1 A Rainy Encounter

Dusk came, and thunder rolled to welcome a stormy rain. 

The streets were busy, and against the wind she ran, with her pair of long slender legs, running, and running. The beautiful, exquisite girl, wore nothing but the expression of fear on her face. 

The girl ran whilst glancing at the three men who were chasing after her. When an opportunity presented itself, the frantic girl slid herself into a dark alleyway. She remained there only for as long as her chasers had gone further up ahead. 

Lo and behold, only within a few steps after coming out from the alleyway, another group of men came shouting from behind her, saying, "Miss! Don't run!" 

Xia Yanxi froze at the order. Fearing to even inhale deeply, the girl picked herself up and sprinted ahead. 

***

The rain came pouring down, and it did not stop a black regal Bentley from cruising along the parkway. All of a sudden, the car hit the breaks. The sudden deceleration caused the passenger, a man narrowing his eyes, to jerk forward. 

The driver, cheeks flushed, turned behind immediately. 

"My deepest apologies, Mr. Qiao. There's this girl… she came jumping in…" said the driver as apologetically as possible. 

The passenger, Mr. Qiao, adjusted his posture. He opened his cold, ill-bearing eagle eyes, and glanced at the driver, saying, "See to her." 

The driver got down quickly and after seeing that the girl had fallen unconscious, he came to the passenger's side, knocking on the window. 

"Mr. Qiao. It appears she has lost consciousness," he said. 

"Take her to the roadside and call an ambulance," the man hummed. 

Xia Yanxi could hear the cold, emotionless tone of the man coming from the car window. At that moment, she bit her lips hard. 

Was she going to be abandoned? Would she not be captured soon?

If she did… one would not be able to fathom the outcome…

The girl sprung to her feet, not wanting to wait for the driver to come for her. With haste, Xia Yanxi ran to the passenger door, pulled it open, and slid into the back seat. 

She was drenched thoroughly. Her long hair now plastered to her cheeks, all the way down to her neck, making it hard for anyone to see her face. 

With a cold piercing glare, after looking at the frantic girl that had barged into his car, Mr. Qiao noticed the now soiled leather seats and priceless floor carpet. 

The atmosphere changed suddenly. An aura, a sense of danger, could be felt exuding from the man himself. 

"I'll give you three seconds to disappear from my face. Three seconds. Don't blame me for being rude afterwards," the man said. His voice, deep and husky, was that of a robotic one, similar to those from a broadcaster machine; loud, clear, and void of any emotion. 

Xia Yanxi was peeking through the window and saw the men that were after her. How could she leave the car? 

"Please, sir! Help me! It is best to help the desperate than—" 

Before she could even finish her plea, the man reached out his hands and grabbed the neck of her blouse with only two fingers; the same as how one would pick up tiny chicks. With his other hand, he pulled the door handle and flung open the door, just when he wanted to throw her out… 

Xia Yanxi was fast. Before he could even move forward, she crouched and clung to the man's calf for dear life. 

The man's slacks were now soaking water from the woman's drenched clothes. Angry, the man furrowed his refined brows and yelled, "let go!" 

Ironically, Xia Yanxi buried her face in between the man's calves, tightening her grip. 

"No! Not unless you drive for some distance…" 

Again, she was interrupted, but this time, it was from the blaring melody coming from the man's cell phone. He paused for a bit, eyes still glaring at the girl as he picked up the phone and plastered it to his ear. 

He said nothing and after a few seconds, he ended the call with just one phrase, "I'll be right there." 

By then, the driver was now back to his seat. He could not help but notice how the girl, how Xia Yanxi was… clinging to Qiao Yanli. The man could not help but feel fear for the girl as he knew very well that Mr. Qiao was a clean freak, or in better terms, a man with obsessive-compulsive disorder that leaned toward cleanliness. 

Qiao Yanli hung up the phone and reached out his large hands, veins and bones visible under the faint illumination, and yanked the back of her hair. With her face now peeled off his legs, he saw the pair of watery eyes, glistening and shimmering. At that moment, he froze. 

It was her…