Period done?

Yeah.

7 PM tonight. Come see me.

Claudia Walker stared at the cold words on her phone screen and let out a quiet, mocking laugh. She typed back a single word: Okay.

She was out riding mountain roads with a few friends from her motorcycle crew.

It was already past six. She twisted the throttle hard.

Her Harley—worth a few hundred thousand dollars—tore through the winding mountain passes until she pulled up to a villa nestled against the hills, overlooking the water.

She pulled off her helmet and gloves and walked inside.

The living room was elegant and expensive, but cold. Something about it felt sealed off, like a space that didn't welcome visitors.

The man was sprawled on the couch, smoking in silence. He'd clearly been waiting.

Through the haze of smoke, his face was all sharp angles and clean lines—handsome in a way that didn't seem quite real. Noble. Remote.

Claudia didn't bother with a warm-up. She walked toward him, stripping off her jacket as she went.

Coat off, hair loose—she transformed from a sharp-edged biker chick into something far more dangerous.

She stopped in front of him, swung one long leg over, and dropped right into his lap.

Casual as anything, she plucked the cigarette from his fingers.

Took a slow drag, exhaled a ribbon of smoke, then slipped it back between his lips.

"Should I shower first?" She draped her arms around his neck, her eyes locked on his.

"No need."

He tilted her chin up with one hand. His thumb traced her lips, slow and deliberate—then he kissed her, hard.

She matched his heat, fierce and deep.

His palms felt like they carried sparks, trailing fire across her skin...

The man's name was Dominic Quinn.

A year ago, Claudia had been surfing in the deep waters off Hawaii when a shark attacked. He saved her life.

That brush with death led to something else—a night that burned itself into memory.

After they returned to the States, they fell into the oldest arrangement in the book: contract lovers.

He gave her whatever money she wanted. She came when he called and satisfied his needs, whenever they arose.

They'd been sleeping together for a year. She knew his name, and nothing else about his real background.

Not that she cared.

All she knew was that every time they met, she got exactly what she wanted—raw, consuming pleasure.

Like tonight. They moved through each other's bodies with practiced ease, from the living room up to the master bedroom. Clothes scattered across the floor.

He was relentless, all sharp edges and hunger, holding nothing back...

Over an hour later, the storm finally passed.

Claudia lay propped against the headboard, utterly wrecked. She couldn't move if she tried.

Dominic had already showered and dressed, restored to that cold, untouchable image—the picture of a high-value man who looked like he'd never broken a sweat.

He lit a cigarette, smoke curling around him, his gaze fixed on her like he was trying to see through her.

She was already playing a game on her phone, completely checked out from what they'd just done. Something flickered in his eyes—complicated, unreadable.

This woman was shameless to her core. A player. He'd always known that.

But it still irritated him. He took a few hard drags on his cigarette, then pulled out his phone and tapped through a few screens.

A moment later, Claudia's phone buzzed with a bank notification.

She opened it. A transfer from Dominic's account. The number staring back at her had so many zeros she had to count twice.

One, followed by seven zeros. Ten million dollars.

She was about to ask if he'd accidentally added an extra digit when his voice cut through—low and detached:

"This is the last time we'll see each other. Don't contact me again."

Claudia blinked. "...Why?"

It wasn't that she couldn't bear to part with him—she was simply confused.

Dominic stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray and stated the facts coldly. "I'm getting married next month. Take this money and disappear from my life."

"Married?"

Claudia felt nothing at this news. If anything, she found it amusing. "I figured you already had a wife and kids! Well, congratulations!"

"..." A shadow passed through the man's eyes, barely perceptible, as he fixed her with an unblinking stare.

Claudia thought about that ten million dollars. Terrified he might change his mind if she wasted even a second, she threw on her clothes as fast as humanly possible.

She bounced over to him, wrapped her arms around his neck, and planted a kiss on his handsome face. "Then I'll gladly take this money. Thank you, Mr. Quinn—you're so good to me!"

Meeting the calculating gleam in her eyes, Dominic felt his disgust deepen. He shoved her away.

"You can go now. Remember what I said—disappear completely." His voice was low and hard.

"OK!"

Claudia pulled out her phone and, right under his nose, blocked his number without a moment's hesitation, then deleted him from her contacts. "There. Now there's absolutely no way to reach you. Happy?"

As she spoke, she rummaged through the sheets for her bra, stuffed it under her shirt, and bent forward to adjust herself. Then she turned her back to him. "Here—help me out."

His expression darkened, but he held his temper and deftly hooked the clasp for her with practiced hands.

"Alright, I'm off. I've got a date with some young guy for late-night snacks, so let's not waste each other's time."

She leaned in close to his ear one last time, a teasing smile on her lips. "Goodbye, sugar daddy!"

With that, ignoring his thunderous glare, Claudia grabbed her things and flew down the stairs.

She pulled on her riding gear, swung one long leg over her motorcycle, and roared out of the villa in a cloud of exhaust.

In the pitch-black night, wind howling past her, she accelerated relentlessly—throttle nearly maxed out. She leaned into several sharp curves with reckless grace, then weaved through traffic like it was nothing.

The aggressive roar of her engine turned heads in every car she passed.

But she lived for moments like this—pure, unrestrained release. It was the ultimate stress relief. Every worry scattered in the wind.

Besides motorcycles, she was obsessed with surfing, skydiving, rock climbing, racing... basically anything that could kill her fast.

She loved extreme sports with life-or-death stakes. She loved simple, uncomplicated relationships with men.

Wild and uninhibited, she never let herself get tangled up in petty romantic feelings.

But that night, lying in bed after getting home...

Claudia couldn't stop seeing that man's face. She kept replaying their year together—all the different places, and tonight's final goodbye. She couldn't fall asleep.

Then she remembered that ten million dollars and decided her insomnia was probably just from excitement...

Over the following month, Claudia had completely forgotten about Mr. Quinn.

Her days were filled with adventure trips with her extreme sports crew, hangouts with her girlfriends—living exactly as she pleased.

Of course, she also had a legitimate career.

Her love for animals had led her to study veterinary medicine abroad for several years. After returning home, she'd started her own pet hospital.

She had a natural gift for the work. The business was thriving—she'd already opened three locations.

One afternoon, she'd just finished dealing with a pile of administrative headaches when her phone rang.

The name on the screen made her heart sink.

She answered with obvious irritation. "What do you want?"

"Claudia, today is your aunt's birthday. Come home for dinner tonight."

The voice on the phone belonged to none other than Claudia's so-called "biological father"—Ivan Walker.

"..."

On any normal day, she wouldn't have bothered answering his calls, let alone set foot in that house.

But she had something important to take care of. After a few seconds of silence, she agreed.

Claudia hated talking about her wretched family history.

When she was very young, her father had an affair—with her own aunt. The betrayal drove her mother into a depression that eventually killed her.

Her aunt climbed her way into the role of stepmother, and Claudia became the unwanted leftover in her own home.

At ten years old, Ivan shipped her off overseas. Apart from the bare minimum in child support, he'd given her nothing resembling a father's love. She was left to fend for herself.

Now that she was financially independent, there was one thing she wanted more than anything: to retrieve her page from the Walker family's household register, establish her own separate household, and sever all ties with this man who was only her father in the biological sense.

With that goal in mind, she drove to the Walker residence around four or five in the afternoon.

Half an hour later, her car pulled into an upscale neighborhood and stopped in front of a European-style villa.

Inside the living room, Ivan sat on the sofa, phone pressed to his ear.

Her stepmother, Victoria Butler, was busy giving instructions to the housekeeper. The moment she spotted Claudia, her face twisted with barely concealed disgust.

"Didn't I tell you it's your aunt's birthday? And you show up empty-handed?" Ivan's tone was sharp with reproach.

Claudia wasn't in the mood for small talk. "I'm not here for anyone's birthday. I just need the household register so I can separate my residency."

Ivan fell silent.

Victoria looked Claudia up and down, her eyes narrowing at the limited-edition Hermès bag in her hand and the designer labels covering her from head to toe.

"So that's why you suddenly want to separate your household." Victoria let out a cold laugh. "Found yourself some sugar daddy, have you?"

Claudia smirked. "That's right. I've got myself an old man—older than my father, actually. He throws hundreds of thousands at me whenever he feels like it. I'm not exactly short on cash these days."

"You shameless little—!"

Ivan shot to his feet, livid, jabbing his finger at her nose. "Running around like trash every day! Do you have no sense of decency at all? Are you trying to drag my reputation through the mud?!"

"Decency?"

Claudia's voice was flat, almost bored. "Sorry, but my parents died early. No one around to teach me. I have no idea what decency even means. If you knew anything about it, you wouldn't have done what you did all those years ago."

"You—"

Ivan was shaking with rage, his teeth grinding together. "Do you think I can't do anything about you anymore?!"

"..."

Claudia turned away, done with the old bastard. "Enough. Just hand over the register. I'll change my surname while I'm at it. When I die, you won't even have to claim the body."

"You think cutting ties with the Walker family is that simple?"

Victoria stepped forward with the commanding air of the household matriarch. "Your father and I raised you for over twenty years. You think that comes for free? Either you pay back every cent we spent on you—with interest—"

"Or you accept the marriage I've arranged for you. Once you're married off, your household registration goes with you. After that, you can cut ties however you like."

The "marriage" she was talking about was nothing more than selling Claudia off to some rich man's crippled son in exchange for business connections.

Facing that ugly, scheming face, Claudia fired back. "Victoria, you don't actually think you've got me cornered, do you?"

"Fine, don't give me the register. We can settle this in court."

Claudia stared straight at the woman who had destroyed her mother, her voice cutting as she dredged up the shame of two decades past:

"Let the whole world know that the great Victoria Butler was nothing but the adopted daughter of the Butler family. That she repaid their kindness by seducing her adoptive sister's husband. That she clawed her way to the top, drove her adoptive parents to their graves, and stole Butler Pharmaceuticals to get where she is today. I'd love to see how you show your face in high society after that—"

"Shut up!" Victoria's face went white. She'd been hit where it hurt most. Her hand flew up to slap Claudia.

But Claudia was faster. She caught Victoria's wrist mid-swing and returned the slap with one of her own.

"You... you... you..."

Victoria's eyes went wide with disbelief. This little bastard had actually dared to strike her—an elder!

"Mom!"

Victoria's daughter, Belinda Walker, had just come through the door. She witnessed the scene and rushed over in a panic. "Mom! Are you okay? Are you hurt?!"

"That little slut dared to hit me! I'm going to—" Victoria was seething, ready to tear into Claudia, but when her gaze landed on the figure now standing in the doorway, she froze.

Claudia followed her line of sight and turned around.

A man walked in—tall, composed, and radiating an almost oppressive chill. His presence seemed to drop the temperature of the entire room by several degrees.

When Claudia saw his face clearly, her heart lurched.

What is he doing here?