Fury and Fall

Bao En had no idea what expression to wear. She stared at the face she usually adored, appearing at the most unwelcome moment, his features so blank they were nearly unreadable, leaving her to wonder just how much he had overheard.

Damn it!

If he had heard the contents of her trade with Fu Liangxia, if Su Xingshu learned that they were using him as a bargaining chip...

Bao En couldn't help but shiver.

She stood frozen, unsure whether to speak up and explain herself, but afraid that Su Xingshu had only just arrived, and that an explanation would only make things worse.

Thinking about it, she had really lost out this time—not only had she missed Young Master Su's live performance, but she might also have earned a black mark against her name.

The silence stretched into something eerie, and for a long moment none of the three spoke. Finally, Bao En scraped together a flimsy excuse and took her leave.

As much as she craved close contact with Su Xingshu, this was definitely not the situation for it. When it came to idol worship, distance created beauty—she preferred to stay far away from her idol's personal life.

So Bao En slipped away without a shred of guilt.

And Su Xingshu, of course, had heard everything. He had heard Fu Liangxia using that cold, detached tone of hers to strike a deal with someone else, as smoothly as always.

He had always known she was smart, and ruthless—a complete businesswoman through and through.

But some part of Su Xingshu had secretly clung to the notion that maybe, just maybe, he was different to her.

And yet, just now, that pathetic fantasy of his had been shattered by Fu Liangxia's own hand.

She had taken the video he sent her and traded it away, all for the position of a fan club president.

Ha...

Su Xingshu's veins bulged on his wrist as he silently fixed his gaze on the faintly smiling girl, turbulent emotions surging beneath his eyes.

He could have given her everything, and she didn't want it—yet she cared about some stupid fan club president position!

The way she curved her lips during negotiations was stunningly beautiful, her full red lips glistening enticingly under the moonlight. With every open and close, however, her words were like sharp blades, stabbing deep into Su Xingshu's heart: "Since it's part of the deal, of course I'll give it to you."

Su Xingshu's body trembled slightly, barely containing his emotions. He should have felt furious—no one had ever dared to price his feelings so plainly and trade them away so casually.

But damn it, he actually thought she looked even more beautiful like this!

Su Xingshu felt like he was going insane.

Even as anger and hurt warred within him, he found himself falling even deeper into her charm, helplessly.

Su Xingshu called himself pathetic in his own mind.

He should have stepped forward and made her pay for what she had done.

But he didn't.

Su Xingshu emerged from the shadows, yet the girl in front of him still wore that unruffled expression, as if she felt not the slightest guilt at being caught.

Fu Liangxia smiled as she met his gaze, watching him approach step by step. The boy's tall figure cast a dark shadow over her, yet she seemed oblivious, asking casually, "What are you doing here? Getting bored?"

Su Xingshu furrowed his brow slightly, looking at her seriously, but Fu Liangxia simply tilted her head up to meet his eyes and praised, "I heard you singing earlier. It was really nice."

A smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth, half-smiling, half-not. "Oh, really?"

Fu Liangxia seemed not to notice the hidden emotion in his eyes. Her gaze fixed on him, reflecting a clear, cold light, her long lashes slightly lifted like wild lilies blooming on a mountainside: "Of course. If I hadn't had something to take care of, I would have loved to hear the whole thing."

She was spinning it like it was true.

Su Xingshu cursed her silently as a little liar, but his lips still curved upward slightly.

He lowered his gaze and asked casually, "Is that so? What song was that I was singing?"

Fu Liangxia had been too busy talking with Bao En to pay attention to what the background music was, so she improvised on the spot: "I think it was a song I've never heard before, but it was really good."

Su Xingshu's gaze paused on her face at that. "Never heard it?"

Fu Liangxia could tell he didn't believe her, but she still needed him, and she had been caught red-handed, so she had to find a way to talk her way around it.

She strained to recall the melody from earlier, hummed a couple of lines from the chorus, and blinked up at him, as if to say she wasn't lying.

Su Xingshu thought for a moment, barely recognizing it as the tune he had been singing, and asked, "Didn't it sound at all familiar?"

Fu Liangxia put on an expression of deep thought: "With such a good song, if I'd heard it before, I'd definitely remember it."

If even one word of what she said was true, he'd write his name backward from now on.

Su Xingshu reached out and pinched her chin, his fingers gliding ambiguously over her lips, his gaze fixed unblinkingly on the spot as his thumb slowly traced back and forth: "Fu Liangxia, you really are something."

His tone was almost gritted through his teeth.

The song he had been singing earlier was the very one he had recorded for her in the video he sent.

But because he had noticed she was gone, he had stopped halfway through and never finished it.

After that, Su Xingshu stayed silent for a long time, but Fu Liangxia felt like her lips were burning under his gaze.

She was getting tired of holding her head up, so she asked, "Well, if there's nothing else, I'll head back first?"

Su Xingshu was stifled for a moment, and his fingers on her chin tightened involuntarily: "You said you wanted to hear me sing, so I sang, but you didn't listen to a single note, and you even traded my video to someone else... Do you really think I won't get angry?"

She hadn't even given him any of the fruit platter.

He had grilled meat too, and sung for her—but she hadn't given him anything.

Fu Liangxia's expression remained calm: "Wanting to sing is your business, and listening or not is mine. Is there any necessary connection between the two? And as you saw, I really did have something to take care of."

"And I did listen—I can even hum the song you sang," she said flatly.

Su Xingshu almost got tangled up in her perfectly logical chain of reasoning. After a moment's pause, he gave a soft laugh and looked at her, saying, "Anyway, I'm hurt. You owe me compensation."

Fu Liangxia was truly impressed by these heirs of aristocratic families. Even though they weren't from the same book, how was it that they had mastered the CEO routine to perfection?

She lifted her lashes and said lazily, "How should I compensate you? With my body?"

Su Xingshu's breath hitched, and the restless irritation clogging his chest threatened to flare up again.

He stared at her moist lips, knowing she was joking, yet unable to help feeling annoyed, his thoughts inevitably wandering along the ambiguous path she had hinted at.

Su Xingshu just stared down at her, his eyes black as ink, lust spreading through them like something wild burning out of control.

Under such a gaze, Fu Liangxia gradually grew a premonition. Instinctively, she tried to pull back to escape his hold, but the next second, her waist was seized.

The boy almost pulled her half into his embrace, his fingers lingering on her skin for only a few seconds before slowly trailing down her neck: "Fu Liangxia, you really are something."

Fu Liangxia heard slightly quickened breathing. She kept her head tilted up as Su Xingshu held her even tighter. A low, hoarse pant sounded by her ear, carrying waves of ambiguous heat.

So easily affected?

She let out a light laugh, but before she could say anything else, she felt a heavy weight press against her lips.

As if he had been holding back for too long, Su Xingshu kissed her fiercely and urgently. His tongue slipped into her mouth, scraping across the delicate inner walls, bringing a tingling, numbing pleasure. Though he came on strong, he seemed mindful of her feelings, his movements full of pleading.

His tongue probed for her sensitive spots, slowly sucking, churning...

Su Xingshu gradually moved from her lips to behind her ear, his dense kisses trailing slowly downward, making her legs weaken, and even her skirt swayed lightly with the motion.

Fu Liangxia was completely trapped between Su Xingshu and the wall. The boy's kiss landed on her collarbone, where he bit down as if venting his frustration.

But the force wasn't great; hard teeth and a soft tongue swept across her skin, which instead brought a flash of pleasure. She couldn't help but grab his hair tightly, fingers sinking deep into the strands. The night breeze swept by, the fabric over her chest fluttered lightly, and cool air slipped in.

In front of her was the boy's fiery body; behind her, the cold wall. Fu Liangxia felt as if she had fallen into a fantasy woven of ice and fire.

Fu Liangxia wasn't one to be coy. She hadn't wanted it at first, but Su Xingshu had apparently picked up some new skills somewhere, and his kissing felt good, so she went along half-heartedly without refusing.

She lightly wrapped her arms around his narrow waist as the wind lifted her hair, staining it with cold moonlight. Cool air crept up her skirt, and she went soft in Su Xingshu's embrace, responding lazily.

Not fully invested, simply being pleasured.

She wondered what mouthwash Su Xingshu used; a fresh scent drifted across from his lips, and it was actually quite pleasant.

What she didn't know was that this very scene was being witnessed by a third party.

Bai Xin didn't care for noisy places. He hadn't stayed long on the beach before heading back to the villa. The villa had a fine view, not too close and not too far from the bustle. Firelight flickered on the beach, and the vines on the balcony hung low, casting the scene into a different kind of beauty.

Bai Xin was dressed casually—a clean gray tee paired with black track pants, his half-length pink hair pulled back with a headband. Leaning against the railing, he possessed a beauty that seemed to transcend dimensions.

Between his fingers on the railing rested a lit cigarette, the tiny flame illuminating a corner of the night.

Bai Xin's mind uncontrollably wandered to the moments from earlier that day, and he felt the imprint of the girl's soft lips on his own, still vivid.

This shouldn't be.

He knew well that she was the girl his brother liked, and he himself carried an engagement on his shoulders—he couldn't afford to harbor thoughts he shouldn't have.

Bai Xin took a drag of his cigarette, hoping the night breeze would calm him down, when he suddenly heard faint sounds from downstairs.

The noises were ambiguous—mixed with subtle wet sounds, a boy's low breathing, and a girl's soft moans... enough to make anyone's ears turn red.

Instinctively, he glanced down, but he had no interest in spying on others, so he straightened up and prepared to leave.

What he hadn't expected was to recognize the people there.