Elena Shen shot her a guarded look.
She turned away, unlocked the apartment with her fingerprint, and stepped inside.
Annie Gu trailed behind like a loyal tail. The moment the door clicked shut, she darted over with gleaming eyes, grabbing Elena by the arms, her voice bubbling with excitement.
"Come on, spill it! What happened last night?"
Elena brushed off her overzealous best friend and, trying her best to stay composed, made her way to the bar counter to pour some water. "What could have happened? What do you think happened?"
Annie paused, squinting suspiciously at her friend. Her eyes trailed down, assessing her walking posture—no limp, no wince. Not even a stiff back. She rubbed her chin and hissed, "Huh…"
Elena's mind was still a mess.
She ignored Annie's sudden morning energy, filled two glasses of water, shoved one into Annie's hand, and took the other to the sofa, where she sat to collect herself.
Annie took a sip, set the glass down, and plopped onto the couch across from her.
When she noticed Elena's neck was spotless—no ambiguous marks, not even a faint hint of something—Annie let out two long, exaggerated "Hmmmm" sounds. Then, she leaned in closer and asked again,
"Elena, you mean to tell me you and Mr. Jiang didn't get drunk and lose control last night?"
Choke—cough!
Elena had just taken a sip of water. Before she could even swallow, she was choking on it thanks to Annie's uncensored question.
Annie handed her a couple of tissues with a perfectly straight face, but made no move to stop her interrogation.
"So… you really didn't do anything at all?"
Elena coughed a few more times, then glared at her nosy friend as soon as she caught her breath.
"Annie, what kind of stuff is rattling around in your brain? You came all the way here first thing in the morning just to ask that?"
Annie wasn't joking.
She'd woken up to her brother telling her that Elena had gotten drunk last night, and that Ethan Jiang himself had come to pick her up—carried her away, even. Upon hearing that, Annie had completely ignored her family, pestering her about the upcoming arranged marriage and rushed straight over.
Seeing how nonchalant her friend was being now, Annie felt like she was watching a golden opportunity slip right through Elena's fingers.
She jumped to her feet, moved next to Elena, grabbed her arm and shook it. "Are you seriously telling me you just slept at Ethan Jiang's place and didn't do anything else?!"
Elena: "…"
She yanked her arm free from Annie's persistent grip.
"What else did you expect to happen? And what's with that disappointed tone of yours, Miss Gu?"
Annie smacked her forehead like she'd just lost a billion-dollar lottery ticket.
"Girl, last night was a perfect storm—drunken haze, emotional vulnerability, no interruptions. You should've just seized the moment and sealed the deal with Ethan Jiang!"
Elena: "…!!"
"Look," Annie continued, dead seriously now, "I didn't know Ethan was willing to step into the arranged marriage. I always thought you had no chance with him because you two were so distant. That's why I never pushed it before."
"But now that he's willing—God, Elena, why didn't you just go with the flow and lock it down?"
Elena massaged her temples, feeling the pulsing throb of a building headache.
Annie, meanwhile, was getting increasingly worked up.
Last night had been the perfect scenario—if something had happened, her dear Elena would now be holding the golden key to a future of luxury and security.
Not only would she rise above the snide elite socialites who hoped she'd be dumped, but she'd also never have to worry about the Shen family company's survival again.
All it would've taken was getting her name on that marriage certificate next to Ethan Jiang.
Elena stared at her friend's pained, almost mourning expression—as if she had just missed out on a hundred billion-dollar fortune.
She couldn't help but blurt out, "Miss Gu, all this talk of yours—it's all about arranged marriage. Yesterday you were still at the bar yelling about how you'd rather die than marry for family interests, and now—what? You sound like a full-on MLM recruiter, trying to sell me on marrying into power?"
Annie was unfazed.
"Sweetheart, my arranged marriage is one thing. Yours is a whole other story."
She looked practically heartbroken. "Just think about it—who in this whole city has more money than Ethan Jiang? Who has more actual power than the CEO of Jiang Corporation?"
"In Huaihai City, anyone remotely involved with the capital keeps an eye on him. No one dares offend him."
"And most importantly," she said, jabbing a finger into the air, "Ethan Jiang is the kind of man who will never cross boundaries with other women." There will never be a scandal, never a mistress."
Not like Adrian Jiang, who indulged Grace Su until she made it to trend.
"Elena, you really should've just jumped him while you had the chance. One night, and you'd have locked down the most reliable golden ticket in the city."
"Isn't that a thousand times better than staying up every night, grinding yourself to the bone?"
After all, as the saying goes—a good choice beats hard work.
With someone like Ethan Jiang at her side, Elena wouldn't just be well-off—she'd be untouchable. The so-called elite daughters waiting for her downfall would choke on their own envy.
Elena's eyes twitched violently as she listened to her best friend try to talk her into bed with a man using a PowerPoint-level argument.
When Annie finally paused for breath, Elena turned to look at her and, with a dry chuckle, pointed out:
"But, Miss Gu, setting all that aside… Have you ever considered—"
She rubbed her pounding temple again.
"—that maybe your dear best friend isn't even close to this so-called 'ideal husband' of yours?"
Annie didn't even blink. "So what if you're not close? Once you reach negative distance, you'll get real familiar, real fast."
Elena: "…??!!"