Bitten by Love: The Younger Wol's Prey

In the bottom right corner of her laptop screen, a tiny w******p icon blinked steadily. Lu Man’s heart skipped like a little lamb, bouncing in rhythm with the flashing light. She clicked it open. A new message popped up: “Lu Man, are you there?” Her fingers flew across the keyboard. “Senior, I’ve made up my mind. I’ll help you with that favor.” “Really? That’s amazing—thank you so much, Lu Man!” He must have been thrilled. After all, it was a ridiculous plan, and yet someone had actually agreed to go along with it. Lu Man curled her lips wryly. Looks like she's officially joined the ranks of the hopelessly ridiculous. “Um, Senior,” she typed, “you’re not just going to say thanks and leave it at that, right?" I mean, I’ll be paying quite a price here.” She hit send and immediately regretted the wording—it sounded way too suggestive. Her cheeks flushed pink as she bit her lip, ready to clarify. But before she could type another word, a new message came through. “No worries, Lu Man. Here’s a draft of the contract. "Take a look and let me know if you’d like anything changed.” Contract? Lu Man blinked in surprise, then opened the document. To her astonishment, it was a formal, no-nonsense agreement. Professional, even. The general idea was this: Lu Man agreed to pose as Luo Shaoyang’s temporary wife—strictly in name, of course (mainly to fool a visiting Japanese business associate). During the period of negotiations, she’d move into the Luo family estate and assume the role of the young mistress of the house. She’d have to cut off contact with anyone unrelated to the Luo family. There were even clauses about expenses—all of which would be covered by Luo Shaoyang—and, more shockingly, a generous compensation offer for her time and trouble. Lu Man's eyes widened at the sum. Truth be told, she hadn’t agreed to this absurd fake-marriage scheme for money. No, she had her own little secret motive—this was a once-in-a-lifetime chance. Her long-time crush, her very own sweetheart, had handed her a golden opportunity to get close to him. Romance 101, right? Her mind was already filling with blurry daydream scenes straight out of a rom-com. She shook her head hard to erase them—nope, nope, filter out anything too spicy. Still, it seemed Luo Shaoyang wasn’t just asking her to pretend for nothing. That payment figure alone could convince anyone they weren’t crazy to agree. And the contract… let’s just say this was no amateur draft. It screamed high-level business precision, dripping with experience and strategic charm. (Well, okay, maybe she was the only one reading into it that way—but still!) She couldn’t help but offer a silent little prayer of worship to her senior—so smart, so handsome, so composed… swoon. But a tiny wave of guilt hit her. The last message she sent had sounded like she was asking for money. With a twinkle in her eye and 30% embarrassment, 70% hopeless crush, she typed: “Senior, about that payment… don’t worry about it. "We’ve known each other for years—talking money just feels too impersonal, right?” “Lu Man, please don’t be polite. I already feel bad about taking up your time. It’s just a token of appreciation. If you refuse, I’ll feel even worse.” “Well… in that case, I’ll go with your plan for now. We can talk about the payment later.” That number really was outrageous. But who was she, Lu Man, if not principled and pure of heart? No way would she ever be money-hungry. … Though falling for a pretty face? Yeah, she was guilty of that. And besides, if she really snagged this bachelor, who needed cash when there were diamonds in the future?