Chapter 3: The Deep-Rooted Adam’s Apple Kiss

Her marriage to Zhou Chenhao was arranged by their families. The Zhou family was a prominent tycoon family, while the Chu family was a well-established aristocratic family. Although Chu Ning had saved Zhou Chenhao’s mother’s life, in his eyes, the Chu family was social climbing by marrying into the Zhou family. He saw them as money-grubbing social climbers. He believed her love for him was fake, laced with calculation. Knowing he was devoted to someone else and wouldn’t accept another woman, she deliberately orchestrated a coincidence to save his mother, ingratiate herself with her, and use her to marry him. She was a total schemer!

Even so, he couldn’t tolerate her betraying him during their marriage. No matter who the man was, he would find him!

•  

Hotel lobby, first floor.

As Chu Ning exited the elevator, Tang Siqi rushed to greet her.

“Little Lemon, what did that jerk Zhou Chenhao say? I saw his mother personally drag that mistress downstairs. If I’m not mistaken, that bitch is Lin Wan’er, a former internet celebrity and a newcomer to the entertainment industry.”

Chu Ning had already told Zhou Chenhao that she wanted to end their engagement. Therefore, she didn’t care about Lin Wan’er’s identity.

“Who cares who she is? Zhou Chenhao and I are over!”

Tang Siqi sensed something, her eyes gleaming.

“You broke off your engagement with Zhou Chenhao?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“Good for you, Little Lemon! You finally showed some backbone. Come on, let’s celebrate tonight, let’s get drunk!”

Tang Siqi, an outside observer, had always disliked Zhou Chenhao. She felt that Chu Ning, her exceptionally beautiful and accomplished best friend, was like a beautiful flower stuck in a pile of manure by being with him and getting engaged. She had never approved of their relationship and wholeheartedly supported their divorce.

“Okay.”

Chu Ning also felt she needed alcohol to numb her nerves.

“Give me two minutes, I’ll change clothes.”

Tang Siqi winked at Chu Ning and went to the changing room.

“I’ll wait for you in the car.”

Chu Ning said, striding out.

Half an hour later.

Spring is all over the garden club.

As Tang Siqi and Chu Ning entered the private room, the waiter brought drinks.

“Here’s to you, Little Lemon, celebrating your return to singlehood! I’ll drink to that!”

Although Chu Ning had initiated the breakup and ended the engagement, humiliating Zhou Chenhao in the process, she still felt incredibly downcast.

“Thank you.”

She looked at Tang Siqi and drained her glass.

“Mr. Chen, bring the people in.”

Suddenly, Tang Siqi shouted towards the door.

The next second, the club’s manager, Mr. Chen, personally brought in a group of male escorts, all dressed in black suits and white shirts.

Tang Siqi, looking at the handsome men, smugly said to Chu Ning:

“Little Lemon, these are my gifts to celebrate your return to singlehood. They’re all new to the club, top-notch. And they’re all virgins, guaranteed to be skilled. Choose whoever you like, tonight they’re all yours.”

Chu Ning wasn’t surprised by her friend’s open and unrestrained words, having been raised with open-minded Western values.

Chu Ning had always been a light weight. Three drinks would make her drunk, and after just one, she was already tipsy. When her gaze swept across the male escorts, she surprisingly found them all incredibly handsome. Each one was better than that jerk Zhou Chenhao. It was a pity that she had given up an entire forest for Zhou Chenhao, without even glancing at other men.

Zhou Chenhao always thought she was materialistic, chasing him only for the Zhou family’s money. Only she knew that she pursued him because of love. Even if he saw her as a schemer, she didn’t want to let go. She believed feelings could develop, and one day, he would recognize her worth and accept her love. But in the end, she was the loser! Zhou Chenhao was an unyielding heart of stone!

Now she had a new perspective. There were so many men in the world, why was she fixated on Zhou Chenhao? She would embrace the whole forest. She, Chu Ning, wasn’t short of money; she could find someone who loved her.

Immediately, Chu Ning poured herself a drink, stood before the male escorts, and raised her glass. Perhaps because she was tipsy, her half-closed eyes were hazy and alluring. She tried to see their faces clearly, but they all seemed to blur together. She grabbed the collar of one and pulled him close.

“You’re it. Come drink with me, we’ll be sweethearts tonight.”

Chu Ning, a proper person, was mortified by her own improper words, but she was drunk.

“Yes, thank you, Sister Chu, for your patronage.”

The man took Chu Ning’s glass and drank the wine, his lips brushing the lipstick mark she left on the glass. His alluring eyes fixed on Chu Ning, as if signaling her to take him away. But Chu Ning froze. Suddenly, she didn’t know how to flirt anymore.

Suddenly, a pair of strong arms wrapped around her waist. The moment she felt the man’s touch, the scene from a few hours ago in the rented apartment flashed through her mind. Instantly, the man’s eyes turned cold and deep, like a dark, bottomless pool, radiating a chilling light. Chu Ning shivered.

“Don’t touch me.”

She pushed him away, looking at him as if he were garbage. The man was dumbfounded. Chu Ning had chosen him, so why was she making him leave? Tang Siqi didn’t understand what happened to Chu Ning either. She only knew that Zhou Chenhao’s actions had dealt a heavy blow to her.

“Little Lemon, they’re all clean, why are you…”

“I’m going to drink. Siqi, I’ve seen a ghost, I’ve attracted something unclean.”

That’s why, at this moment, she saw that man and remembered what happened with him.

Chu Ning picked up the bottle and drank directly from it. Tang Siqi quickly stopped her.

“Chu Ning, calm down, it’s just Zhou Chenhao, it’s not a big deal!”

“Forget other men, I’ll send them away first.”

Then, Tang Siqi quickly dismissed Mr. Chen and sent the male escorts away. She took the bottle from Chu Ning and dragged her away.

The drunk Chu Ning clung to Tang Siqi, rambling.

“Stinky hooligan, you didn’t tell me your name, and you took advantage of me.”

“You kissed me, haha, but I kissed you too.”

She thought of the deeply ingrained memory of that Adam’s apple kiss. Her restless hand reached for Tang Siqi’s neck.

“But your Adam’s apple is really sexy, it felt good to kiss it, hahaha.”

Stinky hooligan? Taking advantage? Kissing the Adam’s apple? The overload of information left Tang Siqi stunned. She grabbed Chu Ning’s hand and cupped her slightly flushed, drunken face. She asked, word by word:

“Chu Ning, don’t tell me that while Zhou Chenhao was cheating, you were also cheating?”

Both cheating? That’s too much!