"To be honest, any man would be willing to marry you, and I'm no exception. But if you're only doing this out of spite or as a punishment for your own mistakes, I definitely won't agree," Ye Chenghuan said sincerely.

Lin Peishan wiped the tears welling up in her eyes and immediately reverted to her previous demeanor. "I can seriously tell you, I've thought this through carefully. I just want to know if you dare to take responsibility as a man."

"Alright, since that's the case, I'll reluctantly agree," Ye Chenghuan said helplessly.

Lin Peishan's vision went dark. Good heavens, how thick-skinned this man was! With her status, she was begging him humbly, yet he still said he was "reluctantly agreeing." She said in a tone completely lacking emotion, "But there are a few things I need to clarify first. First, the reason I'm making this decision is because I have no other choice. Don’t fantasize that marrying you means I will love you."

Ye Chenghuan nodded, "Though I don’t know what you do yet, I’m clear that we come from two different worlds."

"Second, the marriage is only nominal; it doesn’t mean we are truly husband and wife, so please give up all illusions."

"Why?"

"Because if that ugly matter is exposed, my reputation will be ruined. It’s as simple as that, so I have to marry you."

"No need to make it so complicated. Only the two of us know about this. I promise I won’t say a word."

Lin Peishan sneered, "Why should I trust you? I do everything to guarantee there’s no chance of failure and reject any possibility."

"The safest way would be to have a few people kill me — wouldn’t that be the end of it?"

"I want that too, but you don’t deserve it." Lin Peishan put down her teacup weakly. "I’m doing this all for the company, for the Lin family..."

"What do you mean?"

Lin Peishan sighed softly, "You’ll understand someday."

Ye Chenghuan smiled lightly, "Got it. You just want me to be your cheap husband. I can consider putting myself through this."

Lin Peishan rolled her eyes, "I’m giving you one year. During this year, if you can really make me fall in love with you, I will truly marry you. Otherwise, at the end of one year, our relationship will be completely over, but I will pay you five million as compensation."

"I guarantee you will fall in love with me."

"You’re so sure?"

"If I don’t have this confidence, how can I be called Ye Chenghuan?"

Lin Peishan took out a filled-out check from her purse. "This is five hundred thousand as a deposit. I’ll give you an agreement later."

"Do you think feelings and marriage can be bought and sold with money? I, Ye Chenghuan, may be a small-time guy, but I’m not so cheap as to sell myself for money." Saying that, he casually stuffed the check into his pocket.

Lin Peishan smiled coldly. She thought he was different from other men, but in the end, he was no different — such men are easier to play with.

Ye Chenghuan curled his lips. "Our agreement is settled. From now on, we are husband and wife, right?"

Though unwilling to admit it, Lin Peishan couldn’t deny it either. From now on, she tied herself tightly to this man she had known for less than a day. In a way, it was self-deception, betrayal, and even selling herself out.

Thinking of this, Lin Peishan’s heart trembled. All the grievances, pain, and helplessness squeezed out in an instant. Her eyes burned, and tears slipped down.

"I know you’re upset. If you want to cry, just cry out loud. If not, lean on my shoulder. Baby..."

Lin Peishan wiped her tears away and widened her beautiful eyes, "What did you just call me?"

"Since we’re going to be husband and wife, shouldn’t we be more intimate?"

Lin Peishan felt embarrassed and crossed her arms. Calmly, she asked, "Where do you live?"

"For what?"

"I’ll give you one night. Tomorrow morning I’ll send someone to pick you up."

Ye Chenghuan blinked. "Pick me up where?"

She blushed and looked out the window. "From tomorrow, you... will move to live with me. There’s a lot to do before the wedding."

"You mean we’re going to try living together first?"

Lin Peishan’s face flushed, her clear autumn-like eyes flickered, then she lowered her gaze weakly, her mind in a mess, not wanting to say more.

"All my assets are on me, don’t waste time. I’ll go live with you right now."

The car was driving on the coastal avenue. Lin Peishan rolled down the window, letting the damp sea breeze wash away all the unpleasant atmosphere inside. Her hair fluttered in the wind like dancing flames.

Ye Chenghuan silently looked out the window. Blue sky, deep sea. The car seemed like a tiny beetle struggling in the jungle of steel and concrete.

Longdu, a shining pearl on the land of Shenzhou, became Asia’s center for trade, shipping, and finance after generations of effort. Wealth in this coastal city multiplied geometrically, producing countless billionaires standing atop the pyramid. Money flowed like a river at night, turning the city into a world of violence and decadence.

"Wife, where do you live?"

Bang!

Lin Peishan slammed the steering wheel; the car crashed headfirst into the roadside guardrail. She wore a seatbelt, but Ye Chenghuan didn’t. The strong inertia almost made his head hit the windshield.

The hood was deformed, but Lin Peishan didn’t care at all. With a dark face, she said coldly, "Don’t test my limits. The wheel is in my hands. If you dare call me that... that cheesy name again, this time it’s the guardrail, next time it’ll be a cliff. Want to try?"

Ye Chenghuan rubbed his nose, glanced sideways, and suddenly saw three Toyota SUVs speeding up in the rearview mirror.

His heart sank; his sharp cheekbones seemed to carve out two words: danger!

He didn’t tell Lin Peishan but smirked, then grabbed her pale wrist and gave a wicked smile. "If you don’t mind, let me drive your car."

Lin Peishan turned to look and saw a pair of deep eyes shining brighter than stars. Before she could understand his intention, her back tensed, and he suddenly scooped her up into his arms.

"What are you doing!" The sudden move made her both embarrassed and angry, but she couldn’t move. She looked up and saw herself in the rearview mirror, lying in the man’s arms like a baby swaddled tightly. She had never experienced such intimacy before; mixed feelings surged in her, unable to speak.

"Don’t move! It’s safer this way. Now, let’s start an amazing journey." Just as she tried to struggle up, Ye Chenghuan quickly shifted gears and stepped on the gas. The engine roared like a caged beast set free. If you didn’t listen closely, you wouldn’t notice the car was already running, and it felt like the body lifted slightly.

So fragrant! Ye Chenghuan sniffed greedily at the girl’s scent.

Besides the oil pressure and speed gauges on the dashboard, there were two strange screens: one could display a map of the city with traffic info; the other showed a row of data — pressure, resistance, temperature, and other real-time monitoring.

"Let go of me!..." Lin Peishan said, but the sudden inertia threw her back against Ye Chenghuan. The centrifugal force of the speeding car pinned her to him. Her blood pressure soared, her scalp tingled, adrenaline rushed, pushing her heart to its limit.

The rushing scenery made her hate her sharp eyes that could see the flashing figures — because it made her fear the car crashing.

This guy’s crazy! The speedometer hit 220 km/h; Lin Peishan closed her eyes, unable to watch anymore.

"No wonder it’s a BMW 760Li Steinway — a new 60LV12 twin-turbo engine with 8-speed automatic transmission. 0 to 100 km/h in just 4 seconds. Half throttle and we’re already at 220 km/h. The top speed easily exceeds 300." He licked his lips, eyes flashing with a bloodthirsty gleam. The once gentle man seemed possessed by a demon. He finished with a summary: "I like it!"

A beautiful 180-degree drift without slowing down. Lin Peishan’s heart jumped, her whole body weakened, her screams and breaths held deep in her chest.

Ye Chenghuan circled back to the starting point in less than a minute, but Lin Peishan felt like an eternity had passed. She just wanted to get out and feel the dear ground.

But this was only the beginning. Ye Chenghuan repeatedly pressed the brakes and accelerator. The rear tires burned rubber, leaving scorched smoke on the ground.

Watching the car speed ahead, Lin Peishan avoided looking sideways as if the scenes would slam into her eyes and hurt. Her eyes returned to the speedometer: just seconds in, the speed was already 150 km/h, and they were speeding through the busy downtown avenue. Pedestrians dodged out of the way. Her face was expressionless but her heart tightened.

Ye Chenghuan could no longer see the three hostile Toyota cars in the rearview and was about to slow down when an SUV suddenly rushed out from a small alley, knocking over two pedestrians before jumping onto the street. The SUV swung its rear, blocking the BMW’s way.

It had been a long time since he’d had this much fun. Ye Chenghuan squinted, a mad grin on his face, then slammed the accelerator. The left chassis lifted slightly as they squeezed through a narrow gap between the Toyota and the guardrail.

The Toyota spun a drift and chased ahead. On this not-so-wide street, the two cars raced side by side.

Behind them, a long line of police cars appeared, sirens blaring, flashing cameras everywhere.

The police ahead set up roadblocks and laid spike strips at intersections.

Ye Chenghuan, annoyed by the police behind, quickly pulled the hand lever on the steering wheel.

Lin Peishan felt sick, her organs pressed against her spine, her face tingling numb.

The speed had soared to 320 km/h — even faster than an F1 race car.

This was more thrilling than flying, because planes don’t have buildings or obstacles in the sky.

Cars were different. Streets had many pedestrians and vehicles. At this speed, weaving and crashing happened frequently.

Lin Peishan stared in horror at the red temperature gauge — the engine was about to explode!