“Sis, easy… you're hurting me…”
The voice that slipped out sounded both pitiful and… ridiculously sultry—enough to make someone’s ears burn.
Ugh, with that obedient little tone, it made you wanna rough him up just for fun!
Alice Taylor’s eyes flew open. Then she realized—crap, she was on top of someone.
Both her hands were gripping his pale arm tightly, so hard there were red finger marks.
Startled, she jolted upright, staring in confusion at the guy beneath her, then quickly scanned the room.
A hotel just outside Jingda campus.
She’d come back to life!
Back to four years earlier—right before she first slept with Liam Brooks.
Alice clutched her chest; it throbbed, twisted in pain.
In her last life, she'd been brutally stabbed to death at home by Liam’s so-called fiancée.
And only while dying did she find out he even had a fiancée.
Why didn’t she fight back?
Because she had been tied to the bed by Liam himself—some kind of freaky game—and it was a dead knot...
Liam had been in the shower then. By the time he came out, she was hanging by her last breath, gasping, “R-run…”
Now she’d returned! And this time, before things went any further.
She’d learned her lesson—big time.
Getting horny literally killed. This lifetime, she’d stay far away from men.
Especially Liam Brooks!
Liam sat up, reaching toward her. His pale wrist was flushed red. “Sis, are you okay?”
Alice raised an arm between them like a guardrail. “Hey now—boys and girls should keep some distance.”
Her face was twisted with emotion, arms hugged tightly across her chest like a damsel about to be ravished—as if she wasn’t the one who just jumped him.
Liam froze, hand still halfway to her, eyes dark and unreadable as he stared at her.
Alice realized her reaction might’ve been too much, so she forced a sweet little smile. “Sorry about that, kinda overreacted.”
Then added, “You should probably go, little bro.”
He kept staring, his handsome face tensing up. “We’re not… continuing?”
Continue what, your head!
Still smiling politely, Alice replied, “Nope.”
“But… earlier you were all over me…”
Her eyelid twitched. “I can explain!”
Liam didn’t say anything, but those jet-black eyes behind his lashes were deep as a black hole.
“I was drunk, okay.” Alice held her head dramatically, like it was splitting in pain—but quickly sat up ramrod straight and blurted, “But then I powered through with sheer willpower. I’m sober now.”
He gave no reply. Just watched her with those unreadable eyes.
“Strong stuff, that drink.” Alice chuckled awkwardly. “Good thing we didn’t actually do anything, right? What a relief… ha…”
Liam licked his lips, almost looking... disappointed? “So we’re really not doing it?”
???
Excuse me?
If she didn’t know better, she’d think he was the one thirsty for her.
“Well,” she rushed to change the subject while slipping off the bed and putting on her shoes, “just so you know—chastity is a man’s best dowry these days.”
Liam’s eyes lit up. “You mean… you wanna marry me?”
Alice: “…”
Yeah okay. No way she could explain her way outta this. Time to bail.
She rummaged through the couch cushions like a raccoon until she finally fished out her clutch.
Inside was that debit card—ten grand on it. She’d actually prepared it last time, planning to leave it after the deed.
Alice walked back to the bed again.Liam Brooks was still sitting on the bed, looking up at her with slightly reddened eyes, his voice low and aggrieved. "Sis… you're just gonna leave me like this?"
From this angle, Liam looked dangerously handsome—so much so that Alice Taylor had to bite her tongue to stop herself from blurting out something inappropriate. His pale face had a sickly charm to it, and those eyes—clear, innocent, and almost painfully pure—were doing things to her self-control.
She inhaled sharply, shoved all the inappropriate thoughts to the back of her mind, and placed a card by his side.
"Take this. Consider it compensation for the mental damage," she said through gritted teeth. "Forget about tonight. Treat it like it never happened."
Then she bolted straight for the hotel entrance without looking back.
You did good, Alice. Resisting that kind of temptation? You deserve a damn medal.
Just as she stepped off the stairs, a short-haired girl came jogging toward her, blue-gray bob swinging with her strides.
It was Olivia Collins—Alice’s roommate, partner-in-crime, and the mastermind behind this entire mess.
"Whoa, Peach, why are you out already?" Olivia glanced up at the hotel's windows, her expression mixed. "Liam… he wasn’t up to it?"
"It’s me. I wasn’t," Alice replied instantly.
Olivia blinked. "Huh?"
"I wasn’t. Got it?"
"I don’t get it," Olivia deadpanned.
She had every reason to be confused. After all, they'd planned for this night like it was a military operation, and Liam wasn’t just any guy—he was the academic heartthrob of Jing University. A genius who’d gotten into grad school at nineteen, with looks to match. Technically younger than them, but way ahead class-wise.
On paper a little bro, in reality a senior.
And Alice? Alice had been thirsting over that guy for ages. Just yesterday she’d been so hyped about tonight that she’d stayed up all night gossiping with Olivia.
But now? Now this?
Without bothering to explain further, Alice looked over her shoulder like a thief in the night, keeping an eye on the hotel lobby, half-expecting Liam to come storming out after her.
Technically, she hadn’t done anything this time around—but she’d still dragged him to the hotel. Could he come after her? Absolutely.
Good thing it stopped at "almost."
Her chest still felt tight with lingering fear. That stabbing pain at the end of her last life—it hadn’t quite faded.
She was alive. That was all that mattered right now.
Yanking Olivia with her, she tried to make a quick getaway.
Olivia stumbled behind her, whining, "Ugh, Peach, I really don’t get it. You let that man slip through your fingers, and you call that nothing? That’s straight-up tragic."
Alice slowed her steps, turned, and looked Olivia dead in the eyes.
"Olivia," she said solemnly, "let me say this loud and clear."
"What’s up?"
"I, Alice Taylor, don’t like Liam Brooks."
She came to a full stop, facing Olivia with a serious expression. "From now on, don’t bring him up around me. He’s bad luck. Like, literal disaster-level bad luck."
Olivia furrowed her brows. "What?"
She looked even more baffled now—totally lost at where Alice was coming from.
"You drunk or something?"
Alice: "..."
"You forgot how every time you saw Liam, your mouth would tremble like you were about to cry just from the sight of him?"
"..."
Alice forced a laugh, then quickly dragged Olivia along toward the school grounds, tuning out her friend’s endless muttering. Olivia kept grumbling—one second blaming Alice for being insane, the next mourning all the effort they’d wasted tonight.
As they disappeared down the street, Alice resorted to half-choking Olivia to get her to shut up.
Back on the third floor, behind a window in the shadows, Liam stood motionless.
Five sleek, black fox tails stood taut behind him, blending into the darkness. His hand brushed against one of his pointed ears as he watched Alice walk away, fingers twitching slightly. His gaze was locked onto her retreating figure, deep and unreadable—like a wolf sizing up its prey.
