Taste The Flavor Of Love: You Bring Out The Best In Me

"Miss Si, did you know that Adrian Nie has gone public about his love for you?"

"Did you really write and direct this show? I heard that a new TV show of yours is about to be released. Is that just another publicity stunt?"

Melody Si, the star actress, was surrounded by reporters just when she was about to leave the studio. She was very tall. Dressed in a casual T-shirt and a pair of skinny jeans, she looked sexy. In fact, her clothes were so tight that they barely covered her breasts and butt. She was wearing large sunglasses, which covered most of her face, except for her plump lips and furrowed thick brows.

Although the reporters tried to get closer to her, her bodyguards kept them at least a meter away from her. One reporter got a little bit closer and said, "Miss Si, are you accepting that you are in a relationship with Adrian?"

His words made her stop in her tracks. She had never planned on getting into a relationship with someone like Adrian Nie, who was just a rich guy. She had become the youngest actress in history to have won the Academy Award, and she couldn't afford to let people assume untrue things about her. She was a well-educated woman, and a very remarkable actress.

However, she had to do whatever the studio demanded. Melody Si cleared her throat and bit her lower lip as she said, "Don't trust that information; it is nothing but a rumor. When Adrian confessed his feelings for me, I was already taken by another man, whom I love dearly. I hope you can bless us for our future."

Those words caused an uproar among the reporters. It was breaking news!

At the same time, a brand-new black Audi A4 passed by. The man sitting in the driver's seat was wearing large sunglasses. He stepped on the accelerator when he neared the entrance. By then, Melody Si had already walked out of the building through the back door, accompanied by her bodyguards. Suddenly, the car came speeding towards her.

Crash! Her sunglasses fell to the ground and shattered into pieces.

Melody Si, who was hit by the car, struggled to stand up. She had bruises all over her bod. She pointed to the car and furrowed her brows as she asked, "What do you think..." However, before she could finish her words, she was taken by surprise.

The door of the car opened and a handsome man stepped out. Without any hesitation, he gallantly walked to her side and took her arm. He then escorted her to the car and seated her in the passenger seat.

"Ryan? What the hell are you doing?" Melody Si asked, glaring at him. However, to her surprise, he grabbed her injured wrist in one hand and fastened the seat belt for her before he stepped on the accelerator, driving away.

"Hey! Where are you taking me?" she protested, trying to shake his hand off.

"Someplace you need to go to," Ryan Yan replied calmly.

Looking at the studio, which was getting farther and farther away, Melody Si asked, "Are you taking me to meet Mr. Meng? In that case, I have to let you know that you're going the wrong way."

"Hush!" Ryan silenced her. He then took off his sunglasses, revealing his handsome face. He had thick eyebrows, perfect hair, a sharp-defined nose, thin lips that were slightly parted in a sexy way, and a chiseled jaw, which made him look like a renaissance sculpture. He had deep set dark eyes, which gleamed in a way that made people want to drown in them.

Ryan was the CEO of YN Entertainment, a perfect gentleman who wasn't involved in any gossip or scandals. In fact, many famous actresses adored him for that very quality of his. Melody Si has maintained a very good working relationship with him, and they hadn't had any awkwardness between them until now.

The car came to a screeching halt outside the Civil Affairs Bureau. Without any explanation, Ryan Yan got out of the car and dragged her into an empty office in the building. On the desk was a document titled "Marriage Agreement."

Melody's forehead creased as she tucked her hair behind her ear and asked, "What's this?"

"This is a marriage agreement. It has all the necessary details in it. You don't have to worry about it, just sign it," Ryan Yan said. He then pushed it towards her, grabbed a black pen from his pocket, and handed it to her.

"Are you kidding me? You want me to sign a marriage agreement? I don't even have a boyfriend. Who would I be marrying?"

"You would be marrying me."

"You?" Melody Si asked, her mouth wide open with shock.

Ryan Yan took a step closer and looked into her eyes. "You are in the eye of the storm now. Use the marriage to stop Adrian. He is capable of doing anything. You saw it for yourself when he confessed his love for you in public. He might do something worse next time, and it could affect you greatly. A marriage is the best solution for you right now."

The moment Adrian Nie's name was mentioned, Melody Si couldn't help but think of his cynicism. He was the only son of Odell Nie, who was a very wealthy and influential man. Almost every successful actress wanted to pursue him. A few days ago, after Melody Si had won her first Academy Award, she was invited to a mysterious after party. During the party, Adrian Nie had proposed to her, but when she politely declined his proposal, he got angry and warned her that he would pursue her more violently, even if she was against it. Melody Si hadn't taken his threat seriously, but then, the very next day, Adrian Nie had held a press conference where he announced to the world that he was in love with her. In front of all the reporters, he had gone down on one knee and confessed his love, which had impacted her life greatly.

Melody Si shuddered at the thought. Although she couldn't guess what might happen to her in the future, she was certain that getting married wasn't the solution. "Isn't there any other solution to the problem?" Melody Si asked and looked Ryan Yan in the eye. "I want to do things my own way. I have never offended anyone, including you. Moreover, I have also brought in great profit to the company. I can handle Adrian without your help, so I won't be signing your agreement."

"You need to," Ryan Yan insisted.

"And why is that?"

"It's very simple. It's because I have something you need." Ryan Yan raised an eyebrow, placed one hand into his pocket, and cocked his head to one side. Knowing that she couldn't win an argument with him, Melody Si pushed the chair aside and was about to leave. But then, Ryan Yan said, "The marriage term is for just one year, after which you would get half of my assets and holdings as my wife. It is all mentioned in the document."

"That's not all that interesting," she replied, rolling her eyes at him. She didn't want to get married for money, so she continued to walk towards the door.

Ryan Yan turned around and threw another document on the table. "Are you sure that you want to leave? Before you came to work for the company, you signed a contract where you promised that you would cooperate with all of the company's plans and activities unconditionally, no matter the circumstances. I hope you still remember that."

Melody Si felt her heart in her throat as she looked at him. "That didn't mean that I would agree to marry you."

"This marriage is just a part of the plan. You need to cooperate," Ryan Yan said in a cold voice.

"No, I refuse." Melody Si was unwilling to stand down or compromise on this matter.

"All right, then. In that case, please prepare yourself to pay for the liquidated damages, and be ready to quit your job as an actress before tomorrow. I will email every other company and you'll be banned by the whole industry," he said with a smile.

"You jerk! You're threatening me, aren't you? I don't have that kind of money!" Melody Si argued, clenching her fists so hard that blood started dripping from her palms.

"You don't have a choice here, I know about your dreams, Melody. I know you won't give up your career as an actress that easily. Besides, you've already achieved fame and fortune. What harm could more wealth do? I know you can't refuse this; it's such a great deal," Ryan Yan said as he walked to her and handed her a tissue. Then, he gave her a pen and flipped to the last page of the document. After that, he pointed to the field where she was supposed to sign her name.

Gritting her teeth, Melody Si snatched the pen from him and looked at the document. She thought, 'Should I give up on my dream? The cost for the damages would be a lot. How long would it take for me to settle that amount? Besides, the marriage term is only one year, and it could solve everything. Should I really be resisting?'

That moment, Ryan Yan slowly came from behind her and guided her hand to the paper. The black ink touched the white paper.

Melody's hands trembled as she signed the marriage agreement. Although she couldn't help but feel like she was forced into signing it, there was nothing that could be done now. It had become official.

She then got in Ryan's car reluctantly, holding the certificate in her hand. Trying to break the ice, he asked, "Where do you live?"

"Why should I tell you?" Melody asked. Every time she looked at him, she was reminded of what had happened just moments ago, and it exhausted her.

Upon hearing that, Ryan's frown disappeared, and he smiled. He seemed different than he had a few minutes ago. "Legally, you're my wife now, so I have the right to know where you live," he said.

When Melody heard that, she couldn't help but smile bitterly. "I am your wife and yet you don't know where I live. How ridiculous is that?"

"Melody! I'm warning you, now that we've signed the marriage contract, we're a legally bound couple, so you'd better not talk to me in that sarcastic tone! Moreover, you can't call me by my name anymore," Ryan said.

"Then, what should I call you?" she questioned.

"Call me honey!"

he said. Melody scoffed and thought, 'Seriously? Does he think he's my real husband?' Ryan stepped on the gas all of a sudden, making the car race at a speed of 100 kilometers per hour.

"Do you even know where my house is?" Melody asked, fastening her seat belt in a hurry.

"2T, C District, Peace Apartment," Ryan stated. "I can get all your private information if I want to, Melody."

"All right, if you already knew that, why did you still ask me?" Melody asked.

"I just wanted to see if you'd give me an honest answer."

The rest of the car ride passed in silence. Before she realized it, Ryan stopped the car right in front of her apartment. It was a modern space with a beautiful lawn, located in the suburbs. The apartment was equipped with high tech security systems, and only the people who lived in here could only enter by using their fingerprints to get access through the main gate.

Melody got out of the car and checked for paparazzi before she entered the building carefully. However, Ryan mindlessly rushed to her and walked by her side.

"Hey! Stay away from me, or we might get photographed together," she said.

"And why would that matter? What are you so afraid of? Aren't we legally married now?" Ryan asked with a shrug.

Melody was speechless when she heard that. She knew that she had agreed to be his wife by signing the document, but she hadn't realized that she had, in fact, signed up for an unpleasant future.

When she reached her apartment, she placed her finger on the sensor, and the door opened with a "click" sound.

"I'm home, safe and sound. Thank you for driving me today." As soon as she said that, Melody wanted to close the door, but then she noticed that Ryan wasn't walking away.

"Don't you at least want to invite me in? It's the least you could do. Can I come in for a cup of coffee?" A playful smile appeared on the corner of Ryan's mouth, which made him look very charming.

At first, Melody wanted to refuse, but then she thought for a while and decided that it was time they both got to know each other. She opened the door and said, "Come in, please."

Melody's house was different from what Ryan had imagined. It was a simple two bedroom apartment, but she kept it clean, so it looked pleasant. However, there were a lot of soft toys around the house, which made it seem like a teenage girl had decorated it. Ryan picked up the golden trophy from the shelf, which was the Academy Award that she had won the previous week. He held it in his hand and realized it was quite heavy.

"I haven't congratulated you yet!" he said with a smile. Ryan then carefully put the trophy back on the shelf.

That moment, Melody walked in with two cups of coffee that smelled delicious. "It's instant coffee, try it. I'm usually too lazy to brew myself a cup."

Ryan took a sip and felt that it was a little too hot for his liking, but he found the bitter taste of the coffee rather welcoming. "Well, you go and rest for a while. I'll do the packing for you."

Packing? Melody stood up and asked, "Pack what?"

"Didn't you read the agreement back at the Civil Affairs Bureau?" When Melody shook her head in reply, Ryan continued, "Article 31st: Once we're married, you will have to come and live with me. However, you can choose any spare room you like at my place and simple decor will be arranged to your liking."

"What? I can't agree to that!" Melody protested.

"Do you really want to break the contract?" With those words, Ryan walked up to her wardrobe and picked a few good-looking outfits. Dropping them into an empty suitcase, he announced, "I'll give you ten minutes to get ready. After that, we're leaving."

After the ten minutes had passed, Melody walked out of her apartment with the suitcase in her hand, pouting. She also brought her small cactus plant with her.

"Why do you need to bring that?" Ryan asked, looking at the potted cactus in her hand as he took the suitcase from her.

"It's for self-defense," she replied.

The two of them got into the car. Ryan drove for a while before the car finally rolled to a stop. Melody was seeing his house for the first time. It was a magnificent looking two-story villa with a huge swimming pool, a lush garden, and a lot of servants. The moment the two of them entered, the servants bowed to them and greeted them. She could finally understand why Ryan had looked down on her small apartment.

After walking through the pathway, they finally saw the entrance to the villa. Melody stopped and exclaimed, "Ryan, is this your house? Or is it some kind of a palace?"

"The first floor is the palace, which is for outsiders," Ryan replied with a laugh. Two maids walked to him and offered to carry the suitcase for him, but he refused and insisted on doing it himself. Melody soon caught up to him. As she was on the second floor, she saw that the elaborate decor was now replaced with a more simplified style. The walls were covered with lavish beige wallpaper, which seemed to be thicker than most common wallpapers.

"There are three unoccupied rooms on this floor, and as per our agreement, you are free to choose any room you'd like out of these," Ryan said as he opened one of the doors for her.

Melody glanced at the three rooms, which appeared quite similar, and asked, "Where do you sleep?"

"Are you saying that you want to stay in my room?" A mischievous grin appeared on Ryan's lips as he said those words. He then pointed to a room across the hallway and continued, "I stay in that one. It has a very large bed, fit for a king. You can stay there too, if you'd like."

Melody rolled her eyes at him and thought, 'In your dreams!' She then looked at the room at the end of the hallway and asked, "If I live here, you won't come in without my permission and say that I should sleep with you because the contract says so, right?"

The corner of Ryan's lips curled up and he said, "Of course I won't. Besides, you know where to find me if you need anything." He then turned around and walked to his room.

The entire room was decorated in shades of brown, which somehow seemed to soothe Melody's restless heart. She unpacked and arranged her things neatly in one of the cupboards before lying down on the bed. The room felt cold, just like her heart.

For a second, she felt lost and helpless. However, when she looked at the trophy on the table, she knew she had to work hard.

She took out her phone and opened her social media page. By then, the number of followers she had had grown to a whooping twenty million. Every day, she would receive tens of thousands of comments, private messages, and likes. She liked the attention she was getting on the Internet. She checked her inbox, only to find that almost every message that she had received since that morning said "Congratulations!"

Many days had passed since she had won the award, so she was clueless as to why people were still sending her congratulatory messages. But then, her eyes fell upon a particular message, which read, "Congratulations, Melody! Finally, you've found a good life for yourself. Happy married life! I will always be your fan!"

Happy married life? Suddenly, something struck her mind. Melody subconsciously opened the news app and read the headline. "The CEO of YN Entertainment, Ryan Yan, has posted on social media stating that he has gotten married to the famous actress, Melody Si, earlier this morning. The two tied the knot at the Civil Affairs Bureau." A little below that was a picture of them coming out of the office of the Civil Affairs Bureau.

'This can't be happening!' she thought to herself. Holding the phone in her hand, Melody rushed to Ryan's room. She didn't even have the time to put on her shoes. She banged on his door and he opened.

Ryan had been about to take a shower when Melody came in, so he was shirtless. Melody saw his perfect, sculpted body, and turned away. Holding out her phone for him to see, she asked, "What's going on? Why is the news of our marriage in the headlines? The post has been reposted around three hundred and fifty times already!"

"Well that's probably because you have a lot of fans. You know that you're quite a popular one, right?" Ryan replied coolly and yawned.

"I... I didn't know we were going to make it public this soon," Melody said, shocked.

Ryan draped a towel over his shoulders and said, "Don't be silly, how can we solve the Adrian problem if we don't make our marriage public?"

Melody was thunderstruck when she heard that. She clenched her fists and roared, "Ryan, can you ask me first before you do anything which involves my life? I need to be mentally prepared to deal with it, right?"

"All right, I'm going to take a shower. Would you like to join me?" he asked with a nod.

Melody stomped her foot and muttered, "You bastard!"

Melody and Ryan sat at the unusually large dinner table. She looked at the neatly arranged rows and rows of Korean delicacies, and turned to the servants, who stood behind, watching them. Seeing them, she hesitated to pick up the chopsticks. Sensing her nervousness, Ryan signaled for them to leave and ordered, "You may all go now."

"Yes, Mr. Yan!" the servants uttered in unison as they walked out of the dining room in an orderly fashion.

Melody took a deep breath and wiped the sweat off her forehead. Although, as a famous star, she was always surrounded by people, she felt uncomfortable eating when the servants were watching her. She felt like she was being monitored.

Buzz... The sudden vibration from her cellphone caught their attention.

It was a call from Dale Dao. He was a good-looking, popular star, who had just started his acting career. Melody had collaborated with him in the past, and now, he was the supporting actor in the movie she was shooting. However, Melody and Dale Dao never contacted each other outside of work.

Could it be that he was he calling about work? With that thought, Melody picked up the phone. "Hi, Melody, am I disturbing you?" Dale Dao's attractive voice came from the other side.

Melody shook her head and replied, "No, what is it?"

After some hesitation, he said, "Well, here is the thing. Melody, are you really married?"

Upon hearing that, Melody became nervous and didn't know what to say. She looked at Ryan, who pushed his chair aside and walked up to her. "Honey, your food is getting cold," he said coldly. He grabbed her phone from her hand and disconnected the call abruptly.

"Hey! What the hell?" Melody yelled as she snatched her phone back from Ryan, only to find that it was shutting down. "Don't I have the right to answer my calls?"

"There's no need for you to answer such useless calls. You will only be answering calls from your agent from now on," Ryan said. He then sat down and ate his lavish meal.

'I've had enough!' Melody thought to herself. She stood up, walked to him and snatched his chopsticks away. "I'm a person, not your toy. I know I signed the contract, but I still want to be free!"

"You have to listen to me for one year." Ryan wiped his hands on the napkin and took a sip of the cold water.

Melody looked into his eyes and protested, "Why should I? Ryan, let me make this clear for you. I haven't sold myself to you; we're just pretending like we're married for one year. Don't think otherwise."

"Are you serious? We're just pretending? Are you sure that we are just putting on an act?" Ryan asked with a scoff. An evil smile appeared on his lips.

"More sure than I'll ever be. Besides, I'm also very certain that you're the devil incarnate!" Melody hissed.

When Ryan heard her referring to him as "the devil incarnate," he became furious. Slowly, he got up and walked to her, forcing her into a corner. He slightly tilted his head while still maintaining eye contact with her, and said seductively, "Since you think I'm the devil incarnate, maybe I should do something unspeakable to you."

Trapped, Melody was at a loss for words. "Let me go! Somebody, please help!" she screamed.

"Don't underestimate the sound insulation here. No matter how loud you shout, no one will come in to save you." He stroked her face, gripped her jaw and forcefully kissed her.

Although there was a surveillance camera right above their heads, Ryan didn't care. He kissed her passionately, sucking on her lips as though they were made of candy.

Melody bit his lip hard, pushed him away and hissed, "You monster!" She turned around and tried to run away.

However, Ryan grabbed her wrist tightly, which made her squirm. "Where do you think you're going?" he asked.

"Why do you care?" Melody retorted. Although she wanted to break free, she couldn't because she didn't have energy left in her body.

There was a trace of coldness in his voice as he said, "You can't leave the house without asking for my permission first. You'd better give up resisting me and start behaving like a good wife."

"I'm not your wife!" Melody argued, gritting her teeth.

Ryan sneered and said, "Don't try to convince yourself otherwise. Everyone understands that we're married, except for you." He eased his grip on her arm.

Tears shone in Melody's eyes as she felt powerless. She couldn't help but run back to her room.

As per Ryan's plan, they both attended the press conference on the following day. The conference was to be held in a very posh-looking room on the first floor of YN Entertainment's office building. The entire building was filled with reporters. Some of them waited near the entrance, hoping to interview Ryan as he entered the building.

At around nine o'clock in the morning, Ryan's car stopped at the back entrance of the building. Melody sulked as she got out of the car, wearing black high-heeled shoes. Ryan looked at her and said, "You are an actress, you should know what to do."

Upon hearing that, Melody lifted her head, took a deep breath, and followed him into the conference room.

As they made their grand entrance, countless microphones were turned on and many cameras started taking photos. The second they both stepped in, the reported started bombarding them with questions.

"Ms. Si, was it Mr. Yan who you said you were in love with?"

"Yes," Melody replied with a bright smile.

"Mr. Yan, some of the reporters are claiming that yours is a shotgun marriage, is that true?"

"If that were true, I would be announcing it happily now. I would have asked my lovely wife to stay home and rest." With those words, Ryan grabbed Melody's hand, which made all the photographers click their photos immediately.

"Ms. Si, when did you two meet?"

Melody tried to wiggle out of Ryan's grip, but he held her tightly as she answered, "We met three years ago."

She was answering truthfully. Three years ago, a casting director had selected Melody to sign up with their entertainment company. As Melody waited in the hallway that day, she had seen Ryan. He had always been a cold man, which made girls fall for him. However, she didn't know that it was her glance that melted his heart.

That was the reason behind Ryan's concern for her. During the past three years, he had meticulously watched over her, protecting her and guarding her from all the troubles she might have faced. He had had sleepless nights thinking about her, forgotten to eat because of her, and had even felt happy for her whenever she achieved something. However, he had never shown his feelings to anyone, so no one knew that he loved her.

"Mr. Yan, what do you have to say about Ms. Si being pursued by Mr. Nie?"

Ryan maintained his calm expression and replied, "My wife is an exceptionally talented and beautiful woman, so it's no surprise that many men want to pursue her. Mr. Nie is one of them."

"Will it pose a threat to your marriage?"

Ryan shrugged and replied, "Of course not!"

"Mr. Yan, when did you know you were in love with Ms. Si, and how did you propose to her?" The room suddenly became dead silent as they waited for Ryan's reply.

After a few moments, Ryan answered politely, "That is a secret between me and my wife, right, honey?"

Melody nodded and smiled shyly.

Meanwhile, Adrian was in his office, looking angry. He had just come to the office hoping to deal with some matters at work, when, suddenly, a group of reporters came.

There was only a knock on the door before a male reporter stormed in and asked,

"Mr. Nie, we only have one question for you, and we hope you'll give us an answer. Now that Ms. Si is married, will you still continue to pursue her?"

Adrian stared at him coldly and replied, "I won't comment on that."

"Mr. Nie! Mr. Nie!"

Ignoring the reporters' cries, Adrian walked out of the room without looking back.