Addiction - Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The first time I saw Huo Ren, only one thought crossed my mind: I wanted to photograph him.

That day, I had been called to A University because that bargain-bin little brother of mine had gotten a girl pregnant. The girl’s mother opened her mouth and demanded two hundred thousand yuan, or she would accuse him of rape.

I smiled and asked the girl, “Were you forced?”

The girl glanced at her mother, then lowered her head in panic and said nothing.

Her mother slammed the table, spittle flying. “Her belly’s already swollen, and you people still want to deny it?”

I tapped the tabletop lazily. “If she didn’t consent, that’s rape. If she did it willingly, then it’s called two people enjoying themselves.”

The woman shot to her feet and raised her hand to slap me.

Her hand was caught in midair. I looked up and saw the man holding her wrist.

He had just come in from outside, unmelted snow still dusting his shoulders, his whole body carrying the chill of winter.

“Professor Huo.” The school administrator mediating the discussion explained politely, “I’m terribly sorry. Their counselor happens to be on leave, so we had to trouble you to come in person.”

Then he turned and introduced him to us. “This is their Professor Huo, Huo Ren.”

“Huo Ren,” I murmured his name, soft and lingering.

Perhaps I sounded too frivolous, because Huo Ren’s brows drew together ever so slightly.

He ignored me and said to the two kids, “You two go outside first.”

Mm. His voice was low, rich, magnetic. Very nice.

“Go on,” I said to my brother with a smile, sensing Huo Ren’s displeasure with me. “Professor Huo is afraid I’ll corrupt your pure young hearts.”

My brother obediently went out and stood waiting by the door.

When the girl left, he reached for her hand, but she looked back at her mother in a fluster, pulled her hand away, and ran off.

I couldn’t help smiling. “Ah, youth is wonderful. Just look at all those hotel records. You two never studied with that kind of devotion.”

“What nonsense are you spouting?” The girl’s mother lost it again, pointing at my nose and cursing. “No wonder that boy would do something so filthy. Turns out he has a sister like you.”

“A crooked beam makes a crooked house. None of you are decent.”

I pulled out a tissue, wiped the spit she’d sprayed onto my face, stood, and tossed a stack of hotel records in front of her.

“Mrs. Zhou, why don’t you guess which time the child was conceived?”

The woman’s face turned green as she stared at the stack of records.

I softened my tone. “If you care about your daughter, respect her choice. Falsely accusing her boyfriend of being a rapist will cast a shadow over the rest of her life.”

After a pause, I lowered my head and smiled. “She’ll become miserable.”

With that said, I had no intention of staying. I lifted my foot to leave.

A figure blocked my path. Huo Ren looked down at me from above. “Miss Jiang, how do you plan to handle this?”

“Want to know?” I lifted my chin with a smile and held out my hand to him.

“Then give me your number.”