America: I came here to study, not to show mercy.

At nine o'clock in the evening, the night was deep and the neon lights in the cubicles of the steel jungle could not penetrate. There were not many cars on the road, but it was by no means deserted.

In this world's most prosperous city, driving along the streets between skyscrapers, Li Xiaoen's gaze was fixed ahead, yet it was as bright as day.

The faint, drawn-out sound of sirens rang in my ears, adding a touch of deadly allure to this dreamlike city.

Just like the alluring and captivating Catherine beside him.

“Hey, Catherine…”

The touch was silky smooth and soft, slightly cool, and incredibly pleasant. Li Xiaoen glanced at Catherine from the side, "Have you forgotten? I'm a man, and you're a woman..."

"No matter what, I'm not at a disadvantage by doing this. On the contrary, as the daughter of an American media tycoon, is it really appropriate for you to do this?"

As soon as she finished speaking, Catherine paused, her hand holding Lee Shawn's suddenly stopping, as if she had just realized what was happening.

With his hand free, Li Xiaoen didn't retract it. Instead, he chuckled and took the initiative to rub the other person's thigh up and down.

"Sean..."

With a soft laugh, Catherine glanced at him sideways, her face darkening slightly. She opened her mouth to say something, but then immediately pulled it back.

Just as Li Xiaoen was wondering what was going on, she took out her phone from her bag and pointed the camera at her thigh.

Click, click, click...

Several quick and crisp sounds rang out, and Li Xiaoen's heart skipped a beat. He quickly withdrew his hand, but unfortunately, these actions were only a case of locking the barn door after the horse had bolted.

"You're not going to send this to someone, are you?"

Wanting to retrieve his sheep, Li Xiaoen saw Catherine fiddling with her phone and his heart skipped a beat. He quickly asked, "You need to understand, if these photos are leaked, not only will my reputation be affected, but yours will be too, and it might even impact the company..."

"Don't try to scare me!"

With a sidelong glance and a sharp rebuke, Catherine rolled her eyes and sneered, "I sent it to Sophie, saying that her boyfriend was harassing me in the workplace..."

"Even though she only got a picture of his hand, it was enough for her to figure out which scumbag was the one who kept saying office romances were strictly forbidden..."

"Hey hey hey..."

Li Xiaoen's face darkened. "Catherine, don't try to absolve yourself of this. In the first place, didn't you pull my hand onto your thigh yourself?"

"Really? I don't remember."

With wide, innocent eyes, watching Li Xiaon's increasingly sullen expression, Catherine grew happier, a smug smile playing on her lips. "Then let Sophie decide. I'll say mine, you say yours..."

"..."

This woman is really troublesome.

Li Xiaoen let out a breath. Seeing that Catherine was still engrossed in fiddling with her phone, he gritted his teeth, took one hand off the steering wheel, and placed it back on her thigh.

Snapped.

A crisp sound suddenly rang out amidst the melodious music in the car. Li Xiaoen felt the flesh of the thigh in his hand ripple like ocean waves. It was still silky and soft to the touch, and he began to rub it up and down greedily without any restraint.

"hiss……"

Catherine gritted her teeth and let out a cry of pain. She instinctively looked up from her phone, quickly grabbed the hand that was messing with her thigh, and glared at him. "Sean, what are you doing?!"

"I'm doing what you were trying to do earlier."

Li Xiaoen laughed twice, easily breaking free from Catherine's grasp. With Catherine's hands blocking his way, he could only explore other areas, such as his knees and even the inside of his thighs.

"what……"

With another gasp, Catherine squeezed her legs together, her body involuntarily bending and curling up, her hands pressing down hard on the young man's mischievous hand. This action not only failed to move the hand away, but instead allowed it to touch even more of her skin.

The intense heat above almost burned her.

"You scumbag, let go of me!"

Catherine, panting heavily, forced herself to suppress her discomfort and glared angrily at him, "You bastard...scum...scoundrel...poor wretched creature no one loves..."

Are Americans really that weak when they swear?

Li Xiaoen's expression was strange. He shook his head with amusement, glanced at the other person sideways, conveying an unmoved look, and then began to try to break free of the restraints again...

"..."

"Sean, Sean..."

Suddenly, Catherine's tone changed, and Sean Lee looked over again, only to see that her originally charming and arrogant aura had vanished, replaced by a pitiful, downtrodden look, which made him raise his eyebrows in surprise.

It has to be said that seeing this proud and charming woman, who often teased him, in this state was quite pleasing to Li Xiaoen, and his heart immediately began to burn.

"Let go, stop touching me, okay..."

Having tried every resistance but to no avail, Catherine's voice even carried a hint of a sob as she spoke these words.

"Alright, since you've sincerely apologized, I'll mercifully forgive you."

Li Xiaoen sighed softly, withdrawing his outstretched hand from between Catherine's thighs, but instead of putting it back on the steering wheel, he placed it on her thigh and made no further move.

"..."

"Dirty!"

Not knowing whether to remove her hand or hold it down, Catherine stared blankly at the scene, her breath caught in her throat, and she angrily cursed at Sean Lee.

"Isn't this exactly what you did, the one who pulled me over there in the first place?"

Li Xiaoen smiled helplessly, "To be honest, it felt really nice there, and I didn't want to take it back."

Driving a luxury car and touching the legs of a beautiful woman in the passenger seat, he at least got to enjoy the pleasures of being a rich second-generation.

Thinking this, Li Xiaoen found it amusing, and his hand gently caressed her up and down...

Noticing Catherine's tense and uneasy body, Sean Lee felt both helpless and sentimental.

This guy, who's all talk, had teased him countless times before, inviting him to spend the night at his villa. And this is it?

The dinner was held at a high-rise hotel on Fifth Avenue. After parking the car, Catherine didn't get out for a while, so Sean Lee went over and opened her car door.

"what happened?"

Li Xiaoen asked, looking down.

"Tell me, what's wrong with me?!"

Catherine clenched her fists, really wanting to punch Li Xiaoen's innocent yet confused handsome face. She took a deep breath, her full chest heaving, and had to turn her head away to forcibly suppress the urge.

Do you want to rest?

Li Xiaoen realized what was happening, and with a strange expression, turned around to look at several colleagues riding in the company's MPV not far away. "They're waiting for us. How long will it take you?"

"You go upstairs with them, I'm not eating!"

She rolled her eyes at him, her face downcast, and turned her head away to look elsewhere.

"You're a huge contributor to this exhibition, how could we do without you?"

Li Xiaoen spoke slowly, understanding the other's anger, and bent down to stroke Catherine's slender waist and the back of her knees. "What are you going to do now?"

Noticing the young man's actions, Catherine exclaimed in surprise and immediately struggled to get up.

"I'll help you, and we'll get across together."

Li Xiaoen replied helplessly, carrying Catherine's struggling body, lifting her out of the passenger seat, and closing the car door to completely prevent her from moving back to her seat.

"Put me down in a place like this."

It was the first time in her life that she had been held like this, and Catherine was a beat slow to react. Her eyes widened, and she suddenly noticed several pairs of eyes watching her from not far away. She panicked and began to struggle again.

"Okay, okay, watch your step."

Li Xiaoen nodded in agreement with amusement. He had to admit that Catherine was the heaviest girl he had ever hugged. Perhaps it was because she was busy with work and rarely exercised. Her curvaceous figure gave him a different kind of charming and tender feeling compared to girls her age.

Although he kept saying that she was an old woman, Catherine was actually only a few years older than him.

Upon first touching the ground, Catherine staggered a few times, startling him so much that he reached out and supported her by her slender waist.

"Let me help you across."

Li Xiaoen offered a word of comfort and helped Catherine reunite with her colleagues who were waiting there.

"Let's go first and make a reservation at a restaurant and at a food stall."

Catherine's assistant, a young woman named Valerie who was in charge of personnel management, greeted them with a smile and led the other colleagues to turn around and walk into the building.

"It seems that this girl named Valerie is quite perceptive about the situation."

Li Xiaoen himself didn't care, but considering Catherine's possible embarrassment, Valerie's initiative was naturally a good thing. "Catherine, the girls you brought along are all quite outstanding."

"Then I thank the boss for his recognition on their behalf."

Rolling her eyes, Catherine's face flushed and her breathing became labored as she vividly recalled the amused looks from her colleagues. She grabbed the young man's arm and bit down on it.

"Hey, why did you bite me..."

After a moment of surprise, Li Xiaoen exclaimed and was about to pull back when he saw Catherine biting even tighter and harder. The movement caused her head to shake violently, so he had no choice but to stop pulling and slump his shoulders in frustration.

"Alright, alright, as long as the beautiful Miss Catherine can calm down, I'll bite you even if it hurts, I'll do it willingly..."

"is it?"

Lifting her head from the young man's arm, Catherine looked at him with cold eyes, but instead gave him a gentle smile. "Thank you, Sean. You'll be welcome then."

"what??"

Li Xiaoen raised an eyebrow. "Catherine, you should know that I was still carrying you up to the restaurant."

Catherine glanced at the young man, then looked down at the arm she was holding, where a tooth mark still remained, covered in her saliva. The young man was very strong; in the car, she couldn't overpower him with her bare hands, but now she had him easily under her control.

Even so, Li Xiaoen did not struggle when her arm was grabbed.

Rolling her eyes, Catherine disdainfully shook off the arm.

"Hey……"

Li Xiaoen glanced silently at his arm, then looked up at the night sky with a sigh, "In this world, which boss can do what I have?"

"Being harassed at work, being tricked by an unscrupulous boss who does absolutely nothing, or diligently handling company affairs..."

Catherine sneered without backing down, "Tell me, which employee in this world can do what I do?"

"Um……"

Instead, Li Xiaoen frowned seriously and pondered for a moment, "Our company is in a period of rapid development. Let's put aside the shares I promised you for now. The monthly salary I'm giving you right now is the highest level of compensation a senior manager in Manhattan, New York can expect..."

"Of course, you have given a lot, and my treatment is far from enough to compensate you."

Halfway through his sentence, noticing Catherine's stern face and resentful gaze, Li Xiaoen chuckled and added, "I was just discussing the salary and benefits offered to you. Faced with US dollars, I think there are still people who can work this hard and even dedicate themselves wholeheartedly to their work..."

Are they as capable as me?

Catherine gave a nonchalant snort, her little face full of undeniable pride, "Could you do as well as me?"

"If it were anyone else, who could completely control a company from scratch, who would suddenly lose their mind and abandon their own company to work for a heartless boss like you and start a business..."

"Okay, okay, I admit it."

Li Xiaoen nodded repeatedly, "Actually, Catherine, to be honest, I'm very grateful to that mentally unstable person."

"..."

"hiss--"

Their eyes met briefly, and Li Xiaoen's smiling brows quickly furrowed, letting out a long hiss.

"Okay, okay, I won't say anything more, alright?"

Li Xiaoen was both amused and exasperated. He held Catherine's slender waist and stroked it up and down as a gesture, while reaching back with his other hand to grab the hand that was pinning her there.

"It seems that someone doesn't deny that he is an unscrupulous, hands-off boss."

With a light laugh, Catherine's hand, which had been on Sean Lee's waist, quickly shifted to another spot, mimicking the other's earlier actions.

Unfortunately, it immediately and precisely grasped it in its hand, and after struggling in vain, it could not move.

"Let go!"

"Let go, so you can keep pinching me?"

Li Xiaoen laughed in exasperation, and the hand on the other person's slender waist began to wander.

"Sean, you..."

Her body tensed instantly, she shuddered, and Catherine glared at him through gritted teeth.

And so, bickering briefly, the two walked along, entered the hotel building through a side door, and stepped into the magnificent lobby on the first floor.

Dozens of eyes immediately gathered around them. The two of them snapped out of their daze and tacitly stopped denouncing each other.

"I've regained my strength, let go."

Struggling, Catherine broke free from Sean Lee's embrace and turned to her side to quickly tidy her clothes and hair.

"Let's go up."

The restaurant was on a high floor, requiring an elevator. Ignoring the surprised looks from the girls, and to avoid wasting time dealing with their attempts to chat him up, Li Xiaoen raised his chin and handed over Catherine's bag.

He helped Catherine over, and naturally took the bag from her hands.

"My legs have regained their strength, but my hands haven't."

Catherine glanced down at this, then looked up at Sean Lee with a sweet smile, "Sean, you can hold it for me for now."

Li Xiaoen: "??" (End of Chapter)