Chapter Seventy-Eight: My Body Belongs to You Alone

Mai Xijun had just settled down at her desk, unable to suppress a string of yawns, one following another. So this is what it feels like—doing work you dislike even saps the spirit. Shen Yanlie glanced over, intending to say, “If you’re tired, take a break.” But then, recalling her meeting with Luo Youcong and then her close rapport with Nian Yuchen, he thought better of it. Serves her right to be in this state. He wouldn’t offer her any leniency.

Staring at the mountain of documents on her desk, Mai Xijun felt herself teetering on the brink of collapse, signs of nervous exhaustion already surfacing.

“These documents can wait,” Shen Yanlie said, picking up his pen to sign off on some papers without looking up, his tone casual yet resonant in Mai Xijun’s ears. “Familiarize yourself with some essential company information first. Later, accompany me to negotiate a contract. After that, you can go home.”

Perfect—she had no desire to look at those files anyway. Self-deception, perhaps, but the truth was she really had no interest in this assistant job. She’d drag it out as long as she could.

Maybe, with his mercurial temper, he’d tire of her one day, find her boring, and toss her back to “lov.” Though truthfully, if that day ever came, she knew she would feel thoroughly humiliated…

Propping her head up with one hand as she perused the materials, Mai Xijun’s forehead suddenly thudded against the desktop with a loud clang.

Hearing the noise, Shen Yanlie’s brows furrowed. He glanced at his watch—already four thirty in the afternoon. The day was well advanced; spring had long since passed. What spring drowsiness could she possibly be suffering from now?

Mai Xijun shook her head, trying to clear her mind, but as she looked up, Shen Yanlie was striding purposefully toward her. Damn, she reminded herself, she was working for him now.

Still, it wasn’t really her fault. Between pangs of conscience and the excitement and anxiety of having found her mother—who was now confined to a mandatory rehab center, her addiction evidently severe—her nerves were stretched thin. She could only imagine how her mother had survived all those years…

Thoughts like these left Mai Xijun sleepless at night, tossing and turning, unable to find peace.

And today, finally seeing her mother, it was clear that her condition was still far from reassuring.

As Shen Yanlie approached, Mai Xijun instinctively tried to rise and stand at attention, awaiting her superior’s instructions.

Moving with quiet grace, Shen Yanlie gently placed a hand on her shoulder, pressing her back into her seat. His arm slipped around her neck, drawing her tightly into his embrace, his lips brushing her ear.

“You like me. I allow it. From this moment on, you are not to get entangled with any other man. I promise you as well: I will always belong to you alone.”

His deep, mellow voice poured into her ear, each word deliberate and full of feeling, his warm breath caressing her skin.

With that, he took her earlobe between his lips, sending a shiver of tingling sensation through her.

What was this—was he confessing? Mai Xijun doubted it. He had begun the conversation with her feelings for him as an excuse, always exuding an unyielding authority, his overbearing tone brooking no contradiction, leaving her no room to refuse him, no chance to say no.

“And what about her? What will you do about her?” she asked. If not for the appearance of Xie Yunting, her studies would have proceeded smoothly. But Xie Yunting’s presence had shattered all her illusions and yet rekindled a spark in her once-numb heart. Shen Yanlie’s love matched her own in its intensity, as if they were mirrors of each other, each finding their reflection in the other.

People too similar are easily drawn to one another, but just as easily repelled.

Shen Yanlie remained silent for a long moment, just as he had that night when she had brought up Xie Yunting, her words met with a heavy, pained silence. Yet hadn’t he just said he would belong to her alone from now on?

“I told you, I can’t disregard her entirely in the short term. But my body, that belongs only to you.”

With those words, his slender fingers cupped her face, tilting it up. From behind, he leaned in and kissed her—hot, forceful, possessive, almost aggressive, just as he had that night in Venice, tearing at her clothes but never once kissing her lips, as if that were his unbreakable boundary.

Now, too, a forbidden territory lay within his heart, one she could not easily cross, perhaps not for a long time, perhaps never, unless he chose to give her a place there.

His kisses seemed an addiction; once touched, neither could pull away.

That night in Venice had been an entanglement to the point of surrender—a night after which heaven and hell both awaited.

His long, magical fingers left Mai Xijun’s defenses in ruins, his dominant advance stripping away her last vestiges of restraint. Their breath mingled, feverish between them.

“If you love me, I’d rather die than let you go to another. If you don’t love me, even if you die, I still wouldn’t let you leave with anyone else. That’s all you need to know. Just stay by my side.”

His narrow, phoenix-shaped eyes, half-lidded, gazed down at her. His lashes were thick and elegant, more beautiful than a woman’s, almost otherworldly.

While Mai Xijun was still reeling from his words, he reached out, and in an instant, she was lifted off her feet, swept into his arms. If he could not yet give her his whole heart, he would at least give her his body, utterly and completely.

Shen Yanlie was a man of his word.

Now that she cared about everything and everyone around him, he wanted to be serious for once. This time, he would claim every part of her, keep her at his side with domineering force, never allowing her to escape, never letting her slip beyond his control.

From this moment forward, whether she loved him or not, she could only ever belong to him.

Death, or loving him—those were her only choices.

But Mai Xijun did not yet realize just how serious he was—a man who commanded storms in the business world, whose word was law—now, in this moment, he meant every word. What he promised, he would deliver. All he wanted was her love; everything else, he would handle.

Raising her legs, he hesitated no longer, plunging himself deep within her, pressing her against the edge of the desk, locking her in an inescapable embrace…