“I’m sorry, Baby. It’s all my fault. Don’t be mad anymore.”
Huo Yan apologized quickly enough, but his practiced tone was almost enough to make anyone’s heart ache.
Miss Jiang gave a cold snort and kicked the phone off the bed.
“What good is an apology by itself? Go scrub the bathroom clean. I want to take a shower, so get the water temperature right. If it’s even a little off, you’re sleeping on the hallway floor tonight.”
“Okay. I’ll run the water.” Huo Yan straightened up.
He turned and walked toward the narrow bathroom.
The sound of running water soon followed.
Miss Jiang leaned against the headboard, listening to the brush scrape against the tiles inside. A playful smile tugged at her lips.
Who would have thought?
The capital’s notorious chaebol heir was perfectly willing to scrub a toilet.
In the original novel, Huo Yan had lived in this urban village for over half a year to keep up his poor-man act.
Every day, he went to an auto repair shop to unload tires, earning three hundred yuan a day.
Who would have guessed that those same hands signed cross-border merger-and-acquisition deals worth hundreds of billions?
Ten minutes later, the water stopped.
Huo Yan came out, his gray tank top soaked through in a large patch and clinging to his abs.
“Baby, the bathroom’s ready, and I’ve got the water temperature right.”
Miss Jiang threw off the covers and got out of bed.
As she passed him, she deliberately bumped his shoulder and lifted her chin. “Move.”
Miss Jiang walked into the bathroom and locked the door behind her.
She looked around.
The space was less than three square meters. Green mold mottled the corners, a chunk was missing from the edge of the sink, and the faucet dripped steadily.
The air was thick with the damp, sewer-like smell of cheap soap.
Miss Jiang stepped up to the mirror.
The glass was spotted, its edges blackened, but the face reflected in it made her freeze.
Beautiful.
Unbelievably beautiful.
Her skin was pale and cool-toned, her features exquisitely fine, and the corners of her eyes naturally tilted upward with an innate, effortless allure.
Even in a squalid place like this, she had the air of someone who was saying, “I’m expensive, so keep out,” with all the spoiled confidence to match.
Miss Jiang reached up and touched her cheek. Her skin felt silky smooth.
No wonder the original host had dared to act so outrageously. With a face like this, she really did have the looks to get away with murder.
She took off the cheap nightdress she was wearing.
The fabric slid from her shoulders and pooled around her ankles.
She turned to look at her back.
There was indeed a conspicuous patch of redness around her shoulder blades.
The original host’s bargain-bin red dress had been made of such rough material that it had rubbed her skin raw.
Miss Jiang looked away and reached for the showerhead.
Its outer plating had peeled away, exposing the rusted copper pipe beneath.
She turned it on.
Water gushed out.
At first, it was warm—just right.
Miss Jiang had only just let the water run over her shoulder when the pipe suddenly let out a shrill roar.
Then the gentle stream turned scalding hot.
Miss Jiang jerked her hand away. A large patch of her pale shoulder was already red from the burn.
She frantically tried to turn off the faucet, but the rusted valve had jammed completely. No matter how hard she twisted it, it wouldn’t budge.
Scalding steam filled the tiny bathroom in an instant.
“Huo Yan! Where the hell are you? This damn pipe is going to burn me alive!”
Before Miss Jiang could grab the pilled towel from the rack beside her, Huo Yan rushed in.
The bathroom was tiny.
His charge drove Miss Jiang straight back against the wall in the corner.
“Baby, don’t be scared!”
Huo Yan swallowed, then snatched up a towel and wrapped it around Miss Jiang.
He reached his arm over Jiang Li’s shoulder and gripped the rusted valve with all five fingers.
With a sharp crack, the valve broke off completely.
Scalding water burst out at once, spraying straight toward Jiang Li.
“Baby, watch out!”
Huo Yan reacted instantly. He pulled his arm in and drew Jiang Li against him, holding her tight.
He turned his back to shield her from the spray.
Pinned against his chest, Jiang Li could hear his heart pounding wildly beside her ear.
“Huo Yan, let go!” Jiang Li struggled to push against his chest.
But the more she struggled, the tighter they pressed together.
The soaking-wet towel offered no real cover. The fabric clung to her skin, outlining every curve.
Huo Yan lowered his eyes. His gaze slipped downward before he could stop it.
Her shoulder blades, the hollow of her waist, and the red mark left by that cheap dress.
Like a brand.
Burned into his mind.
“Don’t move.” His voice was low as his arm tightened around her.
Jiang Li could feel the muscles in his back tensing to their limit.
The scalding water hammered down on him, and heat rose through the air, yet he didn’t even let out a muffled groan.
“Are you crazy?! The water’s boiling, and you still won’t let go?!”
Jiang Li looked up, straight into his eyes.
Like a beast.
A beast watching its prey.
“Baby, I’m afraid you’ll get burned.” Huo Yan’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he pressed a hand to her lower back.
His fingertips brushed the red mark.
Jiang Li shuddered all over and instinctively drew closer.
The last miserable sliver of distance between them vanished.
Huo Yan’s breathing turned completely ragged.
“Huo Yan, go shut off the main valve—now!” Jiang Li gritted out.
“Okay.”
He let go and rushed out of the bathroom.
His footsteps sounded in the narrow hallway, then quickly faded.
Jiang Li looked down at the towel around her. What difference was there between this and being naked?
Water was still spraying, and the bathroom floor was already covered in a sheet of it.
Less than half a minute later, the water abruptly stopped.
Huo Yan came back.
He stood at the doorway without coming in.
“Baby, the water’s off.”
“I can see that!” Jiang Li clutched the towel tighter. “What are you standing there for? Come in and clean this up!”
Huo Yan didn’t move.
“Huo Yan?”
“Baby, if I come in, I might…” He paused. “I might not be able to control myself.”
Jiang Li froze for a second.
Then she realized what he meant.
“You…”
“I remember every inch of your body, Baby.” Huo Yan lowered his eyes. “There’s a little mole below your collarbone. And what I like most is…”
“Huo Yan, shut up!” Jiang Li’s face turned red at once.
What sort of indecent things had he been committing to memory?!
“I just wanted to tell you, Baby,”
Huo Yan raised his head, desire surging in his eyes, held back with all his might.
“At this distance, I can still hold back. If I get any closer, I’m afraid I’ll do something you hate.”
Why did that sound even more frightening than him simply pouncing on her?
The villainess with the whole script in her hands wasn’t about to be scared of him, was she?
“Then stay out there. Wait until I come out, and then you can clean up.” Jiang Li snorted.
“Okay.” Huo Yan took hold of the doorknob and closed the door.
Jiang Li stared at it for several seconds.
She tossed the soaked old towel onto the floor and changed into a fresh one.
Only when the fabric wrapped snugly around her body did she let out a long breath.
In the original novel, he had fallen in love with the heroine at first sight.
He had loved her so desperately he’d lost himself.
If only that heroine never showed up…
But how could something like that happen?
She was just cannon fodder, just some minor passerby.
Even the author couldn’t be bothered to give her more than a couple of lines.
The heroine, on the other hand, was the author’s precious darling. How could Jiang Li possibly compare?
Once the two of them fell for each other, even if her fate wasn’t as tragic as it had been in the original novel, things still wouldn’t end well for her.
Who could stand having their husband’s one true love still alive?
When Jiang Li came out with the towel wrapped around her, Huo Yan was still standing by the door.
He stepped aside.
“Go clean up,” Jiang Li said, looking away.
“Okay.”
As Jiang Li passed him, she seemed to catch a strange smell.
She stopped.
“Your back…”