“I did come here today with sincerity to ask for your hand in marriage. Those documents were just a means to test your father. Didn’t you see? In the end, he still gave you up, even though you’re his rightful daughter, all for that illegitimate brother of yours, didn’t he?”

”Get down from your high horse! My dad… he, he hasn’t promised you anything yet! What’s more, I’ll never marry you, so quit your wishful thinking!”

Reaching out a hand to keep the distance between them, she stiffened her neck and stopped him from getting any closer to her. The two of them were barely inches apart, and the man’s body was pulsating with pheromones and the pleasant scent of mint, which somehow affected her breathing. He was still the first man she had slept with after all. Although things were not perfect that night, women tended to have mixed feelings toward their first.

”Perhaps it is just my wishful thinking. But… your father is bound to agree in the end! Even if not for the sake of your b*stard brother, he would still sacrifice you for the future of the Qiao family.”

It wasn’t as though Qiao Ximin had never thought of that possibility—she just wasn’t ready to accept it. For the sake of the Qiao family, her father was sure to sacrifice her marriage and happiness—which was a decision that every daughter had no part in making.

”Rather than being controlled by someone else, isn’t it better to marry me? Look, everyone in Jingdu knows about our affair. If any other man wanted to marry you, don’t you think they would also worry about the past you had with me? What’s more, I really do like you! If you marry me, I can help you achieve everything you ever wanted. And if the Qiao family is what you want, I can help you too! You of all people should know how biased your father is toward that b*stard son of his, right? You’re the young madam of the Qiao family. You should be the rightful heiress to the Qiao family, but with Qiao Xinli still around, who can truly say who the future-head of the family will be?”

”Shut your mouth…” With just a few words, Han Yaotian had stabbed right through the wound in Qiao Ximin’s heart, and she was so annoyed that she lifted her leg and shoved it up against his lower abdomen.

Han Yaotian seemed to have anticipated that she would make such a move. His long muscular leg blocked her calf, pushing her up against the wall from the gap between her legs. Their private parts pressed tightly against each other causing Qiao Ximin to feel extremely annoyed along with a wave of shuddering sensation!

”Seeing as you’re the first woman I’ve been with, I’ll teach you a trick.”

Han Yaotian lowered his head and leaned over the bridge of her nose. With a smirk on his face, he stared at her trembling angry eyes that were overwhelmed from embarrassment, and said cheerfully, “If your father agrees to let you marry me, you can ask him to write a will that allows you to inherit the Qiao family. If he only gives you half of the inheritance and leaves the other half to Qiao Xinli, then you might as well marry me and we can team up. I’ll help you take over the entire Qiao family, and make you the head of the family. What do you say?”

”Don’t play games with me. Do you think I’d actually believe that you would sincerely want to help me?”

”And why not? You know full well the current situation of the Han family. If I were to marry you, the Han family would be somewhat connected to the conglomerate families, and even if we can’t return to our initial status as part of the Big Four, at the very least, our status won’t keep declining. It’s not like you don’t know that the Young Commander has been trying to take down the Han family. I need your family’s help and assistance. After all, I’ll be the one in charge of the Han family in the future. I can’t allow myself to lose everything now, can I?”

Qiao Ximin furrowed her brows faintly as if considering what he had just said while contemplating the best interests of both parties. Marrying him was indeed not the best choice, but it was also the only choice she had right now. However, if this could bring her the benefits she wanted, it wasn’t to say that this was an impossible choice. After all, who truly knows what the future holds?

After a long hesitation, she finally lowered her eyes and nodded, “Fine, I’ll accept your proposition!”

”Don’t worry, I’ll give you some time to think about it. You can go back and test out the proposal I suggested. After all, I want you to marry me willingly!”

Tilting his head, he suddenly pressed his lips down on her, and kissed her fiercely while his groin rubbed against her for a moment before finally leaving.

Qiao Ximin was left in a daze. She touched her burning lips with her fingers as she stayed frozen in a trance.