The next morning, sunlight filtered through the curtains and shone into the hotel room.
Shen Wanyin felt her eyelids were heavy, and her head was a bit dizzy.
"Ugh!!"
She let out a soft groan of pain, her hand instinctively propping herself up on the mattress as she tried to sit up.
However, the sensation against her palm made her whole body stiffen.
Something was wrong; this smooth feeling of a comforter was definitely not from the simple nap bed in her office.
Memories came rushing back like a tide.
Green Rhyme Pavilion, Zhou Zihao, that glass of red wine with a bitter aftertaste, and... that feeling of her whole body burning like fire, a sense of despair that had almost driven her mad.
Shen Wanyin snapped her eyes open, and what met her gaze was a completely unfamiliar ceiling.
She looked down, and her pupils instantly dilated.
She was actually stark naked under the covers? And that dark green qipao was lying lonely on the stool at the foot of the bed?
Her hand trembled as she touched her body; the soreness radiating from within and the faint swelling pain in a certain area all ruthlessly told her one fact: last night, she had been violated!
"Zhou... Zi... Hao!"
Shen Wanyin's cold and elegant face was as pale as paper. Her jade-like hands gripped the edge of the quilt tightly while her teeth were clenched; every word seemed to be squeezed out from between them, carrying a bone-deep hatred.
She had originally thought that with the tactics she'd honed over years of struggling in the business world, she could handle a scion like Zhou Zihao.
But she never expected that he would be so insane as to drug her wine directly. A tear of humiliation slid down from the corner of her eye.
She was Shen Wanyin, the strong-willed career woman who would never bow to evil forces.
Yet such a powerful woman had been defiled last night like a plaything by a piece of trash like Zhou Zihao?
"I'm going to kill you... I'm definitely going to kill you!"
Well, killing Zhou Zihao was just an expression of Shen Wanyin's anger; after all, there was a significant gap between their backgrounds.
With her abilities and means, she couldn't kill Zhou Zihao either.
Moreover, given Shen Wanyin's age and years of professional experience, she quickly regained her composure.
Now that the violation was a reality, the key was how to handle it next.
Call the police?
Her hand trembled as she reached for the phone beside her, but she stopped a second before pressing the dial button.
She knew the background of people like Zhou Zihao very well; since he dared to set a trap, he definitely had leverage like videos or photos.
Once things blew up and that kind of material got out, her life would be completely ruined.
"I can't call the police... at least not now." Shen Wanyin bit her lower lip so hard that blood started to show.
After some careful consideration, she decided to call Zhou Zihao first.
Such was the adult world; even if she wished she could hack him into a thousand pieces, she had to contact him first to figure out what bargaining chips he held.
"Beep... beep... beep..."
The call went through, but no one answered. The monotonous ringing echoed in the silent room, each ring striking her heart.
"Why isn't he answering??"
Until the call automatically disconnected, there was no response from the other side, which surprised Shen Wanyin.
This didn't quite fit Zhou Zihao's usual style.
Unwilling to give up, she dialed again, but there was still no answer. A feeling called panic began to spread in her heart.
What did it mean that Zhou Zihao wasn't answering?
Was he intentionally humiliating her? Or was he bragging to others about his "victory" from last night? Or even... watching the video filmed then?
At that possibility, Shen Wanyin felt as if her world was collapsing.
She was an extremely proud woman who had fought her way through this cutthroat business world with her own hands; no matter how hard it got, she had never sold her body.
But now, that pride was being crushed to pieces.
Just as she was about to dial for the third time, she suddenly noticed an unread message on her phone.
She had OCD and never left messages unread, so she clicked it immediately and glanced at the timestamp: 2:30 AM last night?
That time... was shortly after her memory went blank and she had completely succumbed.
The sender was an unknown number with an unidentified location.
Shen Wanyin's heart constricted sharply as her fingers stiffly opened the message.
It contained only a short line: [Once you wake up, if you don't remember what happened last night, call this number. Also, check the nightstand; I've prepared some things for you!]
A phone number was attached to the end of the message.
Shen Wanyin was stunned for a moment after reading it and instinctively turned to look at the nightstand.
Besides a bag containing a T-shirt and shorts, there was a bottle of mineral water with an opened box of contraceptives pressed underneath?
Seeing the box of pills, Shen Wanyin's face flushed red to her ears before turning deathly pale.
Who on earth was this person?
If it were Zhou Zihao, he would want her to get pregnant so he could control her; he would never "thoughtfully" prepare such things.
Furthermore, Zhou Zihao had bodyguards, and ordinary people would never dare to oppose him.
After hesitating for a long while, Shen Wanyin couldn't figure it out, but she didn't take the medicine immediately. Instead, she dialed the unknown number... Meanwhile, in the room opposite Zhou Zihao's.
To ensure his and Shen Wanyin's safety, Fang Ming hadn't even taken off his clothes to sleep and had set an alarm for 6 AM.
By now, he was already awake.
Feeling the phone vibrate, he smiled slightly, picked it up, and pressed the answer button.
"Hello, are you awake?" Fang Ming's voice was steady, without a hint of emotion.
"Who are you?" Shen Wanyin's voice was cold and wary.
Fang Ming replied casually, "Who I am isn't important. What matters is, how are you feeling now?"
"Don't play games with me!"
Shen Wanyin interrupted him, her tone urgent and sharp. "Was it you last night? Where is Zhou Zihao? I remember last night..."
Although she was angry, her logic remained clear; she knew she had been taken away by Zhou Zihao last night.
Given Zhou Zihao's background and influence in Yanjing, ordinary people wouldn't dare provoke him. Who was this person who dared to snatch food from the tiger's mouth??
"Zhou Zihao? That rich second generation?"
Fang Ming couldn't help but laugh. "He's probably in the bathroom of the room next to yours with his two bodyguards, contemplating life."
"As for last night? President Shen, you should be well aware of the situation. You were drugged with a potent aphrodisiac by that rich kid. If it hadn't been 'relieved' in time, you'd be waiting in line at the funeral parlor by now."
Hearing Fang Ming's words, Shen Wanyin fell into a brief silence because she knew he was telling the truth.
That desire that felt like it would burn her soul dry, those completely uncontrollable physical reactions—recalling them now filled her with a sense of lingering fear and shame.
After a long time, she took a deep breath. "That box of medicine... you prepared it?"
"Yeah, last night was just an accident. That's just a precaution."
"Since you saved me..."
Shen Wanyin bit her lip. "Why didn't you stay? Or... at least you should have explained things to me in person, instead of just leaving a box of medicine and running off."
In Shen Wanyin's mind, doing this not only seemed scummy but also looked like he had a guilty conscience.
She felt like he wasn't telling the whole truth.
Hearing this, Fang Ming fell silent for two seconds, followed by a somewhat awkward cough.
"Cough, well... it's mainly because that kid Lin Chen told me you have a fierce personality and can't stand even a grain of sand in your eye. You usually hate it when men touch you, so I was just looking out for my own life."
"What if you woke up in the morning, saw a shirtless man sleeping next to you, and tried to kill me without a second thought? Wouldn't that be a bit too unfair for a hero who saved you?"
"Wait a minute!!"
Shen Wanyin's voice instantly jumped an octave, and the calm expression she was barely maintaining cracked. "What did you just say... Lin Chen?? You know Xiao Chen?"