“A deal? So Mrs. Fu is going to pull out all the stops—throw a huge sum of money right in my face—and then expect me to walk away from your precious son?” Ming Yue turned her head and smiled at Shen Luochen, the haze in her eyes completely dissipating.

Shen Luochen shook his head. “I’m not that crude. And you, Ming Yue, aren’t exactly someone who’s blinded by money, are you? The deal I want to discuss with you involves some old stories about your mother. So, shall we talk, or not?”

“My mother?”

“Yes.”

“What am I supposed to do?”

“Stop seeing Qiancheng, stop getting entangled with him, and always remember to steer clear of him—avoid him at all costs!”

Ming Yue seemed to think this was a big joke. She pointed at herself and asked the woman beside her in disbelief, “Me? Avoid him? Mrs. Fu, shouldn’t you be saying that to your own son instead?”

Shen Luochen didn’t answer directly; he just asked Ming Yue, “Do you agree or not?”

“Mrs. Fu must have misunderstood me. I’m not that curious, and I really have no interest in matters concerning my mother’s generation. Your so-called ‘deal’… I’m not interested in it in the slightest.”

Ming Yue got out of the car and started to walk away.

Shen Luochen clenched his hands slightly, as if about to say something.

Suddenly, Ming Yue stopped in her tracks and whispered, “Mrs. Fu, I’m absolutely not interested in your precious son anymore—you can rest assured. But as for what you want me to do, sorry, but I simply cannot comply.”

“You!”

“I, Ming Yue, have done nothing wrong—I’m not afraid of ghosts knocking on my door. Nor do I need to go out of my way to avoid anyone. What I want to do and where I want to go are entirely up to me, and no one has the right to interfere.”

Ming Yue said no more and turned to leave.

But before she had gone far, a figure suddenly appeared beside her. Before she could even react, the figure grabbed her and yanked her into a car parked nearby.

“Mr. Jiang, are you crazy?”

Recognizing the man, Ming Yue let out a curse—but she didn’t rush to get away. Instead, she sat down in the car.

The man closed the door and sat down as well. He lifted Ming Yue’s chin with one hand, his expression grim and his voice low and deep. “What did Shen Luochen tell you?”

“It’s none of your business.”

Ming Yue turned her face away and freed herself from his grip.

The man curled his lips into a faint smile but didn’t make another move. His voice was still low and heavy. “All right, it’s none of my business. Then what about the guy lying in the hospital? What did he do to you over there? Does that suddenly make it my business?”

“What are you trying to say?”

Ming Yue let out a cold snort, met the man’s gaze, and made no attempt to hide the resistance and irritation in her eyes.

The man’s large hand tightened into a fist, his handsome, cold face now inches from Ming Yue’s, his eyes glowing with danger. “Ming Yue, do you still remember what you personally promised me?”

“I don’t remember.”

Ming Yue replied bluntly, without even thinking.

The man frowned, and in an instant his hand shot down to Ming Yue’s waist, lifting her onto his lap and holding her firmly in place, not allowing her to move a muscle. “Ming Yue, say it again!”

Ming Yue refused to back down. She stiffened her neck and retorted, “Even if you ask me ten times, I still won’t remember. Mr. Jiang, if you’re sick, go get treatment—don’t go crazy around me. My grandmother hasn’t gone mad enough yet; she can’t afford to take in another lunatic.”

“He fainted in your room.”

“Yes.”

“When he fainted, he collapsed on top of you.”

“Yes.”

“He tried to lay a hand on you.”

“I don’t know—go ask him.”

“You didn’t push him away.”

“Yes.”

“Really?” Dark clouds gathered over the man’s handsome face as he gripped Ming Yue’s waist tightly, while his other hand held her chin. “How candid of you! Have you forgotten that you yourself once swore to me that you would never let my Jiang Feng become a bastard?”

“So have you become a bastard?”

“What do you think?”

“I’d say, of course…”

Before she could finish her sentence, the man suddenly leaned in, swallowing every word she had said whole, as if punishing her—and not even giving her a chance to catch her breath.

End of Chapter 16: Regretfully, I Cannot Comply