"No, I... I’ll do it myself."

Eve Vaughn was so scared she was almost stuttering. She simply couldn’t imagine a man and a woman bathing in the same tub.

She stressed again, "I... I can do it myself."

"You can? Are you sure?"

The moment Mason Lawson set her down, Eve Vaughn’s legs felt like jelly, and she had to quickly grab a nearby wall for support.

The man playfully tapped the tip of her nose and said in a doting yet suggestive tone, "You’re mine now, inside and out. It’s just a bath. What’s there to be shy about?"

In the end, the naive young woman let him carry her into the bathroom.

Before long, the suggestive sound of splashing water filled the bathroom, along with the young woman’s aggrieved and angry protests. "Mason Lawson, you liar! No more, stop..."

Soon, her voice was drowned out by the embarrassing splashing and other suggestive noises.

That night, Eve Vaughn was truly taken aback by Mason Lawson’s stamina.

When it was over, she lay limply in his broad arms, while Mason Lawson’s eyes were filled with sated pleasure.

...

The next morning, golden sunlight filtered through the sheer curtains and fell upon the white bed, bathing the two figures wrapped in a tender embrace.

Mason Lawson was already awake. But his heart went out to the young woman; it was her first time, and he had been quite rough with her last night. He couldn’t bear to wake her.

He lowered his head, his lips barely brushing against her forehead. Despite the feather-light touch, it was enough to stir the young woman in his arms.

"Mmm..."

Her soft, delicate moan was enough to make a certain part of him stir with morning desire.

And the little culprit herself was still looking at him with a dazed expression, completely unaware of the impending ’danger.’

A smile played on the man’s lips, his voice hoarse and suggestive. "You’re awake? How are you feeling?"

Eve Vaughn froze for a moment. Then, flashes of last night’s passion and intimacy flooded her mind.

Under Mason Lawson’s tutelage, she had experienced the intimacies between a man and a woman so profoundly for the first time.

She immediately averted her eyes from his suggestive gaze and, embarrassed, buried her face in his chest.

The deep and shallow marks of his love from the previous night were still visible on her creamy white shoulders.

Ripples formed in the depths of Mason Lawson’s dark eyes, and the stirring in his body grew more pronounced.

His well-defined fingers gently caressed her youthful, tender face. A soft, lingering kiss landed on her plush lips, restrained yet meticulously tracing their shape.

This time, however, he stopped after just a taste. Otherwise, he was afraid he would lose control completely.

Just then, the phone on the nightstand suddenly vibrated, shattering the intimate atmosphere.

Mason Lawson picked up the phone. The caller ID read "Joanna Sullivan." When Eve Vaughn saw the name, her gaze instinctively shot to him.

Although she believed Mason probably had no dark secrets with Joanna Sullivan, the name still made her feel uneasy.

Mason Lawson glanced at her, then answered the call and put it on speaker.

Eve Vaughn felt he had seen right through her. She blushed with embarrassment, but her ears still perked up to listen intently.

Because she knew Joanna Sullivan still hadn’t given up on Mason Lawson.

"Mason, my aunt had an angina attack and was rushed to the hospital!" Joanna Sullivan’s crying voice came through the phone. "She started feeling unwell right after we got back from your place last night. This morning, she was having trouble breathing, so we rushed her to the hospital. It’s Evergreen Hospital, the one the Hale family owns. Please, you have to come see her!"

Mason Lawson’s expression grew serious. "Okay, I’ll be there," he said in a heavy voice.

After hanging up, he quickly got out of bed and started dressing. He was like a completely different person from the man who had been so intimately entangled with her just moments before.

Eve Vaughn could tell that Mason Lawson cared deeply for The Third Madam. And The Third Madam was Joanna Sullivan’s aunt—the same aunt who so vehemently opposed their relationship.

The thought discouraged her. She asked quietly, "Your mother came to see you yesterday, didn’t she? Did you two argue? Is that why she got sick?"

Mason Lawson fastened his cufflinks and grunted a faint "Mm," adding, "The conversation wasn’t pleasant."

With that, he hurried into the bathroom to wash up.

When he came out, he didn’t say much, just, "I have to go."

After he left, Eve Vaughn felt the air in the room instantly grow cold.

Last night, she had finally given herself to Mason Lawson completely, because she had started to see him as the person she could spend the rest of her life with.

But now, she suddenly wondered, ’Was I too impulsive?’

There were still so many unresolved issues between them, yet she had already given herself to him.

In an instant, Eve Vaughn’s mind was in turmoil.

Just then, Mia Kendall gave her a call.

The moment Eve Vaughn answered, her friend’s excited voice burst through the speaker. "Evie, how did it go? Did that little something I sent you yesterday come in handy?"

It would have been fine if she hadn’t brought it up. The mention of it made Eve Vaughn flush with both shame and anger. "Mia Kendall, you’re going to be the death of me! Last night was a complete disaster!"

"Uh... what? You didn’t use it?" Mia Kendall muttered to herself. ’Theory plus practice should have worked...’

Eve Vaughn said, exasperated, "I don’t even want to talk about it. I have to go to campus. I’ll talk to you later!"

After hanging up, she quickly washed up, got dressed, and headed out.

It was almost the end of the semester, and finals for some of her earlier classes were just around the corner. She needed to hurry to the library and study.

To her surprise, Mia Kendall was so concerned about her ’first time’ that she had eagerly come all the way to campus to find her.

The two found a boba shop. Mia Kendall asked curiously, "You said on the phone it was a disaster. What did you mean? Don’t tell me... Mason Lawson didn’t like the stuff in the videos?"

"Why would I learn that stuff just to please him?"

Eve Vaughn felt a sudden wave of irritation and explained awkwardly, "I was watching those videos you sent yesterday when he happened to walk in on me. I wanted the ground to swallow me whole."

Mia Kendall’s eyes widened, and she nearly choked on her boba.

She pressed, "And then? What happened then?"

Eve Vaughn shot her a look. "What do you think?"

Mia Kendall looked as excited as if she were reading a romance novel. She covered her mouth and gasped, "And then you two... Oh my god, Evie! So Mason Lawson finally fell for you after all! I’m so impressed! Now that you two have... you know... he has to take responsibility. Has he said anything about when he plans to marry you?"

Eve Vaughn thought about how Mason had been summoned away that morning by Joanna Sullivan and The Third Madam, and she grew even more anxious.

But she also hadn’t forgotten that for her sake, Mason had openly defied the most powerful man in the Lawson family, Old Mr. Lawson himself.

She would never forget all the injuries he had sustained.

So, she made an excuse for both herself and Mason. "We’ve barely gotten started, why rush into marriage? I’m only a junior; I haven’t even graduated yet. As long as we’re happy together right now, that’s enough for me."

Mia Kendall nodded in agreement.

After all, Mason Lawson had really stepped up this time. Even Mia felt that Eve hadn’t been wrong about him.

"But," she added as a reminder, "Evie, even though Mason is treating you well now, you still need to be on your guard. Keep an eye on Joanna Sullivan. You can tell just by looking at her that she’s not to be trifled with. You don’t want her to come and steal the happiness you’ve fought so hard for."

In truth, Mia was voicing Eve’s biggest fear.

But she was already in too deep with Mason, and she didn’t want to torment herself with problems that hadn’t even happened yet.

So, she didn’t dare think too far ahead. "I’ll just take it one step at a time," she said faintly. "You can’t be too greedy. I’m already so happy that he’s done this much for me. At least it means that there’s a place for me in his heart."

But Mia seemed fired up with fighting spirit. She gripped Eve’s hand and said, "Evie, since you’ve decided he’s the one, you have to see it through to the end, no matter what. You can’t just have a ’let’s see what happens’ attitude! You can’t let your guard down until you’re married to him, you hear me? Every day, you have to tell yourself: ’Mason Lawson is my man, and mine alone!’"

Eve Vaughn laughed, amused, and repeated after her, "Mason Lawson is my man, and mine alone!"

After talking with Mia, Eve returned to the study hall and buried her head in her review materials.

Around noon, she sent Mason Lawson a text, asking about The Third Madam’s condition.

The Third Madam may not like her, and she certainly didn’t like The Third Madam, but this was the woman who had raised Mason, a person he cared about deeply. Despite their arguments and conflicts, a bond forged over twenty years of mother-son affection couldn’t simply be ignored.

However, her message went unanswered.

A sense of dread crept over Eve Vaughn. ’If The Third Madam really came to argue with Mason yesterday, then I must have been the reason for the fight.’

’So, is The Third Madam seriously ill now?’

’Will Mason regret being with me?’

By the time Eve left the study hall that evening, Mason still hadn’t replied.

Eve grew increasingly anxious. After a long hesitation, she finally mustered up the courage to call him.

Still no answer.

But she had no idea that at that very moment, Mason Lawson wasn’t with The Third Madam. He was in her mother’s hospital room.

Neil Kane was reporting, "President Lawson, Eve Vaughn’s mother, Aurelia Quinn, is also in Simon Vaughn’s research journal. However, her name is on a separate page, which seems to indicate something special."

Mason hadn’t expected his own mother’s disappearance to be so closely linked to Eve Vaughn’s parents.

He asked, "Have you been able to locate any of the other people in that research journal?"

Neil Kane shook his head. "Most of them were homeless with no family. A few had families in remote, isolated villages. I took their photos there, but their families just said they went to the city to find work and disappeared long ago. To this day, we don’t know if they’re missing or dead."

As he finished, Neil Kane could feel a cold, oppressive aura radiating from Mason Lawson.

After all, these people were in the journal along with Mason’s mother. If they were all dead, then his mother had likely met the same fate.

After a long silence, Mason gazed at the woman who had been lying comatose in the bed for so long. "So," he said, "out of all the people in Simon Vaughn’s research journal, the only one we can locate is Eve Vaughn’s mother?"

"Yes, only Aurelia Quinn," Neil Kane confirmed. "I have no idea what Simon Vaughn was up to before he died, to be willing to use his own wife in a research experiment."

Mason Lawson’s dark eyes were unreadable. He asked coldly, "Have you found the genetic research team I told you to look for?"

Neil Kane replied, "I’ve found an international genetic research firm with the highest level of confidentiality and expertise. But they require a large volume of blood samples for their analysis."

A dark, cold look filled Mason’s eyes. "Then draw her blood. Let’s see what secrets this woman is hiding."

Neil Kane hesitated. "But... if Miss Vaughn finds out..."

Before he could finish, a sharp glare from Mason cut him off.