1 The Cost

The distant mountains were covered in glistening white snow, while the spruce trees stood neatly in rows.

However, inside the room, it was both sweltering and chaotic.

Bai Pu rolled over and got out of bed. She picked up the sundress from the floor and put it on. Walking over to the old wooden table, she took a cigarette from the man's cigarette case and glanced at him. "Are the Tibetan cigarettes enjoyable?"

The man's breath had just settled, and his naturally sexy voice sounded huskier, captivating the heart even more. "Why don't you try and find out?"

Bai Pu hesitated for a moment but shook her head in the end.

With one hand propping up his head, the man lay on his side, wearing only a white towel draped around his waist. The taut lines of his body, coupled with his well-defined muscles, were hard to resist. He gazed lazily at her; his eyebrows lightly raised. "Are you afraid?"

Bai Pu nodded and returned the cigarette to the case. "I'm afraid of getting addicted and unable to quit. It costs money to buy cigarettes."

The man chuckled softly; his shallow voice filled with sarcasm. "But when you tried me, weren't you afraid of getting addicted?"

Bai Pu pondered for two seconds and chuckled. "I was afraid, but with you, it doesn't cost anything."

The man maintained his languid posture, but the smile on his face gradually faded, replaced by curiosity and scrutiny, tinged with a subtle warning. "Bai Pu, you're quite daring, toying with me like this."

Bai Pu remained silent.

Well, she admitted that she was a little nervous and guilty at the moment. After all, he was Lu Zhaohe, her fiancé Jiang Lin's uncle.

Jiang Lin...

At the thought of this, the smile vanished from Bai Pu's face in an instant, replaced by a rarely seen serious expression. "Let me ask you something. Did you already know that Jiang Lin and his mother aren't actually related by blood?"

Lu Zhaohe seemed to have anticipated that she would ask this question. There was no change in his expression, and he nodded faintly. "Of course, my surname is Lu, while that woman's surname is Shen."

A suffocating silence followed, and Bai Pu spoke up. "I always thought they were mother and son by blood, but when I accidentally caught them..."

Bai Pu couldn't hold back her tears at the thought, but in front of Lu Zhaohe, she managed to restrain herself and just sniffed. "Don't you think it's unusual for Jiang Lin to kiss and sleep with a stepmother who is so much older than him?"

Lu Zhaohe remained silent, paused for a moment, and then asked, "Is that why you came to find me?"

Her motive was exposed, and Bai Pu neither denied nor directly acknowledged it. Instead, she skipped his question and continued, "Answer me first."

She was a little impatient, eager to hear an explanation from Lu Zhaohe's mouth. However, Lu Zhaohe clearly had no intention of entertaining her. "I'm only his uncle. I don't know or care about his affairs. As for matters like sleeping, everyone has different tastes. Isn't it that you prefer younger ones?"

He meant that it was perfectly normal for Jiang Lin to be attracted to a woman ten years older than him.

Helpless, Bai Pu drooped her shoulders, let out a soft sigh, and then composed herself. Looking up with her watery, peach blossom eyes, she said, "I don't like younger ones; I like you."

"Hmm." Lu Zhaohe didn't want to waste time on an irrelevant woman. His face unchanged, he gave her a dismissal. "Take my car for a spin and then take tomorrow's morning flight back. Park the car at the airport, and someone will retrieve it for me."

Bai Pu was somewhat displeased. "Are you driving me away?"

Lu Zhaohe neither confirmed nor denied, but arched an eyebrow. "Any problem? This isn't where you should be, and I'm not someone you can play with at will."

His voice was deep, resonating with a strong sense of threat and warning, and just a plain look in his eyes sent shivers down one's spine.

"Why didn't you say this before bedtime? You're such a scumbag, changing your tune after we sleep." Her voice was barely audible, but he still heard it.

Suddenly, he raised his hand and pinched her chin, looking down at her with a superior gaze, and said each word deliberately, "I warn you, don't use me as a tool for your revenge, or else…"

As soon as he narrowed his eyes, she couldn't help but tremble involuntarily.

"What will happen if I do?"

He coldly snorted. "You'll find out if you try."