The Downfallen Heiress and Her CEO's Pursuit

Deep love is a destiny that cannot be escaped.

——Inscription

....

At the end of October in Yaocheng, the deep night sky brought biting cold winds and a flurry of snow.

Outside the window, the cold wind howled while inside, the heater was turned up to twenty-nine degrees, sending heat rising.

Yao Qing woke with a start from her sleep, drenched in sweat.

The pounding of her heart sounded like muffled thunder in her ears as she reached for the cigarette box on her bedside, only to grasp empty air.

She had dreamed of a man.

Hidden beneath his profound brows and eyes were tempestuous storms, rage and ruffian air suffusing his being. His sharply defined jaw pressed against the shell of her ear as she was squeezed into a corner, his biting words scorching her consciousness.

He said, "Yao Qing, you pulled me up from hell, don't even think about escaping this lifetime."

Yao Qing opened the window, and the cold air from outside surged in fiercely, making her shiver involuntarily, yet also feeling strangely relaxed.

After the Yao Family went bankrupt, she left Yaocheng, and before she realized it, four years had gone by.

Perhaps it was returning to her old haunts that brought dreams of old acquaintances.

Yao Qing spaced out, brought back to the present by a voice from behind.

"Why aren't you sleeping in the middle of the night? You're out here catching a cold, Yao Qing, are you nuts...?" Sleep-muddled Ruan Qiu was jolted awake by the cold air and looked at Yao Qing near the window as though she'd seen a ghost.

Yao Qing faltered for a moment.

She had forgotten that the hotel she was staying in offered a double room; she and her agent shared the suite.

"Sorry, I got a bit dizzy, needed some fresh air," she excused.

Ruan Qiu muttered from beneath her blanket, "Aries are always so intense, go back to sleep. We still have to meet Director Wang tomorrow."

Yao Qing was about to explain that her dream was not the shameful sort, but then suddenly, discordant fragments burst into her mind.

Forget it, no need to explain shit.

She closed the window and lay back down.

......…

Beauty Village, situated in a prime spot by the river, was famously a high-class banquet venue.

Those who came here either sought to change their own destinies or someone else's.

Yao Qing felt she belonged to the former group.

Otherwise, she wouldn't be wearing an evening gown in such cold weather. This had been Director Wang's instruction.

Director Wang liked his actresses to wear pretty clothes, to be a pleasing sight.

"I'm off to attend Director Wang's banquet. If you can't contact me after two hours, call the police immediately," Yao Qing told Ruan Qiu as she stood at the entrance of Beauty Village.

Two weeks prior, she returned from Country F, having auditioned and landed the role of the second female lead in Director Wang's new drama.

As she was leaving, Director Wang slipped a note to Ruan Qiu, indicating that if Yao Qing did not visit Beauty Village, the role would be given to someone else.

What kind of person is Director Wang?

He's known to stir up a scandal with each drama he shoots, with eight out of ten beautiful actresses having been romantically linked to him in the tabloids.

But the director had the knack for success; each drama he shot became a hit.

His invitation to Yao Qing to attend the banquet was clearly a trap.

Ruan Qiu nodded and followed Yao Qing's voice with her eyes.

The pearl-colored mermaid dress flowed elegantly, and her softly curled jet-black hair fell to her slender waist. Under the dim lighting, her fair skin shone translucent, and her figure was so delightful that even Ruan Qiu sometimes felt envious.

Her features were pure and delicate, a perfect body paired with innocent looks and her indifferent demeanor—

In Country F, someone had once praised Yao Qing: those prettier than her did not have her figure, those with a better figure did not have her beauty, and those who surpassed her in both aspects did not possess her charisma.

"If you had listened to me and stayed in Country F, you wouldn't be in this situation now," Ruan Qiu lamented. Competing for a secondary female role with a horde of women, only to face the risk of being taken advantage of now that she had finally got it.

Yao Qing had debuted in Country F two years earlier and had gained a modest reputation.

Ruan Qiu thought Yao Qing would continue her career there; who would have guessed that during her rising popularity, she would suddenly decide to return home without giving any reason? She was always like this, impulsive yet composed.

Yao Qing was swallowing antacids; her poor lifestyle over the previous years had left her with a weak stomach.

She offhandedly remarked, "It's my destiny."

Everyone has their fate, and returning to her country was a destiny she had always been bound for.

Yao Qing had always believed in destiny, until she became entangled in a complex and inseparable bond with that man, and then she was convinced of it all the more.

[ps: My Weibo "Qing February_Extras" is here—you can see it if you follow.]