Mesmerizing Temptation: Arrest Your Heart

"Well, ladies and gentlemen, let's welcome the beautiful lady of the Qiao family with a big round of applause!" announced the host at the posh dinner gala attended by the creme de la creme of the city. Everyone was seated around round tables and all eyes were on the stage where lights danced glamorously.

The enthusiastic host was flanked by two families. The Zhang family from the capital city stood on the left, while the Qiao family from the North Sea province stood on the right.

But the most eye-catching person on the stage was a dapper young man in an elegant suit, whose posture was ramrod straight. His eyes twinkled like stars on a dark night, and his thick eyebrows, stately height and angular face made him look like a Greek god. Dressed in tasteful and sophisticated clothes, he was perfect from any angle.

Although it was an important day for him, the man's eyes were narrowed, as if he was about to fall asleep, and there was a trace of boredom on his face.

With the host's announcement, the door on the other side of the stage opened slowly, and hundreds of eyes immediately turned towards it. Everyone was curious to see what kind of a woman was going to marry the illustrious Zhang family's son, who was also the most notorious playboy in the capital city.

However, when the door opened, the spot, which should have been occupied by his to-be wife, was empty.

"Where is Vera?"

"What happened?"

The flustered members of the Qiao family looked at each other in confusion. This was a golden opportunity for them to get their daughter married into the prestigious Zhang family. They didn't want to make any mistakes today.

"Mr. Qiao, I have terrible news. Miss Vera ran away!" said a servant rushing over. He had a piece of paper in his hand and was panting. Hearing this, the whole hall fell silent. Then, the crowd began to frantically whisper among themselves.

Meanwhile, on stage, the faces of the Zhang family members were ghastly pale, and the members of the Qiao family looked panic-stricken, as if they had lost their souls.

"Vera Qiao, you bitch! How dare you insult me in front of everyone?" Jason Zhang's bored expression turned fierce as he cursed loudly.

His fists were clenched tightly and blue veins stood out on his arms under his sleeves, unseen by anyone. He snatched the paper from the Qiao family's servant. The three words on it cut him up inside: "See you, Scum!"

Today the Qiao and the Zhang families were going to become one family bound by the marriage of their children. Almost all the celebrities in the capital city were present to witness the wedding. Vera Qiao's disappearance was a slap on the face of the Zhang family. Jason Zhang had become a joke!

"I won't let you go so easily!"

Jason Zhang swore coldly.

Exactly at that moment, in a corner of a street a few kilometers away from the hotel, a woman paused in the dim light to catch her breath. "Ha-ha! This is amazing! I did it! I finally escaped!" She was thrilled. Clad in a light pink short skirt and a pair of crystal-studded high-heeled shoes, she was adorned in expensive jewelry, but her delicate oval face was marked with black spots. Moreover, her teeth were stained and her hair was in a mess. It was impossible to not cringe as looking at her.

Sure enough, it was Vera Qiao, the daughter of the Qiao family from the North Sea province.

"I look so ugly with this make-up. Anyway, how could an innocent girl like me marry a playboy like him?" she said to herself. Just thinking about him gave Vera Qiao goose bumps all over her body. She was disgusted. Never once while she was studying abroad did she imagine that half a month ago, her family would suddenly summon her back home for an emergency that would change her life. But she didn't expect the so-called emergency to be a ruse to send her on a blind date! What was more, her parents fixed her engaged without even telling her!

'Come on, what age are we living in? This is the 21st century. Everyone accepts and respects free will now, okay?'

thought Vera Qiao, rolling her eyes. Her parents had tried every means possible to persuade her. Finally, she had relented. Her prospective groom belonged to the most famous family in the capital city. She thought that after marrying him, she would enjoy a luxurious life. As the daughter-in-law of a rich family, she would command hundreds of servants and professional chefs from all over the world would be at her beck and call to cook whatever her heart desired. It was a wonderful dream! But! All her wishes and hopes were quashed when she found out that the man she was going to marry was scum! As soon as she arrived in the capital city, she learned of his wicked ways with women. She was shocked by his reputation!

Jason Zhang was known as the Casanova in the capital!

Any woman who was well-known and good-looking in the imperial city had an intimate relationship with him. When Jason Zhang returned home after retiring from the special forces, his dashing looks, incredible body and wealthy background made him a prize catch. Women were attracted to him like moths to a flame. The rumor was that Jason Zhang was very good in bed. It was an alluring prospect for the women in town. And all the women who had slept with him could become a team and go against the woman who would marry him!

Vera Qiao wasn't carried away by the thought of getting married into a rich family. If she became the daughter-in-law of the Zhang family, her dignity would be hanging by a thread. Jason's ex-girlfriends no doubt wanted her dead. What was more, if Jason brought any of his illegitimate children home in the future, she would have nowhere to go!

That guy had a horrible temper and Vera would not be able to stand up to him.

'My man should be like prince charming, polite and gentle!' she thought angrily.

After contemplating her options for a while, Vera took out her phone and called her best friend.

"Well, dear Miss Vera, how come you are calling me today? Aren't you abroad?" asked her friend with a teasing chuckle. "It must be daytime there, right? Don't you have class to attend?"

"Cut the crap. I'm back in the capital city. Right now, I'm homeless and have nowhere to go. Can I come to your place?" said Vera shortly, raising her eyebrows. After a brief pause, her friend asked,

"Really?"

Suddenly her friend was excited.

"Wow! You can't be serious!" Vera nodded and said pitifully, "My dear, please save me!" She hung up the phone and tossed it into her bag with a relieved smile. Although she looked calm, she was very scared.

She knew that after today's incident, her whole family would be in chaos. Her parents would go crazy looking for her, and knowing the kind of rich and powerful people in the Zhang family, especially Jason, they would probably try their best to capture her and rip her to pieces.

How could a weak woman like her fight two strong families?

Her only option was to flee!

However, it was impossible for her to escape from the capital city. The well-connected Zhang family would do everything in their power to block all her exit points like the airport or the train station. So she would have to stay in a safe place. No matter how much wealth and power the two families had, finding Vera in a city of this size was like looking for a needle in a haystack. 'I'm so smart!'

thought Vera happily, but in the next moment, she realized something and her smile turned into a frown.

She took out a photo from her pocket. In the photo, a soldier in a military uniform was staring at the camera. He was fair-skinned and looked young, but mature. Full of confidence and strength, he was indeed very attractive at first glance!

Yes, this was a photo of Jason, which was taken when he joined the army.

"What a waste! You look so handsome but..." Vera clicked her tongue and threw the photo into a trash can.

"Dear, why are you out on the street at this hour of the night? And why do you look like a ghost? Fortunately, my eyesight is good, or I wouldn't have recognized you! Get in the car!" Instructed Ava Zhou, Vera's best friend. Vera had waited nervously for almost ten minutes before her friend finally showed up in a taxi. The window was rolled down, revealing a fair face with sunglasses. Ava Zhou was speechless at the sight of Vera standing all alone shivering in the dark.

The reason for Vera's present condition was not the weather, rather it was the fact that she was very close to the hotel where her wedding was to take place. Although she was hidden in a dark alley at the corner of the street, she was still in a vulnerable position. She was afraid to think of what would happen if she was caught.

"Did you do something bad?" asked Ava Zhou, raising an eyebrow suspiciously. She knew Vera too well. The two had been best friends ever since primary school. Ava Zhou knew what Vera was thinking just by looking at her. Vera didn't hide anything from Ava Zhou. Moreover, Vera was still fuming about the marriage arranged by her parents. She needed someone to confide in. She relayed her entire ordeal to Ava Zhou immediately.

"Stop the car!" screeched Ava Zhou after listening to Vera's story. Her sudden scream scared the driver and Vera to death.

"What are you doing?" asked Vera, patting her chest.

"Get out of the car! I don't want to be caught by the Zhang family. They will think that I tried to harbor a fugitive and then I will be thrown into the wilderness at night! My dear Miss Vera, do you know how powerful the Zhang family is in the capital city? I don't want to die. You are endangering my life!" Ava Zhou took off her sunglasses and exclaimed exaggeratedly, revealing her charming eyes.

"Ava Zhou! If you don't help me, I'll call your boyfriend now. You..." Before she could finish her sentence, Ava Zhou covered her friend's mouth and said, "Okay, you can hide at my place for the time being, but I am informing you in advance that you can stay for three months at the most!"

A sly look appeared in Vera's eyes. She smiled like a little fox and said, "Deal!"

The two girls shook hands to seal the deal.

Meanwhile, in another part of the city, there was an uproar because of Vera's daring escape. All the streets in the capital city, big and small, were swarming with black cars. Men in black scoured the hotels, airports, and all kinds of public places, hunting for Vera.

"So what are you going to do next?" Ava Zhou asked Vera seriously. They were sitting in Ava's thirty-square-meter rental house.

Vera had escaped in a hurry. Except for her ID card and some cosmetics, she didn't carry anything else in her bag, not even money! As an ordinary employee, Ava couldn't support a person like Vera in this expensive city! Ava was confident that Vera would have a follow-up plan in place as she planned her escape carefully.

"I'll hide from the limelight for some time and then I'm going to change my appearance. Only then can I make money to support myself. I can't work in a large corporation as the Zhang family has a wide network. Even if I try to get a job in a small company, I might be recognized by others..." Vera touched her chin and said shrewdly, "So after thinking about it for a while, I have decided that I will set up a stall!" Ava thought her friend would have come up with a good idea, but when she heard this, her mouth twitched and she sneered, "Dear, even to set up a stall, you need your ID card, okay? And you have to purchase goods for your stall, right? Besides, you have to go to a popular area to sell your products and someone might recognize you there as well. And the most important thing is that setting up a stall requires money. Where will you get the money from?"

As soon as those words left her mouth, Ava's scalp tingled. She noticed that Vera was looking at her with an evil expression.

"Oh, no, no, no! Let me stop you right there! I'm not rich like you. I don't have too much of my salary left this month. If I lend it to you, I'll have no money to eat!" Ava crossed her arms in front of her chest, pretending to be on guard.

"You are so mean," complained Vera, rolling her eyes. She took off her earrings and bracelets, slammed them on the table, and said in a hard voice, "I'll exchange these for money, okay?" As Vera expected, her friend's eyes lit up at the sight of the priceless jewelry.

"Really?" Ava asked happily, as if she was afraid that Vera would go back on her word. Unable to resist the temptation of trying on the jewelry, Ava bent over to the table immediately.

"I really don't know why I have such a bad friend like you!"

mocked Vera, slapping her forehead.

Unlike Vera, Ava came from a modest family. Her parents were ordinary workers. After high school, Ava didn't go to college as she needed to make money. Instead, she moved out of her parents' home. Now she worked in the human resources department of a state-owned enterprise in the capital city. She was frugal since childhood and never had aspirations to buy flashy clothes or cars. However, she was vain and wanted to find a rich husband, but she was a nice person and a good friend.

"Dear, can you be a little more elegant in bed? After all, you are a lady from a rich family!"

Ava grumbled in the middle of the night. The two women slept in the same bed. Vera had her arms entangled around Ava like an octopus. She was salivating and grinding her teeth in her sleep. But the habit that bothered Ava most of her friend was how loud Vera snored. Ava had been suffering from the insomnia the whole night.

"Dunn, I love you. Dunn..."

Listening to Vera talking in her sleep, Ava sighed. She knew that her friend must be dreaming of marrying the handsome Dunn Sun. Vera had a huge crush on the big celebrity in recent years. With the number of appearances he made in movies, TV, and music videos, he was an all-round star!

"The one who marries you must have been cursed for eight lifetimes!" grumbled Ava.

There was no way she was getting any sleep with this troublemaker next to her.

The next morning, when Vera woke up, Ava had already gone to work. After a quick wash, Vera left the apartment with the 3, 000 dollars she borrowed.

The jewelry she gave Ava was worth at least hundreds of thousands of dollars, but her friend only gave her three thousand dollars. Such a close-fisted wretch!

Vera dyed her hair, put on some cheap clothes and a pair of large-framed glasses, and got fake dentures. When she stood in front of the mirror and looked at herself up and down, she was satisfied with the final look.

The person in the mirror had grey hair, buck teeth, and thick glasses. She wore a rustic dress and a pair of flip flops. Nobody could guess that she was the same Vera of the Qiao family, who had caused a sensation in the city only hours ago!

'I'm a genius!' she thought proudly.

However, when she stepped out for a walk, she broke into a cold sweat. The street was buzzing with men in black. What alarmed her the most was the flyers about her search that were put up everywhere, and the reward was five hundred thousand dollars!

Fortunately, she was fully prepared or she would have been exposed today!

"Well, the disguise is successful. Next, I'm going to start my business!"

"I got so scared!" said Ava, clutching her chest when she came home from work. She got a fright when she saw Vera in her disguise. Vera smiled mercilessly. "Did I frighten you so much? I think I look pretty!" she said, batting her eyelashes comically.

"Idiot, people are looking for you everywhere. It's just the police who haven't taken your photos and started patrolling, but apart from that you're in grave danger," warned Ava. She continued somewhat sourly, "If I were you, I would grab the chance to marry into the Zhang family. Five hundred thousand dollars! I guess the reward amount will rise in a few days. If I hadn't known you since childhood, I would have dragged you to the Zhang family to claim the money!" She acted cheekily, stretching out five fingers.

"Well, forget about all that now. I want to discuss my business plan with you..." Vera whispered, patting her on the shoulder with a mysterious smile. Ava's eyes widened as she listened to Vera. She couldn't be more surprised.

She shook her head and stared at Vera incredulously. Then she finally looked up toward the ceiling and sighed. "What an ugly person and what a peculiar plan!" Flopping down on the bed, she pretended to be dead.

"Isn't it a good idea? Selling porridge will be a superhit business. Besides, you gave me only three thousand dollars. My capital is limited,"

Vera murmured to herself, frowning.

Then, she pulled Ava up from the bed and chatted nonstop, but the latter looked absent-minded.

"My dear, I've been on duty the entire day. Can you let me go and rest?"

Ava complained.

But Vera ignored her pleas. After ordering two bowls of spicy hotpot from the stall outside, they went to the market and bought a variety of pots and pans for Vera. Ava was thoroughly exhausted by the end of it, but Vera was full of vigor and enthusiasm to continue.

"Don't worry. I won't forget you when I make a fortune!" said Vera, pretending to wipe her non-existent tears as if she was deeply moved.

"The things I have to put up with!"

Ava said through gritted teeth.

She thought to herself, 'You come from a rich family and you still need money? Even if you wanted to escape from the clutches of the Zhang family and your parents, you needn't sell porridge.' Moreover, she was not entirely convinced of Vera's porridge-selling skills. She knew that her friend could endure hardships. Despite having no shortage of money, Vera's spending habits were not lavish. On the contrary, she was frugal. Both the girls had worked at part-time jobs since junior high school and Vera went to study abroad with the scholarship she received. She was a self-made woman in that sense.

But Ava was sure that Vera would fail in her first business and she didn't want to tell her friend why.

However, Vera was unfazed. Determined to make her business a success, she not only researched the different styles of cooking porridge, but she also bought many tonics, such as wolfberry and longan. She also experimented with a lot of flavors for Ava to try. It was midnight when Ava fell asleep with a full stomach.

"I will make a good start tomorrow!" Vera said to herself, feeling both happy and tired.

She had strong reason to believe that her porridge stall would work. Owing to the fast pace of life in the capital city and the pressure of work, many young workers started their day early and had no time to eat. So they would make a beeline for her quick and nutritious breakfast dish. Perhaps she could even expand her menu later. But there was one catch. As a street stall owner, she was obligated to submit her identity card, which increased her risk of being found. The only consolation was that neither the Zhang family nor her parents would expect her to sell porridge.

And finally, making porridge didn't require extraordinary cooking skills. The simple dish could be whipped up easily, and so, it was the best option for her.

If she was asked to sell steamed stuffed buns, she would never be able to do it.

The next day, Ava was awakened by a noise at dawn, followed by the smell of porridge. When she opened her eyes, she found that Vera was already up and frantically fiddling with the pots and pans.

"I have made a bowl for you. Try it!" Vera turned around and offered her friend excitedly.

"My dear! I ate too much last night!"

Ava felt a little nauseous, looking at the porridge. As the previous night, Vera had forced her to gulp down many bowlfuls of porridge.

Before long, Vera was on her tricycle with the whole bucket of porridge!

The sun had not yet risen, and the sky was still dark. A gust of cold wind was blowing, but Vera did not feel cold. On the contrary, her insides were burning with anticipation. This was the first day of her business. She had already selected the perfect place for her stall-the subway station nearby. It was the morning rush hour, which meant there would be lots of prospective customers. As soon as the aroma of her porridge would waft over, people would throng her stall, waving money and fighting for a bowl.

She dreamed of money raining down on her from the sky. Vera giggled at the surreal image.

Sweating profusely, she finally made it to her destination. She parked the tricycle near the subway station and nodded to the owners of several stalls around her. Then she turned on her megaphone and announced, "VV porridge, two dollars for a bowl of porridge, nutritious and healthy! Don't miss it! Not only will it warm your body on this chilly morning, but also your heart, and keep you happy all day long!"

The low price, coupled with her enticing advertising, suddenly made her the envy of other stall owners!

"Humph, are you intimidated by my business?" Vera raised her chin slightly, looking like a vain rooster.

"Give me a bowl!"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I don't have any change today."

"I'll have a bowl but I'll pay you tomorrow, okay?"

"I only have one and a half dollars. I will give you the rest tomorrow..."

As expected by Vera, her porridge and megaphone attracted the attention of many commuters. Her porridge started selling rapidly but the money she received in exchange was not as much in comparison.

Many customers didn't have change or forgot to bring money, and Vera was careless too. She didn't want to pester them for the money because she saw that they were in a hurry for work. So she didn't end up making much money that morning.

"Oh, no! Why are my earnings so less?" After the rush hour ended and the crowd petered out, Vera took out the money box to count, and she was stumped.

All the other stalls owners shook their heads at her and gloated. 'She's too young!'

"Damn it! The governor is coming! Run!"

someone suddenly screamed, startling Vera. She stared in surprise as the other stall-owners acted quickly. In a few seconds, they had packed up their carts, and run away!

The speed at which they cleared out the area left her in a daze.

When she came to her senses, she realized she was the only one left!

She sprung to action and started clearing up the pots and pans in a hurry, but the police car was just a hundred meters away!