Fu Jinzhou bent down to pick up the necklace from the bed, his gaze slowly falling upon the stark, crimson spot staining the snow-white sheet.
Remembering the faint resistance he had encountered when he forced his way in last night, his knuckles tightened instinctively around the pendant before gradually relaxing.
The necklace gleamed softly in his palm. He stared at it, momentarily lost in thought.
A soft knock sounded at the door.
“Come in.”
Shang Yu pushed the door open and stepped inside, asking in a low voice, “Sir, are we leaving now?”
“Yes.” He slowly turned around.
Shang Yu’s pupils contracted sharply, his voice instantly tightening. “Sir… your neck…”
Right on the clean, sharp line of his master’s neck sat two strikingly vivid marks.
Even without firsthand experience, Shang Yu knew what they were. They were undeniably hickeys.
This hotel was a property under the Fu Conglomerate—had their master somehow lost his purity on his own turf?
Yet Fu Jinzhou had always been notoriously abstemious and cold, almost entirely devoid of earthly desires. It was hard enough for any woman to even get close to him. How could this have happened?
Shang Yu was in utter disbelief.
The Fu family wasn’t just any wealthy household; they were a true aristocratic clan. The newly rich had money, but ancient clans had deep roots. The Fu family’s roots had been anchored deep beneath Northern City for generations, long intertwined with the very soil of the land.
And the head of the family in this generation was Fu Jinzhou.
Countless people in Northern City longed to climb their way up through the Fu family tree, and more than a few were willing to resort to underhanded tricks.
Quickly composing himself, Shang Yu regained his usual sharp, professional demeanor. “Sir, I’ll investigate this immediately and handle it properly.”
“No need. It was just a little wildcat,” Fu Jinzhou replied, his tone devoid of emotion.
Not pursuing it?
Shang Yu was stunned yet again. The last time someone had attempted to climb into his bed, the outcome had been vastly different.
After leaving the hotel, Ye Fanxing drove straight to the airport.
The moment she picked up Su Tang, the two wrapped each other in a tight hug.
“Sorry I got back late,” Su Tang said apologetically.
“It’s totally fine. Let’s get in the car first.”
Their mothers were best friends, and since the two girls were the same age, both sets of parents had raised them like daughters of their own. Growing up together, their bond was even closer than that of biological sisters.
Buckling her seatbelt, Su Tang asked, “By the way, did you like your gift?”
Ye Fanxing nodded, offering a mischievous grin. “I loved it! For your birthday next month, I’ll arrange one for you too.”
“Count me out, I’m not into those.”
Ye Fanxing glanced sideways at her. “Are you playing coy?”
“I really don’t care for shiny things, you know that.”
Ye Fanxing paused. “…What shiny things?”
“Diamonds,” Su Tang said. “I knew you liked them, so I went out of my way to buy one for you.”
Ye Fanxing had just stepped on the gas when she suddenly slammed on the brakes.
The abrupt halt sent Su Tang lunging forward with inertia. “What’s wrong?”
Ye Fanxing whirled around, staring at her. “You gave me a diamond?”
“Yeah. It’s the uncut diamond you like—straight from the primary source.”
“Is that what you meant by ‘primary source’?”
“Yeah, of course.”
Ye Fanxing shook her head in utter disbelief. “No, no, no… You clearly got me a male model! How did it turn into a diamond?”
Su Tang pointed to herself. “Me?” Then she pointed at Ye Fanxing. “Get you a male model?”
“Yeah! I already slept with him!”
Su Tang froze in shock for a long moment before coming to her senses. “Ye Fanxing! You went ahead and did something that huge all on your own?!”
Ye Fanxing was still completely bewildered. “Didn’t you send him to me?”
“I didn’t! And I wouldn’t dare!” Su Tang often talked about male models, but it was always just harmless banter.
Just then, Su Tang’s phone rang.
“Hello? Yes, speaking.”
She cast a quick look at Ye Fanxing. “Mm, alright. I understand. Thanks.”
Hanging up, Su Tang turned to Ye Fanxing. “Where on earth did you go last night? The hotel concierge just called and said you never even checked into your room.”
“I went! Floor 30!”
“Floor 30?” Su Tang stared at her, speechlessly. “My dear, it was Floor 3!”
“Floor 3?” Ye Fanxing pulled up her phone and opened Su Tang’s message. “Did I… misread it?”
“You…” Su Tang pressed a hand to her forehead. “This is on me. I know how spacey you can get, I should have spelled it out for you.”
“What do we do now? You lost your virtue because of this—you took a huge loss,” Su Tang said, overcome with guilt.
Seeing her friend’s brows knitted so tightly they could crush a fly, Ye Fanxing chimed in. “I didn’t take a loss at all. He was ridiculously handsome.”
She was an absolute sucker for good looks, purely swayed by his fatal charm.
“Besides, his body was amazing, and his stamina was top-notch. If you ignore the rough start, the overall experience was fantastic.”
Hearing this lessened Su Tang’s guilt just a bit. “So… who exactly did you sleep with?”
“Right, who did I sleep with?” Ye Fanxing blinked. “I have no idea.”
Habitually, her hand reached up toward her neck, but she felt nothing. She looked down. “My star is gone!”
Ye Fanxing always called that necklace her family heirloom, and Su Tang knew how deeply she cherished it.
“How could it be gone? Try to remember where you might have dropped it.”
Ye Fanxing’s brows furrowed tightly. She had been wearing it the whole time… could it have dropped in the hotel?
At the thought, she and Su Tang rushed back to the hotel and headed straight for the front desk.
“Excuse me,” Ye Fanxing said urgently. “Could you please unlock the suite on Floor 30 for me? I think I dropped my necklace inside.”
The hotel manager happened to be nearby. A man in his early thirties, his expression shifted drastically the moment he heard her request. “Did you say… Floor 30?”
Ye Fanxing nodded frantically. “Yes, that necklace is extremely important to me. Could you let me go take a look?”
Floor 30 was the top floor—Mr. Fu’s exclusive private suite, which was never open to the public.
He asked again, “May I ask if you were a registered guest, miss?”
Ye Fanxing shook her head. “No.”
“Then I am deeply sorry. Hotel policy strictly prohibits non-registered guests from entering the rooms. Besides, our records show no lost property reported.”
“Could you ask the guest who stayed there last night if he found it?”
The manager offered an apologetic smile. “The guest from last night has already checked out.”
“He left…” Ye Fanxing bit her lip tight, looking on the verge of tears.
Su Tang turned to the manager. “How about this—give us his phone number, and we’ll ask him ourselves.”
“That…” The manager looked caught in a bind. “We are strictly forbidden from disclosing guest information.”
“Since we lost something, we’ll just have to call the police then,” Su Tang said, pulling out her phone to dial 110.
Ye Fanxing stopped her. “Forget it, it’s not even guaranteed he picked it up. Let’s not make things difficult for the manager.”
After a moment’s hesitation, the manager suggested, “How about leaving your phone number, miss? I’ll report this to my superior first and get back to you. Would that work?”
Ye Fanxing instantly brightened up. “Yes, thank you so much!”
She left her number, and Su Tang grabbed the gift left in the room from the previous night before the two left the hotel together.
The manager stood there for a moment before dialing a number.
In the top-floor CEO office of the Fu Conglomerate:
Behind a grand executive desk sat Fu Jinzhou in a leather chair, his head lowered as if examining something.
Shang Yu strode over to the desk and reported in a lowered voice, “Sir, the hotel manager called. A Miss Ye claims she lost a star necklace in your suite last night.”
A faint ripple passed through the cold depths of Fu Jinzhou’s eyes. “Surname Ye?”
“Yes. Her name is Ye Fanxing.”
Fu Jinzhou ran his fingertips over the totem engraved on the pendant, murmuring softly under his breath, “Ye Fanxing… A star in the night sky.”
“The manager mentioned that housekeeping didn’t see any necklace while cleaning. I was wondering if she did this deliberately…”
Fu Jinzhou gently set the necklace down on the polished desk surface. The pendant was shaped like a star.
Shang Yu’s pupils shrank violently.