Jiang Cheng beamed at Su Wan. "You've brushed your teeth—come have breakfast."
Su Wan's mouth still tasted of something unfamiliar.
She'd already pieced together last night's events in broad strokes.
After running every scenario, she resigned herself to the same conclusion: she must have walked into the wrong room again.
The idea that Jiang Cheng had carried her over in the middle of the night?
That didn't wash—she'd have woken at a racket that loud.
Besides, nothing had actually happened; what would he have gained?
Still, he'd gone too far just now. They'd stopped short of the final step,
but the touching, the kissing—and the shameful things he'd made her do—meant "innocent" no longer applied.
Seeing him so unapologetically relaxed, Su Wan accused, voice quavering, "You… you went too far. I almost threw up and you still forced me—what if I'd choked? Did you ever think of that?"
Jiang Cheng knew she felt awful, but at the time there'd been no room for second thoughts.
The arrow had been nocked; the string had to be released.
Either Su Wan would be miserable, or he would.
Guided by the principle of "why wrong yourself when you can wrong someone else," he chose his own comfort.
And few men can rein themselves in at dawn.
He hadn't even used that card he'd gained last night on her—proof of remarkable restraint.
"It was for your own good. If I'd stopped and restarted, do you think your rookie skills could finish in an hour?"
Su Wan's blood surged. "You dare mock my technique? Then find someone else—why shove it on me?"
Jiang Cheng chuckled. "I'd love to, but you're the only one here, so I'll make do."
"…Classic case of getting the bargain and crying foul."
He gave a helpless smile. "Overthinking it. If people could suffocate from that, the world would see a crime wave every morning. And who keeps sleeping in my bed—am I supposed to believe you're deliberately tempting me? Otherwise why land here again and again?"
The words shut down every retort she had; he was stating facts.
She'd booked the hotel, assigned the rooms, and walked into the wrong one herself.
She knew it was her fault—and she wasn't truly angry.
Even if he had forced her just now, she'd probably have accepted it.
Yet she couldn't resist arguing with him.
Who told him to call her clumsy?
He had no idea how hard she'd tried.
She'd nearly feared for her life, and still he wasn't satisfied.
She wasn't a veteran, after all.
Thinking of it brought back the memory of his unpredictable hands and agile kisses.
Compared with him she was plainly inexperienced.
No wonder he disdained her skills.
Who knew how many partners he'd practiced with?
A textbook little scumbag.
"So what if I entered the wrong room?" she fumed. "I wasn't taking advantage of you—so why were you bulging first thing in the morning?"
Seeing she couldn't out-debate him, Su Wan switched angles.
She dropped the who-slept-where topic.
and attacked the other problem he'd exposed to her view.
"Normal physiology, ever heard of it? Didn't you take biology? Early morning, so—" he stated, utterly justified.
"Remember that news story? Teenage guy jumped by a pack of middle-aged women… how'd they succeed? It's just biology; don't read too much into it."
Su Wan knew exactly the case he meant.
It had dominated headlines and opinion pages. After that night the boy had lost his masculine freedom.
A pitiful man.
So yes, boys must protect themselves out there too.
But what did that have to do with them?
Dig deeper and his point was: his dawn loss of control wasn't because the woman was her,
any woman would've triggered the same reaction.
So none of it was about Su Wan personally?
His candor made her doubt her own allure.
Could it be he felt nothing for her—only instinct?
Women: even while hating that you've taken advantage,
they still hope it was their charm you couldn't resist.
Yet here he was, implying her body might as well be a side of tasteless pork—no arousal, just heartless.
When tears of frustration began to fall, Jiang Cheng sighed and pulled her hand over.
"Why cry? You'd have gone through it sooner or later—think of it as practice. If it's really unfair, I'll let you have a turn next time."
His idea of comfort sounded like another tease; infuriated, Su Wan bit his arm hard.
The sting made him jerk his left hand up and swing down mid-air.
Smack—his palm landed squarely on her pert backside, the sound sharp and clear.
So forceful was the slap that her springy flesh quivered like silky tofu.
Yelping, Su Wan sprang upright at the sudden sting.
Yet alongside the pain a faint, unexpected spark of pleasure flared.
"You… hit me." By now she no longer cared that Jiang Cheng was her sugar daddy.
So what if he was? She'd been bullied again and again—wasn't she allowed to fight back?
She grabbed his right arm to bite again; he caught her and flipped her across his lap.
In the tussle that followed they somehow ended up brawling once more.
Scuffling back and forth, Su Wan found herself pinned against the sofa again.
She sat on the edge, wrists trapped by his hands on the cushions.
Protesting whimpers escaped her lips… An hour later Jiang Cheng shook his head in mild regret.
"If only last night's card had been the 'Offspring Overflow,' I'd have pocketed another few billion by now."
Ten minutes after that, Su Wan emerged from the bathroom looking composed.
Whether she'd run out of arguments or he'd simply cowed her,
apart from the lingering blush she wore the air of someone who'd accepted her fate.
She ate her breakfast in silence, head lowered, as if drained of strength.
Jiang Cheng kept quiet as well.
When she finished, she shot him a glare and muttered, "scumbag."
Then she hoisted her backpack and walked out…