10 p.m., Wangchao Hotel.
Evelyn Marsh glanced at the room number. Presidential Suite 7203.
This was it.
Her phone buzzed once. A WeChat message from Gerald Marsh.
"Evie, your aunt agreed. As long as you keep Mr. Barton company tonight, she'll pay your brother's treatment fees right away."
After reading it, Evelyn's pale face didn't change at all.
She'd gone numb. Past the point of pain.
Ever since her father remarried, he had stopped seeing her and her brother as family. For more than ten years, he let their stepmother bully them, crush them, even abuse them like it was nothing.
Not having enough to eat or wear was normal.
Getting slapped, cursed at, humiliated? That was basically daily life.
And this time, because of his business debt, he had actually pushed her here to sleep with a man.
When Evelyn refused, they cut off her brother's medical payments to force her into it.
Her brother had autism. His treatment couldn't be interrupted.
People said even a tiger wouldn't eat its own cubs. Gerald Marsh was worse than an animal.
For her brother, Evelyn had no way out.
Standing outside the door, she took a deep breath, lifted her hand, and knocked.
The door wasn't even fully closed. At the slightest touch, it swung open.
No lights were on inside. The whole suite was drowned in darkness.
Evelyn frowned and carefully felt her way in. "Mr. Barton, I'm coming in... uh..."
Before she could finish, a strong arm shot out and clamped around her throat, slamming her hard against the wall.
Pain exploded across her back.
At the same time, a heavy, overwhelming male presence closed in on her from all sides.
The man’s voice came out low and savage, fury packed into every word. His grip tightened at the base of her throat. "What the hell did you do to me?"
Evelyn Marsh’s mind went completely blank. She had no clue what was happening.
Her throat was pinned, breathing hard. She could only shake her head, forcing the words out bit by bit. "I... didn’t... I don’t know..."
The hand around her neck suddenly loosened.
The next second, the man grabbed her slim waist and dragged her flush against him.
His hard, tight body pressed right into her softness, every line of muscle stark and impossible to ignore.
She couldn’t see him, but she could feel it—his whole body was burning up, hot in a way that was clearly not normal.
When he spoke again, even his breath was scorching. "I’ll give you one chance. Push me away. Get out. Right now."
Evelyn’s eyes widened.
He wanted her to leave?
Was Mr. Barton unhappy with how she was acting? Did he think she wasn’t being proactive enough?
No. She couldn’t go.
Not when Felix still needed the money for treatment.
Since she’d already come this far, there was no point acting precious now.
"I’m not leaving. Tonight..." Her voice shook, but she still forced it out. "I’m yours."
She lifted both arms and wrapped them around his neck, rose onto her toes, and blindly searched for his lips before kissing him.
Clumsy. Stiff. Totally inexperienced.
The man shuddered all over.
Her lips were soft and cool, and in that instant, whatever sliver of reason he had left got burned to ash.
"Are you clean?"
His breathing turned rougher and rougher, like he was holding back something brutal.
Evelyn didn’t dare think too deeply about it. Humiliation washed over her. She shut her eyes, lips trembling.
"Clean..."
"You’d better not be lying."
With that, he scooped her up in his arms and tossed her onto the bed, then pressed down over her.
"Good girl. After tonight, you're mine."
His strong hand pinned her by the waist, pushing her deep into the sheets. His voice was low and rough, almost hoarse.
Then the burning kisses came down on her like a storm...
Humiliation mixed with pain. Evelyn Marsh bit her lip and shut her eyes tight...
But little by little, she couldn't take it anymore. She cried and begged him, voice shaking, yet the man acted like he heard nothing. If anything, he got more intense, like he had endless energy to burn.
The whole night, it felt like dying and being dragged back to life over and over again...
Evelyn was jolted awake by pain.
She was trapped in the man's arms, held tight against his chest. There was a faint smell of tobacco on him, blended with a cool mint cologne.