Chapter 064: That Kneeling…

Chapter 064: That Kneeling…

Wu Chen had no interest in humiliating Li Ruobing. Honoring a lost bet had nothing to do with humiliation—not in his mind.

But he understood something about a woman like her. If he wanted to win her over, wanted her to set down that iron will of hers where he was concerned, he had to start by getting her to bow her head to him first. Forcing that outright would be next to impossible, and threatening her might only provoke something worse.

A bet, though—a bet was different.

Li Ruobing’s fierce pride, her need to come out on top, only meant anything if she also kept her word once she lost. Otherwise winning and losing were both meaningless to her.

Behind the desk, Li Ruobing fixed Wu Chen with a dark, unreadable stare. Regret would be an understatement. Why had she ever agreed to raise the stakes with this man? She could have accepted anything else. Kneeling was the one thing she couldn’t stomach.

She’d only agreed because she’d never imagined she would lose.

“Fifty million.”

“No.”

The offer came out of nowhere. His refusal came faster still—almost before she’d finished the sentence.

To anyone else, the exchange might have needed explaining.

Wu Chen didn’t need a word of it explained.

The original terms were that Li Ruobing had hired him to find a spokesperson, paying him twenty million if he succeeded. The bet layered on top was that if Wu Chen failed, he would pay Li Ruobing twenty million instead; if he succeeded, Li Ruobing would pay him the twenty million commission and also promise not to get jealous over any other women in his life afterward.

None of that was the problem.

The added condition—kneel and apologize—was the problem.

So when she said fifty million, what she meant was clear enough: an extra thirty million, in exchange for skipping the kneeling.

She’d pay that much, gladly, just to stay on her feet.

They said a man’s knees were made of gold.

Under Li Ruobing’s knees, apparently, sat an entire vault.

“Nothing to discuss?” she tried again.

“Go back on it if you want. I can’t force you.” Wu Chen even shrugged.

“I’m not going back on it. I’m negotiating. You hold the power here.” She said it fast.

“Nothing to negotiate.” He smiled faintly. “Tell me, Boss Li—if I’d lost, would you have let me swap out the terms? You’ve always been a woman who means what she says. Take your bet with Ding Ruilong, for instance. If you actually lose that one, you’ll honor it too, won’t you?”

It was unbearable.

Truly unbearable.

Just the thought of kneeling before a man like Wu Chen made her head throb.

Her opinion of him, before all this, had been genuinely high. Genuinely good, even—his abilities, his methods, had gone far beyond anything she’d expected.

Before he’d even come to her office, she’d already caught herself wondering why she cared at all that he might have gone off to see some other woman for fun.

She’d even suspected, for a moment, that she’d fallen for this mysterious man she’d known for barely two days.

The less she understood him, the more he pulled at her.

And raw competence like his fit exactly what she wanted in a man.

But.

After that call this morning, she’d started to think he wasn’t quite as impressive as she’d assumed.

To her mind, this wasn’t a question of morals or law. It was simpler than that—what kind of capable man couldn’t even control his own urges, risking disease to chase after women like that?

Would it kill him to just keep one instead?

There was no getting around it: after that call, Wu Chen’s standing in her eyes had taken a serious hit.

Which was exactly why she felt so wretched right now.

“Seventy million.” Another offer.

“Don’t do this. You’re making it sound like I’m the one strong-arming you.” Wu Chen smiled, unbothered. “You know what, forget it. If you really don’t want to, I won’t push. We’re partners now. No sense making things ugly between us.”

If anything, that only made backing down completely impossible.

Owing him this…