Chapter 40

Bu Chen's words hit like a thunderclap. Everyone was stunned—the famously decisive Bu Chen, openly siding with Ruan Ning.

Song Shao rushed over to Bu Chen, eyes bulging, veins popping: "Brother Chen, look clearly. This woman colluded with the enemy—she's one of Galiman's accomplices! You're just letting her go without asking a single question?"

Bu Chen's gaze hardened, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Who saw Galiman? He's not even in Country B anymore. What does he have to do with the shooting?"

His single sentence settled the matter and served as a warning. Only then did everyone snap out of it.

Right. If tonight's events got out, wouldn't that just confirm the rumor that Country A had Galiman in custody?

Several of those present had elders who were political heavyweights. Everyone broke out in a cold sweat, realizing they'd nearly dragged their families into serious trouble.

"You mean... you're not going to pursue this?" Song Shao's voice was hoarse, his disbelief plain as he pointed at Ruan Ning's head and shouted desperately, "You're not even going to interrogate this woman? Don't let her pretty face cloud your judgment. This woman is definitely trouble. Who knows, she might put a bullet in you while you're asleep!"

Bu Chen's jaw tightened, and the temperature in the room seemed to drop three degrees.

The people around inhaled sharply, thinking Song Shao really had a death wish, and waited anxiously for the boss's fury to erupt.

Yet the expected storm never came. Bu Chen turned his head unhurriedly, his tone measured: "Do you have evidence? Were you at the scene? The police haven't even cracked the case, and you're insisting it's Galiman?"

A faint, barely noticeable sneer tugged at the corner of Ruan Ning's mouth.

"Bro—Brother Chen..." Song Shao was rattled by Bu Chen's barrage, but stubbornly clung to his attack on Ruan Ning. "Brother Chen, I'm doing this for your own good. This woman isn't from our circle. You can't just take her word for it. You have to be careful."

The guests silently agreed—Song Shao had voiced exactly what they were thinking.

They might throw money around to please their mistresses, but they drew a clear line between insiders and outsiders.

No matter how breathtakingly beautiful a darling might be, once their own safety was at stake, these rich heirs would cut them loose without hesitation. In the end, these women were just playthings to amuse them; when they got bored, they'd move on. It wasn't worth betting their lives and fortunes on some novelty.

Bu Chen gave Song Shao a lazy look. "Are you saying I can't even handle a woman?"

The words struck like a thousand arrows. Song Shao was terrified, immediately lowering his head and slapping his own face in apology, trying to swallow back what he'd said.

"Brother Chen, I never meant that. Please don't misunderstand. I'm just worried that keeping her around is asking for trouble. If anything happened to you, where would that leave us?"

Many of the wealthy heirs and young ladies around them, who relied on Bu Chen to make their fortunes, also stepped forward to chime in: "Yeah, Brother Chen. You're our leader, plain and simple. For anything else, one word from you and we wouldn't say a thing. But this woman absolutely cannot stay. We got lucky dodging the shooting this time—but what if there's a next time?"

"A next time?"

Bu Chen tilted his chiseled face, a storm brewing in his eyes.

"No, no, no! You'll be perfectly safe. There won't be a next time." The crowd quickly shook their heads, regretting that everything they said seemed to be wrong, only making Brother Chen angrier.

At the end of the day, it was all this little vixen's fault. Everyone directed their pent-up frustration at Ruan Ning.

Hostile glares flew at her like blades. Ruan Ning hugged her arms and retreated to the wall, facing the window, ignoring the commotion in the hall.

Bu Chen pushed through the crowd, walked to Ruan Ning's side, and—to everyone's astonishment—took her hand.

Ruan Ning's expression froze for an instant. She tried to pull back, but Bu Chen held on tightly. Unpleased, she warned him in a voice only the two of them could hear: "What are you doing? Let go of me."

Bu Chen said nothing, wrapping an arm around her and slowly walking upstairs amid the shocked stares around them.

The crowd watched their elegant retreating figures, unable to snap back to reality for a long time: Was this really the Bu Chen who never got tangled up with anyone?

Bu Chen was rational and cold, putting profit first in all matters. He would never let a pretty face get in the way of business. Yet here he was, defying everyone's objections and doing as he pleased, just to take away a girl from the slums!

The door to Bu Chen's bedroom closed. Ruan Ning's face flushed red as she hastily shook off his hand, her whole body resisting: "Let go of me. Why did you bring me here?"

The room was empty. The composure Bu Chen wore in front of others was gone, his light-colored pupils now dark and gloomy, like the deep, cold night sea outside.

His grip on her slender wrist tightened. "Do you have any idea what you've done?"

"Let go. You're hurting me." Ruan Ning winced at the pain, struggling to pry apart her reddening wrist.

She wasn't surprised that Bu Chen had seen through her scheming at a glance, just as she could see through some genuine part of the deeply calculating Bu Chen.

In a way, they were the same breed—able to see through each other's masks without effort, reaching a certain unspoken understanding.

The moment she learned Galiman's identity, she'd immediately judged that it couldn't possibly be unrelated to Bu Chen. She hadn't delved into the details, but Ruan Ning was certain that the only one with enough sway to influence international opinion—and bold enough to hide him on his own yacht—was Bu Chen.

In fact, the reason she dared to face down the crowd in public was that she was betting on the unspoken feelings Bu Chen had for her.

And she'd bet right.

Ruan Ning's slender fingers idly tucked a few strands of jet-black hair behind her ear, then lazily leaned close to Bu Chen's ear. Her warm breath and a soft nasal laugh were like seductive strings on a zither—teasing, lingering.

"Go on, tell me. What do you want?"

Ruan Ning was perfectly at ease.

Just as she'd agreed with Bu Chen from the start, their relationship was purely one of mutual exchange.

She'd gotten her result. Now it was time to pay the price.

Bu Chen's thin lips curled slightly into a lazy smile.

His deep, unfathomable eyes traced over Ruan Ning's cold, expressionless face like he was appraising a priceless treasure, murmuring as if to himself, as if in self-mockery.

"When will our relationship be more than just use and transaction?"

Ruan Ning didn't even blink, speaking as if it were the most trivial matter: "If there were no transaction, would I even be on that yacht?"

Bu Chen chuckled softly. "You know him?"

Ruan Ning shook her head. "No. First time I met him."

"Then why did you help him if you don't know him?"

Ruan Ning looked up at Bu Chen's face—not angry, but dark and brooding—and it was as if she could see his domineering, autocratic father reflected in his features. She let out a soft sigh.

"I just couldn't stand by and watch an upright, innocent person suffer."

"You both know perfectly well in your hearts that the people of Country B haven't done anything wrong. They just want back what belongs to them."

Bu Chen's brow furrowed slightly, re-evaluating Ruan Ning as if seeing a stranger.

"So you'd commit treason for someone you don't even know?"

Ruan Ning suppressed the sneer at the corner of her mouth. "Isn't the so-called 'treason' charge just a word from you officials? And for someone to have escaped from your cabin, Master Bu, your security isn't all that impressive, is it? At least he's vanished without a trace now—the slate's clean."

"Good." Bu Chen clapped his hands, the applause echoing through the empty room, each clap sending a shiver down the spine as the temperature seemed to drop three more degrees. "So my Miss Ruan turns out to be an upright, courageous internationalist warrior."

Suddenly he lunged at her, pinning her to the bed. Her dark hair fanned out across the sheets, and he loomed over her like a beast barely restraining its fury, sharp white fangs gleaming with a dangerous cold light. "If you want to play hero, you have to pay a price, don't you?"