Chapter 1 On Her 18th Birthday

The hotel in Provence was so quiet that only the ancient bell in the corridor was chiming. In the room on the second floor of the hotel, the morning light penetrated through the curtains and shone into the room. On the white double bed in the room, a woman slept very uneasily. The discomfort inside her body woke her up. The white silk quilt covering her body slipped off, revealing her youthful upper body. The green and purple love bites on her body seemed especially ambiguous in this morning. Anyone could see that she had a passionate night. Last night was where her memory stopped. The young man in the white shirt smiled slightly. He held a bunch of bright lavender in his hands and kissed her blushing cheeks. He said to her, "I hope my Momo is forever eighteen years old!" At that moment, everyone in the coffee shop cheered for them. Later, as she was too happy, she was pestering him that she wanted to drink. Lin Jinyao couldn't resist her, so he let her drink a little bit. Then, she seemed to be drunk. Su Mo never drank since she was born well-mannered. This was the first time she experienced a hangover. This feeling was very uncomfortable. She raised her hand and wanted to hit her head to wake herself up, but she unexpectedly found that she was not feeling well. She quickly looked down and saw that her body under the quilt was full of unfamiliar marks, and she could still feel the pain between her legs. The bed sheet showed the evidence of affectionate moments last night, and that dazzling color made the fear inside her heart grow to the extreme. "Brother Jin." She remembered that at her birthday party, she drank some wine and was sent back by Brother Jin. When she woke up in the morning, she found that she had changed from a girl to a woman. The only person she could think of now was Lin Jinyao. In the room, the clothes and shoes were thrown on the ground in a mess. The white floral dress that Brother Jin gave her seemed to have been torn, which showed how crazy a night it was. She was a little scared, but when she thought about the crazy night that she spent with Lin Jinyao, she felt a little shy. She wandered inside her heart, "If it were for Brother Jin, why is he not here? Is he afraid that I will be angry and he just ran away?" Su Mo was very sad. After all, this was the first time she had encountered something like this. She could no longer wear these clothes scattered on the ground. She also did not want to move. She wrapped the quilt around herself and burst into tears. Of course, she knew that Brother Jin would never bully her. The two of them grew up together and their relationship had long been recognized by the parents of both sides. If not for the fact that she was still young, they would have already been engaged. At the thought of what she had done with her beloved boy last night, Su Mo's face turned unnaturally red. If her parents were still alive, they would beat her to death. However, it was not necessarily the case for her aunt. Her aunt would support them with both hands and would make them get engaged immediately. Su Mo's mind began to wander uncontrollably. When the sound of the door opening was heard, her body instinctively reacted. Her little head quickly turned around, her eyes filled with anticipation. After the door was pushed open, Lin Jinyao's handsome smile appeared behind the door. He asked, "Momo, are you awake?" Lin Jinyao was handsome and his voice was pleasant to hear. Su Mo had always liked to hear him call her name. The word "Momo" came out of his mouth, giving her a dreamy feeling as if she saw a bubble under the sun. At this moment, hearing Lin Jinyao's voice, Su Mo felt at ease. At the same time, she suddenly felt very wronged. Her tear-stained face looked pitiful. She looked at him with tears in her eyes and asked, "Brother Jin, where did you go?" "What happened? Why are you crying?" Lin Jinyao quickly walked over and placed the things in his hands on the bedside table. He reached out to touch her head and asked, "Are you feeling unwell?" Su Mo wondered inside her heart, "Why did Brother Jin ask this? Did he not know that a girl would feel pain on the first love night?" "Brother Jin, will you treat me well in the future?" Su Mo asked, blushing. Lin Jinyao smiled and pointed at her nose, "Momo, you seem to be in a lot of sorrow today? You are my princess. If I don't treat you well, who else am I supposed to treat well?" "I like Brother Jin the most." Su Mo reached out and hugged Lin Jinyao, burying her face in his chest. She even winked at him mischievously, making his heart beat faster. He quickly reached out and held her down. Only when he pressed her down did he realize that Su Mo was not wearing any clothes under the quilt. Lin Jinyao's body froze in an instant. He thought to himself, "This bad girl has come to challenge my self-control as a man again." Lin Jinyao quickly removed her arms from his neck and said in a doting tone, "Momo, you are naughty again. Hurry up and put on your clothes. I bought your favorite fruit porridge. Come over and have some water first." Lin Jinyao turned around and poured a glass of water. When he turned around, he saw the marks on Su Mo's body, covering her neck, shoulders, and collarbone. Perhaps there were more marks under the quilt. "Bang!" His arm bumped the box filled with porridge. The fragrance of the porridge drifted away as if it was mocking his stupidity. He had always cherished her beauty, but now he found that she just spent a passionate night with another man. "You... Your body..." Su Mo did not notice Lin Jinyao's abnormal behavior. She lowered her head shyly and whispered, "Brother Jin, how do you feel about last night? We were just like a real couple, right?" The cup in his hand made a muffled sound, and the cracks on it spread out. Blood stained his palm, but Lin Jinyao did not feel pain. He threw the cup hard and shouted at her, "It was not me—" In Su Mo's memory, Lin Jinyao had never spoken to her so loudly. Su Mo looked at him in surprise. When she saw the disappointed expression on his face, her heart slowly turned cold. "It wasn't you? What do you mean?" Lin Jinyao fiercely closed his eyes. He always took extremely good care of her like a princess and silently guarded her. But she, on the day of her adulthood, hooked up with another man. It felt like a treasure that he had cherished for a long time had been grabbed by someone else at the last moment. This kind of feeling was really hard to accept. "I was just staying in the next room last night. How can you? Is this how you repay my love for you?" Su Mo was stunned that the one who had sex with her last night was not Lin Jinyao. Su Mo felt like she was about to collapse. She did not know what had happened. A second ago, she was still indulgent in an ignorant shyness and happiness, but at this moment, she seemed to have been pushed into a bottomless abyss. Fortunately, she still wanted to defend herself. She grabbed Lin Jinyao's arm and explained to him, "I thought it was you. I don't know what happened. Brother Jin, believe me." She wanted to explain, but she did not know what was going on. Moreover, Lin Jinyao was in a terrible mood right now. He did not want to hear her explanation at all. He took her hands away, and his eyes were cold and detached that she had never seen before. Lin Jinyao felt very conflicted. Looking at Su Mo's aggrieved and crying face, he felt his chest was stuffy and painful. His princess was crying and he wanted to hold her in his arms to comfort her, but he could not do it. He was a man after all, and he thought that no man would be able to remain calm after seeing this scene. It was also because of his silence that Su Mo felt a chill in her heart. It turned out that the feeling of being rejected was so bad. Su Mo looked at her hands that had been pushed away and she choked with sobs. "Brother Jin, are you angry with me? I didn't do it on purpose. Believe me. I don't know what happened either. I was already like this after I woke up. Don't be angry, okay?" Of course, Lin Jinyao believed her words, but he was only nineteen years old after all. In this situation, he could not face her at all. Therefore, he chose to leave this place first. He needed to think it through carefully. "I think we should both calm down." After saying this, Lin Jinyao did not dare to look at her. As he passed by her, he felt her hands slightly pulling on his sleeve. She was begging for his pity, "Brother Jin, I was wrong. Can you forgive me this time? Don't leave me alone. I’m scared." When had his princess ever been so humble? "Momo, you have to give me some time. I am a person, and I will also feel pain." Lin Jinyao closed his eyes in pain. Her hands fell back down limply. Su Mo could no longer hold back her tears as she watched Lin Jinyao leave. Outside the door, Lin Jinyao leaned against the wall and listened to the crying inside. He clenched his fists bit by bit. His palm, which had been scratched by the glass, was bleeding profusely, but it was incomparable to the pain in his heart at this moment. The lady boss of the hotel was a French. When she heard the voice, she came over and was shocked to see Lin Jinyao's bloody hands. She came to ask kindly, but she was completely ignored. Hearing Su Mo's crying, the lady boss guessed that the couple had quarreled, so she knocked on the door and went in to take a look. First, she comforted Su Mo in English. When she saw the traces on Su Mo's body, she thought that Su Mo had been bullied, so she could not help but start cursing. Sometimes, she spoke French, and then she switched to English. She seemed to speak other languages as well. Unfortunately, Su Mo had been focused on crying and did not care about the lady boss at all. The lady boss asked for trouble and left after comforting Su Mo a few times. Su Mo cried all the time. She was tired from crying, so she shut herself in the bathroom. This closed space gave her a strange sense of security. The shower head above poured cold water on her head, soaking her whole body in the cold. Her tears were mixed with cold water, but they could not wash away her filth and humiliation. The day before her birthday, Lin Jinyao had asked her where she wanted to celebrate her birthday. At that time, she did not hesitate to choose this place. However, she did not know that this trip would be the nightmare of her life. She did not understand what was going on. Just before yesterday, everything had been fine, but on the day of her 18th birthday, she lost the most precious things in her life – her innocence, and her love. "Brother Jin, this place is so beautiful. What should I do? I don't want to leave at all." "If you like it, we will come here every month." "Hey, you said it yourself! If you lie, you're a doggie! Woof!" "I will never lie to my princess." She could still feel these words filled with young and ignorant love around her ears, as she recalled the lavender field she saw yesterday. However, before this love could bloom, it had already been completely erased by herself. It had been ten years. From the first time she saw Lin Jinyao at her aunt's house, she had fallen in love with this pure boy. Since she was young, Brother Jin doted on her the most. He tolerated all her shortcomings and bad temper. He pampered her like a proud princess. He even accompanied her to France for further education, since he was afraid that his little princess would be bullied outside. She clearly remembered their acquaintance. She could recall their memories when he held her hand for the first time, confessed to her for the first time, fought with other boys for her, and kissed her face for the first time. The heavens took away her most beloved father and mother, but then it gave her a gentle and considerate prince. She once thought that Lin Jinyao was the heavens' compensation to her. Her love for him had long since been engraved in her heart and he had become an indispensable part of her life. She thought that he would hold her hands and walk to the end of her life. But now, fate had played such a big joke on her. The castle that Lin Jinyao had built for her collapsed at this moment. All her beautiful dreams were shattered on this day!