Corpse

By the time Lu Ye Ze, arrived in the Capital, the sky had turned dark. His schedule had been cleared for these two days, to attend his Great Grandfather's birthday. Having no appointments to attend to tonight, he decided to spend the night at the club he usually frequented.

Mr. Lu always used the same private suite and the owner of the club, made sure no one else used this particular suite, it belonged only to him since the first time he stepped his foot into his club. Mr. Lu was always in a foul mood. If something went wrong, or he found something unsatisfactory, this poor small club owner, could've been erased from the surface of the Earth.

This evening Mr. Lu's mood was indescribable, when they thought they could read his temper already, a new darker and chillier feature would be drawn on his face. His complexion was totally shifted tonight, the waiters that usually attended him, all wanted to dig a hole and bury themselves alive in it.

By the bar, a beautiful lady in a black dress was resting her head in her palm, when she caught from the corner of her eyes the handsome man that made his way upstairs. She signalled to the bartender.

"You!... come. Who is that man that just passed by?"

"Ha... miss do you have a death wish?" The bartender replied. "You may be the goddess of the entertainment world and toy with any man you please, but miss please don't yearn for Satan himself. By the time your perfume has lingered through his nostrils, your body would have descended to Hell already. What he hates most are women"

"Is that so?" Xiao Qiao replied and started tapping the marble counter with her long red nails. She was the top award winning actress of China, many rich men wanted her to even throw them a mere glance. Which man could stand her beauty and charm.

Tonight she was in a good mood, she had just won the audition for a film at Hollywood, making her debut into the international film industry. She was celebrating the event at the Azura night club, the most luxurious and private club in the Capital. You had to own a membership to enter through its doors and guests who were not members, were rarely allowed.

She managed to get a silver membership card, when she had won the best actress Orchid award. The owner of the club was a die hard fan of hers, but he couldn't hand over his most precious memberships to just anyone, otherwise the prestige of the club will go down.

The club had several levels of memberships, from bronze to diamond. Members would have gained one according to their status in society. Bronze memberships, would be given to franchise bosses, that held a number of businesses in China, while silver and gold would be given to politicians and China's most famous tycoons. Only two people owned the diamond membership. One was Lu Ye Ze and the other was the Tzar Yorick of Russia.

Xiao Qiao pulled a mirror from her clutch to check her makeup. Fang Linlong, her personal assistant, had just finished in reiterating the dietary requirements to the French chef, he was in charge of preparing Xiao's dinner this evening.

"Xiao Xiao, you always look so gorgeous, you don't even need to apply makeup, if it wasn't for all these apparel contracts you've signed, you wouldn't have had to soil you perfect skin with so many chemicals" Fang Linglong was on her regular schedule of buttering up, if she missed one step, she would've been in a dire state the whole evening.

"How do I look? Am I pretty?" Xiao Qiao asked her assistant.

"You have no comparison Xiao Xiao" Said the girl with a wide grin on her face. She didn't dare to say anything else, Fang Linglong wanted to continue living for a few more days.

"What are you up to big sister, don't tell me a fine man has caught your attention"

"You are right indeed my darling, I will not be leaving this place alone tonight!" Said the award winning actress, with full confidence.

The bartender couldn't help, he chuckled softly while shaking his head. Indeed she would not be leaving alone tonight. She would leave accompanied by a tall handsome man, in a black suit and with a pair of gold rimmed glasses on his nose.

Xiao Qiao adjusted her dress and sprayed on her neck, her limited edition perfume once again. Then she flicked her long red hair and headed upstairs in the direction the man went earlier.

Lu Ye Ze was sitting on an armchair with a glass of whisky in one hand and lit a cigar with the other. He was listening to the piano playing, while he was gazing through the glass wall, at the lively atmosphere downstairs. Outside, four bodyguards were keeping watch at the door, while their leader instructed them to not let anyone in.

Right after the leader left, a faint silhouette appeared at the end of the dim lit corridor. It was approaching with suave movements, seducing even the nearby ornamental plants.

The bodyguards immediately straightened their backs, following closely with their eyes the figure that was rapidly approaching. When she stepped into the light, the bodyguards who realised who she was, began to salivate instantly.

Reading the obvious intentions in their eyes, Xiao Qiao felt disgusted. How dare they look at her, with those ugly eyes and dirty thoughts. She suppressed her anger and quickly addressed them.

"Move aside and open the door, I have something to show your boss" Xiao Qiao said with disgust.

The men were all speechless. They wanted to obey their leader commands, but this was Xiao Qiao, the most beautiful woman in China and she came to see their boss by herself. They fell into a dilemma and didn't knew what to do. One of the bodyguards that worked for the boss the longest, raised his eyebrows at the woman and said sternly.

"Our Master is not interested, please leave!"

Before Xiao Qiao could snap out of her composure, another bodyguard turned to his mate and whispered into his ear. "Bear! Do you know who she is? What if boss has a thing for her, but didn't know how to approach a lady like her... you know boss is so inexperienced with the ladies, so why don't we help him a bit"

"Are you mad!!" Bear retorted.

"Bear what if boss takes a liking to her later and she becomes our lady boss, won't he burn us alive, if he will find out about this incident?" Another bodyguard chimed in.

"It looks like you guys want to get in trouble... then suit yourselves...

Wait! I want to make one thing clear" Bear said. "You'll be accountable for the consequences and you will clean up your own mess. I have warned you!" Bear finished his sentence and left.

The other bodyguards scoffed, what was he so incensed about. Its just a woman.

They have smiled politely at the young lady and gestured her to step inside, while opening the door for her.

When she stepped inside, the strong cigar smoke enveloped her, making her suffocate and coughed lightly as a result. The room was dark and a pianist was playing the instrument in a corner of the room. An aloof man was sitting in a vintage armchair, with the back at the door and looking through the glass wall. He was holding the cigar leisurely in his hand, while the ashes were falling on to the ground. He didn't smoke, but he liked the smell of this particular brand of cigars.

His tie was loosened and the first two buttons of his shirt were undone. He had his eyes closed and his head full of dark wavy hair, was leaning in his wide calloused palm. The sleeves of the shirt were rolled up a fraction and his coat was hanging on the armrest. Lu Ye Ze was deep in his thoughts when he heard a woman's cough. He got disturbed by the noise and furrowed his brows, then he opened his dark eyes gently and inhaled deeply the whiff of cigar smoke that was floating in front of him.

The girl was trying to adjust her sight in the dark, when she heard a deep rasp voice.

"What do you want?"

The girl was a bit taken aback by the man's harsh tone, but she quickly composed herself and replied with a honey like voice.

"Baby why are you here all by yourself, sitting in this dark and intoxicated..." before she could finish her sentence, she saw the man standing up from the armchair and took two long strides towards her. His cold hand raised to her neck and then she felt a suffocating sudden pressure.

Crack

The man exhaled the cigar smoke and released his grip. The corpse fell on to the floor jerking slightly