Chapter 9

“What do you want to drink?”
Jiang Wei was lost in thought when a bright, playful voice reeled her back.
Mu Yue leaned close, studying her face with unabashed curiosity. After a moment, she reached out and poked lightly at Jiang Wei’s cheek.
“Your skin is so nice,” she marveled.
Being toyed with like that by a girl she barely knew, Jiang Wei flushed, wanting to shrink away. The shy reaction made Mu Yue click her tongue in delight. She glanced at her cousin, then at her brother, convinced there’d be plenty of drama in the future.
“Just a little more. Just one more sip…”
After several rounds, the VIP room was hazy and loud, saturated with alcohol and perfume. Jiang Wei was dead drunk, slurring as she spoke. Ling Ze had stepped out to take a call, so there was no one left at her side.
She’d never drunk before and genuinely hadn’t realized how pathetic her tolerance was. She hadn’t had that much, but the room was already spinning.
Whatever they’d given her only made it worse, the more she drank, the more she wanted.
A shadow leaned in front of her, trying to say something. Her gaze refused to focus.
Under the gawking stares of the gathered rich kids, she closed her eyes, leaned forward and kissed Mu Yue.
Mu Yue wasn’t some innocent little girl, but it was still the first time a pretty girl had kissed her like that. She thought it was hilarious. Especially when she realized Jiang Wei was the type who, once drunk, would hug whatever was in reach and start kissing at random.
When Jiang Wei moved on, clinging to whatever, or whoever, she could and planting clumsy kisses, Mu Yang hurried over to stop her.
He had a headache brewing.
The room was a chaos of music and chatter. With Ling Ze gone, someone had to keep an eye on the little drunk. This private room was full of wolves in silk suits.
He, of course, did not count himself among them.
But the moment he stepped in her way, those soft, flower-scented lips landed squarely on his.
His mind went blank.
He wasn’t some clueless virgin, he might not be as wild as some of the other second-generation heirs, but he’d certainly had his share of indulgence.
Yet somehow, when Jiang Wei kissed him, he suddenly had no idea what to do with his hands.
The room erupted in whistles and hoots.
For a moment, he lost his self-control, and kissed her back.
Jiang Wei was nowhere near his match. The give-and-take between lips and teeth, the push and pull of breath, she was completely outclassed by someone who’d already seen more of the world.
Wet sounds, the press of bodies, breath growing hotter and more tangled,
“What are you doing?”
Ling Ze’s voice cut through the air like a blade.
He’d just come back from his call and walked straight into the scene, heat, noise, and Jiang Wei in someone else’s arms.
The sight hit him like a punch to the chest, sharp and suffocating.
Jiang Wei was still foggy, her head spinning.
Mu Yang, on the other hand, felt a sudden, sharp disappointment.
The first time he’d truly kissed a woman, and it had felt so absurdly good.
One kiss was nowhere near enough.
The tension in the room felt ready to snap. No one spoke.
A few rich kids who were closer to Ling Ze just shrugged, silently distancing themselves. Not my problem, bro.
The stalemate dragged on until Mu Yue finally bounced over to smooth things out.
All this over a kiss? What was wrong with her cousin?
“Cousin, we were just playing a game,” she said cheerfully.
In the end, Ling Ze didn’t say anything.
He had to admit, after the kidnapping, Jiang Wei had carved out a mark in his heart, delicate and pitiful, lovely and sincere. A girl willing to die for him… he doubted there would ever be a second.
But he was destined to marry a woman of equal status, to take over the Ling family’s empire. If he let that little flicker of feeling in his chest grow wild, it would only hurt them both.
To make her his mistress, just to indulge his own selfish desire?
He wasn’t that depraved, not yet.
The best he could do was give her resources, lay a road in front of her smoother than most would ever see.
Bringing her here tonight was exactly for that purpose.
He certainly didn’t plan on handing her over to anyone in that room either, he knew all too well what sort of men they were.
Especially Mu Yang.
His mood dipped at the thought.
“That’s enough for tonight,” he said curtly. “She’s drunk. She still has class tomorrow.”
He reached out to take her away, but Mu Yang didn’t move aside.
“I’ll send her back later. It’s still early.”
The hand tightening on Jiang Wei’s shoulder was downright provocative.
“And how are you sending her?” Ling Ze’s tone sharpened, for once letting the edge show. “Drunk driving, racing her home?”
He was usually meticulous with his words, never leaving openings. But tonight, after everything Mu Yang had done, his patience was thinning.
Seeing him bristle like a wolf whose tail had just been stepped on, Mu Yang lounged back slightly, a lazy, amused smile curling at his lips.
“Ling Ze, you’re mad.”
At that, Ling Ze fell silent.
He really was out of line.
“Let’s talk outside. Mu Yue, keep an eye on your brother,” he said at last.
Mu Yue, who had been happily watching the show, was dragged in out of nowhere.
“What’s there to keep an eye on? Everyone here knows each other. What could possibly happen, I-”
“If Dad finds out that ‘poor painter’ you’re obsessed with, ”
Mu Yang dragged out the words, eyes narrowing.
“got his birthday gift from you sold off so he could fund an exhibition for some broke old man…?”
Mu Yue stiffened.
“Fine! I’ll watch him, okay?” she snapped. “And he’s not a ‘poor painter,’ he’s an artist! Qingqiao is not old, he’s only twenty-six! And he’s just unrecognized, not untalented. Once his exhibition is up-”
Annoyed at her brother slandering her beloved, she rushed to defend him.
Mu Yang waved a hand, cutting her off. “Whatever. I don’t care if he’s a hidden genius or a fraud. Just keep an eye on your brother. She’s drunk. If she stumbles out and something happens in a place like this, I’ll be asking you about it. I’ve got things to discuss with Ling Ze.”
They went up to the top floor of Yongye Imperial City.
Unlike the drunken excess of the floors below, this level looked like an ink-wash painting come to life, stone carvings, water pavilions, elegant landscaping. From here, all of City C lay sprawled at their feet: rivers of headlights, neon lights flickering like restless spirits.
Very few people in the entire city had the right to even set foot here.
“What is it you’re trying to do?” Ling Ze asked bluntly. “Don’t tell me you’ve fallen for her.”
Mu Yang’s lips curved. He didn’t bother to deny it.
“Isn’t that perfect?” he said lightly. “Two birds with one stone. I get the girl, you keep your spotless reputation. You don’t even have to sell yourself, I’ll do it for you.”
Of course, Jiang Wei knew none of this.
If anyone saw her at that moment, though, they’d have a hard time believing she was truly drunk.
Her young face, fresh and pure as a gardenia blossom, was flushed rose-red as she lay knocked out on the sofa.