Chapter 5: Bait for the Lion

An hour had passed since the icy water had been splashed across Emma's face.

Now, she was fully conscious.

The pounding in her head had not completely faded, but the overwhelming shame consumed her far more, crushing what little remained of her pride.

Emma sat curled up in the corner of the presidential suite's bed, clutching the thick cream-colored blanket tightly around her body, which was covered only by her underwear.

Her fearful eyes were fixed on the single armchair beside the large window.

There sat the middle-aged man who had thrown the icy water at her.

His legs were crossed elegantly as he sipped a cup of black coffee with an intimidating composure.

From the commanding aura surrounding him and the way he looked at her, Emma knew she was in serious trouble.

The man before her was clearly no ordinary wealthy businessman.

He was the kind of powerful European man who had only recently arrived in the capital—the kind of man capable of destroying someone's life with nothing more than a snap of his fingers.

"I'm sorry... I'm truly sorry, sir," Emma whispered, her voice trembling with embarrassment.

"I... I misread the room number. Besides, you didn't lock the door, and I was under the influence of alcohol. I swear I didn't have any bad intentions—"

"Enough."

Lucas cut her off.

His voice wasn't loud, yet the authority within it immediately silenced Emma.

He gently placed his coffee cup down, the soft clink echoing through the silent suite.

"I've heard excuses like that far too many times."

Lucas rose to his feet and walked toward the bed with calm yet deadly steps, like a predator approaching its prey.

"Misread the room? Drunk?" Lucas let out a scornful snort, his eyes narrowing in disgust.

"My own family has used cheap tricks like this countless times—sending gold-digging women into my room so I'd be trapped in another scandal."

"And you..."

"...do you honestly think I'll believe this ridiculous performance of yours?"

He bent down, picked up Emma's white shirt and trousers from the floor, and, without the slightest mercy, tossed them onto her lap.

"Get out of my room now before I call security to drag you out like garbage," Lucas ordered coldly.

Emma looked down at the clothes resting on her lap before lifting her gaze to Lucas's broad back as he turned away from her.

Beneath her fear, a vague rumor she had once heard circulating among people in the entertainment industry suddenly surfaced in her mind.

Could that rumor really be true?

A powerful European businessman... cold, rigid... and no longer sexually interested in women after a traumatic divorce many years ago?

Ah...

Whatever.

Emma didn't want to think about that now.

The most important thing was getting herself out of this situation first.

Wrapping the blanket tightly around herself, Emma grabbed her clothes and hurried into the spacious luxury bathroom.

After locking the door securely behind her, she leaned against the glass door, breathing heavily.

Emma quickly got dressed again, her fingers still trembling slightly.

Once she had finished, her burning curiosity prompted her to reach into her pocket and take out her phone.

Without hesitation, she typed several keywords into the search engine, looking up the profile of the VIP guest who had reserved the hotel's entire top floor that night.

Her eyes widened as countless international business articles and several high-society gossip forums appeared on the screen.

[LUCAS MOURA BLACKWOOD: THE EUROPEAN BUSINESS TITAN RETURNS TO ASIA]

[THE MYSTERY OF A BACHELOR FOR OVER A DECADE: THE BILLIONAIRE WHO HASN'T TOUCHED A SINGLE WOMAN SINCE HIS DIVORCE]

Emma carefully read every line of the articles.

They all confirmed the same thing.

Lucas was a man completely untouched by scandals involving women.

Cold.

Ruthless in business.

His heart had remained tightly closed for so many years that people believed he no longer possessed any desire for the opposite sex.

An impossible man to conquer.

Emma slowly lowered her phone and stared at her own reflection in the large bathroom mirror.

The lingering effects of the alcohol and the heartbreak caused by Zane's selfish behavior just hours earlier suddenly merged, giving birth to a dangerously reckless thought.

A faint smile slowly spread across Emma's lips.

Sharp.

Bitter.

Filled with pain.

One month from now, she would be bound by a contract marriage to a complete stranger through the Match-Prime app—assuming she even passed the VIP candidate verification.

Before leaving her future entirely in the hands of uncertain fate...

And while she still had twenty-three more days to endure the pain Zane had caused her...

What was so wrong with playing with fire?

Zane saw her as nothing more than a toy he could throw away whenever he pleased.

And the mature man outside saw her as nothing more than a cheap woman who had deliberately tried to trap him.

Emma smoothed her slightly damp hair and straightened her shoulders.

The look in her eyes had changed completely.

It was now filled with calculation.

'If the world insists on treating me like a toy... then I'll make sure these bastard men end up dancing to my tune.'

With a new and dangerous resolve, Emma opened the bathroom door, ready to face Lucas once again—

Not as a pitiful woman begging for forgiveness...

But as the beginning of a storm destined to shatter the peaceful life of the billionaire.

"His body is incredible! It's no less impressive than Zane's. So what's wrong if I..." Emma smiled with a sly grin.

Emma stepped out of the bathroom with her chin held high, prepared to display her newfound courage.

But the moment she took a step forward, she froze.

The magnificent presidential suite was completely empty.

The powerful middle-aged man was gone.

Damn it.

How irritating.

He had simply left as though Emma's existence meant absolutely nothing to him, leaving behind nothing but unanswered curiosity lingering in her mind.

With an irritated snort, Emma grabbed her handbag from the floor and walked out of Room 6009.

But after taking only two steps beyond the doorway, her body tensed once again.

In the quiet hotel corridor, standing directly in front of her room, was Zane.

His arms were crossed over his chest. His tuxedo was slightly disheveled, and his handsome face was clouded with unmistakable irritation.

The moment he saw Emma step out, his eyes narrowed sharply.

"I've been standing here for an hour," Zane hissed, his low voice echoing with restrained anger through the silent hallway.

"Where have you been, Emma?!"

Emma stopped walking and looked at Zane with an expression completely devoid of emotion.

The old habit of panicking every time Zane got angry had vanished.

"Sorry, Young Master," Emma replied calmly, almost indifferently. "I was just trying to clear my head."

Hearing Emma's unfamiliar tone, Zane's ego was immediately provoked.

He closed the distance between them in long strides.

Without any warning, his strong hand cupped Emma's face roughly before he lowered his head and captured her lips in a forceful kiss.

Zane intended to suppress Emma's defiance the same way he always did in bed.

"Ugh!"

Zane immediately jerked his face back, clutching his lower lip as fresh blood began to trickle from it.

Emma had just bitten him mercilessly.

"You rejected me?!" Zane roared, his eyes blazing with fury, unable to believe what had just happened.

Emma wiped her own lips with the back of her hand before looking at Zane with unconcealed disgust.

"I feel like throwing up, Zane!

Why?

Because those lips of yours were just kissing that new actress on set earlier.

If you want to kiss me again, go brush your teeth first!"

Without paying any attention to the stunned look frozen on Zane's face, Emma reached into her handbag, took out the keycard to her own room next door, walked inside, and slammed the door shut right in front of the actor's face.

Outside in the hallway, Zane stood frozen, breathing heavily as he wiped the small drop of blood from his lip with growing irritation.

Since when had Emma ever rejected him just because he had kissed another woman?

Wasn't that simply part of his job?

Normally, whenever Emma saw him kiss any actress, she would become insanely jealous and end up offering herself to him in bed, as though she were the only woman capable of satisfying him.

This sudden change made Zane feel the control he had held over Emma for the past seven years slowly slipping through his fingers.