Blood

Emperor's Palace Hotel, room number 2001, two bodies were intimately tangled under the blanket on the king-size bed.

Groaning in pain Bai Renxiang turned her body so she was now facing the ceiling. Immediately, her eyes caught sight of the chandelier hanging down the ceiling.

'This is not my room,' Bai Renxiang thought. Just then, flashes of what happened the previous night came rushing into her brain. She could not remember what happened but she panicked.

"Was I caught by those men and raped by," paling at her thought, Bai Renxiang quickly turned to her right as she realized that she was not alone on the bed. She was naked with a naked man in the same room, on the same bed. A stranger. She could not make out his full profile because he had his back facing her. Although the thought of not being caught by those men satisfied her but still losing her dignity to some stranger was still not something she could rejoice over.

Carefully slipping out of the bed, Bai Renxiang wore her clothes hurriedly. She began to look for her phone and realized that she left it at home. Something caught her attention when she was searching for her phone. It was a white envelope.

Checking its content, she stared wide-eyed at the cheque. It was a mouthwatering amount for someone in need of money like her. It was three million yuan. More than enough to pay for her mother's operation.

Without further delay, she ran out of the room and out of the hotel before anything worse would happen. She hailed a cab and quickly got in. Stating her destination, she closed her eyes. It was an hour's drive to her mother's house from here.

She could not believe what has transpired last night. Her stepsister had traded her for fame. Bai Ming had made her into a bargaining chip. She could not believe that she had foolishly fallen into the same trap that had ruined her life. She clearly remembered what that man who had kidnapped said.

'You were offered to me to help someone increase her status. Hah, thank God I didn't reject the offer. Miss Bai Ming knows how to make a deal.'

Bai Renxiang felt betrayed, used and above all stupid.

Was she that easy to fool? Was it not enough that she become the target of ridicule in city X? Was it not enough that she had no one to lean on? Her mother is fighting for life for heaven's sake. So why was fate still toying with her? She felt tired. Tired of her stupidity, her weakness. She was tired of everything.

After crying for the whole drive, she heard the driver speak.

"Umm miss are you alright? I have been calling you for some time now but you seemed to be lost in thoughts," the driver asked.

"I'm sorry. Are we there yet?"

"We had arrived ten minutes ago," he replied amusingly. When the got to the address she gave him, he informed her. But the lady sitting at the back was lost in thought. She was even crying.

He called her out a few times but she did not respond so he waited a little more before he called her again and she answered.

"Oh my! I'm so so sorry for keeping you waiting. Please wait here so I can get the money for you," Bai Renxiang said and rushed into her house and came out after a few seconds to pay the cab driver.

Immediately Bai Renxiang went back inside, she fell on the floor and cried her heart out. What was she going to tell her mother? How will she explain how she got the money to pay for the treatment?

She had let her mother down again. She wasted, torn, betrayed, abandoned, frustrated. You name it. The gush of emotions was too much for her to bottle in anymore so she let it out in tears.

*******

Meanwhile, the young master of the Li dynasty had just woken up. He felt a terrible headache like his head would explode any minute from now. He took a mental note to not drink too much in the future.

Hangovers a deadly.

Sitting up, he felt overworked. His waist ached. Did he fall off the bed? No, because if he had, he wouldn't have woken up on the bed. Turning to the left side of the bed, his eyes met with something.

"AAHH!!!" Li Fengjin screamed and jumped out of the bed in impulse and stared horrified at the spot on the bed. Immediately three men dashed into his room.

Wang Tingxiao was the first to enter the room followed by Yang Chen and Ye Chaoxiang. As soon as Yang Chen entered the room he turned away and quickly covered his eyes Ang Wang Tingxiao avoided looking at his boss.

"What in the name of Neptune is going on here?" Ye Chaoxiang asked bewildered at the sight of his naked friend who was staring at God knows what.

"Why is there a f*cking BLOOD stain on the bed?" Li Fengjin shouted almost destroying their eardrums, pointing at the bloodstain on the bed.

All attention was immediately turned to the bed. Staring back at them was a red-stained sheet and what followed was a deafening scream.

"Oh my God, it's a bloody sheet." This time around, it was Yang Chen's turn to freak out. He did think Li Fengjin was seeing things so he took a look and there it was.

BLOOD

He feared the sight of blood. He paled at the sight and sweat was already falling down his forehead.

Quickly blocking his sight and holding his shoulders, Ye Chaoxiang coaxed. "It's alright Chen. Breathe. Deep breath, calm down."

Breathing heavily Yang Chen stammered, "It- it's bl- blood. I- I don't wanna see."

"Get that thing out of there Tingxiao."

"Right on it," Wang Tingxiao hurriedly disposed of the sheet.

"And you," pointing towards Li Fengjin, Ye Chaoxiang barked, "Get some clothes on dimwit."

Looking at himself, Li Fengjin discovered that he was butt naked. Not a single thread in sight.

"What the-" Li Fengjin quickly grabbed his towel and wrapped himself.

"Why the hell was I butt naked?" Li Fengjin asked.