The heartless beauty is addicted to being licked by a seemingly obedient and loyal dog.

This meal was nothing short of a long torture.

The truffle steak on the plate had long since gone cold; the solidified fat clung to the edges of the snow-white bone china, emitting a nauseating, fishy smell.

Song Yunqi mechanically repeated the cutting motion, her mind a jumbled mess. The insincere clinking of glasses around her turned into sharp noises in her ears.

My phone, which was in my pocket, vibrated twice.

Song Yunqi paused for a moment, then, using the napkin as a cover, took out her phone and glanced at it.

A WeChat message from Shen Chonglu lit up the screen, filled with sticky, affectionate text:

[We've only been apart for a day, but it already feels like an eternity.]

When are you coming back? I miss you so much.

[Puppy crying.jpg]

The words of love were direct and passionate. Song Yunqi felt as if something had burned her heart. Her fingertips hovered above the screen for a moment, and her long eyelashes drooped down, concealing the complex emotions in her eyes.

Normally, he might have coldly made a few sarcastic remarks, but now he didn't even have the energy to pretend to be calm.

In this utterly disgusting manor, Shen Chonglu's naive yet sincere attempts to show goodwill are all the more precious.

After a moment's thought, he slowly typed "read" and pressed send.

At the head of the table, Lu Qingyuan only took a few sips of soup before putting down his cutlery. Seeing this, the butler immediately bent down and draped his coat over Lu Qingyuan's shoulders.

Before leaving, Lu Qingyuan simply said, "Enjoy your meal, everyone," and then strode away from his seat with steady steps.

After the head of the family left, the atmosphere at the long table did not ease; instead, it became even more eerie.

Several uncles from collateral branches held wine glasses, their eyes constantly shifting between Song Yunqi and Lu Jinci. The cousin and maternal uncle, who had just been spouting nonsense, turned ashen-faced and didn't dare to even glance in their direction. They hastily ate a few bites and then made an excuse to slip away.

Song Yunxi didn't want to stay a moment longer. Five minutes after Lu Qingyuan left, she stood up with a cold face and walked quickly towards the bedroom on the third floor.

He walked with great speed, the hem of his clothes creating a smooth arc in the corridor. Reaching his room, just as he was about to push the door open, a large, well-defined hand unexpectedly reached out from behind and firmly supported the heavy mahogany door.

"Why are you running so fast, my fiancée?"

Lu Jinci's deep voice, tinged with amusement, sounded behind my ear, followed by a sense of oppression mixed with the aroma of red wine and sandalwood.

Song Yunxi's expression changed, and she was about to forcefully pull the door open when Lu Jinci, taking advantage of his size, shoved her shoulder and squeezed Song Yunxi into the room with her.

With a "bang," the door was locked from behind.

"What are you doing?! Get out!" He turned around abruptly and questioned, his back pressed against the cold entryway shoe cabinet, his phoenix eyes wide open, filled with undisguised disgust.

Lu Jinci seemed not to hear his expulsion, casually tearing off the ruby ​​brooch from his collar and throwing it on the coffee table next to him.

He took a step closer, placing his hands on either side of Song Yunqi's body, his tall frame completely enveloping the slender young man in his shadow.

"Father has already announced it publicly; tomorrow night is our engagement party. How long are you going to keep hiding from me?"

The man lowered his head slightly, his lingering gaze falling on Song Yunqi's eyes, which were slightly red from anger. He reached out to touch the face he had longed for for over a decade.

Song Yunxi abruptly turned her head to avoid his touch and raised her hand to shove hard into the man's chest.

"Are you satisfied now?" Song Yunxi gritted her teeth, her voice trembling with extreme humiliation.

"Using your father to intimidate me, bringing these filthy things to the forefront. Lu Jinci, you disgust me."

"Disgusting?" Upon hearing these two words, a hint of almost neurotic malice flashed in Lu Jinci's eyes.

He suddenly reached out and grabbed Song Yunqi's wrist, pulling her forcefully into his arms, their bodies colliding without any gap.

"You've always been mine. From the day you entered the Lu family at the age of five, every inch of you has been labeled with my name, Lu Jinci!"

The man's breathing was heavy, and his eyes churned with a madness and greed that had been suppressed for many years:

"I've loved you so much, waited for you all these years, let you run wild and cause trouble outside, whether it's that Shen Chonglu or Meng Zhaoyuan, I've worn one green hat after another, do you think you can escape now?!"

Lu Jinci used great force, his other hand gripping Song Yunqi's waist as he tried to kiss her tightly closed lips.

"open!"

A fierce rage erupted in Song Yunxi's eyes.

The pent-up frustration and anger of the past two days exploded completely in that instant. Without the slightest hesitation, he bent his knee and slammed it into Lu Jinci's groin.

Having spent so many years navigating the underworld, Lu Jinci reacted extremely quickly, dodging to the side to avoid a fatal blow, but his thigh was still hit hard.

He groaned, and the grip on his hand loosened.

Seizing the opportunity, Song Yunqi broke free of her right hand, grabbed the crystal ashtray on the coffee table, and smashed it over Lu Jinci's head.

With a sharp "smack," the ashtray struck Lu Jinci's forehead, instantly splitting it open. Blood trickled down his pale cheek, blurring half of his eye.

The excruciating pain in his forehead made Lu Jinci completely tear off his mask of hypocrisy.

He cursed under his breath and pounced on Song Yunqi like a raging beast, throwing her onto the thick Persian carpet.

Although Song Yunqi had been in business for many years, he had never neglected self-defense training. However, faced with an absolute difference in strength and size, his resistance seemed inadequate.

The two began to wrestle violently on the carpet.

Lu Jinci grabbed his shoulder with one hand and pressed him to the ground, roughly tearing off the buttons of his shirt. The sound of the fabric tearing was particularly jarring in the quiet room.

"You'll be mine sooner or later anyway. If you get things done tonight, you'll behave yourself at the banquet tomorrow night!"

Song Yunxi's back ached from the rough wool fibers, and his neck was scratched by fingernails as he struggled. Seeing that his shirt was about to be torn open, his eyes turned red, and he mustered all his strength to lift his head and bite Lu Jinci's shoulder hard.

He bit down so hard it was as if he were tearing a piece of flesh from the man's body, and a strong, metallic taste of blood instantly filled his mouth.

"hiss--"

Lu Jinci cried out in pain and instinctively raised his hand to slap Song Yunqi across the face.

"Snapped!"

The crisp sound of a slap landed, and Song Yunxi was slapped so hard that her head turned to the side, her bangs covering her eyebrows and eyes, and blood seeping from the corner of her mouth.

Lu Jinci stood up, clutching his bleeding shoulder, and looked down at the disheveled young man who was still glaring at him with hatred.

His handsome face was full of violence, and his chest heaved violently. In the end, he still suppressed his anger, not wanting to hurt Song Yunqi.

"Song Yunqi, you've got guts."

Lu Jinci raised his hand and wiped the blood from his face, his eyes filled with a frighteningly sinister look.

"You think you can stay so high and mighty for a few more days? After tomorrow night, I'll have plenty of opportunities to make you cry under me. We'll see what happens in the future."

After saying that, he picked up the brooch from the ground, kicked the chair next to him in a fit of anger, and slammed the door shut as he left.

The room fell silent once more.

Song Yunqi lay on the cold carpet for a long time before finally sitting up, her body aching terribly. She went to the bathroom, looked at her swollen cheek and disheveled clothes in the mirror, and felt no warmth in her eyes.

He quickly rinsed the blood from the corner of his mouth with cold water and then applied ice to his face. After calming down completely, he changed into a clean turtleneck sweater, covering the scratches on his neck, and left the room.

Go find Lu Qingyuan.