Baisen International.
S City’s most extravagant playground for the wealthy. Its towering glass façade reflected a cold light against the night, like a black pyramid rising in the heart of the city.
The top floor of the private club.
The lights had been deliberately dimmed. Only a few beams of dark golden light spilled down from above, tracing the smooth curves of the leather sofas—
custom-made Nappa leather of the kind used in Rolls-Royces, supple as melted dark chocolate.
Three men lounged casually on the sofas. Their postures seemed relaxed, but they couldn’t hide the aura of power that radiated from them.
Men and women surrounded them, the three of them at the center of attention.
One woman wore a pure white dress, all innocence; another looked wild and daring in a leather skirt that barely reached the tops of her thighs. Beneath a pair of gold-rimmed glasses, another woman’s gaze was sharp as a knife. A cute, curly-haired girl tilted her head and smeared cream onto someone else’s collar…
They were like carefully selected collectibles, each bearing a price tag that would make anyone’s jaw drop.
“Gu, every woman here tonight was picked to suit your taste.”
Jiang Cheng swirled the Romanée-Conti in his hand and raised an eyebrow at the man in the middle, who hadn’t moved once.
“Even Young Master Shen made an exception and had three drinks. Don’t tell me you’re planning to act like a saint?”
Shen Xubai, the man he’d just singled out, had one arm around the shoulder of a bewitching woman.
He gave a soft laugh. Behind his glasses, his detached gaze was like a thin blade on a winter night as it turned toward Gu Huaiye.
Gu Huaiye was acting strangely tonight.
Gu Huaiye clicked his lighter against the gilded coffee table. In the flickering firelight, the sharp line of his jaw came into view.
He looked around at the so-called “beauties” and loosened his tie.
“Chengzi, your taste is getting worse.”
His black shirt clung to his lean, powerful frame. His sleeves were pushed halfway up, revealing muscular forearms crossed with prominent veins. Every line of his body held coiled strength.
His stern brows remained knitted, and dark, ink-black fury churned in his eyes, like the sea before a storm, turbulent beneath the surface.
“Brother, I think I like someone!”
Gu Zhixia’s voice seemed to still be echoing in his ears, sweet and soft as melting honey.
Her almond-shaped eyes had sparkled, as if filled with starlight.
When she smiled at him, dimples appeared in her cheeks. She looked so innocent and endearing.
But in that instant—
The blood in his veins had gone cold. A violent rage had battered against his chest, nearly tearing through his self-control.
He’d clenched his fingers until they hurt, only just managing to suppress the urge to destroy everything.
…How could she like someone else?
Gu Huaiye closed his eyes briefly, his Adam’s apple bobbing.
When he opened them again, the darkness in his gaze had deepened.
He looked at Jiang Cheng and Shen Xubai.
They knew how ruthless he could be in business, how deftly he maneuvered within the Gu family, and the dark sides of him he kept hidden from everyone else…
But they didn’t know that he had developed feelings for Gu Zhixia that he should never have had.
In everyone’s eyes, she was his younger sister.
But they weren’t related by blood.
She was the white rose he had raised with his own hands. Ever since she was young and innocent, he had held her in the palm of his hand, protected and indulged her, letting her have her way in every little thing.
But now, someone else was going to pluck that rose.
Jiang Cheng stared at him in disbelief and raised his eyebrows dramatically.
“My taste is bad?!”
He froze for two seconds, then seemed to sense a secret. Grinning mischievously, he leaned closer.
He dropped onto the sofa beside Gu Huaiye and slung an arm familiarly over his shoulder.
“Come on, don’t try to fool me. Something’s definitely up with you! Spill it—has our Mr. Gu, who’s seen it all, finally found true love? Is that why none of these gorgeous women interests you?”
Gu Huaiye turned his gaze on Jiang Cheng, his eyes dark.
Then he clenched his jaw, grabbed the strong liquor from the table, and drained it in one go.
To hell with it!
True love?
He didn’t know what true love was.
But never in his life had Gu Huaiye felt so damn frustrated!
The liquor scorched his throat, but it couldn’t suppress the resentment and possessiveness surging in his chest.
Seeing him like this, Jiang Cheng’s teasing expression turned serious.
He exchanged a glance with Shen Xubai. Surprise flickered in both their eyes.
Shen Xubai studied Gu Huaiye, his gaze searching.
But Gu Huaiye tipped his head back and downed another glass of liquor, his Adam’s apple bobbing heavily.
Clearly, he still wasn’t going to say a thing.
He pushed Jiang Cheng away. His voice was rough, as though scraped raw by sandpaper.
“I’m in a bad mood tonight. You two should head back.”
Jiang Cheng had never seen Gu Huaiye like this—
dejected, brooding.
It was as if something were tearing at his chest, grinding his usual swagger and unrestrained confidence to pieces.
Ever since they were kids, Gu Huaiye had been the most defiant of their group, a proud edge always shining in his eyes.
After taking over the Gu Group, he had become even more forceful and cold, ruthless in his methods. No one in business dared provoke him.
But now, it was as if something had pinned his heart in place. Even his breathing carried a suffocating pain.
Jiang Cheng leaned in slightly, his voice lowered, suddenly more serious.
“Gu, what’s happened? Is it something you can’t tell Xubai and me?”
Gu Huaiye suddenly let out a low laugh.
The next second, he straightened abruptly and braced both hands on the back of the sofa. His presence turned sharp and intimidating in an instant, as if his loss of composure had been an illusion.
“What could have happened to me?”
He curled his lips into a smile that never reached his eyes. His gaze swept over the carefully dressed women in the private room, a trace of irritation passing through his eyes.
“Not one of them catches my eye.”
His long fingers idly spun the empty glass. His gaze was deep and cold.
“Not tonight.”
Jiang Cheng and Shen Xubai exchanged a glance, helplessness in both their eyes.
Wasn’t this gathering Gu Huaiye’s idea in the first place?
Couldn’t he come up with a better excuse?
He’d dragged them out of their lovers’ arms in the middle of the night with a phone call. Jiang Cheng had dutifully arranged a group of dazzling beauties and called in a few younger guys who knew how to keep things lively. They’d even opened the most expensive liquor.
And this was it?
Barely half an hour in, Gu Huaiye was already sitting there with a cold face, saying he wasn’t interested?
Something was off.
Shen Xubai tapped a finger against his glass and murmured,
“Should we call it a night?”
Jiang Cheng understood. He waved a hand, casual as ever.
“Let’s leave it here for tonight, then. We’ll get together another time.”
If Gu Huaiye didn’t want to talk about it, there was no way they’d get it out of him.
The lively atmosphere in the private room abruptly fell still.
The carefully made-up women froze with smiles on their faces. The drinks in their hands suddenly held no appeal.
Especially the newcomers.
They had been hoping to make some connections tonight. Now, they could only stand up reluctantly and leave in their high heels.
The bartenders and servers exchanged bewildered looks.
Whenever Mr. Gu came in, he spent lavishly. The commission from opening bottles alone was enough to cover a good part of half a month’s wages. And tonight, things had barely gotten started before coming to an abrupt end?
What a waste.
Jiang Cheng cast one last glance at Gu Huaiye.
He was still leaning back on the sofa, a cigarette between his fingers. Through the curling smoke, his dark eyes looked chillingly cold.
Unbelievable…
Jiang Cheng shook his head and left, closing the door behind him.
Once everyone had gone,
the vast private room fell abruptly silent.
Gu Huaiye leaned back on the leather sofa.
One glass after another, the hard liquor slid down his throat, but it couldn’t burn away the restless agitation buried deep inside him.
An hour later,
the sharp smell of alcohol filled every inch of the air. Even breathing carried the searing haze of intoxication.
He lay half-reclined on the sofa.
The collar of his black shirt hung open, his collarbones pale beneath the dim light.
The cigarette between his fingers had long since burned out. All that remained was a gray-white cigarette butt, barely hanging on.
The alcohol ate away at his reason, and his vision blurred.
In his haze, he thought he saw a slender figure.
A woman?
Who didn’t know the rules in his territory?
Gu Huaiye hated women who threw themselves at him, and loathed even more those who came with an agenda, putting on an act to manipulate him.
And this woman who dared to show up alone in his private room—
She really did have a death wish.