You Asked for It

"I'm booking you for the night. Name your price."

This was Nightfall Lounge, and Rose Shaffer had been drugged.

She felt her body heating up, so before she disgraced herself in public, she chose a man in front of her.

Nightfall Lounge was a famous lounge in Aquastead that offered male escort services.

The other men were doing their best to please the female patrons beside them, but this man sat alone in a booth in a corner.

Wearing a black satin shirt, he looked handsome and distinguished. He carried himself in a way that stood in stark contrast to his surroundings.

His gaze fell upon her. There was a displeased look in his eyes.

Rose thought he was worried she could not pay him.

"Don't worry. I'm very rich." Rose tried to take out a card from her purse to prove she could afford it.

But her legs suddenly gave way, and she fell onto the man.

Jonathan Finch had a cold look in his eyes. He assumed she was just like the women who tried to offer themselves to him in the past.

He had just arrived in Aquastead, but those people had already arranged a honey trap for him.

Jonathan smiled disdainfully. His expression was cold and scornful.

"I've seen many like you," he declared. "The next time you want to seduce someone, remember to act innocent. Men might be more interested in you that way."

Innocent?

Sorrow welled up in Rose's heart.

All men liked innocent women. That was why her fiancé had cheated on her.

Her fiancé, Nixon Lane, had gotten together with Kelly Shaffer, a seemingly innocent woman.

Rose recalled the scene from earlier. The two had been entangled with each other, naked.

She was furious.

Unable to put up with it, she took Maya Lawson's advice. She came to Nightfall Lounge in an act of revenge.

But unexpectedly, she ended up getting drugged.

At that moment, she felt as if thousands of ants were biting away on the insides of her body. She could not bear it anymore.

But Jonathan heartlessly pushed her away. He got up and walked away indifferently.

Rose did not want to stay in this place. She did not know what would end up happening to her.

Despite the humiliation, she grabbed the hem of his shirt. "I was drugged. Please … help me …"

…

Rose was carried out of Nightfall Lounge.

Ten minutes later, the two were in a room in the Elysian Hotel.

Jonathan looked at Rose as she lay on the bed with a dazed expression.

A dark expression clouded his handsome face.

He did not know what came over him. He could not believe he had agreed to help her.

Frowning, Jonathan took out his phone and made a call.

He said in a commanding tone, "Elysian Hotel, room 602. Get your private doctor to come over immediately—"

Before Jonathan finished speaking, his phone was snatched away from him. The call ended abruptly.

The very next moment, Rose's lips found their target.

Her body was burning up, but she kissed him rather clumsily.

Jonathan did not get involved with women, and he would never prey on anyone. But her passionate yet inexperienced kiss made him feel something budding in his heart and body.

Her hand crept under his shirt.

Jonathan's gaze darkened. He turned and pinned her under his body.

His voice was strained with brimming ferocity as he declared, "You asked for it. Don't regret it later!"

Rose was startled by the faint gleam in his eyes. But right after that, the man's overwhelming kiss overtook her senses.

It felt like a blast of cool water that eased the annoying fire in her heart. It seduced her and tempted her to match his pace subconsciously …

They kept going throughout the night and only stopped at sunrise.

Rose felt sore all over her body. She was extremely tired.

Stunned, she stared at the man's broad, naked back as she tried her best to understand what had happened.

She deduced she had slept with a male escort. She had never done something this crazy before.

Fortunately, he was still asleep. She had to leave as soon as possible.

Looking at the torn dress on the floor, Rose recalled the intense scene from last night. She gulped and blushed as her heart pounded.

Then, she picked up the man's clothes from the floor and dashed into the bathroom.

Ten minutes later, Rose came out of the bathroom wearing Jonathan's clothes.

Taking out her purse, she whispered, "Don't worry. I'll pay for your clothes, too."

She was also going to pay the fee for his services last night.

But after opening her purse, she froze.

Rose fell silent.

She did not have any cash.

Rose panicked and wondered what she should do.

Gritting her teeth, she reluctantly took something out of her purse. She placed the item on the desk opposite the bed.

Stole His Clothes

An hour later, Jonathan woke up.

He looked under the covers. Other than his underwear, he was not wearing anything.

Not only so, but that woman even stole his clothes!

Jonathan's expression turned gloomy.

As soon as Zac Gibson entered the room, he saw the sullen Jonathan lying on the messy bed. There was also a torn red dress on the floor. Zac immediately realized what was going on.

"You're … transitioning?"

Everyone knew Jonathan never got involved with women. Still, countless women had tried to sleep with him.

Jonathan was cold and heartless toward women. None of those women had ever succeeded before.

But it seemed like it had been quite an intense night last night.

Zac had been utterly drunk when he received Jonathan's call the night before.

Once he sobered up this morning, he finally remembered Jonathan asking him for a doctor.

A month ago, Jonathan had defeated the other members of the Finch family. Hence, he became the new person in charge of the Finches.

Since then, there had been no lack of assassination attempts on him.

In fact, Jonathan had encountered an assassin soon after he arrived in Aquastead.

He suffered a slash on his waist, which required some stitches. Zac had thought that Jonathan's wound had opened up again.

Glancing at the red mark on the snowy white sheets, Zac clicked his tongue. "You're injured, but that didn't stop you from having an intense workout!"

"Get lost!"

Jonathan glanced at Zac coldly. The murderous intent in his eyes was obvious.

Zac rubbed his nose awkwardly and conceded defeat right away.

"Well, since you can still do intense workouts, you're probably fine. The first-aid kit is right here. As for your wound … you can deal with it yourself."

After Zac left, a set of clean clothes was sent in.

Jonathan's wound had indeed split open.

The blood on the blanket was his, but the blood on the bed sheet …

He vividly remembered the obstacle he faced last night.

For a moment, Jonathan was dazed.

But when he saw a coin on the desk opposite the bed, his expression stiffened.

The woman had said she was booking him for the night and asked him to name his price.

She thought he was one of the male escorts, and she only left a coin.

"Hah. I see how it is!" he scoffed.

Jonathan had never been humiliated like this before. Clutching the coin in his hand, he exuded a terrifying air as he walked out of the room.

He said to Zac, who was waiting at the door, "Track down someone for me. It's a woman …"

Deep down inside, he labeled her as a bold and despicable woman.

…

Over at Scenic Gardens, Rose was entering the Shaffer residence. She sneezed violently.

On her way home, she kept thinking about how she had been drugged last night. She had a niggling suspicion that she needed to verify right away.

Maya was her aunt's daughter. They grew up together, and they had always gotten along very well.

They went to Nightfall Lounge together last night. Maya only had a glass of wine before excusing herself to go to the restroom. After that, she never appeared again.

Rose suspected that it had been Maya's doing, but she refused to believe it.

"Mr. Lane, Uncle Jamie, it was Rose who persuaded me to go to Nightfall Lounge with her. I told her not to go to a place like that.

"But she said that she wanted to try something exciting before getting married to Mr. Lane. I feared that she would be in danger, so I went with her.

"I went to the bathroom, but when I came back, Rose was gone. It was my fault. I should've held her back and stopped her from going … Boohoo …"

As soon as Rose walked through the door, she heard Maya sobbing and blaming herself.

Rose went into the living room. She saw her father, Jamie Shaffer, and her stepmother, Chelsea Sutton. Kelly and Nixon, the adulterous pair, were there as well.

A few photos were placed on the coffee table in front of them.

When Jamie saw Rose coming in, he grabbed the photos and flung them at her. "How dare you come back? Look what you did!"

In the photos, Rose was wearing a red dress. Her entire body was wrapped suggestively around a man.

The man had his back to the camera. He was tall and his face was not shown, but Rose's face could be seen clearly in the photos.

Rose's mind went blank. She felt as if something had exploded inside her head.

Conduct the Marriage Ceremony

Those were photos from the bar last night.

Rose wondered who had taken them.

She felt like her head was buzzing.

"Dad, calm down. Don't let your anger affect your health. Rose probably wasn't thinking straight.

"It's a good thing Nixon bought those photos. If not, when the photos get leaked to the public, it would affect the Celeste Jewels' share price."

Kelly coaxed in a gentle tone, but she was gloating inside.

Last night, she had asked Maya to take Rose to Nightfall Lounge. She also arranged a few strong men for Rose. She wanted to take photos of Rose making a fool out of herself in public.

But by the time Maya went back, a man was already taking Rose away.

Maya could only snap a few photos hastily.

Still, those photos were enough for Nixon to call off his engagement to Rose.

Kelly stared at Rose with the expression of an innocent child.

She suddenly noticed the man's shirt Rose was wearing. "Rose, your shirt … looks so weird! Why does it look like a man's shirt?"

Not only that, she could also see a few obvious hickeys on Rose's pale skin near the collar. With just a single glance, she knew what had happened.

"You're such a debauched girl, Rose!"

Jamie's face was filled with disdain. Raising his hand, he was about to hit Rose when Nixon stood protectively in front of her.

Nixon stared at Rose. "Rose, even though you betrayed me, I won't hold it against you. I love you. As long as you behave yourself in the future, I'm still willing to marry you."

Rose was speechless.

She could not believe her ears.

He said she betrayed him.

Who had been the one in bed with Kelly yesterday?

She could not believe he claimed to love her and wanted to marry her.

He looked at her with scornful eyes, and yet he pretended to be gracious and loving!

Was it because she was the only heir to Celeste Jewels?

The company, Celeste Jewels, belonged to Rose's mother, Celeste Young. Celeste had founded it before she got married.

After Celeste's death, Jamie took over management of the company.

But Celeste had left a will.

Once Rose got married, she would inherit Celeste Jewels and all of Celeste's properties.

Rose recalled how Nixon spared no effort to court her. Had it only been because he wanted Celeste Jewels?

A mocking smile appeared on Rose's face.

She stared at the hypocritical look on Nixon's face. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kelly biting her lip with slight indignation.

Rose's eyes flashed viciously as she said, "You're willing to marry me. But what about Kelly, then?"

Nixon's expression instantly turned dark.

Hastily stepping forward, he grabbed Rose's wrist and pulled her out of the villa.

Gritting his teeth, he warned her, "Rose, you'd better appreciate it while I'm playing nice. You've done such terrible things, yet I'm still willing to marry you. You should be grateful.

"If you tell Mr. Shaffer and Ms. Sutton about me and Kelly, Kelly will be disgraced!

"Unlike you, Kelly is a simple and innocent woman. She loves me, and I'm the only man in her life. She said she doesn't care about status as long as she can be with me."

Rose felt so disgusted that she wanted to throw up. "How long?"

Nixon was startled.

"How long have you been going behind my back and cheating on me with her?"

Since the truth was already out, Nixon did not see the need to lie.

"It's been three years. I wanted to get more intimate with you on the night of your birthday, but you rejected me."

"So you turned around and slept with Kelly instead?" Rose sneered.

Nixon felt a little guilty. He instantly lost his patience as well.

A few of his businesses were in trouble. He had to get married to Rose as soon as possible so that he could get his hands on Celeste Jewels.

"It's Grandma's 70th birthday tomorrow, and Uncle Jonathan has come to Aquastead.

"Grandma wants us to get married while Uncle Jonathan is in town. He can conduct the marriage ceremony for us.

"Grandma will invite Uncle Jonathan to attend the birthday banquet tomorrow. Be prepared. I'll introduce you to him."

When Nixon mentioned his Uncle Jonathan, he did so with a look of admiration and respect.

Initially, Rose had been uninterested in Nixon's Uncle Jonathan.

But when she saw how excited Nixon was about meeting him tomorrow, she changed her mind abruptly.