Chapter 3

The news of an engagement with a major player from the city's elite circles had completely blindsided me.

Everyone in our circle knew Landon Thorne suffered from severe rage issues.

Not long ago, he'd beaten some rich kid into the ICU just because the guy rolled his eyes at him. The guy was still there, barely clinging to life.

And I, well, I was pretty much his match.

But my parents were lightning fast with their PR, terrified that my true reputation would get out and lower my market value.

So, the outside world thought I was a timid, cowardly, easily controlled goody-two-shoes.

They say two powerhouses couldn't coexist. With our personalities, either I'd end up killing him, or he'd end up killing me!

But the Thorne family offered so much, my parents didn't hesitate to push me forward.

The day the engagement news spread, my parents lectured me all morning.

To make me change my 'bad habits' and become a lady, they not only confiscated my treasured possessions and cigarettes but also put a limit on my bank card.

I wasn't the only one unhappy with this engagement.

The Thorne heir was even *more* displeased than I was.

While I was being driven mad by our etiquette teacher, he was smashing everything in his house over the engagement.

I heard five or six house staff were injured, and he didn't even spare his own father.

When I saw that news, I bared my teeth and let out a laugh.

The moment I laughed, the etiquette teacher's ruler smacked my hand.

"What kind of laugh was that? You should never show your teeth when you laugh."

I immediately wiped the smile off my face, adopting the prim and proper look of a good girl.

My father, watching from the side, looked pleased. He dismissed the etiquette teacher and walked over to me.

"Keep that obedient look. The Thorne family chose you because you're 'obedient.'"

I nodded dismissively.

"Go, take these gifts to young Master Thorne. Make a good impression on him. The future of the Davis family completely rests on you."

Make a good impression?

Oh, I'd definitely make a 'good impression'!

To get it over with, I promptly sold the expensive gifts my father bought to Landon Thorne's buddy at a tenth of the price, then had him take me to Landon.

He led me to a private room in a bar.

The noisy music of the bar couldn't drown out Landon's furious shouts.

"That old man's addicted to matchmaking! It's not enough that he's meddling in my brother's marriage, now he's meddling in mine! Saying he's found me some 'goody-two-shoes' for a wife! Doesn't he realize I might just play her to death?!"

"Tsk, he wants me to go through with this engagement? Fine! Let's see if I don't torture her to death!"

I pulled open the door to the room and stepped inside, carefully sizing up Landon Thorne. Just a skinny guy, and he thinks he can kill me?

"Alright. If you don't manage to kill me, it means you're not man enough!"

Landon, hearing the challenge to his manliness, grabbed a bottle and lunged to smash it over my head.

I sidestepped, picked up a bottle myself, and swung it fiercely towards his forehead.

"That's not a very nice way to say hello!"

*CRACK!*

Just as the bottle was about to connect with his forehead, it swerved, smashing against the floor instead.

Landon clenched his jaw. This was the first time in his life someone had provoked him like this. He raised his fist, ready to strike.

The moment he clearly saw my face, his hand froze mid-air.

"Is that... you?"

Landon's neck and ears flushed crimson. The man who'd been so violent and ferocious moments ago had transformed in the blink of an eye.

"Oops, my bad! Are you okay? Did the bottle hurt your hand? Next time, don't hit me with a bottle. What if it shatters and cuts you? If you want to hit me, just say the word, and I'll stand still and let you do whatever you want."

He examined me meticulously from head to toe. Seeing no injuries on me, he let out a sigh of relief.

His buddies stared blankly at Landon's sudden personality shift, then one meekly spoke up.

"Uh, Landon, didn't you just say you were going to play her to death...?"

"I was going to play *who* to death? ...Wait, is she my fiancée?!"

All his buddies nodded.

"This is *perfect*! And I never said anything about playing anyone to death! Don't slander me!"

I blinked, momentarily unable to process what was happening.

He knew me? And what kind of personality flip was this?

He wasn't going to kill me if I married him?

What was going on?

Remembering all this, a smile tugged at the corner of my lips.

His face changed faster than a chameleon, almost like he'd studied method acting. It was… entertaining.

The way he'd desperately tried to avoid our engagement was still so clear in my mind. Now, it seemed he was getting exactly what he wished for.

After settling him in, I stood up to leave.

But a burning hot hand gripped my arm tightly.