1.2.29: Bet of One Year

When Xiao Yunhua woke up the next day, she felt her head overwhelmed with a throbbing pain. Her throat felt dry and her body felt numb. She felt sore—the moment that she realized she was sore and naked, Xiao Yunhua immediately jumped in shock.

She gaped in horror and shame when she realized that she had done the unthinkable when she decided to get drunk. Though she didn't remember, from all these pieces of evidence, it was clear to see what had happened.

Tears stung her eyes, but she refused to let them fall.

Why wasn't she allowed to lose her womanhood in peace? The first time, she had lost it savagely and completely out of her control, and now... she had committed the unimaginable. She felt so disgusted with herself.

Wrapping her arms around herself, she raised her head to see a pair of pitch black eyes staring at her, analyzing every one of her movements. She involuntarily shuddered because his gaze was like a predator looking at its prey.

He was the lion... and she seemed to be the gazelle. One wrong movement and something inconceivable would happen. But despite being afraid, Xiao Yunhua did notice something that he was impeccably handsome.

With his obsidian eyes, long, straight nose, a pair of thin yet perfect lips and a jawline sharp enough to cut steel, this man was definitely handsome. And by the glint in his eyes, it seemed like he knew it. To Xiao Yunhua, he was easily more handsome than Zhou Feng or Zhou Lang or even her previous life's Jiang Rong.

He was wearing a suit that looked to be in the quadruple or quintuple digits. Despite wearing the black suit, his muscles were easily discernible and he looked fiercer than any bodyguard she had seen.

Was this man... Xiao Yunhua didn't bother to complete her thought. He was the only one there, so it must have been him.

The man noticed her frightened appearance and chuckled, his voice brooding and intimidating. "Last night was interesting..."

His four words finally confirmed whatever doubt she had. The tears that she had stubbornly maintained poured down without any thought. Her impetuous behavior had cost her yet another lifetime of wanting to remain chaste.

Not wanting to let the man see her at her weakest, she raised both of her hands and cried silently.

The man, no longer able to tolerate her actions, muttered, "Is it really that difficult to spend a night with me? Many women would beg to differ."

Silence greeted him and it seemed like she began to cry harder, which didn't make the man feel any guilt as he had seen so many women pull the same stunt. He was sure that his next words would immediately stop her from crying and her true personality would be revealed. "Be my mistress." He didn't say lover, girlfriend, or anything else that held a title of significance. To him, she was going to be someone only for his pleasure.

And in return, she would be untouchable and would have infinite wealth.

But contrary to his expectations again, the crying woman didn't stop. She did look up though and her honey colored eyes shocked the man to his very core.

The purest form of hatred he had ever seen was bright and evident in her eyes. She looked at him like he was the very scum of the earth.

Xiao Yunhua knew that she wasn't being fair because it wasn't only him. She was responsible as well. But hearing his words of him casually treating her as a whore made her angry. How narcissistic was one to assume that anyone would be honored to be under them.

"Absolutely not." She had many words to say, but in the end, she could only say those two words. Her eyes were beginning to turn red from crying so much, but it didn't seem like she had any intention of stopping.

"Why?" The man was curious. For someone to reject him, this was even rarer than rare. Be it appearance or status, people threw themselves at his feet. He had seen a few women play hard to get, but the look in her eyes was too much to pretend. Too much emotion and anger for any simple game of playing hard to get.

"Because last night was a nightmare... and nobody wants to remember nightmares."

Once again, her words left him astonished. His dark eyes narrowed until he finally chuckled, though there was no humor in his laughter. "But darling, I'm a daydream dressed as a nightmare."

Xiao Yunhua didn't say anything else and just stared at him. This was the man that she had lost her virginity to? What was she thinking? His arrogance was too untamable.

She turned around and fiercely wiped away her remaining tears. She didn't want to be here any longer.

The man saw her frantically trying to get away from him and laughed again. She saw a plain white dress and a pair of white flats. There was no undergarments for her to wear, but it seemed like the man had prepared the clothes for her in a haste. Even though she didn't want to wear unfamiliar clothes, her dress from the night before was nowhere to be seen. So instead, she was stuck with wearing the dress from the man.

She felt his eyes on her as she slowly stood up from the bed. Slipping on the dress and the shoes as quickly as humanly possibly, Xiao Yunhua didn't want to be there at all.

When she looked at the small mirror on the wall, she felt repulsed. Countless hickeys adorned her neck and seemed to go below to unspeakable places.

She closed her eyes and goosebumps appeared on her flesh.

The man noticed her uncomfortableness and finally decided to tell the truth. "We didn't do anything last night."

Xiao Yunhua opened her eyes in shock and turned around swiftly, not believing him. She pointed at her hickeys and he smirked, "It didn't mean that we almost didn't go completely through. You..." his sentence faltered and it looked like he was remembering a dark memory.

Xiao Yunhua felt so relieved. It looked like it had been her imagination growing wild... She still had prevented her flower from being deflowered. But she was never going to drink again because it was too troublesome!

She looked at the man, grateful that he hadn't completely taken advantage of her drunken state. He didn't say anything, but nonetheless could feel her gratitude.

Xiao Yunhua nodded and turned around to leave, but the man's voice stopped her again.

"Leaving so soon? Don't you want to know who I am?"

Xiao Yunhua smiled, not knowing her smile had caused the man's dead heart to thump for a millisecond before going back to its cold and lifeless self. "We are not going to meet ever again, so what is the point? Just treat last night as a drunken night gone wrong."

The man couldn't believe that the same attitude he had used on all his previous women was being used on him. Was this the infamous karma that never reached him until today?

"Ha..." He mockingly looked at her. "If that is the way you want it to be."

Xiao Yunhua walked towards the door and held the doorknob, finally leaving, but the man stopped her for one last time. "If we were to meet again, you have to give me something. Consider this a bet."

"Oh?" She paused and looked at him with a newfound interest. "What would I win if we didn't meet?"

"If you successfully escape my clutches for one year... then I'll use your information from the island and give you any wish that you desire."

"...And if you win this nonsensical bet?"

"You'll be mine."

Xiao Yunhua was stunned. So he wasn't joking earlier about her being his mistress? This man was more interesting that she had accounted him for.

She mentally scoffed and finally shut the door, silently agreeing to this silly bet. He may look handsome, but how would he be able to discover to identity when the hotel deeply valued privacy?

What Xiao Yunhua didn't know was that it wasn't difficult for the man at all. After all, the island belonged to him... and the next time they met, he wouldn't be simply considered her 'seat'.