A Twisted Love Affair-Chapter 188: Do you really want to break up?

Lanterns swayed gently on both sides, basking in the orange glow.

The two descended the steps, one in front of the other.

Shen Jing stood beside the car, clad in a cheongsam fastened with pearl-colored buttons. Bathed in the pale moonlight, her exposed skin appeared delicate and exquisite.

Watching her, Zhou Luchen suddenly thought of something amusing. To call her his ancestor. After all, nobody knew.

"Ever since you arrived, I haven’t been able to eat properly," she said.

Zhou Luchen didn’t even seem to hear, tossing the car keys to her. "Get in the car."

"You can use the navigation," Shen Jing assumed he was unfamiliar with the area.

"I don’t have the energy to drive." He settled into the passenger seat, leaving no room for argument.

This lord. Staying up late, catching a cold. And now blaming me for it.

Fine.

Shen Jing opened the car door, personally taking on the role of his chauffeur.

She was somewhat miffed, shifting gears with a slight sullenness on her face. "The second son’s constitution is quite robust, isn’t it? How did you catch a cold so easily?"

Zhou Luchen glanced at her, smiling ambiguously.

How robust indeed.

Shen Jing had already forgotten what she had said and didn’t realize how easily her subconscious remark could be misunderstood by the person beside her.

"Doesn’t anyone at home take care of you? And you still ran out? What about your gorgeous secretary? Doesn’t she love to attend to you?"

Zhou Luchen didn’t respond. He pulled out a pack of cigarettes, tapped one out, and put it between his lips for a moment without lighting it, then switched to a nicotine replacement stick.

He held it between his lips; the licorice-flavored replacement stick was quite bitter. Inside the enclosed car, the sweet, feminine, milky fragrance still lingered, not dissipating.

This made him feel hot and bothered, a current of heat surging through his lower abdomen.

Shen Jing is acting like a nagging little girl right now, Zhou Luchen thought.

"Quit smoking, and in the future, your son will definitely be fair and chubby," she said.

Zhou Luchen mumbled around the replacement stick, "Mind your own business."

Shen Jing gripped the steering wheel firmly. "You ate dinner at my family’s home tonight, so can’t I say a thing or two?"

Zhou Luchen leaned back in his seat, an enigmatic smile touching his lips as he said, "Hit the brakes."

She was so focused she couldn’t detect the double meaning in Zhou Luchen’s words.

She actually changed lanes, pulled over to the side of the road, and genuinely braked.

"What’s wrong...?"

The moment she turned, her waist was swiftly gripped by his palm, pulling her into his chest with astonishing force, as if he wanted to snap her in half at the waist.

He leaned close to her ear and said slowly, "Go on, keep talking."

"Zhou Luchen, ah—stop pinching, I won’t talk anymore, really, I won’t."

Hearing her panting delicately in his arms, her body tensed, daring not to move an inch.

The intimate proximity intensified the sweet, milky scent emanating from Shen Jing. He continued to tighten his grip; might as well hurt her a bit.

Their eyes met. His were narrowed, a hazy glint within them—dangerous, profound, seductive.

Shen Jing struggled, but he showed no intention of letting go.

"You bastard."

Seeing her beautiful eyes filled with fury, she seems much more alive than the usual obedient and compliant Shen Jing, Zhou Luchen thought, raising an eyebrow. "Still struggling? Haven’t I bullied you before?"

She was under his control, his grip a clear warning: if she moved even slightly, he would become even more aggressive.

His voice deepened. "When I tell you to get in the car, you get in. Did you think I wouldn’t dare to drag you home and deal with you?"

Enraged, her chest heaved. "Could you bear to? You can’t stand seeing others bully me, yet you bully me yourself?"

Zhou Luchen’s gaze was inscrutable. His fingers toyed with the knot buttons of her cheongsam, undoing them one by one, revealing the beauty beneath to his eyes.

A few low, hoarse words escaped him: "Jiaojiao."

His warm, masculine breath enveloped her. Shen Jing’s cheeks gradually burned all the way to her earlobes. No matter the resentment in her heart, when it came to Zhou Luchen, her desire always silently overwhelmed her reason. "If you keep calling me names like that, I’ll get all flustered."

His gaze casually shifted to her earlobes, flushed so red they looked as if they might bleed.

It had only been a little over a month. Her attitude towards him, her tone, everything had changed. Yet, she hadn’t changed in one regard: this alluring way she had of going soft the moment he touched her.

"I’ll ask one more time." He had slowly undone the third knot button of her cheongsam. It slipped from his grasp, tapping against her chest, his warm fingertips brushing—perhaps intentionally, perhaps not—against her skin.

He watched her flustered, helpless expression. Ah, this look of hers always managed to pique his interest. "Are you still willing to be with me?"

Shen Jing instantly raised her hand to cover herself. "If we don’t break up, will you marry me?"

"Do we have to get married for this relationship to continue?" he countered.

Shen Jing looked up at him. "Is it just about sleeping together?"

Before meeting Zhou Luchen, she had been innocent enough to shy away from such words. But since getting involved with him, she’d been ’trained’ to the point where these kinds of suggestive remarks came easily to her lips. Though, in terms of sheer satisfaction, sleeping with him was definitely a gain for her. But ultimately, she didn’t want to take another risk, to gamble on a path with no future. She had too many other things to do and couldn’t afford to waste time indulging in sensual pleasures with him.

Zhou Luchen pursed his lips, his voice soft. "I can give you everything you need."

’Need.’ Shen Jing heard that word clearly. What did she need right now? Power, ambition, status—things that were like an all-access pass in this city. And that was all he could offer.

Zhou Luchen lowered his gaze, looking into her eyes.

Her gaze was stubborn, her reply unwavering, "I don’t want it."

"Really don’t want it?"

This was the second time Zhou Luchen had asked patiently tonight, and it would be the last. If she didn’t take this chance, there wouldn’t be another.

She closed her eyes. "Yes, really. I won’t go back on my word."

The car was parked beside the Xihe River, under dim streetlights.

Zhou Luchen raised his hand, turning off all the car lights, instantly plunging the car’s interior into darkness.

Distinctly, Zhou Luchen felt the delicate body in his arms tremble.

Zhou Luchen pulled her even closer, lowered his head, and kissed her, tearing at her lips like a madman in the gloomy darkness.

A stifled sound escaped her; the more Shen Jing struggled, the more aroused he became.

He pinned her against the seat, holding her flailing hands above her head.

Shen Jing gasped for breath, only to have her mouth covered by his again.

He was fierce, as if her reluctance only intensified his need to possess her.

In the faint, fleeting light from a passing car, Shen Jing’s eyes widened. She saw clearly the irritation clouding the man’s cold brow; he made no further movement.

Only when his kisses reached her delicate, sensitive earlobe did Zhou Luchen finally stop.

Shen Jing finally had a chance to breathe, fury surging within her. She dug her nails fiercely into the hard muscles of his waist to vent. "Zhou Luchen, have you developed amnesia recently? You’re my ex!"

Zhou Luchen didn’t reply. He coldly pushed her away, letting the surrounding darkness encroach. He took out his cigarette pack, flicked his lighter, and began to smoke in silence.

He resumed his usual lofty, aloof aura, as if the impassioned man from moments ago hadn’t been him at all.

Shen Jing reached out and stealthily took a cigarette. Zhou Luchen clearly saw her take a drag, inhaling the smoke deep into her lungs, but he didn’t stop her.