"Lily Liu?" Ryan Ling's mind short-circuited for a second, his brain basically exploding. That last time in the room, she’d forced medicine on him, and even sprayed it straight into his mouth—honestly, that scene was so awkward it was almost criminal. Now that he thought about it, Lily did seem kinda deliberate about it... but Ryan didn’t dare dig any deeper into that mess.
If Lily really showed up at the Dragonridge Masquerade Ball, was she actually planning to pull off some crazy masked hookup tonight?
Ryan Ling immediately shut down that train of thought. But when he looked back, the mysterious woman had already vanished—like she’d never even been there.
Maybe he was just seeing things. There’s no way Lily Liu would show up here—she should be hanging with Warren Yuan and the gang, not at some sketchy party like this.
Yeah, I’m totally overthinking it. Like that would ever happen. Even if Lily isn’t my real sister, she’s still my big sis… Ryan was roasting himself when a voice suddenly called out in front of him.
"Hey, Master Ling! Why are you mumbling to yourself over here? Come on, check out your dance partner!"
Ryan snapped out of his daydream and looked up—standing in front of him was Cindy Sun, but she’d totally transformed. She used to be pure and shy, like an unopened flower. Now, after Angie Chen’s makeover, she was straight-up a sexy rose.
Low-cut top, short skirt—she looked innocent, but her outfit screamed trouble. White on the outside, blazing red underwear underneath, basically see-through. Just standing there, she was already turning up the heat and making all the rich boys sweat.
When Cindy Sun first walked in, nobody paid her any attention. Now? All eyes were locked on her—she’d flipped the whole vibe of the ballroom.
Even the crowd that was swarming around Lena Ye turned to stare.
"Angie, are you sure it’s okay for me to dress like this?" Cindy Sun was clearly freaking out from all the hungry stares. Even with her mask on, her face was so red it looked like she might combust right up to her ears.
"Of course it’s fine! You gotta dress like this if you wanna out-slut Lena Ye and her jealous crew!" Angie Chen shot her a look of pure encouragement.
"Really? Being saucy can actually kill them with jealousy?" Cindy blinked at Angie, like a grade schooler asking her teacher for cheat codes.
"Duh! You know your cousin Angie runs the show in the Provincial Capital, right? It’s all thanks to maxing out my sassiness—nobody dares mess with me!" Angie Chen bragged, then glanced at Ryan and added, "Ryan knows exactly what I’m talking about!"
"Ryan, is that true?" Cindy Sun looked at him, totally innocent and trusting.
"Cindy, you actually believe everything your cousin says…" Ryan almost coughed up blood.
Before he could finish, Cindy shot back, "Angie always looks out for me. If I don’t trust her, who am I supposed to trust?"
"Fine, whatever, just believe her. If Angie says it, it must be gospel," Ryan said, giving up. Cindy’s IQ was basically bottom tier—trying to reason with her was just a waste of brain cells.
"Really? Sis, I’ll do whatever you say! Sass them to death!" Cindy Sun declared, suddenly fired up and totally fearless.
Angie Chen couldn’t help but give a wicked grin, clearly celebrating her success at corrupting another ‘good girl.’