Chapter 154: Indulgence Dulls Ambition

She continued flipping through the pages, but she found no further records regarding the fire case.

Several months later came the Zhong Group's winter arson case, which had resulted in a massive death toll. According to Fu Yanyan, it was a tragedy caused by poor business management and debt collectors scheming against them. Yet Xu Chuyin claimed that the Zhong Group back then had not yet fallen to the point of relying on borrowed money.

While she hated those blood-sucking relatives, what she cared about even more was: what kind of monsters could be so ruthless as to spare not even the remaining twenty housekeepers and maids inside the villa? Who had orchestrated the case of her own death, and why did she have unexplained lingering trauma at the back of her head?

She desperately wanted a definitive truth.

At the same time, she harbored a vague terror that she might not be able to bear that truth.

"Daddy~ Please pamper me~"

Outside the door, a young woman's sultry and bewitching voice suddenly rang out, overwhelmingly clinging and seductive.

Frightened, Zhong Huayan hurriedly organized the files on the desk and hid stealthily behind the door. She waited until the sounds of the man and woman lingering together faded down the stairs before tiptoeing out, smoothing down her slightly disheveled hair and wiping the beads of sweat from her forehead.

Daddy?

They were into this kind of roleplay too?

She found it truly hard to imagine that a young punk with Jiang Yeyan's temperament actually enjoyed having a woman call him... daddy?

Feigning that she had taken a wrong turn and wandered over in a daze, Zhong Huayan stepped onto the staircase leading downstairs, only to see the disheveled man and woman still passionately entangled. The woman had golden hair; she did not look of mixed race, but her features were more pronounced than those of the Han ethnicity.

With innocent facial features and a black lace dress, her hands cuffed behind her back with silver handcuffs, the woman pressed her body against the wall, entirely supported by the man. Her body was folded at an astonishing angle, yet she still cried out in a trembling voice.

True to the saying—like father, like son.

The whole family seemed obsessed with handcuffs.

Jiang Yeyan, on the other hand, was dressed impeccably. He wasn't even using any other part of his body—just his hands. He watched with rapt fascination as the woman convulsed and writhed in agonizing pleasure amid their intimate storm. Seeing the woman's face gradually flush red gave him a twisted joy, as if indulging in some hypnotic distraction that made him lose himself in play.

As someone who played rock music, the explosive power in his hands was indeed astonishing.

He wore a black shirt patterned with pear blossoms, his medium-short hair reaching his shoulders. When he turned sideways, the characters "Fire Karma" tattooed inside his lining flashed clearly into view.

"Tsk."

It seemed that after finishing his inspection, he released his grip casually, causing the woman to drop straight onto the stairs.

"Brother Jiang..."

"Age?"

"Twenty. Same as you."

"Not bad, resilient. But I prefer thirty-year-old women, the more mature kind."

The woman on the stairs visibly humbled herself, casting a pitiful, pleading look at the man who had the power to elevate her social class.

Jiang Yeyan was rather direct. "Do you have a driver's license?"

"I'm preparing to take the test."

"Do you like BMWs?"

Jiang Yeyan gently grazed her cheek with his hand—very tenderly, far gentler than the fierce, god-of-war persona he wore at school.

Seeing the woman hesitate as if wanting to say more, he gave a faint chuckle. "I forgot, young people all like sports cars, and I like sports cars too. Take a look these past few days and see which model you like. I'll buy it for you."

Zhong Huayan gave a soft cough and said with a slight headache, "Jiang Yeyan, where is your imperial concubine purple-flowered reed-bottomed folding fan with thirteen single ribs? As for the money... I'll transfer it to you right now."

Her appearance clearly startled the disheveled and half-naked woman, who instinctively shrank behind him.

It was the first time she had ever witnessed a woman treating Brother Jiang with such an arrogant attitude, and she found it rather astonishing. Even stranger was that Brother Jiang did not show his usual annoyance; instead, a hint of a smile hung on the corner of his lips as he brought up a topic with subtle amusement.

"Have you always smelled of white gardenias?"

Jiang Yeyan possessed a rebellious swagger, especially when his broken eyebrow arched and the corner of his mouth lifted. His entire demeanor was different from how he appeared at school, looking much more sunny and radiant. He wore designer slippers, looking properly attired in shorts amidst the chilly autumn air.

After all that tossing about, the floor was damp with the woman's fluids, yet his clothes remained completely uncreased, without the slightest stain. He bent his slightly warmed, damp fingers and, purposely right in front of Zhong Huayan, stuck out his tongue to lick them.

"The scent of white gardenias—is that your natural body fragrance? I couldn't tell you were so pure."

"Are you out of your mind?"

"Heh—do you really think I'm hard up for that eighty thousand?"

"Hah, and you think I'm lacking a fan?"

Jiang Yeyan took out his phone. Even though he was simply lowering his head to send a text message, he still projected an overwhelming sense of dominance. Not long after the message was sent, several subordinates arrived downstairs, unlocked the handcuffs, and led the wet girl away. The entire process was as smooth as flowing water.

Jiang Yeyan walked up to the second floor and pushed open the tea room. Inside lingered a rich fragrance of tea, with mahogany shelves lined with a dazzling array of tea cakes.

"Today, I purposely dismissed everyone just so I could have a proper chat with Miss Li."

Zhong Huayan felt that although Jiang Yeyan was eccentric and spoke in riddles, he was at least gentle and generous toward women.

"What is there for us to chat about?"

"Let's chat about why God brought me to your side."

"I don't believe in God. I believe in Buddha. I am Chinese."

Jiang Yeyan's gaze constantly roamed over her body, his eyes masking an uncontainable desire, until he suddenly could not help but let out a low, husky chuckle.

However, the words Zhong Huayan said next caused his laughter to freeze instantly. He seemed to plunge deep into memories, like a dark, churning surface of water suddenly startled by a bird, turning violently and overwhelmingly turbulent.

"You once said that in your memory, there was a woman who looked like me, falling while engulfed in flames, surrounded by the rich fragrance of white gardenias. I suppose that three years ago, you must have witnessed a fire in the company of your mother. The woman who collapsed in that fire at the time was named Zhong Huayan. She had a face similar to mine, and she smelled of white gardenias.

Have you experienced something over these past three years? Why is it that you alone remembered this particular scene?"

Jiang Yeyan's pupils suddenly dilated. He abruptly lost his composure and rationality, feeling only a burning, agonizingly sharp pain in his chest where the tattoo sat—a piercing ache straight to his bones.

If certain memories could be forgotten, it would be a blessing for him.

In that hallucinatory nightmare, the woman consumed by fire had ultimately transformed into a vengeful spirit demanding his life day after day.

He did not know any Zhong Huayan, yet deep within his heart, her face collapsing amidst the flames surfaced with terrifying clarity.

Jiang Yeyan rolled up his sleeves, picked up a teacup, and took a sip of tea. The characters "Fire Karma" on his chest felt like foul fire, hellish fire, burning away everything he possessed. It wasn't until he met the serious and solemn gaze of the woman before him that his fingers began to tremble slightly.

His head ached faintly, and he vaguely sensed that a section of his memory had been locked away. He could not understand why this woman could so effortlessly make him recall all those things from the past, tearing open a scab that had already healed.

It wasn't a memory of her, but rather that hidden, sunless period wrapped in fire.