Chapter 1: I Refuse to Be the Other Woman
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“You’re getting engaged?”
At that moment, Song Yanzi was overwhelmed by a certain emotion. Her senses were extraordinarily clear, yet her mind remained unnaturally lucid.
Beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows, the city blazed with lights, skyscrapers rising one after another.
The man holding her tightly from behind stiffened abruptly at her words. He turned her around, drew close once more, and lowered his head until his forehead rested against hers, the tips of their noses touching.
At such intimate distance, their heated breaths mingled and tangled together.
Shen Yichi leaned toward her moist, alluring lips and gave them a gentle suck.
When he released her, he smiled faintly. “You still have enough energy to think about other things? Looks like I haven’t been trying hard enough.”
His rich, resonant voice had barely faded when a surging wave of heat swept over her.
Shen Yichi appeared restrained and impeccably mannered, an elegant gentleman to all outward appearances. In private, however, he was nothing short of a refined scoundrel.
“Who told you?” The man lifted her into his arms and turned toward the interior.
His steps were steady, neither hurried nor slow.
Song Yanzi instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck, her long legs locking around his solid waist to keep from falling.
Only after steadying her breathing did she speak lazily. “It’s already making the rounds in our circle.”
The Shen and Sheng families were joining forces through marriage—a union of two powerful houses.
Though it had not been made public, it was hardly a secret.
The man’s voice was husky, laced with barely restrained desire. “President Song is busy managing countless affairs every day. You still have the energy to pay attention to this kind of rumor?”
As soon as the words left his mouth, he buried his face in the crook of her neck and gave her a light, punitive bite.
The force was neither heavy nor gentle, just enough to make Song Yanzi shiver instinctively.
“It’s not that I was especially interested. It’s just that your good news has been spreading everywhere. It would be difficult not to hear about it.”
Once the two families were joined in marriage, it would mean the complete end of their hidden relationship.
And she would have to find another way forward.
Shen Yichi regarded the seductive woman before him with composed amusement. “So?”
Song Yanzi enunciated each word. “I won’t be the other woman.”
That was her principle and her bottom line.
Two years ago, when her company had fallen into crisis and she had been left with nowhere to turn, she had no choice but to seek out Shen Yichi.
That single decision had drawn two people who stood bitterly opposed to each other into entanglement once again.
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The man let out a helpless laugh and placed her on the large bed, his tall, well-built body covering hers.
“Then may I ask what this makes you and me now, President Song?”
“It makes…”
Song Yanzi was about to answer when the untimely ring of a phone abruptly interrupted her.
They both turned toward it. It was Shen Yichi’s phone.
The man had just reached out when Song Yanzi’s slender hand clasped his broad, sharply knuckled palm, their fingers interlocking.
Their eyes met, and the man regarded her with a meaningful look.
Song Yanzi smiled brightly. “Since I won’t be able to sleep with President Shen after tonight, I might as well make the most of it.”
Before he could say anything, she sealed his lips with a kiss.
A complicated emotion flickered through the man’s dark eyes, but vanished in an instant.
The next second, Song Yanzi pushed him down, and their positions were reversed.
After two years as bed partners, after countless intimate encounters, they had developed perfect understanding and rhythm.
Song Yanzi knew exactly how to tease Shen Yichi.
The man was thoroughly captivated, losing himself in the pleasure.
Taking advantage of the fact that he was too distracted to notice, she secretly switched off his phone.
To accomplish her goal, she used every skill at her disposal and held nothing back.
…
The following morning.
Song Yanzi’s body clock had always been remarkably punctual.
When she opened her eyes, she found that the man beside her was still asleep.
Even in slumber, he maintained an air of distinguished elegance.
She glanced at him once, without the slightest trace of reluctance, then rose quietly and left the room without a sound.
Outside the hotel, the assistant who had been waiting for some time spotted her figure and immediately got out of the car to open the door.
Before long, the Maybach pulled away from the hotel.
The car proceeded smoothly along the main road.
Song Yanzi sat in the passenger seat, poised and composed.
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“Did you get it?”
From the driver’s seat, her assistant, Liu Jia, replied confidently, “President Song, the contract has been signed successfully.”
Song Yanzi showed no unnecessary emotion. “You’ve worked hard.”
“You’re the one who worked hard, President Song,” Liu Jia said as she steered the wheel.
Without President Song’s planning and advice, the matter would have been far more troublesome.
“President Song.”
“Hmm?”
Liu Jia hesitated. “It’s just… well…”
Seeing her struggle to speak, Song Yanzi prompted her. “If you have something to say, say it directly. Don’t beat around the bush.”
Liu Jia spoke frankly. “I’m worried that if President Shen finds out you set him up, he might…”
She did not finish, but Song Yanzi understood perfectly well what she meant.
In Rong City, the Shen family—and Shen Yichi in particular—possessed overwhelming power and influence. No one dared provoke him.
Moreover, over the past three years, Shen Yichi had led the Shen Corporation to even greater heights. He was no longer the man he had once been.
The light turned red, and the car came to a smooth stop.
Silence settled over the vehicle.
After a long while, Song Yanzi said with absolute confidence, “Don’t worry. He won’t.”
Seeing the certainty on her face, Liu Jia was puzzled, but she did not dare ask further.
As an assistant, one had to know when to stop and never cross the line.
Meanwhile, Shen Yichi woke to find the space beside him empty.
After washing up and dressing, he went to look for his phone, only to discover that it had been switched off.
His handsome, refined face revealed no excess emotion, but a dark shadow lingered in his eyes.
As expected, the moment he turned the phone on, calls and messages poured in without end.
He called his assistant back.
An anxious voice came through the phone. “President Shen, this is bad. Our contract has been snatched away by Hengan.”
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