Chapter 6: How Would You Like to Handle It?

Hearing this, Alexander paused subtly, shifting his gaze to the doll in the box. "Have someone take it to the bedroom."

Chloe quietly observed his body language, surprised to discover—was he actually feeling awkward?

Catching her out of the corner of his eye, Alexander reached out, his long, well-defined fingers untying the ribbon around the doll's waist like he was unbuttoning a lover's clothes. In a tone somewhere between playful and serious, he asked, "Why don't you try wearing its clothes, Chloe?"

Chloe: "..."

*The tyrant's taste was still... excessively twisted.*

She blinked her eyes and curled her lips into a smile, leaning her head to the side in a self-deprecating joke: "I don't think I'm quite that... slender."

Even though it was a life-sized doll, there was still a massive difference compared to a real person, and it certainly wasn't crafted with human proportions. More than anything, constantly pleasing a man was a truly exhausting chore.

Alexander turned his head, his appreciative gaze lazily sweeping down past her neck as he said nonchalantly, "You're perfect just the way you are, Chloe."

Chloe: "..."

*As expected, a man's gaze forever lingers only on those few ounces of flesh and curves on a woman. Some were discreet, others blatant, but without exception, every single one was revolting.*

Yet Chloe always reminded herself that she was in a game, putting on a speechlessly helpless expression.

Seeming to find her reaction entertaining, he suddenly leaned close, nipping her ear: "I like it very much."

A defiant smile flickered in Chloe's pale, cat-like eyes. Her lips brushed lightly past his cheek as she mimicked his tone, admiring his perfectly sculpted features: "Courtesy demands reciprocity... Is there any gift you would like, Mr. Alexander?"

"Something I want?" Alexander stared at her for a moment. Suddenly leaning down, he inhaled close to Chloe's neck, lowering his voice: "Aren't you already mine, Chloe? What else could you possibly give me?"

It was a sharp taunt designed to hit a woman's fragile self-esteem, yet Chloe couldn't care less. A smile lingered at the corner of her lips, as if completely oblivious to the subtext of his words. She tilted her head playfully at Alexander, "How about I gift you my perfume, Mr. Alexander?"

Alexander raised an eyebrow.

With an unsaid meaning dancing in her eyes, she whispered right against Alexander's ear, "That way, wherever you are, you'll be able to smell my scent..."

"It'll be like I'm right beside you, every single moment."

Gifting perfume was a deeply ambiguous gesture, yet it fit their current relationship perfectly. Chloe had noticed that Alexander loved leaning in close to smell her, like a fiercely possessive wild beast.

Alexander suddenly used his fingers to lift her chin, a smile playing at his lips. His voice sounded lazy, making it impossible to tell if he was pleased or displeased: "Alright."

"I like your scent very much, Chloe."

---

And so, Chloe moved into the Alexander Estate with total peace of mind. Aside from his unpredictable temper, Alexander was actually quite a gentleman. Beyond the "eat together, sleep together" rule, he hadn't forced her into anything.

Over the past few days, however, Alexander showed no intention of handling Chloe's scandal and negative press.

The rumors about Chloe on the internet were spiraling out of control. Her manager, Chen Jie, had urged her multiple times, nagging like a pimp managing her talent: "How have we still not found out who's screwing with you? A man as unfathomable as Lord Alexander is definitely waiting for you to beg him! Coax him a little and wouldn't it be solved? Do you still want to act or not? You're not planning to retire, are you? Let me tell you, a man like Lord Alexander might not keep pampering you forever..."

The "victim" herself, Chloe, remained completely unbothered, obediently waiting for Alexander to come home. She remembered they were going to meet his friends tonight.

A figure like Alexander wouldn't break his word over such a minor affair.

Ethan: "Miss Chloe, the outfit Mr. Alexander ordered for you has arrived."

Chloe, who had been hopelessly lost in the joy of petting the cat, looked up lazily and asked, "When will Mr. Alexander be back?"

Her expression was so natural, resembling a wife waiting for her husband to return home. A subtle glint flickered in Ethan's eyes as he smiled, "He's on his way."

"Mm." Chloe raised her eyebrow slightly and nodded, "Just leave it there for now."

Seeing that her "servant" had stopped the massage, Sweetie skillfully reached out her paw to scratch at her hand. Her round eyes glared at her like a little tiger, demanding: *Pet me, human.*

Chloe pinched the base of the cat's tail, her gentle tone hiding a sharp edge: "The dark tyrant is coming back. No more playtime."

The tiger instantly turned into a sick cat. Sweetie intelligently leapt off her lap, fleeing at lightning speed on her soft paw pads.

Chloe let out a soft laugh, finally understanding what it meant to be universally avoided by cats and dogs alike.

Ethan's lips twitched slightly.

Over the past few days, Miss Chloe had somehow managed to become familiar with everyone in the Alexander household—especially this fat cat, who had already treated her as a soft-tempered, easily bullied "servant." Yet it didn't seem to realize who was actually being played.

---

The faint honk of a car echoed from afar across the estate. Chloe's ears twitched, and she got up to go upstairs. Her timing was impeccable; just as she finished changing, Alexander appeared at the doorway of the walk-in closet, his eyes sweeping over her in delighted approval.

It was a relatively casual red dress that outlined her figure in a scorching, eye-catching manner. Looking at her was like a fire burning in one's throat—one that even a torrential downpour couldn't extinguish.

Chloe met his gaze through the mirror, her lips curving into a smile woven with enchanting charm.

Alexander rolled up his shirt sleeves and stepped up from behind her. Familiar with the gesture, he sucked gently on the mark on her side neck, offering his praise without restraint: "Beautiful."

Chloe turned her head to exchange a kiss with him, whispering gently, "It's because Mr. Alexander has great taste."

Her movements during kisses with the man were becoming increasingly natural, masking an underlying disgust that no one could detect. Yet he seemed remarkably obsessed with this mark on her neck...

A long time ago, she had intentionally teased a certain mute boy, asking, *"Do I look pretty?"*

His face flushing red, he had written a massive paragraph on paper flattery-praising her beauty, including a line that said, *"Even the mark on your neck is so beautiful."*

Back then, she had mocked him for having a weird fetish. He had been covered in injuries, gloomy and depressed all day, unwilling to communicate with anyone. Yet she had deliberately, maliciously teased him, forcing him to "speak" with her.

Alexander slowly swept his gaze over her hazy eyes. Suddenly, he reached out and pinched the back of her neck, his voice turning darkly eerie against her ear: "Who are you thinking about?"

With a metaphorical knife pressed against the back of her neck, Chloe still didn't forget to softly seduce him: "I was thinking how wonderful Mr. Alexander's scent is."

She leaned against the man's collar like a cat, sniffing gently. He had used the perfume she gave him. Yet unlike the soft, sweet fragrance it had on a woman, it mingled with a man's distinct scent, creating an unexpectedly comforting aroma.

Alexander admired his little cat's performance, the expression on his face shifting instantly from overcast to sunny as he replied with suggestive cooperation, "Then you can smell it more tonight."

Chloe nodded slightly, her long hair cascading down to deliberately expose a strip of her fragile neck, her voice low and laced with a smile: "Alright."

Alexander narrowed his eyes, and as if fulfilling her wish, reached out to gently stroke the back of her slender, fair neck back and forth.

---

The moment the private room door opened, a wave of laughter and playful chatter rushed out.

A cluster of men sat crowded around the large U-shaped sofa—undoubtedly individuals belonging to the exact same world as Alexander—each holding a beauty in his arms. Only one man sitting in the corner wore an immaculate white shirt, his sleeves neatly rolled up to his forearms, seemingly possessing an innate shield against the surrounding women.

Chloe raised an eyebrow. She actually saw the word "righteous" written clearly on his face.

Her chin was suddenly turned by someone. Alexander tilted his head, threatening in a low voice, "Looks good?"

Chloe's almond eyes curved into crescents, instantly abandoning all bottom lines to coax the dark tyrant: "Of course he doesn't have even a tenth of Mr. Alexander's charm."

Just then, someone blew a whistle: "Hey! It's real! Our Lord Alexander actually has someone by his side now."

The voice was laced with an unspoken tease. Chloe lazily swept her gaze over, quietly leaning closer to Alexander's side.

Alexander raised his eyes, his sharp, piercing gaze landing precisely on the man. "Zhou Jin, if you can't keep your mouth shut, I'll cut it off."

Zhou Jin shrank under Alexander's glare, apologizing cautiously, "Brother Alexander, I was wrong."

Having perfectly played the role of a manipulative temptress riding on the tyrant's coattails, Chloe offered Zhou Jin a harmless smile, silently mocking this low-level minion bowing to the dark lord.

The atmospheric pressure around Alexander plummeted several degrees. Zhou Jin felt his scalp go numb under her smile, reaching up to mess his neatly styled hair into a bird's nest—one where a bird could start laying eggs right away.

*My lady, I beg you, please stop smiling at me!*

Chapter 7: Please Don't Have Any Secrets I Don't Know

A sharp warning right at the door made every man and woman in the private room realize that even if Chloe were a substitute, her position in Alexander's heart was currently uniquely exclusive.

The man with the upright demeanor finally spoke, laughing in mock scolding, "Serves you right."

Alexander gave him that face, temporarily letting Zhou Jin off the hook. Holding Chloe's hand, he sat down next to the man and introduced him in concise terms: "Ethan Chen."

Having experienced that earlier glance, Chloe didn't reach out her hand either, offering only a polite and courteous smile: "Hello."

Ethan Chen, however, let out a light chuckle: "Miss Chloe, we've met before."

Chloe's wrist was being squeezed so hard it ached, as if her bones were about to be crushed into pieces. Yet, without breaking her composure, she tilted her head to reveal a look of confusion: "Hmm?"

Sweeping a glance over the undercurrents swirling beneath their clasped hands, Ethan Chen explained thoughtfully, "Back when you brought your father into our station, I was the one in charge."

"Holy shit!" Zhou Jin, acting like an unkillable cockroach, suddenly blurted out, "Is she really that badass?"

*She actually handed her own father over to the police station!*

A companion nudged his arm as a warning. Meeting Alexander's sinister gaze, Zhou Jin quickly mimicked the motion of zipping his lips shut.

Chloe let out an enlightened "Oh," smiling gracefully: "So it's Officer Chen. That was so long ago that I had completely forgotten."

Ethan Chen nodded: "It was a miserable affair anyway; forgetting it is for the best."

Chloe hummed in agreement, offering no further explanation and adopting a clear stance of *'I'm not familiar with him.'*

Enfolding her waist in a possessive embrace, Alexander spoke to Ethan Chen: "I need a favor. Look into those online rumors for me."

"Sure," Ethan Chen agreed readily, then raised an eyebrow. "Is a minor thing like this really worth Lord Alexander asking me in person?"

He clearly shared a closer bond with Alexander; calling him "Lord Alexander" was purely teasing.

Alexander cast a cool, silent glance at him without saying a word.

Pausing slightly, Ethan Chen added, "However, once we find out who did it, they will be handled strictly according to the law."

The underlying message was clear: no taking matters into private hands.

Alexander's hand swirling the wine glass paused for a beat before he let out a strange chuckle, "Then let's see which of us catches the person first."

Ethan Chen raised an eyebrow, not particularly worried. Ever since that incident years ago, Alexander's temperament had drastically changed, yet over all these years, he had never once crossed the line of breaking the law.

Alexander suddenly stood up, "We'll be taking our leave now."

Leaving as abruptly as he came, it was as if his entire trip had been for the sole purpose of asking Ethan Chen for this one small favor. He left the audience of onlookers exchanging bewildered glances, unsure what kind of crazy spell had taken over the man again.

---

In the quiet hallway of the club, Chloe knew Alexander was in a foul mood. She deliberately softened her footsteps, keeping even her breathing low to avoid giving him a chance to lash out at her.

Only when they stepped out of the club and returned to the sunlight did she finally let out a long, tedious breath of frustration.

Ethan opened the car door, and before Chloe could react, Alexander dragged her inside, violently throwing her back against the seat.

Her arms hurt from the pull, her brow tweaking slightly. Raising her head, her brow furrowed gently. A murmur that sounded both like pouting and complaining issued forth with her soft breath: "Mr. Alexander?"

*Does this man have violent tendencies as well?* Chloe thought. *Because if he does, this game won't be fun anymore.* It reminded her of another utterly repulsive man.

The driver perceptively raised the privacy partition, causing the air inside the already compact space to turn scorching hot.

Alexander tightly pinched Chloe's jaw, his bottomless black eyes staring straight into hers. Like a hand reaching out from hell, he pinned her in place, making it impossible for her to budge.

Only after a long while did he speak in a spine-chilling tone: "Staying with me... makes you feel that miserable?"

Chloe had no idea where he got off slapping such an unfounded "accusation" onto her.

The driver and assistant up front seemed to sense the tension, maintaining a tacit, absolute silence. The surrounding air felt as if it had turned into a non-Newtonian fluid, flowing viscous and slow.

Subconscious cold sweat broke out across her back—a reflex left behind by long-term past experiences. For a split second, she felt like he wanted to strangle her to death. How terrifying... yet thrilling it was.

Chloe looked straight into his eyes with delicate fragility. Her ruby lips parted slightly as she pleaded with pitiful vulnerability, "Mr. Alexander, it hurts..."

She possessed a pair of eyes capable of making most men fall. Deeply affectionate peach-blossom eyes brimmed with wet moisture, glistening brightly enough to erode even the coldest heart of stone.

She had bet correctly.

Alexander abruptly let go of his grip, pulling her into a tight embrace as he trembled uncontrollably. Just like last time, he offered a humble apology: "Chloe... I'm sorry..."

Chloe let out a gentle breath, resting obediently against his shoulder. Her arms loosely wrapped around his back while the unendurable mask slid off her face, exposing a look of disgust and repulsion.

*Tch, lunatic.*

She felt that if she managed to leave this man's side in one piece, winning some Best Actress award would be a walk in the park. If anyone ever called her a brainless bimbo again, she'd let them experience the "training" of this dark tyrant firsthand.

Yet, keeping her professional ethics firmly in mind, she allowed herself to zone out for just a second before nonchalantly curving her lips into a smile, her voice dropping into a soft, alluring purr: "It's alright, Mr. Alexander. Just remember to be gentler next time."

The next instant, a dense flurry of kisses rained down on her eyes, lips, and neck. Alexander licked and kissed the mark on her neck, clinging to her like a drowning man clutching a piece of driftwood: "Chloe..."

Chloe narrowed her eyes slightly. Every time he called out "Chloe" in that tone, she had a momentary illusion that he was truly calling out her name, feeling a sense of strange familiarity. Yet that illusion vanished in a flash. *Ah, men... how cheap their devotion truly is.*

---

This time, Alexander's "episode" didn't seem to pass so quickly.

By the time they returned to the Alexander Estate, night had fallen completely.

Without a word, Alexander dragged her out of the car. Wearing high heels, Chloe stumbled along as he pulled her, doing her best to maintain her composure and balance.

She wasn't particularly surprised even when she was thrown onto the bed. She had never harbored any unrealistic illusions that he would pity her, nor did she believe that if she refused, he would refrain from touching her. Once the game started, she was no longer her own person.

Yet, having a deep-seated disgust for intimate affairs, she still couldn't mask her revulsion and resistance with absolute perfection.

The curtains were drawn tight, pitch black to the point where one couldn't see their own hand, leaving only a faint sliver of courtyard light seeping through the gap. She recalled that the curtains always seemed to be drawn, regardless of whether the lights were on, causing one to lose all sense of day and night inside.

Which was fine—that way, the tyrant wouldn't be able to peek at her subtle emotional shifts.

However, she had forgotten that the dark tyrant was born of the dark, holding absolute domain over everything within it.

In the darkness, Alexander pressed his entire body down upon her. His fingers slowly dragged through her hair before abruptly tightening. Leaning close to her ear, his soft voice sounded like both a warning and a plea: "Chloe isn't allowed... to have secrets with others that I don't know about."

He was like someone who had reclaimed a lost obsession—insecure and anxious, left with no choice but to constrain and control her.

Chloe completely ignored his warning, suddenly leaning in to drop a kiss on him, sweet words spilling effortlessly from her lips: "I don't have any secrets from you, Mr. Alexander."

Clinging to the back of Alexander's neck, she stroked him in a gentle, flirting motion, while whispering with feigned grievance against his ear: "I thought you would look into my past, Mr. Alexander."

Alexander stared at her, his deep, dark gaze seemingly piercing right through her. Chloe met his gaze without a trace of guilt, her eyes welling with pitiful tears. Yet the man suddenly let out a chuckle, reaching out to pat her cheek: "Good girl."

The moment just now felt like nothing more than a prank.

---

Ethan Chen's side was exceptionally efficient, quickly locking onto the suspect and arriving at their doorstep.

*Knock, knock, knock.*

The police knocked on the door of Unit 3-1, Building 5 in the Jingcheng Residential Complex. "Captain Chen, there seems to be no one home."

Privacy in high-end residential complexes was top-tier, with one private elevator per unit. It was impossible to even run into neighbors, let alone ask around.

Ethan Chen stared at the door, stubbing out his cigarette butt before telling the colleague who came along: "Let's go. We'll head to the Alexander Estate to make the arrest."

The young intern who had just joined the police force couldn't understand what finding a culprit who fabricated rumors had to do with the Alexander family. Could there be some major criminal case entangled behind this? Instantly, he conjured a chaotic mix of melodramatic wealthy families and criminal mastermind plots in his mind, getting unnecessarily thrilled all by himself.

*Holy crap! Getting to handle a case like this right out of my internship!*

Walking ahead, Ethan Chen sighed inwardly—the new guys sure had high work enthusiasm.

---

At the Alexander Estate, Chloe came downstairs, only to catch sight of an unexpected person sitting in a corner of the living room. Narrowing her eyes slightly, she cast a casual glance over before taking lazy steps down the staircase.

Pouring herself a glass of water, she took an unhurried sip. "What are you doing here?"

Ryan sat on pins and needles, acting as though he had spotted a life-saving straw, immediately speaking up: "Chloe, please talk to Lord Alexander! I didn't mean to do it; I just wanted to scare you. I didn't want to hurt you. Hurry and persuade him. Even if the Alexander family dominates the city, troubling the Chu family will still bring trouble!"

He seemed about to stand up, but the person standing beside him pressed him back down the next second.

Chloe's light-colored pupils flickered slightly as an exaggerated look of realization washed over her. "Ah," she gasped, feigning disbelief: "You were behind the recent events?"

She had initially thought he merely wanted to force her into begging him for help so he could get back together with her naturally. She had certainly underestimated a man's sense of shame—to think he could be shameless enough to pull something like this after having dated her. Yet it wasn't all that surprising. *Men... if they don't have a heart, how could they possibly have a sense of shame?*

In the entertainment industry, rumors about being a "homewrecker" might seem small, but they could easily ruin a person entirely. Because women like them were forced to stand before everyone "stripped bare," subjected to scrutiny and pointing fingers.

Ryan seemed to freeze for a moment, his face suddenly turning pale.

Just then, Alexander embraced her from behind, whispering softly against Chloe's ear: "How would you like to handle it, Chloe?"

Chloe raised her eyebrow slightly. Ryan was her ex-boyfriend, a deeply sensitive identity. *Tch, she needed to keep her distance.* Holding her glass, she leaned against Alexander and said honestly: "I'd like to hear him explain how he planned the whole thing."

The smear campaign had come out of nowhere. She had only shot an obscure little commercial, without encroaching on anyone's interests, yet she was cyberbullied to the point of not daring to step outside. She could only watch helplessly as online marketing accounts and keyboard warriors turned black into white.

Now that she was face-to-face with the culprit, she was naturally furious, but keeping the dark tyrant calm was far more important than punishing the wrongdoer. As a law-abiding citizen of a modern socialist society, she had no intention of falling into "corrupt collusion" with the tyrant.

Alexander cast an indifferent glance at Ryan. Pulling Chloe along, he sat down on the sofa with grand presence, leaning back with total nonchalance. "Speak."

The way he leaned back exuded the exact aura of a villainous boss in a TV drama—one where a minor henchman saying a single wrong word would mean losing his head.

*It was her first time playing the role of a dark tyrant's favored concubine; it really was quite fun,* Chloe thought.

Ryan was unwilling to confess to such dishonorable acts in front of Chloe. He was still a somewhat notable rich heir, after all. With the Ryan family backing him, he didn't believe Alexander would actually do anything to him.

Alexander picked up an apple from the coffee table and slowly peeled it, appearing not to care at all. Ryan let out a slight sigh of relief. Chloe's eyes were drawn to the neatly peeled, continuous spiral of apple skin; her hand twitched, wanting to reach out and snap it.

Before she could make a move, Sweetie came running over with a series of "Meow meow meows," raising both paws to play with the apple skin as if it were a cat teaser, snapping it in two strokes. Chloe looked at the silly cat with schadenfreude, only for Alexander to suddenly glance at her.

Her lips twitched, and she immediately put on an impatient front to urge Ryan: "Ryan, hurry up and speak."

Alexander placed the peeled apple onto a plate, grabbing Sweetie by the scruff of her neck. Looking down at the cat from above, he said with double meaning: "Sweetie, getting bold, aren't we?"

"Careful, or I'll lock you in a cage."

Sweetie: "Meow meow meow?"

*She was just a cat; she couldn't understand what the tyrant was talking about.*

Chloe: "..."

*Tch, the dark tyrant sure loves playing the trick of talking to the cat to target the person.*

Seeing his ex-girlfriend getting along so harmoniously with Alexander, Ryan felt as though his heart had been soaked in a vat of sour lemon juice. Reluctantly, he said to Chloe: "You were right last time... I just wanted you to come to me for help. I didn't want to hurt you."

Alexander suddenly plunged the fruit knife straight into the peeled apple. Chloe seemed to hear the tip of the blade strike the bottom of the plate, making her ears feel deeply uncomfortable.

He lifted his eyelids, his sharp, dark gaze slicing toward Ryan as he slowly spoke: "Which hand took the secret photos?"

Ryan turned pale with shock: "Wh... what?"

Chapter 8: Was the Dark Tyrant Shy Just Now?

Alexander wiped his hands, casually splitting the ruined apple into two halves and feeding one half to Chloe's mouth, continuing to ask Ryan nonchalantly: "Or both hands?"

Only when the apple was removed could one glimpse the shattered porcelain fruit plate beneath it. The other two people present were both seized with varying degrees of terror and shock—he clearly hadn't seemed to exert much force at all.

Chloe merely swept a brief glance over it, possessing a strong "henchman consciousness" and adhering strictly to the principle of looking and saying as little as possible. Scooping up Sweetie—who was eyeing the apple with avid desire—onto her lap, she waved the apple in a circle under the cat's nose without letting her eat it, teasing Sweetie into slapping the back of her hand with loud *thumps*.

Staring at the horribly mangled plate, Ryan broke out into a cold sweat as goosebumps burst across his skin. Finally, he confessed honestly: "I took secret photos of Chloe..."

"Hmm?" Alexander narrowed his eyes as he looked at him.

Ryan turned deathly pale: "The commercial Chloe shot earlier belonged to a company under the Ryan family. Ryan Feng was the ad director. At the time, Ryan Feng lusted after Chloe's beauty, and I took photos of them wrestling around. I didn't mean to harm her... I just wanted her to ask me for help. I was going to clear her name..."

Chloe leaned against Alexander as if she had no bones, looking down at Ryan from above. *As expected, aside from a face, he was utterly worthless.* When Ryan Feng was trying to take advantage of her, he had every opportunity to "step up," yet he insisted on pulling off such a round-about, revolting performance.

She likely wouldn't forget this past period—unable to step out of her front door, recognized at the airport, tormented to the point of having eggs thrown at her until she was covered in stench, yet unable to clarify a single thing under the deliberate control of someone with hidden motives. What a "brilliant" experience.

Still, it wasn't particularly sad. Revolting affairs were nothing new to her; this was just one or two more added to the pile.

Alexander gave a low "Mm," saying lazily, "She asks you for help, and then what?"

"Then... then..." Mentioning getting back together, Ryan met Alexander's sinister gaze, his tongue suddenly tying into knots, utterly unable to speak the rest of his words.

Uncle Zhang suddenly appeared, stepping up to Alexander's side: "Sir, Mr. Ethan Chen has arrived."

Alexander paused, casting a side glance at Chloe before saying, "Let them in."

Ryan let out a massive sigh of relief. He would rather fall into the hands of the police than endure this torture any longer. Alexander, this lunatic, was someone who even dared to murder his own stepmother.

---

Ethan Chen walked in with his colleague. The young intern beside him had never seen such a mind-boggling "home" in his life and had long since been rendered dumbfounded.

Ethan Chen cast a glance at Ryan, speaking with a half-smile: "Can I take the person away now?"

Alexander produced a voice recording pen out of nowhere and tossed it over to him. Turning to Chloe, he asked her nonchalantly: "Chloe, how would you like to handle it?"

Chloe raised her eyebrow, asking Ethan Chen: "For someone like Mr. Ryan, can he be sentenced to prison?"

Ethan Chen was more than happy to explain it to her: "Publicly defaming and insulting others carries a sentence of up to three years in prison for severe cases. The specifics will depend on your lawyer's capabilities."

Ryan's expression instantly turned nervous as he looked at Chloe: "Chloe!"

Chloe nodded, offering a faint smile: "Thank you, I will file an appeal as soon as possible."

Ryan looked at her in sheer disbelief, raising his voice: "Chloe! I didn't mean to do anything to you. Is there really any need to be this heartless?!"

Chloe finally met his eyes head-on. Within those deeply affectionate eyes, the rotten bone behind Ryan's fake skin was laid bare. She put on an innocent, aggrieved act: "If I were a bit weaker psychologically, I might have already slit my wrists and committed suicide."

"Take him away," Ethan Chen ordered the intern officer, then raised his chin toward Alexander. "Lord Alexander, remember to pay the fine."

Although in a certain sense Alexander had done them a favor by getting the man to confess to the whole incident, a breach of rules was still a breach of rules. Even between good brothers, a fine was a fine.

A subtle curve twitched at the corner of Chloe's lips. *As expected of the people's police—shielded by justice, completely unafraid of the dark tyrant.*

Alexander looked over at an angle, his calm, composed gaze laced with hidden aggression.

Chloe's face changed faster than the weather. Instantly adopting a crestfallen, delicate expression worthy of a tragic heroine, her tone sounded both coy and proud: "Mr. Alexander, have the police take him away quickly. I don't want to see him."

The handcuffed Ryan suddenly turned back: "Chloe! Didn't you see just now? He's a murderer! Staying with him will bring you a terrible end!"

If he were truly sentenced, with Alexander backing the charge, even the Ryan family wouldn't be able to protect him. How could he show his face once he got out? The illegitimate children of the Ryan family would laugh their heads off at him!

Chloe tilted her head to look over, resting her chin on her hand as her leg bent casually: "If I were you, I would shut my mouth right now."

*Spreading false rumors right in front of the police—what a brainless fool who only had a pretty face.* It seemed that in the future, she couldn't judge a man solely by his face anymore.

---

After Ryan was taken away, Chloe felt a genuine rush of satisfaction. Even if it was just riding on the tyrant's coattails, it still counted as revenge.

Just then, an arm suddenly draped across the front of her neck. Leaning close to her, Alexander asked softly: "Why did you break up with him?"

Chloe let out an "Ah" of surprise and innocence, yet she thoroughly enjoyed the tyrant's sudden burst of jealousy. *Was he really this bothered about the ex-boyfriend of a substitute mistress?*

*How fascinating.*

How did she break up with Ryan... That didn't seem like a mandatory question. In her view, an ex-boyfriend belonged firmly in the past and held no place within the game rules between her and the tyrant.

She kept her mockery of the dark tyrant meticulously hidden, displaying instead a soft, hesitant vulnerability, as if she had an embarrassing secret she was ashamed to tell.

Seeing her distressed expression, Alexander's face predictably turned dark and icy. The arm across her neck tightened slightly, his taunting voice wrapping in warm breath as it burst uninvited into her ear: "What? Can't let him go?"

His breath seeped into her ear canal like insects crawling around—a deeply unbearable sensation. Chloe raised her brow, her eyes brimming with aggrieved tears as she let out a bitter laugh: "Is Mr. Alexander joking? Or do you really think I would hold lingering feelings for a scum like that?"

Alexander lowered his head and stared at her for a moment, a bloodthirsty storm seeming to brew within his pitch-black eyes. Holding her breath, she felt like a cat caught by the scruff of its neck, every hair on her body standing on end without her realizing it.

Alexander clenched his jaw, seemingly exercising extreme restraint as he lowered his voice into a demonic temptation: "Be a good girl, Chloe. Tell me."

Chloe didn't break composure, stubbornly locking into a stalemate with him. In truth, it wasn't anything major—simply that she hadn't wanted to have intimate relations, and he had attempted to force himself on her. It wasn't that she was conservative, but rather that intimacy held no beauty in her memories, only screeching, painful screams etched into her mind.

Before that, Ryan had hidden it very well, possessing a good temper and refined manners. Being a crude person who liked money and good looks, she had rashly thought she could give it a try since he was good to her.

Back then, her skills hadn't been polished enough, and she hadn't developed the ability to see through a monster's true form beneath its skin.

Yet now, facing the overbearing tyrant, a strange, competitive pride surged up from within her. Since it wasn't within the rules of the game, she genuinely didn't want to play along with his pretenses.

It was during those few seconds of silence that Alexander's temper exploded without warning, violently throwing her onto the sofa. Even Sweetie was so terrified that her back arched as she leapt into the air, letting out a frightened *meow*.

Leaning down, he pinched Chloe's chin with his fingers, his voice freezing cold: "Didn't I say that Chloe isn't allowed to have secrets from me?"

Slamming hard against the soft sofa, Chloe felt her brain ringing *buzz buzz*, barely catching what he was saying. Her stubborn streak refused to admit defeat, inwardly mocking the tyrant's sudden rage.

Right at that moment, she made an intriguing discovery. Carefully breaking down and analyzing the tyrant's current emotions, she realized he wasn't merely angry about this matter alone.

Within those bloodshot, pitch-black eyes, something far deeper and more complex seemed to be struggling in bitter unwillingness.

*Unwillingness?* Chloe was slightly surprised that she would think of this word. Why would he feel unwilling? It certainly couldn't be because of her. Most likely, his obsession ran so deep that he was mistaking her for someone else.

She felt not an ounce of sadness over being treated as a substitute—only a strange, twisted rush of excitement. Who would have thought the dark tyrant had such a pathetic, disheveled side to him?

---

After throwing a full tantrum, the dark tyrant vanished. Chloe dazed on the sofa for a while, reliving the tyrant's expression of a trapped beast just now.

Just then, Uncle Zhang came out and spoke to her: "Miss Chloe must not have explored the estate yet? Let me show you around and help clear your mind."

The old man had a gentle gaze that, combined with the wrinkles on his face, formed a deeply kind appearance. Chloe originally had no mood for it, but she inexplicably recalled the weak woman waiting for her back home while knowing nothing, and couldn't bring herself to voice a refusal.

Uncle Zhang guided Chloe through the mansion's backyard. She was stunned by the neatly trimmed clusters of flowers of various colors, designed to look extraordinarily like the wonderland from Alice in Wonderland.

*The big boss's aesthetic was... quite girly, resembling something she might have dreamed up in her teens.*

Uncle Zhang explained at the right moment: "This was commissioned by our master when he returned."

Chloe sharply caught the key phrase: "Returned?"

Uncle Zhang gave a low "Mm," saying, "Sir ran away from home for a period of time back in the day."

A casual phrase like "ran away from home" carried an undeniable hint of some undisclosed, dark family secret. The Alexander family had a younger son who entered the entertainment industry before even graduating. On the way, she let her imagination run wild, envisioning a dramatic, highly charged wealthy family struggle.

Returning to the mansion, Uncle Zhang led her to the third floor. "This is the greenhouse conservatory. Miss Chloe can come here whenever you have time, though—"

He paused briefly before continuing: "The fourth floor above is an art studio, which is off-limits."

Chloe nodded in strict adherence to the rules, deeply immersed in her fantasy of wealthy family power struggles.

---

The dark tyrant remained missing for a whole day. At night, Chen Jie called her, her voice trembling with excitement: "Chloe! You can finally turn things around! Ryan Feng came out to clarify, and the lawyers from Tiansheng reached out to me, telling us to start suing the rumor-mongers! Chloe, what do you think?"

Lying in bed, Chloe nonchalantly picked up her iPad to check the trending searches. First was the police statement regarding the case, followed by Ryan Feng's video clarification, and apologies from various marketing accounts. Such high efficiency could only be the tyrant's doing.

*Quite awkward—getting angry on one hand, while not forgetting to help clear up her troubles on the other.* She felt awkward as well, reluctantly admitting that a tyrant like this was almost a little cute.

The comments were flooded with excited fans alongside hindsight passersby, though plenty of skepticism remained:

—"Waahh! A reversal at last! We'll always be here!"

—"Ahhh, Chloe has had it so hard, what kind of trash people are these! QAQ"

—"We can finally walk outside in broad daylight again! So touched!"

—"Where are all those people who called Chloe a homewrecker earlier? Not apologizing? Mute again?"

—"Who knows if this is even real? The Alexander family has immense power; they can turn white into black easily."

Chloe remained silent while Chen Jie raised her voice through the receiver: "Chloe, Chloe!"

Chloe let out an "Ah," her tone casual: "What advice do you have, Sister Chen?"

Chen Jie seemed to exhale in relief, advising as a matter of course: "I think we should just sue Ryan. As for the marketing accounts, a warning will suffice. After all, you still need to survive in this industry; making too many enemies is never a good thing."

Chloe suddenly let out a soft chuckle, her tone lazy: "I'm not only going to sue Ryan and the marketing accounts, but I'm even going to grab a couple of keyboard warriors to make an example out of them."

After all, before the truth came out, nobody held a gun to their heads forcing them to hurl insults, did they?

Chen Jie disapproved, calling her out by her full name: "Chloe! How long do you think Lord Alexander will pamper you? I advise you not to push things to the absolute extreme!"

Chloe raised her eyebrow slightly: "Has Sister Chen never heard of squeezing every last drop of value out of something?"

Right at that moment, the dark tyrant who had been missing all day suddenly appeared: "What value are you squeezing out?"

Chloe: "..."

*Did the dark tyrant have a radar installed on him? The second she talked bad behind his back, he showed up.* It seemed he cared far more about the "sleep together" part of the fundamental "eat together, sleep together" rule.

"Mm." Not feeling the slightest bit awkward, she smoothly shifted the topic while throwing Chen Jie under the bus: "Sister Chen said I shouldn't sue the marketing accounts."

She looked every bit like a scheming, favored concubine whispering in the emperor's ear in a palace drama.

"Who?" Alexander frowned, clearly having no idea who that person was.

Ignoring Chen Jie's screams from the speaker, Chloe blurted out: "My manager."

She even added an "aggrieved" complaint, "So Mr. Alexander really hasn't taken the time to learn about me at all?"

Chen Jie: "..."

"Terminate her contract." Alexander unknotted his tie and tossed it aside. "I'll have Ethan arrange a new one for you."

He had looked into the people around Chloe long ago, but he never bothered keeping irrelevant individuals in mind.

Chloe accepted readily: "Alright."

Squeezing every last drop of value wasn't entirely a joke. Since she was bound to leave sooner or later, she might as well maximize her gains during this period.

Unsure whether Alexander had caught her earlier remark, he didn't pursue it anyway, proceeding to ask: "Chloe wants to act in movies? Director Lee has a script recently."

Chloe was stunned for a second. Tonight's tyrant seemed... unusually gentle. Was he compensating for what happened during the day? Director Lee was a renowned contemporary director whose hands had produced multiple Best Actresses; there was no way a role would naturally fall to her.

Looking up at Alexander, she offered him an ambiguous, delicate smile, her seductive charms coming naturally: "You're so good to me today, Mr. Alexander?"

Her glass-like pupils reflected scattered glimmers under the bright lights. When she smiled, her eyes curved into crescents, giving the absurd illusion that her heart and eyes were entirely consumed by the man before her.

Alexander paused briefly. Throwing his black shirt right over her head, the man's scent mingled with her signature perfume swept over her in an overwhelming wave. Leaning down, he found her lips through the fabric and dropped a kiss on them, coaxing her like a whisper: "Be a good girl, Chloe, and I will be good to you."

By the time Chloe pulled off the shirt, the man's figure was already gone, replaced by the pitter-patter of running water from the bathroom. She reached up with a slight delay to touch her lips. They had kissed many times during this period, yet this was the very first time it didn't fill her with disgust.

Chloe raised her eyebrow slightly. So... was the dark tyrant shy just now?

*This seemed even more fascinating than his inexplicable jealousy during the day.*