"Elaine Hargrove, let’s get a divorce."

Beijing in February was freezing. The rain at night came with a biting wind that cut straight into the bones. Dominic Hargrove’s expensive suit was soaked through. In the blur of rain and mist, the look in his eyes held too much at once—reluctance, heartache, and the crushing pain of getting her back only to lose her all over again.

"Stop using death to force me. I’ll let you go."

He didn’t want to.

Below the overpass ran the Lijiang, the biggest river in Beijing. It was peak rainy season, the current wild and violent. The second he saw Elaine, still in that white dress, jump off the twenty-meter bridge without even a pause, he knew one thing.

This time, he had to let her go.

In the curtain of rain, everything was so quiet that only the sound of raindrops hitting umbrellas remained.

Felix Harding stood in the rain holding an umbrella, his chest heavy.

During rainy season, the Lijiang was at its most dangerous.

Elaine Hargrove had jumped without hesitation just to get away from Mr. Hargrove.

And Mr. Hargrove had jumped without hesitation to save a wife who didn’t love him.

Elaine’s vision slowly shifted from hazy to clear, like her consciousness was finally coming back online. Dominic Hargrove’s face—sharp-boned, striking enough that even the night couldn’t hide it—came into focus in her eyes.

"Dominic Hargrove, will you kiss me?"

She suddenly wrapped her arms around his neck, tilted her face up to him, and looked at him with open seriousness. On that bright, gorgeous face of hers was the most shockingly sincere expression, like she was genuinely asking him for a kiss.

Felix and the bodyguards behind him: "?"

Was the wind too strong tonight, or the rain coming down too hard? Were they hearing things?

Madam was asking Mr. Hargrove for a kiss?

She wasn’t trying to take his life this time?

Not seeing the disgust that used to live in Elaine’s eyes, Dominic felt like all the blood in his body was rushing backward. His trembling hands lifted to cup her porcelain-pale face. "What did you say?"

But the moment he touched her, it felt like needles piercing into his palm. He snapped awake and pulled his hand back at once.

She hated him touching her. She hated everything about him.

Yet the hand Dominic had withdrawn was suddenly caught tight in a pair of pale, slender hands. Elaine held it fast, then took the initiative to press her cheek into his palm.

Good, soft, and so unfairly sweet.

"I changed my mind. No kiss."

"Dominic Hargrove, let's sleep together."

Dominic Hargrove—the crown prince of Beijing's elite circles, the man sitting at the top of the city's power game.

And also... the guy she'd had a crush on forever.

On Christmas night when she was eighteen, Elaine Hargrove had been ready to confess to Dominic Hargrove. If it worked, great, she'd get her dream guy. If it failed... she'd just go all in and steal a kiss anyway.

But who would've guessed she'd crash before she even got started? She ran into a serial killer and got hunted down. When that blade went into her again and again, the pain was so brutal she almost felt herself die on the spot.

Then she opened her eyes and saw Dominic Hargrove looking at her with shattered eyes, telling her he wanted a divorce.

She understood at once.

This was a dying dream, the last sweet flash before the end.

Dominic Hargrove's fingertip brushed the corner of her lips like he was touching something precious, something he couldn't bear to break. His eyes were dark, unreadable. "Don't regret it."

Elaine Hargrove blinked at him. "If I regret it, I'm a loser."

...

Inside the hotel suite.

Their soaked clothes had been tossed onto the floor.

His cool kiss landed on Elaine Hargrove's palm first. The touch sent a tingling numbness through her, so electric it threw her breathing completely off rhythm.

Braced above her, Dominic Hargrove lowered his gaze and looked straight at her. Desire churned in his eyes, but he was still holding himself back with scary restraint. "Elaine Hargrove, if you want to back out, you still can."

"I already said it." Elaine Hargrove looked back at him, stubborn to the core. "If I regret it, I'm done for."

The moment a sharp sting spread across her lips, Elaine Hargrove suddenly froze.

Wait.

This... didn't feel like a dream.

"Wait—"

"Too late to regret it now."

Her voice disappeared into his kiss.