Crimson Contract

Ikun

Annie and Ikun had arranged to dine at a French restaurant.

Ikun, Annie’s senior by two years, hailed from a distinguished family. With his striking features, refined demeanor, and a perpetually gentle, faint smile, he was a renowned gentleman in high society.

During their time studying in England, Ikun and Annie shared a deep bond. His tender, magnanimous, and cultured nature made him the epitome of a dream lover for countless young women—a veritable prince charming, ever noble and gracious.

Two years prior, Old Master Yang issued an edict summoning Ikun back from England, formally entrusting him with the helm of Obsidian Group.

This debonair gentleman proved exceptionally astute in the business realm; under his stewardship, Obsidian Group Group flourished, ascending to new heights. Upon learning of Annie’s return to the country, Ikun sought to recruit her into Obsidian Group.

After much deliberation, Annie acquiesced to his offer only yesterday—yet a blunder by Aurora and Lila Sterling forced her to postpone, leaving her no choice but to inform him of the delay.

Caught in relentless traffic, she arrived twenty minutes late. Brimming with remorse, Annie dashed toward the restaurant, muttering curses under her breath about A City’s deplorable congestion.

In her haste, her high heel faltered, and with a startled cry, she stumbled forward—“Ah…”

She collided with a man’s solid chest, a faint, comforting scent of tobacco enveloping her. Instinctively, her hands clutched his in her panic.

Warmth radiated from his touch!

“My apologies, I’m so sorry…” Annie flashed her most earnest smile, preparing a heartfelt apology, when suddenly—her heart raced, her mind blanked.

Lucian had been awaiting Yun Ruoxi for lunch. Barely stepping out of his car, he saw a woman barreling toward him, stumbling chaotically. Reflexively, he reached out to steady her. Her fragrance filled his senses as Annie’s silken hair spilled loose, revealing alabaster skin and delicate, boneless hands—an intoxicating blend of sight and sensation that struck him with an uncanny familiarity.

Her eyes shimmered like limpid autumn pools, bright as sunlight, radiant enough to hold one’s gaze captive.

Her fair complexion and exquisite features were kissed with a flush from her run, rendering her akin to a ripe, succulent peach.

Annie’s smile froze!

How could it be him? It wasn’t merely her prodigious memory recalling Lucian from their fleeting night seven years ago—it was Aurora, a miniature mirror of him, whom she faced daily. Forgetting him was an impossibility.

Even his elegant aura bore an identical grace.

Her first instinct was to flee.

Lucian’s lips curved in a half-smile, teasing yet restrained. “Miss, do I appear so frightful?”

Annie shook her head instinctively.

“Then why shrink from me upon sight?” he pressed.

Had he forgotten her?

Forgetting was natural—seven years had passed, their encounter a mere transient dalliance.

Yet why did a tide of sourness well within her?

Clad in a bespoke Armani suit, his tailored attire accentuated a lithe, statuesque frame. His chiseled features and an air of aloof elegance, paired with piercing eyes, exuded a regal authority in every gesture.

Annie inwardly grumbled—how could even a man of such caliber, so breathtakingly impeccable, exist? What a sin!

“Pardon me, I’m in a hurry,” she said with a courteous smile and a polite bow, swiftly masking her shock and gliding past him into the restaurant.

Seven years ago, a month after leaving A City for England, she discovered her pregnancy. Her initial shock gave way to unexpected joy.

Back then, grappling with language studies and the rigors of settling into school, her aunt urged her to let the child go.

But Annie stubbornly chose to keep it, delaying her studies by a year for Aurora—a decision she never regretted.

This child was her entire world!

Regardless of its origins, Annie was grateful to Lucian for granting her this gift. In a foreign land, it was Aurora who sustained her through boundless solitude, the scorn of others, and life’s unrelenting trials.

Drifting into the restaurant like a wraith, her legs trembled beneath her. She hadn’t imagined she’d ever see him again.

Lucian’s gaze lingered on Annie’s retreating figure, deep and pensive. Her silhouette felt achingly familiar, bathed in fragmented sunlight that cast a soft halo upon his shoulders. Why?

“Lucian, forgive my tardiness!” Yun Ruoxi arrived, clad in a pale yellow dress, her delicate features etched with apology.

Realization dawned on Lucian. He understood the familiarity now—Annie’s eyes, her silhouette, bore an uncanny resemblance to Yun Ruoxi’s presence.

“Let us dine,” Lucian said with a tender smile, draping an arm around Yun Ruoxi as they, too, entered the restaurant.

The restaurant glowed with an intimate ambiance, its soft lighting and sophisticated elegance rendering it an ideal haven for lovers.

Annie absently toyed with her foie gras, inwardly beseeching fate to spare her another encounter with him—her frail heart, ill-equipped for such jolts, could scarcely endure the strain.

“Annie, why aren’t you eating?” Ikun’s voice, tender and laced with concern, broke her reverie.

Snapping back to the moment, Annie offered an apologetic smile, brushing her nose sheepishly—a gesture that, in Ikun’s eyes, radiated an ineffable charm, deepening his affection for her.

“Senior, I’m so sorry about this time. I promised you, only to break it again. Go ahead and scold me!”

“Foolish girl, what nonsense,” Ikun replied with gentle warmth. “Since you’ve found work that fulfills you, I can only rejoice in your happiness—how could I reproach you? Though it’s a pity we won’t work side by side, your joy outweighs all else. Nothing matters more.”

Guilt swelled within Annie. His unfailing kindness, patience, and boundless tolerance enveloped her like a flawless piece of jade, warm and unblemished. Why, she wondered, did such a splendid man fail to stir her soul?

A vexing melancholy settled over her!

If only her heart responded, it would be perfection—Ikun, the quintessential lover, the ideal husband.

Confound it, her foolish heart! Silent when it should leap, yet pounding wildly when it ought to rest—utterly absurd.

“I’m sorry,” she murmured, her voice a soft lament.

“Silly girl,” Ikun said, reaching out to tap her dainty nose, his face alight with indulgent affection, a gentleness so profound it could drown one. “Your happiness is all I desire.”

To him, Annie was a treasure beyond price. For years, he had guarded her silently, unwilling to press her even slightly, yearning to lay the world’s finest gifts at her feet.

How could he bear to see her unhappy?

Annie brushed it off with a smile, pulling a playful grimace, her appetite gradually reviving.

From a distance, Lucian’s eyes narrowed, his fathomless gaze cloaking his emotions. He had noticed them upon entering—Ikun, the president of Obsidian Group. What was their connection?

He and Ikun had clashed in the business arena before. Though Ikun carried himself with grace and a perennial smile, that smile often veiled a cool detachment.

Yet now, his expression brimmed with tender adoration, treating the girl as though she were a pearl cradled in his palm. As a man, Lucian recognized the fervor in that gaze—and she, in turn, seemed unbothered by his closeness.

Could they be lovers?

The thought ignited a fierce displeasure in Lucian, twin flames of anger flaring in his eyes, as if some cherished possession of his had been coveted. That wretched girl—aloof with him mere moments ago, now beaming so sweetly at another.