Qinghu City, Blazing Hue Café.
Night had just settled in, and the café was washed in soft, warm light. In the booth by the window, Adelaide Sinclair narrowed her eyes and stared lazily at the neon-lit street outside, clearly bored out of her mind.
On the glass, her reflection looked almost aggressive: heavy makeup, overdrawn brows, dark shadow around the eyes, lips painted a vivid blood-red, plus a pair of absurdly huge earrings hanging off her ears. The woman in the reflection looked like the kind of person nobody would naturally warm up to.
And that was exactly the point.
Because tonight, under direct orders from her mother, Adelaide was here on a blind date.
Sure enough, she had barely zoned out for two minutes before a hoarse voice scraped past her ear.
"Miss Sinclair, are you even listening to me?"
Adelaide snapped back from her thoughts, turned her head, and saw the man across from her frowning at her with obvious displeasure written all over his face.
He looked to be around thirty-five. Very average features. If he lost another sixty pounds and his hairline came down a couple of inches, maybe he'd look a little better.
Only a little.
At the very least, he might stop looking quite so sleazy.
"Mm." Adelaide lifted a brow and answered flatly, more out of courtesy than interest.
This was already the seventh blind date she'd had this month. Honestly, saying it out loud sounded ridiculous. She was only twenty-six, yet her mother acted like if she didn't get married immediately, the sky would fall. The next several weeks of her schedule had already been packed out for her, like this year wouldn't end until she was successfully shipped off into marriage.
But Frederick Aldridge was clearly not happy with her reaction.
He looked like he wanted to lose his temper, but held it back. After a brief pause, he adjusted himself and said, "Miss Sinclair, to be honest, I'm barely satisfied with your looks. So how about this—we skip the wasting time and settle the marriage first?"
Adelaide had just lifted her glass and taken a sip of water. The second she heard that, she nearly sprayed it out. She raised her brows high and looked at him like he'd just said the dumbest thing on earth.
"Mr. Aldridge, right? If I remember correctly, this is the first time we've ever met?"
"That's right, first time," Frederick said confidently, flashing a mouthful of nicotine-stained dark teeth. He even gave her a smug little grin. "But the matchmaker already told me about your situation. You're not exactly young anymore, and you're in a hurry to get married. Me agreeing to this is already me accommodating you."
He paused, then kept going like he was reading terms off a contract.
"But let me be upfront first. I just started my business, so money's tight right now. If we get married, your family needs to provide a house as dowry. No less than one hundred thirty square meters, and it has to be within the third ring. The deed should have both our names on it. As for the car, I've already bought one, but it's financed. After marriage, my salary will go toward the loan, and your salary can handle the household expenses."
Adelaide was so mad she almost laughed. Her eyes narrowed, hiding the cold mockery underneath.
"Oh? So should my family also throw in two million in cash while we're at it?"
"Two million?" Frederick's eyes lit up on the spot.
Even though he tried hard to act calm, his voice still trembled with excitement. "Well... it's not exactly a lot of money, but something is better than nothing. In that case, we can hold the wedding next month."
As he spoke, he actually reached across the table, trying to grab the hand Adelaide had resting there.
"Hold your head." Adelaide yanked her hand back at lightning speed, snatched up her bag, and stood up to leave.
She genuinely had no idea where this guy got his confidence from.
He was so gross it was making her skin crawl.
"Miss Sinclair?" Frederick saw her getting ready to leave and hurriedly stood up too, stepping in front of her to block her way. He looked baffled, as if he couldn't process what was happening. "What exactly are you dissatisfied with about me?"
The moment he stood up, Adelaide Sinclair realized he was actually shorter than she was. And she was only 165 centimeters, plus she was wearing flats today.
Shorter than her, yet somehow twice as wide. She seriously had no clue how her mom’s old bestie had managed to look at this guy and decide he was tall, handsome, well-built, and basically some Song Joong-ki-level dream man.
"Mr. Aldridge, I don’t think we’re a good match." Seeing quite a few people already glancing their way, Adelaide really didn’t want to keep wasting energy on this creep. She moved to go around him and leave.
"Why not? I think we’re perfectly compatible." But Frederick Aldridge just would not quit. He reached out and grabbed her arm. "Miss Sinclair, did you misunderstand something? Sit down, let’s talk this out."
"Let go!" The greasy feel of his hand on her arm instantly made her skin crawl. Adelaide flung her arm hard, but she used too much force. Her foot suddenly slipped, and with Frederick letting go at the same time, she lost her balance and pitched backward.
She was just about to hit the floor when she heard a sharp ripping sound too, like her clothes had been snagged and torn.
It was peak hour in the café, the busiest time of day. People had already been watching when Frederick was pulling at her, and now that someone had yelped, even more heads turned their way.
Adelaide thought she was absolutely done for. This humiliation was happening live and in public. In her head, she had already sliced that classless idiot into a thousand pieces. She swore that in a minute, she was going to make him pay.
Just as she was about to fall, a strong hand suddenly wrapped around her waist and hauled her back up in one clean motion. Adelaide instantly crashed into a firm, solid chest. A clean, pleasant scent hit her first—not cologne, not anything fake, but that crisp, unmistakable masculine smell.
For a second, she froze.
Her heart kicked up without warning, thumping wild and fast, like a deer losing its mind in her chest. That scent... it felt weirdly familiar.
A long time ago, she had caught a similar scent on that person too...
Something flickered in her heart, a tiny spark of hope she couldn’t stop. She lifted her head almost instinctively.
But of course, she was doomed to be disappointed.
The face that came into view was completely unfamiliar.
Still, it was absurdly handsome. Dark, sharp brows. Cold, piercing eyes. A kind of nobility in his features that looked inborn, not performed. His pupils were deep black, almost like whirlpools, the kind that made people feel as if one more look and they’d be pulled all the way under.
He was tall. Really tall. Dressed in a perfectly tailored suit, with broad shoulders that made Adelaide look tiny—she barely came up to his shoulder.
One glance was enough for Adelaide to tell this man had a powerful presence. Especially those eyes. The kind of man who clearly liked control, and probably held it too.
"Miss, are you alright?"
She had been staring at him a little too long. His gaze dropped to her face—that face she had practically plastered with makeup like paint—and his brows drew together ever so slightly. His tone was cool, detached even, but still polite.
Adelaide blanked for a beat. Then she followed his line of sight and finally realized he had already let go of her, while she was still clutching the front of his shirt.
"Sorry! Oh—no, thank you!" Her face flushed red on the spot, and she hurriedly let go.
The man gave a small nod and said nothing else. He casually tugged at his tie, then turned to leave. Behind him followed another young man in a suit, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, equally striking in appearance. He respectfully handed over a wet wipe. Adelaide watched as the tall man took it, carefully wiped his hands, then tossed it into the nearby trash can.
Adelaide frowned.
A weird feeling rose in her chest before she could stop it.
Was that... him thinking she was dirty?
Good-looking people always drew attention, and two handsome men showing up together like that was basically impossible not to notice. Adelaide could tell the whole café had locked onto them, especially the women. Some were sneaking glances, and a few had even pulled out their phones to snap photos of his back.
What a bunch of lovestruck idiots.
Adelaide Sinclair shook her head and bent down to pick up the bag that had fallen at her feet.
The second she lowered herself, the corner of her eye caught someone rushing up from behind. A woman. Dressed to the nines, makeup flawless, heels easily four inches high, moving so fast it was obvious she was in a hurry.
Adelaide didn’t think much of it. After grabbing her bag, she simply stepped aside out of the way. That brief touch with the man just now had stirred up memories she’d buried deep a long time ago, and for a moment her mind went blank. She was so out of it that she completely failed to notice the woman in those sky-high heels was charging straight at her.
By the time Adelaide snapped back to her senses, a wave of heat was already coming right at her face.
Coffee.
Someone was throwing hot coffee at her!
