Shanghai burned that night. Lights like diamonds scattered across the river, towers clawing the sky.
Music spilling from the Zhao estate, velvet and sharp, like laughter touched with sweetness.Yuyan's heels clicked against the marble, mask fixed, lipstick too red, too dangerous. Her throat tight, her chest too shallow.This was it. Her family's ruin wrapped in golden chandeliers and champagne. The devil himself standing somewhere inside. She stepped past the guards, perfume thick, bodies glittering in shiny clothes. Laughter, whispers deals, and eyes like knives.Her mask was silver, smooth, and delicate. Pretty enough to hide the truth not the shaking under her ribs, not the sweat at her palms. She walked slower than she should, faster than she could bear.In her head was her father's voice. Ruin and humiliation. Their stolen empire and tainted name.And another name burned hotter than them all. Li Jianyu.The black wolf of Shanghai. Cold eyes, cruel mouth, a man who smiled only when he was breaking someone or something.And she was here for him. Not for the champagne or the dance. She was here to seduce him and break him from the inside. And make him taste the poison he poured into her family. She said that to herself over and over again, like a prayer and a curse. Music swelled. She let her smile curl her mouth as she had practiced in her mirror for nights. Tilt her chin and sway her hips. A woman, not a girl. A temptress and not a daughter with shaking hands. Her glass clinked against another as men stared and women whispered. None of them mattered. Only him.And then…As her chest stalled and her stomach dropped, she felt his presence there in the crowd.Black mask, sharp cut, a shadow carved into a man. He didn't laugh or move like the others. He stood still, drink untouched, while the room moved around him.Li Jianyu. Her throat burned dry. Too tall, too broad, his black suit fitted like it was sewn into his skin. His presence pulled the air, it pulled her. Her fingers almost dropped her glass but she caught it too late as wine kissed her wrist, sticky. He looked up straight at her. Her chest slammed, her spine stiffened, and her lips parted without breath. His eyes were black as the night outside. He saw her, not the mask, not the lie. Her. She should have looked away but her head lifted and her eyes stayed on him.She hated the way heat slid down her. The way her knees softened and the way she had to remind herself to breathe.He moved, slowly and certainly cutting through the crowd without touching anyone.Every step he took closer stole a heartbeat from her. Her skin buzzed and pulse scattered. She whispered to her… lie, lie, lie.Smile, pretend, seduce. This is the trap, this is what you came for. Her lips curved wrongly almost crooked, too much teeth. His mouth didn't shift… but his eyes… damn they dragged across her like fire. "Miss." He said, voice low, rough. His voice landed against her chest, not her ears.She blinked slow, then fast as the mask dug against her cheekbones.Up close, she caught his scent. Not just cologne… but smoke and warmth, and something darker she shouldn't want.Her fingers pressed the stem of her glass until it almost snapped.She should've laughed or made a joke or just said something untrue.Instead, she stayed silent. And when she opened her mouth, nothing came. He leaned forward, too close as if the music didn't matter. As if the crowd vanished. "I was wondering," he said. "Which mask would suit you best. Silver… or none at all."Her knees almost buckled as her breath caught sharply.Heat spread low, fierce, and unwanted.She whispered to herself… this is wrong wrong wrong.Yet her spine bent closer, her chest brushed his arm.Every nerve screamed, every thought clashed. She remembered her father's fall, her mother's tears, and the ruined empire.And still… his breath was warm at her ear, his words sinking deep. Her heartbeat forgot anger it only wanted more. She hated it hated him, hated herself more.He smiled just a little, sharp, like he saw right through her. She shivered, not from cold, but because of him. "Drink with me," Jianyu murmured. It wasn't a request or an invitation. It was an order. Her hand lifted before her mind did, glass touching his. The sound was clear, sharp, and final. She took a sip and it burned going down, leaving her lips shaky and wet. He didn't take his eyes off her mouth.She put the glass down too fast. Wine splashed onto her wrist, warm and sticky. His eyes followed it, slow and hungry.Her stomach turned, her chest tightened.This wasn't her plan. This wasn't her trap. He already had her.She told herself again… lie, smile, play.But her lips parted, breath caught, heart too loud.And she knew. This night wasn't hers. It was his.
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The music shifted as the string grew sharper and a drum thumped beneath it, steady like a heartbeat. He didn't ask. He just took her hand… his ring cold against her skin, his grip firm and sure. Before she knew it, he was pulling her forward into the center. Into his space. People stared. She heard whispers but the crowd faded because all she could see was him. "Too still," he murmured as her mask tilted up toward him. "Too perfect. You're hiding."Her stomach knotted as her pulse ached in her throat. "Maybe I like masks," she whispered too fast. Too sharp.He gave a short laugh, low and sharp. "So you like lies, do you?"His hand moved lower on her back, warm through the fabric, pulling her where he wanted.Her breath caught as she tried to play it off as just part of the dance.It wasn't.Closer, closer still, the rhythm caught her hips, but his grip decided the steps. She thought of her plan, the poison, the revenge, but his closeness only grew, his heat pressing in. He leaned near, his mouth almost touching her ear. "Your smile never reaches your eyes. Do you know why?"She blinked, swallowed, and gave a small shake of her head. Her voice wouldn't come. "Because you don't want me to see what's burning inside you."Her chest tightened with rage and shame. And something hotter, something worse.Focus. All she had to do was seduce him, distract him, destroy him. Her lips curved. "You really think I came here for you?""Mm," he hummed, his hand spreading wider across her back. "I know you did."Her skin warmed, the heat was too close, too strong.She told herself it was only anger, nothing else.But her thighs touched his, her stomach fluttered, and her heartbeat slipped out of rhythm with the music."Spin." He ordered her, not asked. Her body obeyed. Her body flaring, mask slipping.She turned back into his chest, his hand caught her wrist, hard. Her breath snapped out. Their faces were an inch apart, her lips almost brushed his jaw. She didn't move away, she couldn't.He smelled of smoke and winter air. Bitter and addicting. She clenched her teeth. "You're arrogant.""Truth," he said simply. "I don't waste time on false modesty."Her nails dug into his shoulder through his suit. Half pain, half anchor. "Maybe I hate you."He smiled slowly like a sharp knife. "You should. Hate burns hotter than love."Her chest squeezed. A sound caught at her throat. Part growl, part moan. She bit it back as her teeth stung her lips. The song slowed but their steps didn't.Her heel scraped his shoe, their body too close, tangled in rhythm that wasn't theirs.Every second was like on edge, every breath was a cliff."Why me?" She asked. The words cracked softer than she meant."Because you looked at me like no one else dared."Her lashes flicked down. "That wasn't courage. That was disgust.""Liar." The words hit her like a touch, hot, shaming, and true. Her throat burned, her pulse slammed, her body moved closer despite every thought screaming. The crowd cheered as couples spun. Masks glittered but she saw none of it. Only his mouth, too close. Her lips parted, dry. Her chest brushed his again.No plan, no curse, only heat.Her heart begged for distance but her body dragged the opposite way.Every cell was a contradiction.He leaned, lips grazing her ear. "You think you trapped me tonight?"Her breath froze. "But sweetheart…" his voice dipped lower, like dark velvet. "It's the other way around."Her knees softened, her chest twisted sharply.He chuckled, the sound sank into her more than it reached her ears."I sent that invitation for you. It wasn't an accident."Her head snapped up, eyes wide. What?He already knew before she stepped into this house. Before the mask, before the lie.Her stomach flipped, her skin went cold and hot all at once. She wasn't the hunter, not even close.He spun her again, faster this time, his grip bruising now. Her mask slipped lower, almost off.Her breath dragged, but she caught it on a choke. He stopped the dance with a jerk of his arm, pulled her flush against him.His lips brushed her cheek, not soft or tender. Claiming, marking."Remember this," he whispered. "I don't fall into traps."She trembled, fury mixed with shame. And under it, was a hunger she couldn't kill.She prayed no one saw, but everyone did.The devil had chosen, and she was in his hands now.
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The music kept on playing, but not here.Here, behind the curtains in the dark hall, there was only breath. His breath not hers. Too close.Her wrist hit the wall, trapped. Her glove rippled under his grip.Her gasp echoed sharper than it should have. He leaned in, his mouth grazing her ear."Zhao Yuyan."Her blood iced. Her chest clenched so hard that it hurt. No. No mask, no lies, nothing left. He had known from the very first step she took inside. She tried to pull back, but the wall didn't move as her body blocked every inch. "You…" her throat cracked weakly. "You knew?""I always know." He whispered. His lips brushed her jaw sending a line of heat down her neck.Her knees buckled… not from desire, at least that's what she told herself.But her legs didn't hold, it didn't fight. His hand caught her hip steady and claiming."You think you can hide in my city?" His voice was low, sharp as glass. "You think silk and a mask will make me blind?"Her pulse broke rhythm as every beat screamed, as she dragged a breath in, ragged. "You ruined my family," she spat, too soft, too shaky. His laugh ghosted her skin. "And I'll ruin you."His mouth stole hers hard and demanding. It wasn't a kiss it was an invasion.Her head slammed against the wall, her mask shifted, her lips burned under his.She opened to curse him but his tongue slid in first. It tasted like heat, smoke, salt, and wine.Her hands jerked up, her nails scratching his chest through the tuxedo. Not pushing or pulling, both.Her chest heaved against his, her breath lost, her shame louder. Every part of her screamed to resist, every part of her bent closer.He tore his mouth away leaving her gasping. Red lips, wet, bruised. "Tell me," he demanded. "Did you think I wouldn't recognize the daughter of the man my father crushed?"Her eyes burned as tears threatened but she bit them back as her teeth cut her lip. Blood pooled copper.His thumb brushed it off, dragged down to her mouth. "Scarlet looks better on you."Her lungs tore open with fury and heat no words would fit.He pressed harder with his thighs between hers now, pinning her hips. Forcing a rhythm that wasn't hers.She choked as shame split down her spine.Her breath turned ragged every inhale too loud every exhale too needy.His mouth traced her ear again. "You came for revenge."A pause, heavy and waiting. "Didn't you?"Her throat locked with silence. He chuckled dark and low. "You can't even lie properly when I touch you."Her head fell back against the wall, eyes shut, skin flaming.She wanted to spit at him but words wouldn't form, only sounds.A whimper shameful and raw, slipped instead.His hand left her wrist only to grip her chin forcing her face to his. "You burn when you hate," he murmured. "You burn hotter when you want."Her eyes snapped open. "I don't…."His mouth silenced her again, this time slower and crueler. Her lips parted against him without command. Her body arched despite her mind.Her thoughts fractured with each one weaker and drowning.His palm slid lower, down her spine to the curve of her back. Pressing her against him until she felt everything.Her chest caved in as her nails clawed his shoulder not enough to free, only enough to feel.He growled low, deep in his throat. The sound melted down her skin like fire. Her breath stuttered like broken fragments. "Stop…" it barely left her lips.But he kissed the word away, swallowed it, turned into nothing.Her mask slid off at last, falling to the marble floor. No more disguise or veil.Just Yuyan, exposed.His eyes devoured her face like he had waited years for this. Not second, years.Her stomach dropped as her chest twisted. Her body melted… into his grip.She hated it, but she hated herself more.He leaned closer, his voice was so low that it burned through bone. "If you came here for revenge sweetheart.." his lips brushed hers against, teasing and cruel. "…then I'll make sure you stay long enough to fall."Her heart collapsed, her throat tangled. Her mind screamed run, but her legs stayed caged. Because his eyes said it was ya choice. Because his grip told her she belonged here already.But then… a sharp voice cut through the shadows."Jianyu."She froze and he stilled. The curtains rustled as another figure stood there. Mask gleaming eyes darker. Liang Shen. Jianyu's half-brother, smiling like a viper. "Well, well," he drawled. "What secret game are you playing in the dark?"