Lin Ruan didn’t bother replying. Setting her phone aside, she went upstairs to change. With her slender waist and full hips, Lin Ruan had the kind of figure that could make a burlap sack look like it belonged on a runway. But she walked with a limp, a fact that pants only accentuated. As a result, her wardrobe consisted entirely of dresses. Her favorites were figure-hugging slip dresses; the deliberate sway of her hips as she walked was enough to draw attention away from her leg. Lin Ruan had barely driven off when her phone rang. It was Ge Wei, already screaming the moment she answered. “Who the hell do you think you are, Lin Ruan? Do you have any idea what the Zhou family is worth? You should be thanking your lucky stars they’d even look at you. How dare you refuse?” *So, she waited until Lin Shanshan was out of earshot,* Lin Ruan thought. A sneer tugged at her red lips. “If the Zhou family is such a great catch, why don’t you marry your precious daughter to him?” Ge Wei sputtered, her voice shrill with rage. “How dare you compare yourself to Shanshan? You’re not even worth her little toe! Shanshan is destined to marry into the Gu family.” “Oh,” Lin Ruan drawled. “But she hasn’t managed that yet, has she?” Done wasting her breath on Ge Wei, Lin Ruan hung up and pointed her car toward the Gu Corporation’s underground garage, then headed straight for the CEO’s office on the top floor. Gu Minhang was already there, back earlier than usual. He leaned back in his leather chair as she entered, his brow furrowing slightly. “How much did you have to bribe my staff to get up here?” A smile played on Lin Ruan’s lips as she sauntered over and settled onto his lap, draping her arms around his neck. “Your people are sharp. You really think there’s anyone out there who doesn’t know about us? Who would dare try to stop me?” Gu Minhang shot her a sidelong glance. Their arrangement was meant to be kept in the shadows, but she flaunted it at every opportunity, shameless as a siren. He gave her waist a squeeze. “Here so early. Miss me?” Lin Ruan’s red lips formed a playful pout. “Of course. Don’t you know how much I adore you?” A faint smile touched Gu Minhang’s lips, but he remained silent, just watching her, waiting. He knew her too well. For Lin Ruan to skip her usual morning lounging and rush all the way here meant she was after something. She didn’t beat around the bush. Toying with the collar of his shirt, she began her complaint. “My stepmother wants me to marry Zhou Haishan.” “Sounds fine,” Gu Minhang said, unconcerned. “He wouldn’t dare touch you, anyway.” Her playful mood vanished. “What’s the difference between that and being a nun?” His fingers began to twist a strand of her hair. It was long and lustrous, a sheet of jet-black silk she obviously took great care to maintain. It was that hair that had first caught his attention at the Lin family villa. He could still remember that night clearly: Lin Ruan in a deep red, velvet slip dress, her body half-curled over the second-floor terrace railing as she watched him below. That cascade of black hair against the crimson fabric had been utterly bewitching. He’d been ensnared before he even knew it. “Beg me nicely,” Gu Minhang said, “and maybe I’ll take care of him for you.” Her smile returned, dazzling. “Or, we could just make this official. You could marry me.” The movement of his hand in her hair ceased. His gaze turned glacial as he looked at her, and then he shoved her off his lap. Unsteady on her bad leg, she couldn't catch her balance. She stumbled backward several steps before crashing against the corner of the desk behind her. The hard edge of the wood dug into her lower back, a pain so sharp it brought a cold sweat to her skin. Gu Minhang didn’t even glance at her. His voice was ice. “If you don’t understand the rules, then get lost.” Lin Ruan was a mess when she left his office. A throbbing pain radiated from her lower back, and she drove straight to the hospital, one hand pressed to the ache. At the hospital, Lin Ruan lay facedown on an examination table. Her dress was bunched around her hips, leaving her entire back exposed to the cool air of the room.