Chapter 21: The Seduction

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“You don’t have to answer right away.”

Shen Zhiwei lowered her eyes. “In any case, the Shen and Qu families have been close for generations. Even if we cannot marry, the woman you marry will be another daughter of an old and distinguished family—not Chen Su.”

She smiled. “You know as well as I do that a woman who offers no help to your future can only become a stumbling block.”

The reason Shen Zhiwei was so confident that she could become Mrs. Qu was simple.

Above all, it was because her surname was Shen.

The great families endured for generations not through earth-shattering love, but through alliances between equals.

As long as she remained a Shen, she would always be the best candidate to become Mrs. Qu.

A trace of gloom settled over Qu Bonan’s sharply defined features. He gave a cold laugh. “So? Is that why you’ve repeatedly made things difficult for Chen Su?”

Shen Zhiwei’s gaze flickered. “What makes you so certain that I’m targeting her?”

Qu Bonan raised a brow. “Miss Shen, Chen Su is my younger sister. No one knows her temperament better than I do.”

“Stay away from her from now on.”

“I’m not going to be patient with you forever.”

His tone was neither harsh nor gentle, yet it carried an unmistakable warning.

After Qu Bonan left the school, Shen Zhiwei stood alone at the entrance, turning his words over and over in her mind. They felt like a thorn lodged in her heart.

Only at last did she understand.

Clever as Qu Bonan was, how could he possibly not know what kind of person Chen Su was?

The only explanation was that, in his eyes, it did not matter whether Chen Su was good or bad.

She was simply herself—Chen Su.

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After Chu Shaowen sent the message, he waited a long while without receiving a reply from Qu Bonan. Instead, he heard a knock at the door.

He opened it. “Who is it? Who comes knocking in the middle of the night?”

Qu Bonan stood beneath the corridor light outside, his handsome face dark and forbidding.

“Where’s Chen Su?”

Chu Shaowen lifted a brow and glanced into the room from where he leaned against the doorframe. “In the bedroom. Unless something unexpected happened, she should be taking a shower.”

Qu Bonan said nothing. He walked straight inside.

Seeing that his task was complete, Chu Shaowen bent down, picked up his coat, and left, pulling the door shut behind him.

Inside the living room, Qu Bonan’s gaze swept over the troop of monkeys before he pushed open the bedroom door.

As expected, it was unlocked.

His expression darkened at once, and he stepped inside.

Chen Su had only just wrapped herself in a bath towel when she heard footsteps outside.

It seemed the fish had taken the bait.

“Brother Shaowen, is that you?” She opened the bathroom door a crack and called coyly, “Could you bring me the clothes I left on the balcony? I forgot to take them with me when I came in.”

Qu Bonan lifted his eyes toward the balcony. It was spacious, spotless, and orderly. Only one corner held Chen Su’s small undergarments.

White, trimmed with lace.

His eyes darkened abruptly, and his Adam’s apple bobbed.

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“Brother Shaowen?” When no answer came, Chen Su called again, tentatively. “Can you hear me?”

The next moment, a hand hooked her undergarments and reached through the narrow opening in the door.

Chen Su stared at the hand, its joints sharply defined. It looked familiar, but she quickly dismissed the suspicion.

Qu Bonan was probably with Shen Zhiwei right now. How could he possibly have appeared at the apartment she rented?

“Thank you.” She took the clothes and pulled the door shut.

Two minutes later, Chen Su studied her reflection in the mirror.

Her long, jet-black hair hung damply over her shoulders. Her silk nightgown had been soaked through and clung wetly to her body, perfectly matching a man’s fantasies of a woman’s allure.

She tugged the fabric down from one shoulder, revealing her pale collarbone, then turned and walked out.

“Brother Shaowen?”

She moved tentatively toward the center of the bedroom. Before she could get a clear look, a powerful hand seized her wrist and yanked her forward.

Qu Bonan gripped her slender waist and pinned her against the wall. A storm of kisses descended upon her one after another.

When she saw who it was, Chen Su was both startled and frightened. She turned her head away to evade him. “Brother…”

“Chen Su, you’ve grown very bold lately.” Qu Bonan’s icy knuckles closed without mercy around her thigh, his breathing rough and hoarse. “You even tried to seduce Chu Shaowen. Are you really that desperate, hmm?”