The hotel corridor smelled of chilled cedar and expensive perfume —
the kind of place that didn't belong to me, or to my boyfriend, Adrian.
But we were here tonight because his company was hosting a business banquet. And because—
"Babe," Adrian whispered, his fingers tightening around mine, "if you see Lu Ting later… don't talk to him. Don't even look at him."
I blinked. "Who?"
His jaw flexed. Even under the warm lights, he looked pale.
"He's… someone you can't afford to provoke."
I laughed softly. "Why would I provoke anyone?"
Adrian didn't laugh back.His grip trembled.
He wasn't joking.
Before I could ask more, the elevator chimed behind us.
Steps.
Slow. Steady. Measured.
The crowd in the corridor instinctively parted, as if the air itself had shifted.
And then I saw him.
Tall. Sharp suit. Cold face like carved obsidian. Eyes black, unreadable — yet somehow, when they landed on me, they warmed by a single devastating degree.
Lu Ting.
The man my boyfriend was terrified of.
Adrian immediately lowered his head. His palm slipped from mine.
But Lu Ting didn't glance at him.
He walked straight toward me.
The sound of his leather shoes stopped exactly one step from my toes.
His voice was low, enough to trap itself in my bones.
"You shouldn't belong to him."
My breath froze.
Adrian's hand twitched in fear.
But Lu Ting simply lifted his eyes, looking at me like he'd known me for years — like he'd been waiting.
His gaze brushed over my wrist, where Adrian had just held me too tightly.
Then, with the gentlest touch imaginable, Lu Ting's fingers slid across my skin.
Soft. Warm. Dangerous.
"Come find me later," he murmured.
Not a request.
A claim.
Then he walked away, leaving the air trembling behind him.
Adrian exhaled shakily.
"You see?" he whispered. "He's dangerous. Don't go near him."
But my pulse was still racing —
not from fear.
From something else entirely.
Something I shouldn't feel.