The man had no desire to know anything about this woman. As long as things went smoothly, they would have no further dealings with each other. For now, he only needed to do what a man was supposed to do.
"Take off your clothes and lie down on the bed."
The man's icy voice rang out, low and commanding.
"Did you hear me? Immediately."
Seeing that the woman made no move, he once again revealed the domineering aura of a sovereign—as though this woman in the darkness were nothing but his slave.
Qin Jingwen's heart clenched at that cold, distant voice. Just as she reached out to undress, her phone rang.
The ringtone was unsettling in that silent, pitch-black environment — yet when she saw the caller ID, a faint glimmer of hope kindled within her.
……
Qin Jingwen quickly answered the phone, but the other party gave her no chance to speak.
"Qin Jingwen, don't you need money? I can give you a chance. We've known each other long enough, yet you haven't let me lay a finger on you. All you have to do now is fly over immediately, get into my bed, and serve me well—then I'll cover your mother's medical bills."
A single sentence from the other end of the line shattered the hope Qin Jingwen had just begun to kindle, once more.
"Chu…"
"Don't call my name. You're not worthy."
Qin Jingwen wanted to explain herself, but who could have known she was actually despised to such a degree.
"Can you calm down and let me explain? You've sentenced me based on nothing more than a few words from someone else — do you think that's fair to me? Was the love between us ever real? Or could it be that……"
Qin Jingwen was fighting for herself with what little dignity she had left, yet the other end of the line had long since run out of patience.
"No need for explanations. This is the only chance I'm giving you — you have the right to choose, but not the right to explain."
Qin Jingwen felt as though her entire being had plunged into an ice pit. The last shreds of her fragile pride had been trampled beyond recognition, and her heart ached so deeply it had gone numb.
At this moment, the only one who could make her feel a little less worthless was the man standing right before her.
"I've already found a man. The money he gives me, you could never match. What we had is over — I just hope you don't get fooled again."
The words had barely left her lips when Qin Jingwen hurled her phone hard into the corner of the room. Then, seething with fury, she began tearing off her clothes, until she lay on the bed without a stitch on her.
A chill crept through his body, and deep within, his heart had long since frozen over beneath a thick layer of ice.
The call Qin Jingwen received was clearly from a man. This made him knit his cold brows, his lips parting in a sneer.
"If she's not a virgin, don't even think about getting a single cent."
To Qin Jingwen, the cold, hard warning was nothing short of a profound humiliation. How had her life come to this—that she no longer even had the right to be trusted?
"Try it and you'll know."
For the sake of money, she could only force herself to sound brave.
Qin Jingwen had no experience of the world, and her whole body trembled when the man touched her. Yet as his warm palm roamed slowly back and forth, a feverish heat began to spread through every inch of her.
Qin Jingwen lay naked on the bed, her whole body drained of strength from the ordeal. The ache between her thighs still lingered with stark clarity, the residual warmth of the room had yet to fade — and yet what reached her ears was the man's cold, pitiless voice.
"These next few days are your ovulation window — you're not going anywhere. I'll come by whenever I want."
The man had already swiftly thrown on his bathrobe, his back to Qin Jingwen, his words utterly devoid of warmth.
The man took two steps forward, then stopped.
"I'm warning you — take the money and you follow the rules. Otherwise, the consequences are yours to bear."
And just like that, Qin Jingwen was left behind by that cold, heartless man in this strange and pitch-dark bedroom.
At that moment, she finally let out a long breath of relief, and her tears fell in an unstoppable stream.
The next day, the man came once more, and Qin Jingwen once again carried out her duties — only today's situation was considerably better than the day before.
After the passion faded, before they had even lingered in each other's breathless silence, the man rose without mercy — and Qin Jingwen felt the chill settle in his wake.
The room was still pitch black, yet Qin Jingwen sat up and wrapped the bedsheet around herself.
"I… can I go out for a bit this afternoon?"
Qin Jingwen asked tentatively.
Yet the icy voice left her disappointed.
"No. If you want out, return the money."
The man quickly straightened himself up, then strode toward the door.
"Wait, when can I get out of here?"
Qin Jingwen continued to press her questioning.
The man acted as if he hadn't heard, and kept walking toward the door.
In her desperation, Qin Jingwen jumped straight out of bed and stood bare before the man, her back pressed flat against the cold door panel — while her front ended up in seamless contact with him, not a breath of space between them.
The man collided into the woman's warm body just like that — not aroused, but annoyed instead.
"Get out of my way."
Though the loud roar had frightened Qin Jingwen somewhat, she was determined to hold her ground.
"I'll get out of the way once I've finished saying what I need to say."
"I know you don't trust me. I know that my leaving would break the rules. But…"
"Shut up, no buts. Move aside or I'll throw you out of this room."
That cold, cutting voice rang out once more, sending Qin Jingwen's little heart lurching up and down in her chest.
"Sir, please don't be angry. I just want to know when I can go out. I won't run away, and I won't see anyone — if you're worried, you can have someone follow me. I…"
Qin Jingwen wanted to shout back in rage, yet her current predicament left her with no grounds to be arrogant.
"I'll say it one last time — get lost……"
"Get lost" — two words. The man only got the first one out. The second was swallowed whole by the madwoman standing before him, taken straight down by her mouth.
This was the only way Qin Jingwen could think of to make the man calm down.
The man, eyes cold and brow furrowed, gave her a hard shove and pushed Qin Jingwen away from him.
"Ah…"
Qin Jingwen fell to the ground, yet even so, she failed to keep the man — nor did she gain any chance to leave.
The man left with cold arrogance. Qin Jingwen staggered to her feet and only then turned on the hanging light inside the room.
Better not to have looked — but now that I had, the tears came unbidden.
From the moment she was born until now, when had she ever been subjected to such humiliation—how was this any different from being imprisoned? With her family destroyed and her home in ruins, she had also been betrayed by her boyfriend. Was there anyone in this world worse off than her? How had she managed to make such a tragedy of her own life?
Wiping the bloodstains from her arm, Qin Jingwen switched the lights back off. She moved to the window and parted the heavy layered curtains just a sliver, catching a glimpse of that man's tall, imposing silhouette.
Long, slender legs. A steady, measured stride. A suit cut perfectly straight, every strand of hair immaculate. Even a glimpse of his back alone was enough to make fangirls scream—yet this man was Qin Jingwen's lifelong shame, a silhouette she would never, for the rest of her life, be able to forget.
Her phone was smashed beyond use, the hospital unreachable, and with the door locked she had no way out — Qin Jingwen was nearly going out of her mind.
Enduring the wait until dinnertime, a maid came to bring her food, and after pleading at length she finally managed to borrow a phone to call the nurse.
Only after learning that her mother and younger sister were temporarily showing no abnormalities did she finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Now all she had to do was persuade the man to let her go out and pay her mother's medical bills.
Qin Jingwen opened the door and called for the maid.
"Tell your boss that my body temperature is rising right now — it's the optimal time for ovulation. He'd better come over."
This was the only way Qin Jingwen could see him now—everything else, she had no room to worry about.