TFRLTOP Chapter 12

Chapter 12 – The Tyrant CEO’s Little Plaything 

◎ Ming Ming: feeling emo ◎

“Well, well, this one’s not bad. Doesn’t look like she’s taken yet. C’mon, let us have a taste—see whose kid you can end up carrying.”

The young trust-fund brat grinned with sleazy amusement. Startled, Ming Ming spun around and bolted.

She ran and ran… and somehow still got lost.

Thankfully, no one followed. The layout here wasn’t all that complicated—she was probably just too rattled to pay attention. Her head felt light and fuzzy.

“What are you doing over here? Take a left, go straight to the end, then upstairs.”

The system finally reappeared, grumbling: “Damn this stupid program—blocking me even in a place like this!”

Following its instructions, Ming Ming made it back to the deck. The sea breeze hit her face, and she felt like she’d narrowly escaped disaster.

But then she thought—if Huo Xiao had brought her here for that reason… where could she even run?

They were on a ship, after all.

Not everyone had gone to join the orgy—plenty of people were still on deck or in the lounges, chatting and enjoying the view. But Ming Ming couldn’t shake the feeling that at any moment, someone could start doing obscene things anywhere.

She wandered for a while, not wanting to face Huo Xiao. She was afraid that the moment she saw him, bad news would follow. Yet without realizing it, her feet carried her back toward the room.

The moment she pushed the door open, she heard Chen Si’s voice inside:

“In that case, Miss Ye, you have nothing to worry about. From today on, you’ll be under the Huo family’s protection.”

His serious, formal tone was the same as when he’d stopped her in the street. Even through the door, Ming Ming could practically picture his fake, formulaic smile.

Before she could puzzle out what he meant, her hand was already on the door.

The room fell silent.

A moment later, the door opened. Chen Si froze at the sight of her pale face—but Ming Ming misunderstood his expression, because she saw Ye Weiran sitting inside.

Huo Xiao was there too.

His eyes landed on her without much emotion—at most, a flicker of curiosity.

Her muddled brain tried to claw back some clarity.

Her first thought: I probably came at a bad time.

Her second thought: The female lead is here. What am I even doing here? Is Huo Xiao going to get rid of me?

Seeing her grow even paler, Chen Si assumed something had happened and started to invite her in to ask—but Ming Ming beat him to it.

“Sorry, wrong room,” she said quickly, then turned and left, even politely closing the door behind her.

Chen Si stared at the closed door: “?”

He looked back at Fifth Master Huo, who gave him a subtle signal to follow her and check.

“You didn’t tell me the female lead was in there! Walking in like that just makes things awkward,” Ming Ming complained to the system.

“…Forget that. You should find somewhere to hide. You’re not looking too good right now,” the system said, worried.

Where could she go? She wandered for ages and still couldn’t leave the Huo family’s private luxury suite. Eventually, she ducked into an empty guest room.

Chen Si tracked down the bodyguard assigned to follow Ming Ming. After hearing what happened, his face darkened. He smacked the guy hard on the head.

“I told you to protect Miss Chu! You think you’re just decoration? She walks into a place like that, and you just watch? If anything happened, could you take responsibility?”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” the bodyguard stammered.

“Save it. When we get back, you’re done. The Huo family doesn’t keep useless trash.” Chen Si didn’t spare him a shred of courtesy.

When he went back to report, Ye Weiran had already left. Chen Si didn’t think much of it—though Fifth Master seemed to treat her differently, it was obviously for a reason.

If you wanted to talk about who mattered to Fifth Master, it was that little ancestor from earlier.

Heh, this He Wenhao was getting ahead of himself—not only did he blatantly try to send women to Fifth Master, he even hosted a giant orgy on the cruise ship. The man could put any filthy thing right out in the open.

In truth, Fifth Master had only agreed to come on this cruise on a whim. The day the invitation arrived, he’d been reviewing information on Chu Yun. He’d glanced at the card and casually said, “Sure. Might as well take her out for some fun.”

After Chen Si whispered a few words to him, Fifth Master’s brows furrowed instantly.

“My apologies, Fifth Master. I failed in my arrangements,” Chen Si said quietly.

Huo Xiao stood up and headed out. “Leave us.”

When the guest room door opened, Ming Ming jolted, curling up tighter on the sofa by the bed, hugging her knees. The curtains were drawn, the lights off. Only when he got closer did Huo Xiao notice how flushed she was, her head tilted up, looking at him in panic.

The closer he came, the more her expression unraveled.

“Don’t…”

Don’t give me to those people.

She tried to press herself back, but there was nowhere left to retreat.

Huo Xiao’s hand came to rest on her forehead. She wanted to move away, but found herself unconsciously leaning into his warmth.

His palm slid down her cheek, then to her neck—everywhere it touched, shivers followed. She chased his touch despite herself, torn between resistance and longing.

His gaze darkened. He withdrew his hand and turned toward the door. Ming Ming’s eyes followed in alarm, but she couldn’t find her voice.

Her mind was full of frantic thoughts:

He’s leaving…

He’s going to hand me over to someone else.

I’m going to be tortured, no matter what.

Who’s going to walk into this room next?

When the lock clicked shut, she buried her head in her arms, trembling, the strange heat in her body impossible to ignore.

Almost inaudibly, she murmured, “What did I do wrong?”

A deep voice answered in her ear: “Who said you did anything wrong?”

Dazed, she looked up. Huo Xiao was standing over her, having returned.

Fifth Master bent down, scooping her up in his arms, and laid her gently on the bed.

“That place was pumping in aphrodisiac gas,” he explained softly.

Her mind was hazy, but she tried to understand.

“Are we… going to do it?” she asked, tilting her head, eyes half-lidded, torn between hesitation and need.

His hand found a damp warmth, and something flickered in his expression. He chuckled. “Do you want to?”

The girl’s face showed a trace of grievance as she burrowed into his arms, hugging him tightly. Her voice was muffled: “I want you. Not anyone else.”

“You dare want someone else?”

…

“You’re too heavy… go easy,” Ming Ming bit her lip, her heart a mix of tangled emotions. Huo Xiao’s tongue brushed against her lips, not letting her bite down. The moment he pulled back, soft, stifled sounds escaped.

Pleasure and dread tangled together in her chest—one moment she felt like she was floating in the clouds, the next she was sinking into uncertainty and fear.

Even in her haze, she didn’t stop watching his eyes, clinging to her last shred of awareness to confirm he was still there.

Her nails dragged down his back, leaving bloody scratches, but Huo Xiao didn’t seem to notice. Instead, he kissed her forehead, her eyes, her lips again and again, shattering her fear.

She didn’t know how long it lasted before they finally stilled. The ordeal shattered Chu Yun’s built-in defenses, and by midnight, she was burning up with fever. Fifth Master had medicine brought and fed it to her himself.

He stayed by her side for half the night, watching her condition closely.

Chen Si, called in during the night, saw the way Fifth Master was personally tending to Chu Yun without delegating—and felt certain that, no matter what happened in the future, Fifth Master wouldn’t easily cast this girl aside.

Even his parents had never been served by him like this.

If the Huo family head wanted women, there was no shortage.

In all these years, only this one had managed to get close to him—and Fifth Master had sought her out and kept her at his side.

Not someone to be underestimated.

As for what would come next… that remained to be seen.