kiss.
The atmosphere between them heated up rapidly.
Linus pulled back slightly, looking at Potts’s swollen, thoroughly kissed lips and her glazed, dazed eyes.
Potts gasped for air, her cheeks so red they looked ready to bleed.
Pressing his lips to her ear, Linus exhaled his warm breath over her earlobe before nipping it gently.
“Sweetheart, being this bold…
have you thought about the consequences?”
Potts trembled all over.
She instinctively wanted to pull away, but she was caged in Linus’s arms, unable to budge.
She whispered in reply, her mind a complete jumble, replaced entirely by an intense dependency on this man.
“I…
I don’t know…”
Linus’s long fingers pulled back the collar of her robe, tracing small circles on her exquisite collarbones.
“You don’t know, yet you dare start a fire?”
“Your emotional state is too fragile tonight, and I don’t like taking advantage of someone’s vulnerability.”
“Otherwise, I would punish you thoroughly right here on this sofa using every method in my book.”
“To let you experience what ‘adult business’ really means.”
Overwhelmed with embarrassment, Potts buried her face completely in Linus’s solid chest, even the tips of her ears flushing crimson.
Linus held her close, rhythmically patting her back as if soothing a startled kitten.
Cradled in Linus’s incredibly secure embrace and comforted by his words, Potts’s tense nerves finally unraveled completely.
The accumulated exhaustion of the past several days washed over her brain, and she actually fell fast asleep right there in Linus’s arms.
Looking at Potts, who had now surrendered her heart to him entirely, Linus wore a satisfied smile.
He pulled over a nearby wool blanket and draped it over her.
Right then, deep in Linus’s mind, the mechanical prompt of the system sounded right on cue, accompanied by an unprecedentedly urgent buzzing.
[Ding!
Detected that target character Pepper Potts has completely severed her emotional attachment to the original male lead!]
[Ding!
Target character’s psychological defenses are 100% shattered!
The host has successfully achieved the double achievements: “Mental Possession” and “Declaration of Sovereignty”!]
[Congratulations to the host for meeting the extremely stringent hidden interception condition: Snapping Stark’s Backbone!]
[Critical Hit Roulette triggered!
Drawing the super gift pack for you…]
[Draw complete!]
[Congratulations to the host for intercepting the original male lead’s core destiny reward—Obtained: [Perfect Arc Reactor Blueprint] and [Ultimate Mechanical Affinity]!]