The bell signaling the start of the lunch break had barely stopped ringing when Huo Jing charged out of the classroom like a whirlwind. The Huo family’s young master had a face like thunder, the veins on his temples throbbing with suppressed rage.
Down in Saint Mary Academy’s exclusive luxury parking lot, a jet-black Maybach sat silently in the furthest corner, shaded by an ancient, towering tree. Qiao Yan was already there, leaning casually against the car’s frame as she thumbed through a stack of documents sent by her private investigator.
"Get in!" Huo Jing spat. Before she could react, he violently yanked the door open, shoved her into the back seat, and slammed the locks shut.
The air inside the car instantly turned thick with tension. Huo Jing didn't start the engine; instead, he spun around, his eyes bloodshot with jealousy as they bored into Qiao Yan. The unchecked arrogance of a seventeen-year-old heir had reached its breaking point—he had watched her use his 150,000 RMB to polish herself, only to use that beauty to "flirt" with another man right under his nose.
"Qiao Yan, you're good! Very good!" Huo Jing growled, his large hand gripping her chin and forcing her to look up. "You spend my money to play around with some other guy? Do you see me as an ATM, or just a fool for you to lead by the nose?"
Qiao Yan didn't flinch. She nonchalantly removed her expensive sunglasses, revealing deep eyes filled with mockery. This "Queen-like" composure only fueled the fire of Huo Jing's fury.
"Young Master, regarding that 150,000... I used 50,000 to hire someone to find justice for my parents. The remaining 100,000 was to buy a wardrobe worthy of being your 'mistress.' Did you expect me to walk beside you in those rags?"
She traced a slender finger along Huo Jing’s violently pulsing Adam’s apple, her voice dropping to a seductive, haunting whisper: "As for Lin Phong... he’s just a chess piece to test your patience. It seems our seventeen-year-old Young Master is still quite... 'naive'."
"Shut up!"
Huo Jing lost all control. He pinned her roughly against the leather seat, crashing his lips down onto hers in a forced, punishing kiss. It wasn't romantic; it was a brutal assertion of ownership over the toy he had paid for. He wanted to carve himself into her skin, to fill her lungs with his scent, to make her realize who the true master was.
In the cramped, shadowed confines of the Maybach in the middle of the campus, the heat rose suffocatingly. Huo Jing kissed her with a frenzied desperation, his hands gripping her waist as if he intended to break it. He was driven mad by the thrill of the secrecy—the sensation of possessing the woman the entire school craved, right there in the parking lot, just hundreds of meters from the classrooms.
Yet, Qiao Yan didn't resist. She accepted his kiss with a terrifying coldness. She matched his rhythm, even moving to wrap her arms around his neck, leading this "paper tiger" bad boy deeper into their illicit pleasure. Every touch of hers was so exquisite that it left Huo Jing trembling, hopelessly lost in the haze.
When the kiss finally broke, both were breathing raggedly. Huo Jing buried his head in the crook of her neck, gasping like a beast at the end of a hunt. He thought he had won; he thought he had finally subdued her.
But a second later, Qiao Yan gently pushed him away. She calmly pulled out a compact mirror to fix her smeared red lipstick, her gaze reflecting that familiar mockery. Looking at him through the small mirror, she dropped a line that felt like ice:
"Young Master, your money can only sponsor my body. Don't even dream of demanding my heart."
Huo Jing froze, his heart feeling as though an invisible hand had squeezed the life out of it. Her words were like a bucket of freezing water thrown over his arrogance. He realized then that he had failed miserably. No matter how much money he threw at her, or how many times he used his strength to take her in the dark, Qiao Yan would always hold the upper hand—looking down on him with the pitying eyes of a superior.
"You..." Huo Jing tried to speak, but his throat was tight and bitter.
"The insurance files. Bring them to the apartment tonight." Qiao Yan opened the car door and stepped out with an air of haughty elegance, leaving Huo Jing to sit alone in the dark Maybach amidst the scorching midday sun.