10 p.m., Wangchao Hotel.

Evelyn Marsh glanced at the room number. Presidential Suite 7203.

This was it.

Her phone buzzed once. A WeChat message from Gerald Marsh.

"Evie, your aunt agreed. As long as you keep Mr. Barton company tonight, she'll pay your brother's treatment fees right away."

After reading it, Evelyn's pale face didn't change at all.

She'd gone numb. Past the point of pain.

Ever since her father remarried, he had stopped seeing her and her brother as family. For more than ten years, he let their stepmother bully them, crush them, even abuse them like it was nothing.

Not having enough to eat or wear was normal.

Getting slapped, cursed at, humiliated? That was basically daily life.

And this time, because of his business debt, he had actually pushed her here to sleep with a man.

When Evelyn refused, they cut off her brother's medical payments to force her into it.

Her brother had autism. His treatment couldn't be interrupted.

People said even a tiger wouldn't eat its own cubs. Gerald Marsh was worse than an animal.

For her brother, Evelyn had no way out.

Standing outside the door, she took a deep breath, lifted her hand, and knocked.

The door wasn't even fully closed. At the slightest touch, it swung open.

No lights were on inside. The whole suite was drowned in darkness.

Evelyn frowned and carefully felt her way in. "Mr. Barton, I'm coming in... uh..."

Before she could finish, a strong arm shot out and clamped around her throat, slamming her hard against the wall.

Pain exploded across her back.

At the same time, a heavy, overwhelming male presence closed in on her from all sides.

The man’s voice came out low and savage, fury packed into every word. His grip tightened at the base of her throat. "What the hell did you do to me?"

Evelyn Marsh’s mind went completely blank. She had no clue what was happening.

Her throat was pinned, breathing hard. She could only shake her head, forcing the words out bit by bit. "I... didn’t... I don’t know..."

The hand around her neck suddenly loosened.

The next second, the man grabbed her slim waist and dragged her flush against him.

His hard, tight body pressed right into her softness, every line of muscle stark and impossible to ignore.

She couldn’t see him, but she could feel it—his whole body was burning up, hot in a way that was clearly not normal.

When he spoke again, even his breath was scorching. "I’ll give you one chance. Push me away. Get out. Right now."

Evelyn’s eyes widened.

He wanted her to leave?

Was Mr. Barton unhappy with how she was acting? Did he think she wasn’t being proactive enough?

No. She couldn’t go.

Not when Felix still needed the money for treatment.

Since she’d already come this far, there was no point acting precious now.

"I’m not leaving. Tonight..." Her voice shook, but she still forced it out. "I’m yours."

She lifted both arms and wrapped them around his neck, rose onto her toes, and blindly searched for his lips before kissing him.

Clumsy. Stiff. Totally inexperienced.

The man shuddered all over.

Her lips were soft and cool, and in that instant, whatever sliver of reason he had left got burned to ash.

"Are you clean?"

His breathing turned rougher and rougher, like he was holding back something brutal.

Evelyn didn’t dare think too deeply about it. Humiliation washed over her. She shut her eyes, lips trembling.

"Clean..."

"You’d better not be lying."

With that, he scooped her up in his arms and tossed her onto the bed, then pressed down over her.

"Good girl. After tonight, you're mine."

His strong hand pinned her by the waist, pushing her deep into the sheets. His voice was low and rough, almost hoarse.

Then the burning kisses came down on her like a storm...

Humiliation mixed with pain. Evelyn Marsh bit her lip and shut her eyes tight...

But little by little, she couldn't take it anymore. She cried and begged him, voice shaking, yet the man acted like he heard nothing. If anything, he got more intense, like he had endless energy to burn.

The whole night, it felt like dying and being dragged back to life over and over again...

Evelyn was jolted awake by pain.

She was trapped in the man's arms, held tight against his chest. There was a faint smell of tobacco on him, blended with a cool mint cologne.

Honestly... it smelled kind of good.

Evelyn tried to get up, but the arm slung across her waist held her down so firmly she couldn't move.

"Awake?"

The man turned over and covered her body with his, scaring her so badly she didn't dare twitch.

"Good girl, you didn't lie to me. You're mine now."

Cool fingertips brushed across her cheek, and there was obvious satisfaction in his voice.

"Want to shower together? Can you even walk on your own? Or should I carry you?"

"Huh?"

Evelyn was so startled her hands clenched into fists. She refused in a panic, words tumbling out all wrong. "N-no, no need. You... you go first..."

"Heh."

The man let out a short laugh. He thought she was just being shy, so he didn't push her.

"Fine. I’ll shower first."

He pinched her cheek, then rolled out of bed. "Wait for me."

Wait for him? Was she insane?

He’d already tossed her around the whole night like she was made to be broken. Wasn’t that enough?

The bathroom light clicked on. At least the room was no longer pitch-black, no longer that awful blur where she couldn’t see a thing.

Evelyn Marsh shoved herself upright in a hurry.

"Hiss—"

The second she moved, a sharp pain shot through part of her body and made her suck in a breath. She was probably hurt.

She had no time to care.

Using the light spilling out from the bathroom, Evelyn scrambled to gather her clothes from the floor. Gritting through the pain, she pulled them on as fast as she could, then before the man came out, she slipped out the door and ran.

The moment she stepped out of the hotel, her phone rang.

Evelyn swiped to answer. "I did what you told me to do. Felix’s treatment money..."

"You little brat! You think this is some joke?"

Her stepmother, Vivienne Caldwell, exploded on the other end.

"Where the hell were you all night? You promised yourself you’d take Stella’s place and keep Mr. Barton company! And you seriously didn’t even go? You’ve still got the nerve to ask me for treatment money for that idiot brother of yours?"

Evelyn let out a cold laugh. "When I left, Mr. Barton was in the shower. What, now you want to back out?"

"Bullshit!" Vivienne snapped, furious enough to sound like she might smash the phone. "Get your ass back here right now! If you’ve pissed off Mr. Barton, are you going to pay off the debt yourself?"

Then she hung up.

Evelyn froze, stunned.

Vivienne didn’t sound like she was lying. But last night, she had clearly...

So it wasn’t Mr. Barton?

Then who was the man from last night?

What the hell was going on?

...

Inside the hotel room, Brandon Sherry stepped in and pulled the curtains apart. Dawn was just breaking, and that pale blue-white morning light slipped quietly through the window.

The sound of running water from the bathroom stopped.

A moment later, Adrian Lockwood walked out with a towel wrapped low around his waist.

He was tall and straight, all clean lines and effortless strength, broad shoulders, narrow hips, built like some ridiculously perfect male model. His features were sharp and striking, and there was still a faint trace of post-pleasure laziness hanging over him, like he hadn’t fully come back to himself yet.

He flicked a glance at Brandon, then looked around the room.

No sign of the girl.

His brows drew together. "Where is she?"

Brandon froze for a second, then shook his head. "When I came in, there was no one here."

Adrian curved his thin lips slightly. His gaze landed on the splash of vivid red staining the snowy white sheets, and his eyes narrowed, calm and unreadable.

"She ran?"

Didn’t he tell her to wait for him?

Seriously. Not obedient at all.

The corner of his mouth lifted in a dark, dangerous little smile.

Ever since he’d become an adult, plenty of people had tried shoving women into his bed. It wasn’t exactly new. But the only time anyone had actually succeeded... was last night.

Someone had drugged him.

And they’d pulled it off.

Was it only because of the drug?

Or was that girl different?

"Brandon, look into what happened last night. And that girl too." Adrian’s voice was low, casual, but there was no missing the command in it. "Find her for me."