CHAPTER 6: THE PUBLIC LIE
614 Words
CHAPTER 6: THE PUBLIC LIE
By evening, the penthouse buzzed with quiet urgency.
Lian stood in front of the full-length mirror, wrapped in a black satin dress that hugged her curves and dipped low in the back. The slit up her thigh was bold, intentional. A stylist—silent and efficient—had done her hair in loose waves and painted her lips crimson.
“I’m not your trophy,” she’d told Kai earlier.
“You’re not,” he’d said. “You’re my proof.”
Proof of what, she didn’t ask.
Now she was in the car with him, the city lights flashing across his face as they drove toward the event—a charity gala filled with the elite. Politicians. Investors. Enemies in designer suits.
Kai hadn’t looked at her once during the ride.
But his hand rested on her thigh the entire time.
“You can take your hand off me,” she said, teeth clenched.
“I could,” he murmured. “But then I wouldn’t enjoy watching you squirm.”
She shoved his hand away. He only smiled.
The ballroom was blinding—chandeliers like stars, champagne on silver trays, music that echoed like silk.
People turned when they entered. Kai Ren, cold and powerful, with a woman on his arm. Rumors flew instantly—who was she? Why was he showing her off?
His arm snaked around her waist like a collar.
“Smile,” he whispered in her ear. “We’re in love, remember?”
“You don’t know what love is.”
His smile never faded. “No. But I know what possession feels like.”
They moved through the crowd like a storm dressed in elegance. Lian smiled tightly when she had to. Nodded when introduced. But inside, she was screaming.
Until a woman approached—tall, gorgeous, too familiar with Kai.
“Didn’t know you traded your women so fast,” the woman purred, eyes cold as glass. “She’s a little… feisty for your type.”
“She’s not my type,” Kai said, smiling down at Lian. “She’s mine.”
Before Lian could process that—before she could react—his hand slipped to her jaw, tilted her face up, and he kissed her.
In front of everyone.
Hot. Hard. Completely staged.
His lips moved with slow dominance, as if daring anyone watching to question it. Lian gasped against him—again. His tongue slid past her lips before she could stop it. She tried to push away, but he gripped her tighter.
People clapped. A few laughed softly. The cameras flashed.
She was trapped in a lie she hadn’t agreed to live.
When he finally pulled back, he whispered low enough for her alone: “Play the role, or I’ll write the next chapter without your permission.”
She stared at him, stunned, breathless, humiliated.
Then she did the only thing she could think of—she slapped him.
Again.
The ballroom went dead silent.
Kai didn’t flinch. He turned slowly, looked at the guests, and smiled.
“She’s passionate,” he said simply. “That’s why I chose her.”
Lian wanted to sink into the floor. Her heart thundered in her ears.
He leaned in one more time, brushing his lips against her ear.
“You’ll pay for that later.”
She didn’t respond. Couldn’t.
But inside, something in her snapped.
She would not be his puppet. Not in front of the world. Not in private.
No matter how his touch lit her nerves on fire.
No matter how her lips still tingled from his kiss.
This wasn’t love.
This was war.
And Lian Rou never lost.
- Writer
