You're My Guilty Pleasure

Night came without noise, the darkness sneaking in slowly. While the darkening sky wore a peaceful quietness, the world below buzzed with life, with people hurrying and shouting, with vehicles honking in traffic.

The Imperial City Entertainment Center sat on the top floor of a skyscraper in the HY Imperial City. From inside, a spiral of rowdy voices rose into the night. The place swirled with dreaminess in the colored lights of the bulbs.

The VIP room was more than a hundred square meters in area. And in its half darkness, about six people lazed on luxurious sofas. Looking at the physique of these men, anyone would easily guess the kind of people they were. The coldness in their bearing showed they were men who thrived in crime and dark acts.

Only one man lay sprawled on the sofa in the middle of the room. The other men sat in the sofas around, rather intentionally. The man in the middle was wearing an unbuttoned black shirt, brandishing his large chest. A colorful mask covered his face. It made him look beastly in the dimness of the room. His eyes sparked with a cold and aggressive glint.

His cold gaze sat on the crisp new bills piled up before him. His lips parted as he smiled. And even behind the mask, even in the darkness, the smile foamed with a hateful contempt that momentarily filled his eyes.

"Inside!"

The huge door growled as it opened. A woman was shoved into the dim room, and she fell flat and helpless before the mound of bills.

When she finally looked up, her face was pure and beautiful with no makeup. And sadness peeked from her lusciously dark eyes.

Looking up from the mound of bills, she settled her gaze on the masked man in front of her. A wave of panic rushed through her whole body at once.

Leaning forward on the sofa, the man took a bundle from the mound of bills. The bills rustled softly as he flipped through them. The sound unsettled the unnatural silence that had descended on the room.

When the sound ceased, the man's lips parted with a heinous smile, and suddenly he thrust the bundle at the woman's face.

The bills snapped on the woman's forehead and slipped down her head, scattering on the dark brown carpet.

The hit dazed the woman, her eyes glazing over. There was a small swell on her forehead. And blood trickled from the tiny cuts the crisp bills had left on her face.

The bright red blood sparkled on her fair face. And she looked mystically beautiful in the half darkness. Her skin shone fairer.

Biting her lips, the woman smiled weakly and bitterly. She struggled up to her feet and made for the door, her body throbbing with intense pain.

"Stop!"

The cold voice of the man rang out, his slender fingers sweeping through the mound of bills. The end had come today! Money ruled the whole world. It drove men to bite and hate and kill.

Here was a world brimming with filthy and raging desires that blurred every ray of hope. There was nobody one could trust. The world was a jungle, and only the wild ruled it.

Stopping dead on her track, the woman turned, her body more slender in the sportswear she was wearing. Her eyes were weak with tears as she stared at the man. He was fiddling with a bundle of bills.

What was he up to? She neither owed him a thing nor did she need his filthy money. She had long broken up with him.

Raising his hand, the man beckoned coldly to her. She didn't heed to him. Instead, she stepped backward. All she wanted was to leave this cursed place and never see his face. There was a time when she had loved him so dearly. Now, all she felt for him was hate.

Someone grabbed her arm and jerked her forward again. She landed on the big crystal tea table which overturned, the bills neatly piled on it scattering on the ground. She fell into the man's arms.

He gripped her with his large arms, and she struggled to get off him. Squinting his cold eyes, he stroked her soft white face with his calloused palm. Then he asked in a deep voice, "Do you want to end all this? What if I gave you another chance?"

Her petite body shook as he fixed a ruthless gaze on her. She had given her whole heart to him then, believing he was an angel, a morning star in her life. Never did she know he was a demon. He had brought no sunshine to her life. Instead, he had plunged her into the depths of hell.

Was he talking about a second chance now?

She would never take another chance. She was done with him. He really didn't have to kidnap her to ask her if she wanted to end this.

She defied the panic that pounded against her chest and shot a stubborn stare into his eyes. She wasn't going to let him see her tears no matter what he tried to do to her.

"You don't have to look at me that way. I am past being moved by such pitiful look." He gritted his teeth. "Can you see these bills?" he asked, slapping huge bundles of bills into her arms. "It's a million in total! And it's all for you! Don't tell me you don't need it. But is your body still really worth so much?" He placed a finger on his chin for a while as if contemplating it. Then he finally said, full of mockery, "I don't think so. But that's not a problem. I'm a very generous man."

The pile of bills on the woman's arms almost suffocated her. The man's insult pricked her pride. "We are over, Wilson!" she hissed. "Go to hell with your money!" Then she swung off the pile of bills in her arms.

His eyes sparking with hate, he pushed her off his arms. Leaning back on the sofa, he said, his voice without emotions, "This woman here is all yours tonight. One million all for her filthy body!"

She was stunned and numb for a moment. She only realized what Wilson had meant when she turned to glance at the huge man standing beside her, his lips curved in a disgustingly lustful smile.

"No, Wilson. You can't..." But the cold glint in Wilson's uncaring eyes chilled her, and she recoiled in horror. Why was he this heartless? What wrong had she ever done to him?

She had always known him to be a cruel person. He was ruthless with his subordinates when they made mistakes and with his women when they betrayed him. But she had always believed he would treat her better. She had even believed he truly loved her.

After all, she had loved him so much.

Of course, he had hurt her and her family. And she had only left him in order to forget the hurt. But Wilson had determined to hold her back.

A man took slow, ruthless strides towards her, and she shivered in fear. She suddenly stood up and scrambled towards the door again. When an arm yanked her, she fell into the naked large chest of a man. Striding over to her, a second man tore off her clothes.

She knew she was helplessly weak before these huge men. Yet she was ready to fight them back even if it cost her her life. There was no need to cry for help; nobody would rescue her. Hadn't she been betrayed by the man she had once loved with all her life?

And just for one million! He had bought her body for one million and given her off to these beasts. He was bent on not only humiliating her but also destroying her. He wanted to ravage her dignity to the very least.

The men clawed her sportswear, flinging its shreds into the darkness. She was nude now, her body pure and holy in the dim glow of the bulbs.

The cold hands mauling her body numbed her. The men drooled as they each fought to have a taste of this delicately beautiful body. On a normal day, they wouldn't dare to express a desire for her body; she belonged to their boss. But here was an opportunity to get all they ever desired!

She lay on the floor, sweaty and panting in exhaustion. Her dark eyes burned with tears.

She had vowed that Wilson would never see her tears. But here he was, watching her weep.

Everything dulled in her bleary eyes. The men continued to touch her body that was almost lifeless.

Lying on the dark brown carpet, she could see a thing moving before her blurry eyes.

Standing up from the sofa, Wilson stomped out of the dark room, his fists clenched and trembling. Though he was disgusted by the sight, he was determined to punish the woman.

It was all over between them both.

She was just a speck of dust in his world. He was determined to make her less desirable to him.

Without her, he would always have all the influence and wealth and pretty women.

He stood on the rooftop of the highest building in the HY Imperial City and gazed into the night. From the highest point of the city, he watched a hundred million lights sparkle below. He still owned this whole place. And henceforth, only he owned his fate.

Morning came gradually, streaks of daylight swallowing up the artificial lights of the city. After he had left the VIP room, he had stood there on the rooftop all through the night.

Then he turned to go back in. Just then, the woman staggered up the rooftop, her naked body broken and bleeding. The wind tore madly at her silky hair.

As she tottered towards him, she looked lifeless with her eyes glazing over. She didn't seem to see him; she didn't seem to see anything. She was now standing beside him on the glass roof. Then she suddenly raised her shapely long legs to cross the balustrade.

As he watched her, the reality of what she was about to do struck Wilson, and he stretched out to hold her back.

But it was already late; his hand only swept past her bruised body. She just plummeted helplessly down the building of 111 floors.

Downstairs, people screamed and the sirens of police cars wailed. But Wilson didn't hear them. All he heard was the wind howling in his ears.

He stood stunned, his hand still outstretched, the horror numbing his fingertips and his blood vessels and all his body. His heart burned with pain.

"Wilson!" A group of men rushed onto the rooftop, calling to him in frenzy.

"It's not all that bad!" he whispered, dropping his hand now. Then he turned to them and said, "Take care of everything." The fatigue and sadness echoed in his voice.

...

In a quiet forest of a remote small town, a few men stood before a newly-built tomb, solemn and silent. They wore gorgeous suits that intimidated the ordinariness of this small town.

Wilson laid a bunch of white flowers on the tomb, his head bowed. Raising his head, he caught glimpse of a familiar figure. Isabel!

Her luscious hair was tied into a ponytail, a strand of hair flying across her beautiful young face. She was wearing a casual sportswear. A mysterious glint flicked in her clear black eyes as she gazed at him.

Wilson made to stride towards her. But her slender figure melted into the emptiness.

"Wilson?" alarmed, one of the men called, noticing the strangeness in Wilson.

"Did you see..." Wilson pointed at where the woman had been.

"See what, Wilson? We are the only ones here! Nobody is left in Isabel's house now!" another man replied.

Nobody? A heavy feeling plopped into Wilson's heart, unsettling him. Perhaps he had only been deceived by his eyes. Of course, people had illusions when they grieved.

But was he really grieving? Why would Isabel still cause him to grieve?

His mind wandered back to the first time he had met her. It was all still very clear in his head. He had been captivated by her smile that was as warm as the sun. And her eyes, too. They had been sad.

The CEO's office of the HY Group was spacious.

Outside the French windows of this office, the entire HY Imperial City sprawled out. Wisps of wind wriggled in through the blue curtains that were slightly drawn apart, animating the silence that hung over the room.

Wilson sat on a wide black leather sofa which was by the side of a large dark brown desk.

The thick eyebrows arching over his lovely eyes and his straight nose made him look coldly charming. And with his lips tightly pursed, he looked harsh. He was wearing a tight black shirt that accentuated his huge muscles.

Wilson Xiao was the CEO of the HY Group. The economy of the whole HY Imperial City lay in his power, his business intelligence gripping the international space, too. However, unknown to most people, he ran all the gangs in the city, too.

Leaning back on the chair, he flipped through a material which contained photos of the exploration site. He paused at one of these photos and gazed at it for a long time.

The photo had been taken in the suburb of a small town in the heart of the exploration site. The picture showed a river running over cobbles and sand. A woman wearing a blue floral dress and a boy of seven or eight were wading through the river.

On one hand, the woman was holding a plastic bag in which, it seemed, her shoes and the boy's were. The boy was either going to school or returning because his school bag was slung over his shoulder.

Wilson sat up straight on the leather chair and held the photo closer to his face, his hand quavering with excitement. He caressed the face of the woman in the photo. His mouth slightly parted as he gazed at her.

He was enchanted by the faint but warm smile that dangled on the woman's lips in the bright sunshine of the photo. It made his heart throb with a new kind of life. And Wilson was sure he knew the woman, although the side view blurred her face.

It was her! Of course, it was her in the photo!

He had put all he had into searching for her the past two years, but he never found her. Now here she was–in this isolated place!

His mouth puckered into a smile, his sexy eyes glinting with glee. Stretching out, he pressed a message device in front of him. "Come in, Nova!"

The man called Nova pushed the door gently open and walked in. He wore a dark gray suit over a white shirt and a tie with bright gray stripes. He was a very shrewd man with an eternal smile and bright black eyes.

He was the general manager of the HY Group.

"Yes, sir," he said, leaning over the desk.

"Take a look at this photo!" Wilson slid the photo across the desk to the other man, the smile not leaving his lips for once.

Nova was obviously amazed to see his boss smiling. He had barely seen him smile this genuinely and harmlessly in the past two years.

"I guess there's something we should be happy about!" he said, grinning at Wilson.

Wilson said nothing but glanced at the photo again. Then he said finally, "The girl on the photo–do you remember her?" His voice was calm.

Nova glanced at him and then at the photo. He could see cobbles and sand and a river and, in the distance, two human figures walking in the river. Looking closely, he saw they were an adult and a child.