The sealed room was thick with that raw, heated scent in the air.

Chloe Harrington had no idea how on earth she had ended up in a mess like this. Tonight was her mother-in-law’s birthday banquet. She had only come upstairs to change into another dress...

There were guests all over downstairs. She didn’t dare make a sound...

Inside, she was furious and terrified at the same time—terrified someone might hear, terrified someone might see, terrified the Harrington family would lose face completely.

This man had already bulldozed straight past the line she could bear.

...

When it was finally over, Chloe’s eyes were red, her lips trembling so badly she could barely speak. "You... you..."

The man lounged on the bed lazily on his side, his long fingers lightly curling around the damp ends of her hair as if he couldn’t put them down. His deep eyes were glossy, almost smiling, and his tone carried that careless, teasing edge of someone who never took anything too seriously.

"What’s wrong, baby?"

Chloe was so angry the veins at her temples were throbbing. She shoved him away hard, her eyes burning red, her lips shaking as she said, "I’m calling the police! You didn’t get my consent, and you still did that to me, you... you..."

Her voice weakened bit by bit, because she suddenly realized she couldn’t call the police. She was a married woman. She had a contract husband. This was her mother-in-law’s house. And in her mother-in-law’s house, with a strange man...

If this got out, she would never live it down.

Ethan Blackwell’s gaze darkened. He sat up with effortless ease, then casually picked up a cigarette between his fingers. A thin trail of smoke drifted from his long fingertips as he spoke in a flat, calm voice. "Sorry. I thought you were the welcome gift they sent me."

A welcome gift?

Chloe lifted her head and looked straight at him.

Now his face was fully exposed in front of her—strikingly handsome, with wild, sharp brows and peach-blossom eyes that seemed born to flirt. There was a reckless charm hanging from the corners of his brows, like he wore romance and danger as naturally as breathing.

His thin lips parted slightly, and he gave a low laugh. "This is my dressing room. Why were you here?"

Today was his first day back in the country. The moment he walked into the dressing room, his eyes had landed on a woman without even meaning to.

Her waist was slim.

And he had always had a thing for waists.

He figured it had been so many years, yet his friends still remembered exactly what he was into.

So he accepted their so-called "welcome gift" without the slightest bit of courtesy.

It was just that, for a moment, he lost control and got pulled in by this "gift"...

Chloe Harrington bit down hard on her teeth, lips pressed shut so tight not a single sound could escape.

This was actually his dressing room?

Today was her mother-in-law's birthday. Her mother-in-law had told a servant to take her to a dressing room to change, and the servant had brought her here.

In that heavy silence, he lifted a hand and hooked her chin up. He bent slightly, and his lips came down with a forceful, invasive heat, stealing away her breath like he owned it.

A low chuckle brushed past her ear. "Heh. So you're just a little stray kitten that wandered in."

A flash of anger and humiliation shot through Chloe Harrington's eyes. Instinctively, she tried to break free from him, but the second she moved, she realized his strength had locked her down all over again.

"Tell me who you are." Her voice was tight, carrying both suspicion and caution.

He gave a lazy laugh. "My last name is Blackwell. Ethan Blackwell. This is my home."

In an instant, it felt like a thunderclap exploded in Chloe Harrington's mind.

Ethan Blackwell?

Wasn't that the husband she'd been married to for three years, the one she'd never even met once?

So it was him.

Ethan Blackwell felt the tremor running through her body and smiled with obvious amusement. "Why are you shaking? What, it feels that good?"

Chloe Harrington let out a breath, but at the same time, hot blood rushed straight to her head.

The second Ethan Blackwell came back to the country, without even knowing who she was, he had practically slapped a green hat on himself and dragged her into this mess!

Were people overseas really this open? This wild?

Chloe Harrington secretly clenched her hands, her eyes turning red as she stared at him, fury burning bright inside them.

The corner of Ethan Blackwell’s mouth lifted, that bad-boy grin showing up again, lazy and wicked.

“You keep looking at me like that. What, you want round two?”

The man suddenly leaned in, so close his warm breath brushed across her face. Chloe Harrington’s eyes flew wide in shock, and then she heard him say with a smile, “You smell amazing.”

A cold laugh slipped through her heart.

Of course. A wife at home could never compare to some “wild thrill” outside, right?

She shoved him away hard, forcing a gap between their bodies.

Her voice was icy when it reached his ears. “I’m leaving.”

Ignoring the soreness all over her body, she grabbed another dress and pulled it on again.

She’d just treat today like she’d been bitten by a mad dog. There was no way she could tell anyone. If this got out, her mother-in-law would probably clap and cheer.

But just as she reached for the door to leave, he pinned her against it again without warning.

“What do you want now?” Chloe looked up at him, full of caution.

Ethan’s gaze shifted slightly. The careless, teasing smile on his face slowly faded, replaced by something rarer—seriousness, even a trace of focus.

He lifted a hand and lightly toyed with a strand of her hair, his voice hoarse, low, almost coaxing.

“Give me your contact info. Makes it easier for me to find you next time, hm?”