The Han Family Mansion was a sprawling estate nestled in the most expensive district of Zenith City. It screamed old money and hidden power.
In the original novel, this was a sacred place. It was where Lin Feng would eventually break in to save Grandfather Han from a critical illness, earning the family's eternal gratitude. It was where he would sneak into Chloe's room at night to treat her, sparking a forbidden romance.
Blake stepped out of his car, adjusting his suit jacket.
"Young Master Vane," the Han family butler greeted him, though his eyes held a trace of wariness. "Miss Chloe is waiting for you in her private quarters."
Blake nodded, his expression unreadable. He didn't need a guide. He knew the layout of this house better than the butler did, thanks to the novel's detailed descriptions.
He walked through the silent corridors, his footsteps echoing on the hardwood floors. He wasn't here to be a polite guest. He was here to claim what was his.
He reached the double oak doors of Chloe's bedroom and pushed them open without knocking.
Chloe was standing by the window, bathed in the moonlight. She had changed out of her business suit into a silk nightgown that clung to her curves, outlining a figure that could topple empires. Her arms were crossed, hugging herself as if she were cold.
She was cold. The Lunar Frost Poison was acting up.
Hearing him enter, she turned around. Her face was pale, her lips slightly blue. "You're late."
"And you're dying," Blake replied calmly, closing the door behind him and locking it. The click of the lock echoed loudly in the quiet room.
Chloe stiffened. "What are you doing?"
"Ensuring we aren't disturbed," Blake said, walking toward her. "The treatment requires... absolute focus."
He stopped a foot away from her. Up close, he could see the tremors in her body. The frost was eating her alive from the inside out. In the plot, she would endure this pain alone tonight, passing out from agony, until Lin Feng arrived three days later.
"Sit on the bed," Blake ordered.
Chloe hesitated, her pride warring with her pain. "Blake, if you are lying to me... if you touch me inappropriately..."
"Chloe," Blake interrupted, his voice dropping an octave. He reached out and grabbed her chin, tilting her head up. His Golden Pupils flared to life, invisible to her but allowing him to see the icy blue tendrils wrapping around her heart. "Do you think I need to trick you to get you into bed? I'm your fiancé. If I wanted you, I would have taken you years ago."
His thumb brushed her lower lip. It was a possessive, arrogant gesture that sent a jolt of electricity through her.
"I'm here to save your life," he whispered. "Now, sit."
Chloe's legs gave way, not from fear, but from a strange mix of weakness and submission she hadn't expected to feel. She sat on the edge of the king-sized bed.
"Lie down," Blake said, placing the needle case on the nightstand. Chloe hesitated, clutching her chest. "What are you planning?"
"The needles need skin contact, Chloe. The frost is already in your marrow. You can keep your dignity and freeze to death tonight, or you can drop the act—and the gown—and let me save you."
Chloe grit her teeth. A fresh wave of agony hit her heart, making her knees buckle. She didn't want to die. Not like this. Trembling, she reached for the straps of her silk nightgown. "If you try anything else... I'll kill you."
Blake didn't smirk. He just watched.
"Deal."
Chloe's eyes widened. "What? No!"
"The acupoints for the Lunar Frost Poison are located on the chest and lower abdomen," Blake lied smoothly. He could actually treat her through the silk, but that wouldn't maximize the Villain Points. "Needles can't penetrate silk accurately. Do you want to live, or do you want to die holding onto your modesty?"
"I..." Chloe bit her lip, her face flushing a deep crimson. She was the Iceberg CEO, the woman who made competitors tremble. But in front of this man—this new, dangerous Blake—she felt small.
"Turn around," she whispered.
Blake chuckled darkly. "No. I need to monitor your reaction."
Chloe's hands trembled as she reached for the straps of her nightgown. She slowly lowered the silk, revealing skin as white as porcelain.
Blake watched, his gaze intense but clinical. He wasn't just enjoying the view; he was savoring the destruction of the plot. This scene—the vulnerability, the intimacy—was supposed to belong to Lin Feng.
[Ding!][Villainous Act Detected: Coercing the Heroine.][Villain Points +200.]
When she was lying bare beneath the sheets, trying to cover herself with her arms, Blake sat beside her. He produced a set of silver needles he had bought on the way.
"Relax," he said.
He placed his hand on her chest, right over her heart.
"Ah!" Chloe gasped, arching her back. His hand was hot, searingly hot against her freezing skin.
"Endure it," Blake muttered.
He activated the Master Medical Arts. His internal Qi, bolstered by the Spirit Essence Jade, flowed through his fingers and into her heart meridian.
With a flick of his wrist, the first needle pierced her skin.
Then the second. The third.
Chloe squeezed her eyes shut, a moan escaping her lips. It wasn't pain. It was a sensation of intense heat flooding her frozen veins, melting the ice that had plagued her for years. It felt like fire was rushing through her blood, settling in her lower abdomen.
"Blake..." she panted, her hands gripping the bedsheets until her knuckles turned white. "It's... too hot..."
"The ice is melting," Blake said, his voice low and hypnotic. He leaned in close, his breath ghosting over her ear. "This is what it feels like to be alive, Chloe. Don't fight it."
He drove the final needle into her lower abdomen.
"Chloe arched her back, a gasp tearing from her throat. It wasn't pain. It was heat—liquid fire rushing through veins that had been frozen for years."
She opened her eyes, her vision blurry. Above her, Blake looked like a god controlling her life and death.
In that moment, the image of the "useless playboy" shattered completely.
[Ding!][Critical Hit!][Heroine Chloe Han's affection toward the Protagonist has been erased.][Heroine Chloe Han's affection toward Host: 60 (Interested/Dependent).][Plunder Successful! Protagonist Luck -100.]
Blake smirked. He slowly removed the needles.
"The poison is suppressed," he said, wiping his hands on a handkerchief. "But it will return in a week. You'll need another treatment."
He did this on purpose. If he cured her in one go, she wouldn't need him anymore. A villain keeps his assets dependent.
Chloe lay there, breathing heavily, her skin flushed pink. She looked at Blake with a complex expression—confusion, gratitude, and a hint of fear.
"Why?" she whispered. "Why did you hide your skills for so long?"
"Because," Blake leaned down, planting a kiss on her forehead—not a loving kiss, but a branding one. "A King doesn't show his claws until it's time to kill."
He stood up and buttoned his jacket.
"Rest, my dear fiancée. Tomorrow, we have a show to put on."
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Meanwhile, Outside the Han Mansion Gates.
A lone figure stood in the shadows, his fists clenched so tight his fingernails dug into his palms.
It was Lin Feng.
He had followed Blake here. He didn't know why, but a voice in his head—his intuition, his destiny—had screamed at him to come to this house. He felt like something precious was inside, something that belonged to him.
But the gates were locked. A dozen security guards with high-grade tasers patrolled the perimeter.
"Damn it!" Lin Feng hissed. "That rich scum... what is he doing inside?"
He tried to step forward, to use his movement technique to scale the wall, but suddenly, his chest tightened. He felt a sharp, phantom pain in his heart, as if a connection had been severed.
He stumbled back, coughing.
"What is this?" Lin Feng gasped, clutching his chest. "Why do I feel like... I just lost?"
The intuition that usually guided him to treasures and beauties went silent. The "pull" he felt toward the mansion vanished.
Inside the security booth, a guard spotted him.
"Hey! You there! The beggar from the lobby! Get lost before we call the cops!"
Lin Feng glared at the guard, his eyes bloodshot. "I am not a beggar! I am Lin Feng! I will make you all pay!"
"Yeah, yeah, tell it to the judge. Young Master Blake ordered that if we see you, we break your legs on sight. Get him!"
The gates buzzed open. Three large dogs and four guards with batons rushed out.
"Shit!"
Lin Feng, the glorious protagonist, the future God of War, turned and ran into the night, chased by dogs, while Blake sat in a luxury bedroom, sipping wine and watching his fiancée sleep.
The hierarchy had shifted.