Looking down at the small woman curled up like a kitten in his arms, her fragile figure made even more delicate by his embrace, Lan Lingyan's naturally icy heart began to thaw with an unfamiliar tenderness. The emotion felt foreign yet strangely welcome. He didn't mind that she trembled with primal fear around him - sooner or later, she'd learn he wouldn't harm her, and would stay by his side without protest.

Lan Lingyan's gaze softened as sharp edges melted from his eyes, closing them slowly at last.

His sleep habits were always solitary and highly guarded. Ning Yunhuan hadn't even drifted off properly when a sudden force beneath her legs sent her crashing to the floor with a thud! Her entire body already ached from exertion, but now here sat their midnight perpetrator - the very man who'd put her to bed - radiating lethal tension at the foot of the bed. His tall, gaunt frame revealed surprising musculature when bare-chested, his face shadowed by tousled hair and still half-asleep.

Even Buddha would have snapped by now!

Ning Yunhuan's fear was no match for this treatment. She'd managed two nights beside him without nightmares - first she's kicked awake from sleep? Her lips parted to protest before she caught sight of the danger fading from his eyes as he gradually regained clarity. The words died on her tongue.

"..." Now that same unyielding man effortlessly hoisted her back onto the mattress, resuming their previous position with chilling indifference. His intentions were clear - another nap was expected.

Ning Yunhuan could hold out no longer. "I'm not sleeping anymore! I don't want to sleep!" She writhed despite herself as his fingers found the bruised spot on her thigh where he'd kicked her. The numbness would soon give way to searing pain, but before she could rub it away, Lan Lingyan had already lifted her leg and started massaging it.

The gesture left Ning Yunhuan stunned - such unexpected consideration rendered even the physical discomfort irrelevant as all attention shifted to his calloused palm resting on her thigh. A heavy silence settled between them until they finally rose again, leaving her light-headed from the lingering drowsiness.

With no classes in the afternoon and her schedule under Lan Jiu's control, Ning Yunhuan had no choice but to follow him meekly into the car that waited.

"Your favorite evening snacks will be sent up," Lan Lingyan murmured as he smoothed a stray hair from her ear. Her waist-length black hair remained undyed and uncurled in its natural state - a look he found refreshingly simple, though she'd tied it back in a ponytail to reveal that round porcelain face. Those pink lips were like ripe peach jelly, soft and dew-kissed. Remembering how they had felt beneath his first kiss, he cupped the nape of her neck with his thumb grazing over it before drawing her close for another.

Ning Yunhuan struggled uselessly against him until he finally released her, her face flushed crimson as she tried to reason: "Mr. Lan, we already - you don't need anything from me!"

Lan Lingyan regarded her silently through narrow dan-feng eyes that held a lethal glint when narrowed. Her voice faltered into silence as shivers ran down her spine.

"Past is past," he said coldly. With this woman proving both desirable and willing, why would he consider changing his mind? "Besides," he added with chilling finality, "when have I ever promised to let you go after one night?"

Seeing her flush red with agitation but too afraid to argue further, Lan Lingyan finally relented into quiet contemplation, fingers idly ruffling the soft hair at her crown.

Ning Yunhuan's anxiety gnawed at her as she sat in the backseat. When he reclined against the leather chair with half-lidded eyes signaling disinterest, she reluctantly fell silent - unaware that his closed eyes had just flickered open briefly before a smirk tugged at his lips, and his hand resumed its gentle caress.

The afternoon had been spent at Lan Family enterprises after their earlier exertions. Descendants of an infamous transnational syndicate turned financial empire in the last two decades, the Lans controlled assets rivaling entire nations across all essential industries through cutting-edge ventures.

Lan Lingyan's dominance over both family and business required tireless effort - hence why Ning Yunhuan spent the afternoon trapped in his office while he worked. She occupied herself with her laptop between snack deliveries fit for an empress, yet found no peace beneath the oppressive aura of a man who needed only to be present to make her stomach twist with unease.

The fact that she still felt unsafe - despite believing they'd reached some kind of understanding - made every moment unbearable. And yet, being entangled with such a man was already planting seeds of doubt in Ning Yunhuan's heart.