Fair-haired Boy

The clock was just about to strike 12 midnight when she hit the bar.

Era Xu was sporting a mini skirt as she waved her chestnut curly hair. The bright lights on the dance floor were flickering constantly, and her black silk gloves were slipping along the edge of the glass.

Today was actually her 18th birthday. And it was such a lonely, but rather extravagant night.

Since her mother's passing four years ago, nobody had ever remembered her birthday anymore. What was worse, her father just couldn't wait to bring his mistress home. As a matter of fact, it had barely even been a month since Era Xu's mother passed away when the mistress moved into the Xu family along with her daughter.

As she looked back, tears started welling up in Era's eyes. It left such a bitter taste that it almost ruined her delicate smoky eye makeup. To try to hold back the tears that were about to fall, she hurriedly closed her eyes.

Before her mother left her, she told Era that she must do her best to endure the pain in her heart and keep smiling even when she's no longer around to protect her.

She did as her mother asked. In these past couple of years, she managed to keep smiling no matter what.

She kept smiling even when her sister, who was only three months younger than her, took away her elaborately decorated room, all of her favorite clothes, and even her boyfriend, whom she grew up together with.

'Mom was right. You can't call yours what others can easily take away.'

As she was deep in thought, a man in his twenties was making his way through the crowd toward Era Xu. She hadn't caught his eye until just now.

He walked over and turned her around, and then his handsome face leaned in closer very slowly. Era Xu couldn't really hold her liquor that well, so when she felt alcohol kicking in, she lost her balance and grabbed onto the man's neck unconsciously.

Seeing this, the man felt so thrilled with her response. So, he went ahead and kissed her with his hands at the back of her head.

'My God!' The strong smell of perfume made Era Xu feel so nauseous. At that very moment, all she wanted was to get rid of the man.

However, the man simply held her even tighter. "Let's go. I'll take you somewhere else."

"No. Get your hands off me," she flatly refused, shaking her head. Indeed, she might have come here to have some fun, but she was still conscious enough to recognize that the man in front of her wasn't her type at all even though she was already feeling a bit tipsy.

"Let's go, baby. I promise I'm going to show you a really good time..." With a lecherous smile on his face, the man persuaded her to leave the dance floor with him.

"Hey, let go of me!" Era Xu struggled to push him away, but she was much too weak to shake him off. In no time at all, the man had taken her out of the bar.

A gust of cold wind blew over, making her shiver for a while as she tried to pull herself together. "Get your hands off me! Go away from me!" She twisted her body in an attempt to loosen the man's grip on her body. But then, the man got a hold of her right away and said, "Babe, please behave yourself."

"Who are you calling baby? Go fuck yourself!" As they tore at each other in front of the bar, they accidentally bumped into a hard "black tower".

Raising her head to check what they collided with, she stared right into a pair of dark, deep and cold eyes. What a handsome man! His tall and muscular figure was at least over 186 centimeters. The well-dressed black suit highlighted his burly figure. Based from his facial features, it was apparent that he was a mixed-blood. East meeting West seemed to have that much of an advantage. His skin was dark brown, but that didn't do anything to lessen his appeal. Far from being repulsive, the smell of his perfume simply added to his male charm, and his short hair made him look more casual and ostentatious.

In her mind, Era Xu swore he must have been the most handsome man her eyes had ever seen!

Glancing at the man and woman who were fooling around in front of him, Jacob Huangfu's eyebrows were deeply knit as his deep and cold eyes stared at them. With his cold stare glistening in the light, they couldn't help but shudder. "Fuck off!"

The man yelled out, not wanting to lose face in front of Era Xu. He rolled up his sleeves and shouted, "Are you blind? How dare you act so arrogant in front of me! I'll have you know that I have quite a powerful background and you can't afford to offend me..."

"So, fuck off!" Hearing this, Jacob Huangfu couldn't help but frown, and there was a cold atmosphere surrounding his black eyes. It made people feel so intimidated, oppressed even, much like Satan from hell himself was standing in front of them.

Because of this, the man was so frightened that he lost all the strength in his legs and fell to the ground.

Upon seeing that, Jacob Huangfu simply strode toward the bar and completely ignored him, but his eyes were still filled with coldness.

The ruthless and steady footsteps seemed to have trampled on Era's heart, giving her a strange feeling of restlessness deep inside. Finally, she had made up her mind. Stretching out her small and slender hands, she grabbed a hold of the man's arm. She seemed to be caught in a daze as she looked at him. With an enchanting smile, she said in a sweet voice, "Hi! You are more handsome than that man! I'm glad I bumped into you tonight! Shall we... go to a hotel?"

Giving her a cold stare, Jacob Huangfu replied in a low voice, "Get your hands off me!"

Perhaps Era was so inebriated, but she just wasn't afraid of him whatsoever, even though his whole body was suffused with a rather suffocating breath. "...... No way!" She shook her head and rubbed her hair, feeling so irritated. Then, before anyone could even notice, she proceeded to wrap her arms around his neck and held him tightly.

"Hotel, right?" Jacob Huangfu asked as he held and raised her chin.

"Yes..." Era tightly held onto him and whispered under her breath.

"Come with me!" Jacob held Era's shoulder as they walked away and pushed her into his black sports car. At that moment, dizziness completely filled the air around her. Era kept on staggering as she walked.

In a presidential suite of the Glory Hotel.

The minute they entered the room, Jacob immediately leaned in closer to Era and let his accumulated passion reveal the hunter's nature of danger he was keeping inside. When they reached the bedroom, he held the back of Era's head, leaving her no chance to escape at all.

"Bang!" He effortlessly pushed her into the bed like a cloth bag.

"Wait!" Half-awake due to the effects of the alcohol and feeling a little scared, Era tried her best to calm down the flames. "Sir, why don't we think this through..." Unfortunately for her, Jacob didn't give her any time to think at all.

"Ahhh..." A drawn-out scream emanated from the bedroom. Right then, she could only vaguely see the beautiful crystal lamp on the ceiling emitting its brilliance. It was too late for her to have any second thoughts, as Jacob could easily hold her down.

Era had always been a well-behaved girl, performing well at school and always obedient. Even her cunning father, Enoch Xu, firmly believed that Era was only an innocent little girl, who would remain obedient to him all her life. In fact, he even started to arrange blind dates for Era and the sons of other rich and powerful families. No matter which family she married into, it would be beneficial for his company!

Little did Enoch Xu know that all the legacies left by his wife, Fancy Ling, had been fully transferred to Era already.

Never could he have imagined that that Fancy Ling's properties would be enough to buy his own company. The two of them had been married for over ten years. However, he had always been preoccupied with either his company's affairs or with his illicit love affairs. For that reason, he had never realized that his wife, who was weak and quiet, was actually an investor herself.

As for Era, she didn't come back home that night. She decided to have fun at the bar and spend a night out celebrating her birthday with total strangers. If Enoch Xu were to find out about this, he would definitely go nuts and fly into a fit of hysteria!

Era worked hard just to give her first time to a random passer-by. In spite of that, there was no feeling of regret for this matter whatsoever. Truth be told, there was even a faint happiness of revenge! -

On the morning after, the first rays of sun shined through the window and illuminated the room, and the bedside was quiet and warm. Wrapped in a silk quilt, most of Era's fair skin was exposed. She lazily opened her eyes. Her whole body felt so sore as though she had been run over by a truck. "Damn it! Who said experiencing this can make a person so happy and ecstatic? All of it is just..." Before she could utter next word, she suddenly felt something pointed at her head. It was a cold blade of a black knife.

Seeing this, her eyes became wide open. That happened as Era was stretching herself, and halfway through the stretch, she had to hold her breath. The room, which seemed quite luxurious and magnificent with its European classical style, instantly turned into a gloomy hell.

Shooting a quick glance at the expensive-looking vase in the corner of the wall, Era rolled her eyes, much like a cat. Taking in a deep breath, she mustered up the courage to push the knife away and said, "Sir, let's talk about this!"

As she turned the machete against the palm of her hand, with one wrong move, she would have ended up being the most miserable girl ever. This was the very first time she had heard about such a thrilling and dangerous story. She had only spent one night with a man, but she ended up being killed.

Deafening silence pervaded the room. And the air was filled with danger.

After about two minutes of dead silence, Era asked while wearing a wry smile on her face, "Sir, why on earth are you doing such a thing? If you want to get rid of me, you should at least let me know the reason."

"Well, if you really want to know, then I will tell you the reason why you are going to die." Pursing his lips, Jacob stared at the pretty woman in front of him, with quite an interested expression glimmering in his eyes. She was beautiful and had a delicate frame, with soft white skin, long curly chestnut hair, and eyes which were as exquisite as crystal clear water. But in spite of that, she unintentionally exuded a strong sense of stubbornness.

Jacob couldn't say for sure whether she was really wasted last night or not. After all, how could she be all over someone she just happened to bump into in the street and go to the hotel with him? Besides, when they finally arrived at the hotel, he even found out that the inebriated woman in front of him was actually a pure maiden.

'Women in the world must really be getting more and more crazy now.' Raising the corners of his lips, Jacob looked at Era with cold and menacing eyes. Then, he coldly gave her the reason. "That is, all the women who have a connection to me must die!"

Hearing his explanation, Era suddenly became short of breath. She thought to herself, 'Damn it all! I just had to go and offend a weird killer. However, this pervert is actually quite handsome.'

"You..."

When she noticed that Jacob was tightening his grip on the knife's handle, Era immediately covered her neck with her hands and blurted out, "Please don't kill me!"

"Are you kidding me? Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you!"

"I'll give you whatever you want. Just spare my life, please!"

For Jacob, women were nothing but passers-by in bed. To avoid getting himself in trouble, women who knew this habit of his all met their end like they were traitors. As far as he was concerned, there seemed to be no reason for him not to kill this seemingly over-confident woman. "I don't want anything other than your life!" His alluring voice sounded sweet but cold at the same time.

"You were the first man I've ever had sex with. You should feel honored! You've already taken my purity, and now you want to kill me? You're taking all the good things in this world," Era blurted out, caught up in such a difficult situation. Right then, she looked like a little feral kitten who wanted to rake his skin with her sharp claws. All of a sudden, she rolled her eyes, quickly grabbed a pillow and threw it onto Jacob's face to catch him off guard. As he dodged the pillow, Era had to think fast and picked up the antique vase, throwing it at him. -

Unfortunately for her, he did not fall down as she had hoped because of his burly figure. He quickly raised his arm to block the vase. After a few seconds, blood started dripping down his slender fingers.

"Woman, you are brave. I'll give you that!" Jacob held her chin up and said in a cold tone just a moment later, leaving Era trembling with fear. It seemed that she could smell the scent of death in the air.

Out of desperation, she closed her eyes. 'Era, you really are the most miserable girl in history!' she thought to herself.

"Jacob, I've been looking all over you! You're giving me a hard time!" Just then, the door swung open, and a cheerful voice broke the complete silence inside the room.

When she opened her eyes, Era saw a beautiful lady in black gracefully entering the room. The lady didn't seem to be surprised with the scene she stumbled upon in the room. In fact, she even casually said as if she was used to it, "Jacob, there you go again playing such a boring and bloody game."

"Elizabeth, you should go out first. I'll be with you in a second," Jacob said, keeping his voice low as he gave her a cold glance.

"Okay, but don't make me wait too long." After giving Era a pitiful look, Elizabeth turned to leave.

"Beauty, please help me!" Not wanting to let her last hope slip away, Era decided to reach out to her and ask for help.

Hearing this, Elizabeth turned around and asked, "What did you just call me?"

"Beauty! Gorgeous lady!"

"Good girl." Wearing a bright smile on her lips, Elizabeth slowly walked over toward Era. "You're much cuter than Jacob."

"I couldn't possibly compare to you, Miss." Holding on to dear life, Era tried so hard to curry Elizabeth's favor. "This XIUNAER dress has been just made for you."

"Haha..." With a soft smile, Elizabeth looked at Jacob and said, "Jacob, please let me have this girl. I've taken a liking to her."

"Elizabeth, since when did you become such a stickybeak?"

"It's not like I'm poking my nose into other people's business. I've decided. I'm going to invite her to attend my party," she said, taking out an exquisite invitation card and handing it over to Era. "Now, she is officially my distinguished guest. In any case, I have to ensure her personal safety. Jacob, please do me this favor."

Glancing at her smiling face, Jacob retracted the knife he was holding. Although, there was still a cold glare in his eyes. "Elizabeth, I don't want that to happen ever again!"

"I see. Do you seriously think that any random woman can take part in my feast?" Elizabeth asked, waving her hand as a playful smile crept onto her face. Truth be told, she was simply very curious about that. Jacob had always been a cold and heartless man after all. Killing people swiftly without batting an eye was his style. However, he seemed to be dragging his feet as he tried to kill this woman! -

"Fuck off!" Glancing at Era, who seemed to have been caught in a daze, Jacob impatiently shouted.

"Well, okay then." Picking up her clothes lying on the floor, quickly Era ran out of the presidential suite.

"Baby, make sure to attend my party, okay? You should dress up, you know..." Elizabeth's coquettish voice exclaimed from behind her.

Frantically gasping for air, Era ran out of the hotel. She hailed a taxi and stepped in as fast as she could. In that moment, her heart was pounding uncontrollably and she was so flustered. All of it felt like such a nightmare. Was this God's way of punishing her? But, she was by no means a horrible person!

When she finally calmed down, she opened the invitation card to check what was inside, only to find that the background of the card was pitch black, and the eye-catching red rose was so enchanting that it looked like it was actually bleeding. For some reason, it was just like that woman named Elizabeth.

As for the contents of the invitation she received from the lady, Era could only read the gold letters on the card: Invitation From Mrs. Ye. After gathering her thoughts, her heart had been filled with curiosity. Who on earth were those people?

When Era arrived at their house, the door of Xu family seemed to be ajar. Pushing the door open as quietly as possible, Era walked into the house and opened the refrigerator. She quickly grabbed a bottle of water and took two sips. Moments later, she heard a loud noise coming from upstairs. It was Enoch ran down the stairs in a hurry. He looked so furious, as if he was about to die of anger.

"Dad..."

'Smack!' Enoch furiously raised his hand and slapped her right in the face! "You immoral girl!"

Without an ounce of fatherly love for his own daughter in his eyes, Enoch gave Era a vicious tongue-lashing! "Where were you last night? You didn't come home all night! If you cause some sort of scandal, I am going to break your legs. You mark my words!"

"Dad, are you sure you want to know where I went off last night?" she asked as she rubbed the area where she was slapped. At that moment, she felt a little bit of pain. There was pain in her cheek, but her heart ached even more.

It was said that she was the apple of Xu family. But little did they know, she was nothing but a hostage!

"What did you just say?" Hearing her talking back to him, Enoch's eyebrows were deeply knitted. After all, this was the very first time she had ever been disobedient as well as the first time she had raised her voice, leaving him utterly displeased.

"Dad, I said, are you sure you want to know where I went off last night?" Era stubbornly raised her head as she gave him a look of derision. "Okay, then I'll tell you. Last night, I went to the Glory Hotel along with a man to check in, and then we..."

'Smack!' -

Using all five of his fingers, he slapped her really hard in the face once more. "You immoral girl, how could you possibly do such a shameless thing? You... You..." As the intense anger surged through him, Enoch felt a sharp pain in his chest.

At this moment, Grace Liu walked downstairs. Holding Enoch's arm, she went on and said, "Enoch, you should take good care of yourself. Both of us depend on you. Please try to calm down."

"Mom is right, Dad. Please listen to her." Anna Xu came over a little while later, and she also snuggled up to him, acting like a spoiled child.

What a happy family of three they were! Their moment of happiness felt like such an eyesore to Era. She clearly didn't belong in this family at all!

"Hey, what's that in your hand?" Anna Xu asked when she noticed the invitation card Era was holding.

"It's nothing," Era answered in a cold tone, tightly holding on to the invitation card.

"Let me have a look." As she said that, Anna Xu reached for the invitation card. "Ah!" she exclaimed in total bewilderment. "Why do you have an invitation to Mrs. Ye's party?

Mom, take a look at this!"

"Are you serious?" Feeling a little doubtful, Grace Liu took the invitation card and blurted out, "It really is an invitation from Mrs. Ye!"

"Mom, I want to go there with you," Anna Xu said, feeling so excited as she held Grace Liu's arm.

"Okay, okay. I will get you dressed up as the most beautiful princess... All eyes would be on you for sure. Hahaha..." Trying to keep herself from smiling, Grace Liu completely forgot that the invitation card was not even hers.

"I'm sorry!" Era reached out for the invitation card and beamed them a smile. And she said, "Mrs. Ye clearly said that the invitation to her party wasn't just for any woman, so I can't give this invitation to you!" Passing by both Grace Liu and Anna Xu, she ran up the stairs.

"Era!" Anna Xu screamed at the top of her lungs. Truth be told, she was used to take Era's things for granted, so she almost lost herself in anger that moment.

"Mom, I don't care about that. I'm going to attend Mrs. Ye's party no matter what!" Era completely ignored her. For that reason, Anna Xu held onto Grace Liu's arm and asked for help. Hearing this, Grace Liu turned her head and said to Enoch in a cunning tone, "Enoch, you heard Era, right? How could she say such a thing? This saddens me. I've always treated her as my own daughter and yet..."

"Stop right there! You wicked girl!" Enoch roared at the woman running up the stairs.

This made Era stopped in her tracks, and she turned back slowly.

"Apologize to your mother this instant. You are Anna's elder sister. You should give the invitation to her!"

He seemed to be as hard as nails, yet Era simply gave him a bitter smile. "By the way, Dad," Era said, "there's something I forget to tell you. From this day forward, Era Xu will no longer exist in this world. And right now, it is Era Ling who is standing in front of you. You are no longer my guardian. So, please stop ordering me around!"

"You..." Fuming with so much anger, Enoch couldn't find the words right away. "Get out of my sight! You ungrateful girl! Get out of my house this instant!"

Era turned around, and tears began to roll down her face.

"Era, what's the matter? Why are you crying?" At the corner of the stairs, a ten-year-old boy anxiously looked at her.

When she heard his voice, Era's tears instantly turned into a smile. Then, she patted his head and said, "It's nothing. I just made Dad angry. That's all. Raymond, please don't follow my footsteps. You need to be a good child in the future, okay? Can you promise me that?"

"Okay," Raymond Xu replied, earnestly nodding his head.

At that very moment, she couldn't help herself from stretching out her arms to hold him. In her plans to leave Xu family for good, Raymond Xu was actually the only one who was holding her back.

The sound of cars' engines were deafening. Era leaned against the corner and broke down. There were many cars here, so no one would probably notice that she was crying.

That day, she left with nothing to her name. It was a good thing that she had prepared for this day in advance and stealthily carried the things her mother left her with beforehand. In spite of that, her heart was still in so much pain, and she felt so alone. No matter how much she cried right now, no one would care at all.

Rain poured outside. The raindrops were falling on her face, and on her shoulders, drowning her tears. Her vision gradually turned blurry and all she could hear was the sound of her crying.

She always made it a point to follow her mother's advice-learn to smile, keep smiling no matter what, and face everything with all your heart. On top of that, she calmly maintained her image as a proper lady.

She had always been feeling sorry for her mother, so she wanted to get revenge. But even though everything went exactly as she planned and her plot of revenge was fulfilled, she ended up being just a hollow shell.

As she raised her head and looked up at the sky, she realized that she was so scared of being lonely as the rain continued to pour on her face. She wished that she could have a family to call her own, one that would always be there for her.

From out of the blue, a silver sports car pulled over on the corner of the street. A handsome man stepped on the brake with a pitiful look and rolled down the window. He helplessly stared at the woman who was crying and laughing in the rain.

Seeing her crying bitterly but trying her best to smile with all her heart, he couldn't help but frown.

As soon as he heard that Era got kicked out of the house, he immediately got into his car and drove out to look for her. He knew that whenever she was feeling sad, she had a habit of hiding in the busiest street and crying her heart out in secret. Sure enough, he really found her there.

What was causing her so much pain? Even though they went their separate ways, he knew she shouldn't be that sad. Heaving a heavy sigh, he held up an umbrella and stepped out of the car. His leather shoes splashed water onto the trouser legs of his suit.

"Era, please don't cry." Era was surprised to hear his captivating voice. Before she could even get the chance to respond, a pair of big hands was suddenly wrapped around her shoulder, and a blue umbrella sheltered her from the rain.

Era blinked and didn't say a word for a while. She had no idea why she had to see him while she was in such an awkward situation. After all, he had been stolen from her by Anna Xu, her childhood sweetheart, Brooks Qi.

Brooks Qi gently wiped away the tears in her face, leaving Era frozen in place.

The way he was being so gentle toward her felt like a calming breeze, making her feel so refreshed. However, that didn't change the fact that he was the childhood sweetheart who had betrayed her.

"Era, if a girl wants to look good, she should at least learn how to keep her makeup. If you keep crying like this all the time, you will never be able to marry." Brooks Qi poked fun at her, just like he used to. However, things had actually been different between the two of them. His jokes didn't sound fun anymore but only ironic.

Stepping on his foot, Era went on and said, "Did you just come here to make fun of me? I'm sorry, but the show is over. Goodbye!"

The rain kept pouring down from the sky, and her delicate little face was soaking wet. As she bit lower lip, she still looked so pretty and charming. Pushing the umbrella away, she walked into the rain and left Brooks Qi behind without any intention of looking back.

Her delicate figure was trembling in the rain. From the looks of things, it seemed as though the wind could blow her away. Seeing this, Brooks Qi quickly tried to catch up to her and held the umbrella for her.

"Era, stop being so stubborn. Come on, you should go back with me. Your father is just having a fit of anger. I'm sure that if you apologize to him, everything will be fine..."

"Why should I have to apologize to him?" Era asked. Then she stopped and stared at Brooks Qi and exclaimed, "I didn't do anything wrong! Brooks, don't follow me anymore. I hate you!"

"Era Xu!" Brooks grabbed a hold of Era's arm, tightened his grip, and roared, "Don't be so stubborn. Go back with me already."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot to tell you something." With a cold smile on her red lips, she carefully told him word by word, "Era Xu no longer exists in this world. The girl standing in front of you right now is Era Ling."

"Era..." Hearing those words, Brooks Qi couldn't help frowning.

Era pushed him away and ran away into the cold rain.

As he helplessly watched her receding figure, Brooks Qi let out a deep sigh with conflicting feelings in his dark eyes. 'Era, please don't hate me. I was left with no other choice. Sorry I had to leave you...'