Chapter 1: Stop Blowing Air into Her Hair

Shangjiang City, the provincial capital of Tiannan Province, lies on the southeastern coast of China, boasting a thriving economy. Swan International Group, one of the city's rising stars over recent years, already owns its own skyscraper here—the Swan International Tower.

It was not yet nine in the morning, the peak of the workday rush. Crowds gathered in front of every elevator on the ground floor of Swan International Tower, waiting impatiently. Wei Xueying, deep in thought over a contract, drifted into the executive elevator tucked away in the corner and pressed the button for the sixty-sixth floor, along with the door-close button.

“Wait…”

Startled, Wei Xueying looked up. The voice had sounded from the entrance just a heartbeat before; in the next instant, a shadow slipped into the elevator at the very moment the doors closed.

She was taken aback. “This is the executive elevator. How did the security let someone in so casually?”

But before she could voice her protest, he spoke first.

“Hey, beautiful! It takes a hundred years of fate to share a boat, a thousand years to share an elevator! So glad to meet you again after a millennium. Let me introduce myself—my name is Hua Tianyu.”

As the king of mercenaries who, just last week, had fought his way through blood and corpses, crossing the distance from the entrance to the elevator was nothing more than the blink of an eye for Hua Tianyu. Security guards were mere shadows, easily bypassed. Noticing the emptiest elevator, he slipped inside with a swift step, so quickly the guard barely saw him.

But once inside, the woman before him was anything but a fleeting shadow.

Her face was radiant and beautiful; to Hua Tianyu’s experienced eye, she was nothing short of stunning, the sort who could topple kingdoms. Her bearing was ethereal, like a goddess descending from the moon, perfectly complementing her exquisite features. Most striking of all was her S-shaped figure, alluring and elegant.

She wore a tailored suit; the first button strained over her curves, unable to fasten, revealing a swath of creamy skin in the triangle below her neck. The second button threatened to burst as well, her ample bosom nearly spilling forth.

“Ninety-nine points!” Hua Tianyu silently appraised her, withholding that last point only to keep her humble.

Wei Xueying shot him a fierce glare, noticing where his gaze lingered, and spoke coldly, “Did you not notice this is my private elevator? It’s meant for me alone. Oh… now I suppose I have to include you.”

“Private elevator? That can’t be; it’s full of people!” Hua Tianyu replied carelessly.

She gave him another scathing look and decided not to speak to him again.

“Hey, you with the twisted neck… yes, you—the left eye hanging by your mouth, tongue drooping to your chest. If no one can see you, don’t blow on her hair; you’ll frighten her!” Hua Tianyu gestured to the empty space behind Wei Xueying.

Wei Xueying, who had felt only the gentle breeze from the air conditioning, suddenly felt a chill at her nape, goosebumps prickling her skin.

A sudden, inexplicable clang echoed; the elevator lurched to a halt.

With a sharp buzz, the lights went out.

Silence.

“Hey! Headless guy, your body’s blocking half the elevator, and you can’t see anything. Could you stop messing around? You’ve broken the elevator!”

“Ah!” Though she knew Hua Tianyu was spouting nonsense, the eerie darkness unsettled Wei Xueying so much she cried out, “Can you stop talking?”

“It takes a thousand years to share an elevator, ten thousand years to break one! We must have known each other for ten thousand years. So glad to meet you—my name is Hua Tianyu.”

Wei Xueying, wishing she could kick him, ignored his outstretched hand and, by the light of her phone, quickly grabbed the elevator’s emergency phone.

“This is Wei Xueying. I’m trapped in the executive elevator,” she said irritably, glancing at the man beside her. “As soon as possible!” she added.

Her phone rang in the cramped space, the tone shrill and jarring.

It was her father. She answered.

“Xueying, did you receive the contract for joining the Shangjiang Business Alliance?”

“I did. But the terms are outrageous—like taking advantage of a crisis. We can’t accept them.”

“If you don’t join, in two months, you could be finished… Try negotiating with the Qiu family again, see if there’s any leeway.”

“But the Qiu family—” Wei Xueying stopped mid-sentence as the suspended elevator suddenly shifted, and then—

A wave of dread washed over her.

Without warning, the elevator began to plummet at high speed.

“This is bad…” Wei Xueying recalled seeing the elevator stopped at the fiftieth floor.

She could only clutch the handrail tightly, letting her phone fall to the floor, praying for a miracle.

“Luck can’t really be this rotten, can it?” Hua Tianyu muttered, but his body moved instantly. With a flick of his shoulder, he was beside Wei Xueying.

“What are you doing!” Wei Xueying, who had never dated, was especially sensitive to men invading her personal space. When she saw Hua Tianyu approach, she immediately demanded loudly.

“Saving you!” Though they were falling from the fiftieth floor, only a few seconds remained. Hua Tianyu had no time for explanations. He swept her into his arms, holding her tightly.

It was her first time experiencing a free-falling elevator, her first time being held so tightly by a man, her first time so close to the masculine scent unique to men—Wei Xueying was both embarrassed and anxious, her first instinct to struggle.

“If you don’t want to land face-first, don’t move!” Hua Tianyu warned. He rolled onto the floor, locking his arms and legs around her.

Wei Xueying landed atop Hua Tianyu, pressed tightly against him, her softness separated only by her blouse and suit, her chest crushed against his.

Whether it was the terrifying fall or being held in such a compromising position, she felt weak all over, unable to muster any strength, though she wished for nothing more than to vanish into the ground.

As the elevator plummeted faster, the two remained in that mortifying pose…

With a thunderous crash that echoed through Swan Tower, the engineering team rushed frantically toward the elevator shaft on the first floor.

Hua Tianyu released her, grinning roguishly as he enjoyed the pressure of her ample curves.

Wei Xueying was stunned for several minutes, shaken by the ordeal. The voices and noises from outside spurred her to try desperately to climb off him, but her limbs were still weak, and two attempts failed.

“Though I am devastatingly handsome and you’ve clearly fallen for me at first sight, if you keep lying on top of me like this, people might get the wrong idea—and my reputation could suffer. So, let’s get up.” With a graceful movement, Hua Tianyu helped her to her feet.

“You…” He could have stood up at any moment, yet he had remained motionless, letting her lie atop him…

Wei Xueying, who had felt nothing but gratitude moments before, now found herself gritting her teeth in frustration…