Wen Shuang, you have never realized just how captivating you truly are.

Lin Ansheng managed, through both coaxing and persistence, to persuade Wen Shuang to accompany him to the hospital. They took care of the bruise on his eye. The handsome young man had gone in for a meal and come out looking like he’d been given panda eyes. Lin Ansheng found it amusing even as he looked at himself in the mirror.

“I’m sorry,” he said, “I’d meant tonight to be a thank-you dinner for you, but I didn’t expect things to turn out like this.”

Wen Shuang felt a pang of guilt; she could guess, with near certainty, what had caused the fight. Lin Ansheng walked her to the building where she lived. “It’s all right. As long as you’re willing to keep treating me to meals in the future, that’s enough for me.”

She caught the implication in his words.

“I’m sorry, Lin Ansheng. First of all, I’m truly grateful to you. You helped me when my family was at its lowest point. But if what you’re seeking is a relationship, I really can’t give you that.”

She lifted her face, her almond-shaped eyes full of a clear refusal.

“Are you really so heartless? Not even a sliver of a chance?”

Wen Shuang answered seriously, “At this point in my life, I truly can’t get involved in a relationship.”

Besides, Lin Ansheng was Qin You’s childhood friend, and after the visit to the police station today, she had no desire to complicate matters further.

It was strange, really. In the past, she’d been able to arrange a one-night stand with Ji Shen as an act of revenge against Qin You, but with Lin Ansheng, she just couldn’t bring herself to do the same.

Perhaps Officer Ji was simply more attractive—more to her taste.

“Well then, I won’t trouble you any further.” Lin Ansheng pressed a hand to his swollen cheek. “But I won’t give up so easily, Wen Shuang. Good night.”

Wen Shuang didn’t understand how, after all she’d said, Lin Ansheng still refused to give up.

“...Why?”

He smiled faintly. “Wen Shuang, it’s because you have no idea how captivating you are.”

In the night wind, the woman wore a lotus-pink dress that revealed her slender, straight calves, her long, wavy hair cascading to her waist, alluring and elegant. That unconscious charm was the most fatal kind for a man.

Lin Ansheng had liked Wen Shuang from the first moment he’d seen her years ago. Unfortunately, Qin You had gotten there first. Now that Wen Shuang and Qin You had finally broken up, he certainly wouldn’t let this chance slip by.

Realizing she couldn’t make him understand, Wen Shuang gave up and went home.

But as she reached her door, a scream escaped her lips.

The entryway was splattered with blood.

Gathering her courage, she turned on her flashlight and discovered it was all black dog’s blood that someone had thrown.

Afraid someone might be lurking inside, she immediately called Tang Yan.

“Shuangshuang, what’s going on over there?”

Wen Shuang turned on the lights as she scanned the apartment. “Someone poured dog’s blood at my door. I’m calling just to make sure I’m safe. Otherwise, if I get kidnapped again, there’ll be no one to save me in time.”

Tang Yan picked up on the important point. “Who poured the blood? Don’t tell me it was that bastard Qin You!”

Now that she mentioned it, that was indeed possible. Wen Shuang briefly recounted the chaos that had unfolded at the restaurant that evening. Tang Yan listened, swearing the whole time.

“Damn, this Qin You really is sick! Breaking up and then pulling this crap—anyone would think he was some tragic lover, but in the end he’s just a scumbag. And as for him and Xia Anran—birds of a feather, may they be miserable together forever!”

Wen Shuang let out a cold laugh. “Who can disagree?”

She took the flashlight and checked the entire apartment thoroughly, making sure there were no hidden cameras before finally letting out a breath and collapsing onto the sofa. With a practiced motion, she pulled off her bra and tossed it onto the bed.

“This is just exhausting, day after day!”

Tang Yan, feeling both sorry for her and protective, reminded her to install more surveillance cameras at the door. “That way, if anything happens, you’ll have evidence for the police.”

“By the way, Shuangshuang, are you still in touch with that Officer Ji?”

Wen Shuang thought of Ji Shen’s face and sighed. “We’re not from the same world. Besides, he’s Qin You’s uncle—it’s just impossible.”

—

Ever since her last meeting with Wen Shuang at the hospital, the old lady couldn’t get the girl out of her mind. Every few days, she would call Ji Shen. “Grandson, how are things going with that young lady I introduced to you?”

Ji Shen thought of Wen Shuang, who’d left with Lin Ansheng that night, and answered coolly, “Your young lady has already been whisked away by another man.”

“What? She’s that popular? I knew the girl I picked would be charming. Ah Shen, you have to move faster, or someone else will beat you to it!” The old lady urged him earnestly. “Otherwise, I’ll just say I’m celebrating my birthday next week—invite her over for the party!”

Ji Shen: “...”

“Grandma, it’s bad luck to celebrate a birthday early. There’s no need for that.”

“I don’t care. I just like that girl. You have to win her over for me this month, or I won’t let you off!”

At the same time, Madam Ji also messaged him, asking how things had gone that evening with Chen Manli. Ji Shen felt a headache from all these women pressuring him. But the girl his mother had introduced was nothing like Wen Shuang—she didn’t interest him at all. So he didn’t bother replying.

—

The next day, Wen Shuang installed cameras at her door.

She’d rented a single room in an old neighborhood with no security downstairs, not exactly the safest place for a woman living alone. When she first moved in, she’d even prepared two sets of men’s clothes to hang on the balcony alternately, to give the impression that a man lived there. She also signed for deliveries and takeout under the name “Wen the Mighty,” a name that sounded particularly intimidating.

On her way to work that day, Wen Shuang suddenly received a string of calls from unknown numbers.

As soon as she answered, a man’s angry voice bellowed, “Wen Shuang! When are you going to pay back the debt? Your family still owes us ten million!”

“What ten million?”

“Don’t play dumb. Of course it’s the money your father borrowed!” The man’s voice was rough and menacing. “I’m telling you, pay up soon or I’ll smash your place!”

Wen Shuang immediately thought of the dog’s blood at her door last night. “Was it you who threw that at my home?”

The man growled, “If you don’t pay up, that’s just the beginning!”

Wen Shuang prided herself on protecting her personal information—there was no way it could have leaked unless someone had deliberately exposed her phone number and address. She called Aunt Chun.

Aunt Chun answered, “Wen Shuang, so you finally remembered to call home? I thought you’d died out there for good!”

Wen Shuang pressed, “Did you give my personal information to those debt collectors?”

“What are you saying? Aren’t you your father’s daughter? Don’t you want to pay his debts for him? Let me tell you, Wen Shuang, don’t think that moving out means you can escape these debts—they’re yours! Even if you run to the ends of the earth, it won’t help!”

Wen Shuang retorted, “How could my father have been so blind as to marry a woman like you?”

With that, she hung up with a slam.

Now that the debt collectors had her number, they harassed her constantly, flooding her with threatening messages. Worse still, they had even come to her workplace, damaging her reputation.

Gritting her teeth, Wen Shuang demanded, “What do you people want? I told you, I don’t have money!”

The man eyed her up and down. “Miss Wen, if you can’t pay the ten million in one go, we have another solution.”

“What solution?”

“Come dance at our bar tonight—each time will count for two thousand off your debt.”