Romantic Danger: Hypnotized By Sweet Little Lies

Inside the presidential suite located on the thirty-third floor of the Spring Hotel in Lane City.

Loud moans could be heard from across the hallway outside the suite. A man and a woman were having steamy, passionate sex inside the room, which heated up the already hot, late summer's day even more.

Janice's voice was sexy as she moaned, seductive enough to attract any man, but Malcolm was indifferent to it. In his eyes, she was just a toy that he used for fun. Regardless of how sexy she was, she never interested him.

Malcolm did not have any feelings for her, so it made it easier for him to use her as an object of pleasure.

Two hours later, he finally finished having sex. He got up from the bed and walked away without even looking at her.

Janice expected him to feel something about their love-making, so she stood up, still completely naked, and walked to his side. The warm air brushed against her soft skin as she approached him and said, "Malc... Will you be coming home tonight?" She then looked up at the clock. The time was just a few seconds past 6:00 p.m. Janice wanted to know if they would be going home together. If they were to go home together, then she could make him a delicious meal for dinner. In fact, she was hoping that he would agree to have dinner with her.

However, her romantic plan faded away when she heard Malcolm's cold voice.

"You're just someone I like to have sex with, Janice. Don't be ridiculous." His voice had remained the same for almost two years, cold as ice.

Janice was shocked to hear that. But then, she was too afraid to say anything in argument.

"Yes, I know," she replied in a low voice.

Ever since the day she married Malcolm, he had made it very clear that their relationship was just about the sex and nothing else. There was no emotional bond between them. Regardless of how hard she tried to hide from the truth of their marriage, the truth would always be the truth.

Thinking of that, Janice was on the verge of tears. However, she forced herself not to cry in front of him.

Malcolm looked at her and saw how fragile she was. His heart stung as if it had been pricked by a hundred needles. However, his heartache vanished, disappearing without a trace in less than a moment.

"All right, then." After saying those cold words, Malcolm began putting on his clothes.

When Janice finally lifted her head and looked at him, she saw that he was already fully dressed.

Malcolm was a very handsome-looking man. He had sharp features, thick eyebrows, a pointed nose, and eyes as deep as the bottom of an ocean. His gaze was sharp like an eagle's, making him seem vigilant and fierce. Moreover, he had a very firm, muscular body which made him even more attractive.

Janice had been in love with him for almost eight years.

Not to mention, he was the man whom she had married.

"Janice!" Malcolm's cold voice came, pulling Janice back to reality.

Her expression immediately brightened with joy as she looked up at him. "Are you coming home for dinner, Malc?"

she blurted out, exposing the desire that was in the depths of her heart. She didn't even have the time to think about whether she had said something stupid when she heard Malcolm's blunt reply.

"It has been two years since we got married, Janice. Why are you still dreaming about things that are never going to happen?"

Hearing that, Janice felt a sudden chill down her spine and began trembling.

He was right. How could she even dare to dream of such things? She was a sinner, and she had to make amends for it. She shouldn't have said and expected that.

She took a deep breath, stood up, and looked at him with a calm expression.

"I am sorry, there must be something wrong with my head. It was stupid of me to ask such a thing and I hope that you will forgive me for what I said." After saying that in a soft voice, Janice picked up her clothes from the ground and got dressed.

Because of their peculiar arrangement, Malcolm always asked her to take off her clothes before they had sex as he did not want to damage them in the process. Hence, Janice's clothes always remained clean and crisp, just like they had been when she wore them that morning.

After she was fully dressed, Janice walked to the mirror and put on her lipstick. And within just a few minutes, she looked elegant and spotless.

Janice turned around and gave Malcolm a smile. "I am going home, Malc."

Her red tinted lips were slightly parted and her beautiful gray eyes were narrowed, making her look breathtakingly beautiful.

However, Malcolm didn't even bother to look at her.

Instead of being mad at him, Janice said with a smile, "Don't work too hard and come home soon, okay? I will leave the porch lights on."

Every night, before she went to bed, Janice would leave the warm porch lights on, so that Malcolm would not feel cold when he returned home late in the night. Unfortunately for her, even her kindness could not help her woo him.

"I will sleep in the office tonight," Malcolm said flatly. Upon hearing that, Janice clenched her fists.

"That's fine. I will still leave the lights on, okay?" Then, she quickly picked up her bag and walked out of the room.

Malcolm still did not look at her. He was staring out the French windows, lost in thought.

After making sure that Malcolm was not coming behind her, Janice ran to the elevator, got in, and crouched on the floor. The tears that she had fought so hard not to shed started to rain down her cheeks.

She covered her face, but tears continued to fall from her eyes.

"We... Our relationship shouldn't be like this, Malc. It is obvious that you still love me!" she whispered.

Except for Malcolm, no one else in the world could make Janice feel so weak and vulnerable.

However, the moment she stepped out of the elevator, she became a strong and fearless woman again.

She looked at her watch and saw the time. It was 6:10 p.m. Thinking that Alivia must have gotten off work, she decided to call her.

After a few rings, Alivia picked up her phone.

"Hey, Jannie! Are we gonna meet?" Alivia's cheerful voice came through the phone, dissolving the sadness in Janice's heart. A bright smile appeared on Janice's lips as she said, "Yes, meet me at the Night Bar at 7." Before Alivia could even say anything, she added, "And don't forget to bring cash!"

Hearing that, Alivia was speechless. "You're Janice Jian. How do you not have any money?"

Janice ignored her mockery, gave her a kiss, and disconnected the call. She then turned back to look at the Spring Hotel with a hint of pain in her eyes. However, only a second later, that faint pain disappeared.

"I won't leave you, Malc. I will always love you," Janice murmured under her breath as she called for a cab to go to the Night Bar.

At exactly 6:59 p.m., Janice got off the taxi. As she walked closer to the gates of the bar, she saw a woman laughing and flirting with a man.

The woman was dressed in a cropped leather jacket and hot pants. Her long slender legs were exposed, which would make any man want her.

Janice chuckled to herself as she walked up to the woman and put a hand on her shoulder. Alivia turned around to look at Janice while she glared at the man who was talking towards her.

"How old are you, kid? Why are you trying to hook up with someone who is as old as your elder sister? Have you even hit puberty yet?" Janice asked. Upon hearing her contemptuous comment, the man looked at her coldly. He raised his fist to hit her, but Alivia grabbed his hand just in time.

"She was just joking. Besides, are you really that embarrassed of yourself?" Saying that, Alivia twisted his wrist until she cracked his arm.

Janice and Alivia stared into each other's eyes before they walked into the bar, hand in hand. The man leaned against the wall, groaning in pain as he held his broken arm.

The Night Bar was a popular bar in Lane City. It was not just because it was owned by the Jiang family, but also because of the extreme sense of freedom that people felt there. Everyone and everything was permitted at the bar, and there was nothing that was off-limits.

Janice and Alivia not only loved the ambience of the bar, but they also liked one particular cocktail which was served only at the Night Bar.

The name of the drink was "Bloody Dawn."

It was a strong mix with tequila and had a deep scarlet tint to it. The drink was served in a tall glass with crushed ice, which created a beautiful gradient. Whenever Janice or Alivia had a bad day, they would come to the Night Bar to drink the Bloody Dawn. However, after drinking only three glasses of it, they would pass out and would not wake up until the next morning.

That way, they would get through the night without having to think painful thoughts.

"Jannie, you know I've been chasing after him for so long. How could he not feel guilty about making out with another woman?" Alivia absentmindedly swirled the wine in her glass as it stained her lips with an enticing shade of crimson with every sip. By this time, she was already a bit tipsy.

Also brandishing a glass of wine between her fingers, Janice looked at Alivia and burst into laughter.

"The fact that you have feelings for him is your concern, not his. What does it have to do with him? He has every right to be with whomever he chooses. Why should he feel guilty about that?" Janice's straightforward response was clearly meant as a blow to Alivia.

She raised her head from her arms and dried her eyes with the back of her hand like a child. "You're right! I feel so cheap now. I've been running after him like a hapless little girl while he keeps pushing me away. Perhaps, one day he will point his finger at my face while he's making out with some random wench and say that I'm the bitch that keeps pestering him.

Jannie, why are we so unlucky? How is it that we both fell in love with such men? Malcolm is just as bad as Leonel Fu!"

"Malcolm"- that name was like a curse, which made Janice's head ache in an instant.

She leaned back and sighed deeply, rubbing her temples with her forefingers and thumbs.

"Alivia, you know very well that he has his own problems to deal with, so I don't really blame him." With that, she gulped down the remaining wine in one swig, while the bartender was observant enough to refill her glass right after.

Alivia wanted to say something more, but when she saw the tears in Janice's eyes, they stifled her words and transformed them into a sigh of despair. She chugged her wine down and the bartender refilled it again.

The two drank glass after glass, completely disregarding their own capacity to drink.

As such, in less than an hour, they were both drunk out of their minds, barely able to sit up straight at the bar counter.

About a minute later, two men stared at Janice and Alivia furtively as their eyes gleamed with an amorous light.

"Bro, look over there!" The man bit his lower lip as he spoke, drooling from the corners of his mouth as he was almost unable to control his desire.

The other man standing next to him, looked just as desperate and shameless as he wiped his lips and gawked at the women salaciously.

"Nice! Let's go and show them a good time. How can we let such beauties slip through our fingers?" Soon after, they both rushed out of the bar, seemingly in a hurry, each with a woman in their arms.

They were so excited to leave that they forgot about Janice's and Alivia's bags and left them at the bar counter.

Fortunately, a concerned young woman who recognized the two sleazy men quickly walked over to grab their bags from the counter. Apparently, the rascals were from this area and were notorious for preying on drunk women to satiate their desires. When she saw Janice and Alivia leave with them, she decided to quietly go through their bags to see if she could find their cellphones so she could contact someone who could save them from those lecherous predators.

Fortunately, Janice's phone didn't require a password to unlock and she had managed to gain access with just a simple swipe. She scrolled through the contact list and noticed the name "Malc" at once.

Since it looked like a nickname, she assumed that he must have been close to the owner of the phone and she called his number without further hesitation.

Meanwhile, Malcolm, who was in the SY Company at the time, took his phone out of his pocket and found that Janice was calling him.

"Mr. Rong, do you want me to leave?" asked Caleb Huo. Malcolm frowned, hanging up the call and replied, "There's no need. Please continue."

After delivering his report, Caleb collected the files and packed his bag to leave. When he thought back to the call Malcolm didn't answer, he stopped and wondered whether he should remind him about it or not.

Malcolm was meticulously going over some papers, but when he realized that Caleb hadn't left yet, he raised his head to look up at him and said, "Anything else?"

After a brief pause, Caleb decided to remind him. "Mr. Rong, the phone call you rejected earlier... Was it from Mrs. Rong?"

The words "Mrs. Rong" seemed to have touched a nerve as Malcolm clenched his jaw in anger. Suddenly, he raised his head and narrowed his eyes into a furious, bloodshot glare with an intensity that tightened Caleb's chest.

"Who allowed you to call her Mrs. Rong?" How could a woman like her be his wife?

Caleb felt a jolt of fear lance through his gut as he lowered his head and murmured, "I am deeply sorry, Mr. Rong. It won't happen again." Then he bowed his head, clutching the files to his chest and walked out of the office as quickly as he could.

Malcolm shook his head to clear his angry thoughts after Caleb left and started writing again. After a minute, however, he threw his pen at the wall in anger and slumped back in his chair as his lips formed a grimace.

With great reluctance, he took out his phone and looked at the name "Janice" on the screen, as feelings of discomfort crept into his heart. However, his uneasy expression soon turned cold as soon as he recalled a scene in his head.

Putting his phone on the table, he picked up another pen and carried on with his work, instead of calling her back.

The young woman who had called him from Janice's phone was flustered. Fearing for her own safety, she didn't dare to call the police, so she decided to look through Janice's contacts in hopes that someone would answer.

Since the person labelled "Malc" didn't take the call. and Alivia's phone was in another bag, she had to place her hopes on the next person, which happened to be "Roy".

Fortunately, as soon as the call was connected, it was answered by the gentle and affectionate voice of a man.

"Jannie, why are you calling me at this time?" His voice was deep and soft, captivating listeners like a soft spring breeze.

A stunned silence followed, as the woman felt stupefied by his soothing voice.

Before long, Roy Jiang became increasingly aware of the awkward silence on the other end of the call. The tenderness of his voice soon disappeared as his curious inquisitiveness took over almost immediately.

"You are not Jannie! Who is this? Where is Jannie?"

The woman paused and quickly explained the whole story to the best of her knowledge.

Within seconds, Roy's eyes widened in horror as he clenched his fist and punched the wall. Without further delay, he rushed downstairs and walked out the door without his coat, leaving his family behind in baffled confusion.

The only concern running through his mind was Janice's safety.

He jumped into the driver's seat and drove off as fast as he could while he was still on the line. Now that he finally had some time to think, an important question popped into his mind.

"Did you try to call anyone else before me?" Roy asked as he sped through the busy roads at a terrifyingly high speed. He drove through a red light recklessly, but he had no time to care about anything else.

If he could get to Janice even a second earlier, he could minimize her suffering.

With that thought commanding his actions, he stepped on the accelerator even harder.

The woman on the other end of the line had no idea how recklessly Roy was driving, but she replied to him honestly, "I tried calling a number with the name "Malc" but there was no response. In fact, he was the first name on the contact list, but he didn't even bother to answer!"

Roy almost lost control of the steering wheel when he heard that.

Malcolm didn't answer the phone?

Perhaps that didn't surprise Roy as much as he thought it would.

After a long silence, he said, "Okay, thank you.

Please wait for me there! I'll get there as soon as I can!"

As soon as he hung up, he made a few phone calls, asking the people he knew to help him locate Janice and Alivia.

Meanwhile, after the effects of the alcohol wore out and Janice finally came to her senses, she scanned her surroundings and realized that they were being held in some cheap hotel room by the two men who accompanied them out of the bar. The two despicable men who had brought them to this hotel were happy to see the helpless women tremble in fear as their desperation only helped to fuel their excitement even more. Janice had successfully borrowed a cellphone from the men. Of course, the price was that the women could not resist when they did something after the phone call. Janice didn't refuse. Although Alivia stopped her again and again, she agreed without hesitation.

In her mind, she just wanted to call Malcolm to confirm one thing.

Janice sent a text message to Malcolm's number just in case he wouldn't answer because she knew he wouldn't respond to an unknown number.

And yet, she received no response from him.

Driven by desperation, Janice didn't want to give up and she bit her lip and tried calling Malcolm again.

She called his number fifteen times before he finally answered. Janice's eyes were red and swollen from all the crying and her voice trembled.

"Malc..."

Suddenly, the expression of the man sitting in his office stiffened. Gradually, the light in his office shone on him, but it did not make his side face softer.

"What's wrong?"

As usual, she was greeted with a cold and harsh indifference from Malcolm.

"I have been kidnapped." The plain narration did nothing to reveal the gravity of the situation at all.

Malcolm loosened his grip on the pen in his hand, but soon enough, he quickly recollected himself and concealed the rare expression of distress that had appeared on his face for a moment.

"Do you need me to call the police?" The apathy and cold indifference in his voice seemed to have squeezed out all the hope from Janice's heart as her face fell in disappointment.

She took a deep breath, however, burying her disappointment, and said, "Can you come and save me?"

Janice just wanted Malcolm to come and save her. Not her father and surely not the police.

Unfortunately, the cold-hearted man cared nothing for her expectations.

"I'm busy at the moment. I've got a lot of work to do and I definitely don't have time to waste on you." Malcolm's deliberate ruthless attitude arose from his lack of trust in Janice. He thought this was just another one of her daily tricks to gain his sympathy.

Janice was completely heart-broken by his words, clutching the phone to her face tightly, but she refused to give up so easily.

"Malc, I'm not kidding." Feeling the sincerity in Janice's trembling voice, Alivia couldn't help but look away because she didn't have the heart to see Janice lose hope little by little.

Malcolm pursed his lips and squinted at the light coming in through a crack in one of the curtains. Heaving a deep sigh of exhaustion, he looked away and said, "Janice, don't you remember what I told you before we got married?"

Janice gasped. As soon as she recalled what he was talking about, her vision blurred and thoughts began to clash in her mind.

How could she forget? She would never forget what Malcolm had said to her that day in front of the Civil Affairs Bureau.

"Janice, I don't love you. I won't be marrying you out of love, which is why I won't be happy in this marriage. I'm not going to interfere with your life, so you'd better not bother me either. I'm a very busy man and I have no interest in dealing with your nonsense."

His words were still fresh in her mind and eventually her tears burst forth, each drop soaking the quilt that was beside her body.

Janice sniffled and wiped the tears away with the back of her hand. "Yes, I remember. All right, just carry on with your work, Malc. I have to hang up now."

The moment she hung up the phone, Janice was filled with a kind of sadness she had no way of dealing with, no place she could take it to or hide it away. Alivia embraced Janice, feeling the urge to go straight to wherever Malcolm was and dig a hole in his body to see if the man even had a heart inside his body.

After all, he should have shown some sympathy, if not for his own wife, then at least for the sake of a desperate human being in need of help. How could a person be so heartless?

Alivia got up, gritting her teeth in anger, but Janice caught her by the wrist and stopped her.

"Alivia, please don't do anything. Please!" Janice's tears were not quiet and controlled. As she sobbed to draw breath, she knew there was no cure for her heart. Needless to say, Alivia couldn't bear to see her in such a state.

"Are you seriously going to let that heartless son of a bitch get away with that? I just don't get it. What's so good about him? Of all the men in the world, why do you have to bleed your heart out for a man like Malcolm?" Alivia didn't care to sugar coat her words any longer and she swore to herself that she would make Malcolm sorry for treating Janice like a worthless fool.

All the man did in the past two years was rip the poor woman's heart into pieces, leaving nothing but a gaping void. Alivia always tried to stay away from their affairs because she didn't want to hurt Janice's feelings. However, after watching her friend's self-respect get reduced to nothing before her own eyes, Alivia could no longer sit back and watch with good conscience.

Anger surged through her body and she wanted to rush out with every fiber of her being, but Janice grasped at the hem of her clothes.

"Please! I don't want him to know how embarrassed I am."

The desperation in her voice struck at Alivia's heart like a thousand sharp knives. Their sadness, however, seemed rather hollow and insincere to the two hooligans who were gawking at them like hungry vultures.

"Most men want women like you. Why are you belittling yourself like this?"

The man who spoke was somewhat too tall for his build. He walked up to Janice, meeting with her gaze and put his hand over her head.

Instead of resisting, however, Janice raised her head and looked up at him sadly.

"Really? Then, why doesn't Malc want me? Why doesn't he have the slightest bit of feelings me?" Janice spoke with a sudden deadpan expression which caused the tall man to stiffen for a moment.

He remained silent, but that didn't stop the man behind him from speaking.

"Bro, why do you have to talk to them? Hurry up! I can't wait any longer!" He stood there with his shirt open as he undid his belt, letting his pants fall.

Alivia moved closer to Janice and stood in front of her.

The tall man's gaze intensified as he looked lustfully at the two helpless women.

"I don't know why 'Malc' doesn't like you and I don't even want to know. Miss, you said that you would not resist no matter what we do after the phone call," said the tall man, as he unbuttoned his shirt in a hurry.

Alivia clenched her fists and looked defiantly at the men, but Janice held her hand and shook her head.

"One million!" Janice, with an air of arrogance about her, suddenly opened her pink lips and continued, "And you won't have to face any criminal charges if you let us go now."

The short man, burst into hysterical laughter and said, "Do we look stupid to you? You can't even get your husband to believe you. How do you expect us to believe that you have one million? Stop wasting our time and give us what you promised!" He rushed towards Alivia and tried to hold her down.

However, in one swift motion, Alivia moved behind him and twisted his arm up behind his neck as he cried out in pain.

Janice retreated her gaze and screamed as loud as she could. "My father is Jill Jian. If you don't believe me, just ask him for the money!"

Then she held Alivia's hand and walked towards the door as if nothing had happened, leaving their captors in a daze.

By the time the two men came back to their senses, Janice and Alivia were already at the door. The tall man stretched his long legs and strode ahead of them with an incredulous expression on his face.

"Are you kidding me? Honey, everyone in Lane City knows that Jill Jian has only one daughter!" The smug look on his face attempted to imply that he was too smart to fall for her nonsense.

Janice was so frustrated that her eyes widened and she wanted to scream. Instead, she kept a straight face, concealing her emotions from them.

"Everyone in Lane City also knows that Jill Jian has an illegitimate daughter." Janice didn't say anything else as the man seemed to have understood what she had said.

In fact, the tall man had no intention of letting them go even if Janice was telling the truth. However, he fell into a pensive mood, gazing at Janice up and down.

Suddenly, he came to realize something as his eyes widened in horror and he stammered, "Then... Then that 'Malc'... Is... Is Mr. Rong?"

"Mr. Rong?" Janice looked at him in confusion. And then, she nodded as soon as she realized who he was talking about. "Yes, Malcolm Rong."

The moment Janice mentioned his name, the tall man felt his knees weaken as if they were going to give out at any moment.

Malcolm Rong... He was the most powerful man in all of Lane City.

The man who hadn't been beaten down even after losing his parents at a young age. Instead, he took over his father's company and showed the world what he was really made of. One by one, he drove out all of his disloyal relatives and top executives from the company who tried to take advantage of him and his misfortune. After that, the people who worked for him pledged their allegiance to him and no one ever dared to cross him again. It was his ruthless pragmatism that enabled Malcolm to pull SY Company out of the gutter and bring it to the forefront as one of the most successful companies in the entire city.

However, what frightened the man wasn't Malcolm's success in business, but his infamous temper. The rumors of Malcolm's extremely short temper started to circulate shortly after the death of his parents. Apparently, the man was known to lose his temper whenever he was forced into a situation against his own will. The rumors also mentioned that the illegitimate daughter of the Jian family was his lover...

Which could only mean that whoever crossed Janice would have to deal with Malcolm. The tall man couldn't even bring himself to think about the consequences of offending Malcolm and almost immediately the tone of his voice changed.

"Miss Jian, I'm sorry for what happened this time. We don't want your money. We just hope that you will keep your word about not reporting us to the police." Contrary to his earlier claims, the tall man was sensible enough not to ask for money after what he had done to Malcolm's woman. All he wanted was to get out of there alive.

Janice didn't say another word. She didn't have to. She simply took Alivia's hand and walked out the door without even looking back. They looked completely unharmed, almost as if they hadn't been kidnapped at all.