Chapter 1 Encounter: Blackmail

"Wow, that man is so handsome!"

"Oh my god! Yeah, he's super cute!"

Joanna Gong was shopping for a dress at a luxurious store in the shopping mall. As soon as she came out, she overheard two girls passing by whispering to each other excitedly.

'Huh... Looks like they're obsessing over some guy they saw, ' Joanna Gong though indifferently.

'Girls nowadays get all riled up over good-looking men as if they haven't seen a single man in their life!'

She snorted and continued to go on her way. Soon after, Joanna Gong was frozen in shock.

It was at that moment she saw the man the two girls were talking about. Joanna Gong gasped, her eyes widening. She had never seen such a handsome man before!

The man had an angular face like a supermodel's. He had a high nose, slightly pursed thin lips, and cold slanted eyes that were absolutely mesmerizing. Wearing a tailored suit, he gave off a strong, noble temperament which was further emphasized by his tall and slender physique.

Even though he was far away from where Joanna Gong was standing, it was still very easy to see how attractive he was.

There was no expression on the man's face as he casually leaned against the wall with his hands in his trouser pockets. His eyes narrowed slightly as he looked around the crowd. It seemed that he was waiting for someone.

There was only one word to describe him: perfect!

If there had to be a flaw about the man, it was only that he looked as if he was snob, and acted coldly towards strangers.

Maybe that was why no one dared to get close to him even though he was so handsome.

After a while, Joanna Gong sighed deeply. 'It's better to get out of this prince charming's way before I offend him or something.

There's no way a guy like that will take me as his girlfriend.'

After casting a glance at her watch, she sighed and went to the washroom. Carefully, she put on the dress she just bought and headed towards the nearby coffee shop.

Joanna Gong passed by the man again on her way there. There was an impatient look on his face now as he tapped his foot. With a frown, he pulled out his phone and dialed a number. "What? Something left in the cafe?" he asked.

Upon leaving the shopping mall, Joanna Gong walked cautiously for fear that her dress might get ruined. After all, the clothes she was wearing cost her a whole month's salary!

'If not for that person, I would never buy such an expensive dress, ' Joanna Gong thought.

Taking a deep breath, she made her way to the coffee shop. It wasn't that far away from where she was right now, and so she decided to walk the distance. It saved her some money from paying for a bus ride, but she had to be careful about all the dust and dirt from outside.

As she was walking down the sidewalk, a white car suddenly sped past by. Behind the car was the distinct Ferrari logo. Her eyes grew green with envy. 'What's better than having a car is having a luxury car! Meanwhile, I have to walk to save money...

Why is there such a huge gap between people?'

As Joanna Gong was looking at the road, she saw a man crossing the road as if he didn't care about all the passing vehicles. The man was in a white vest, and was probably around his fifties or sixties.

Joanna Gong's eyebrows furrowed as she watched in shock. 'What's wrong with this old man? Is he crazy?! Doesn't he know that what he's doing is dangerous?'

Quickening her pace, she tried to get closer to where the man was in order to help him in case something bad happened.

Before she got there, however, she couldn't believe what happened next. Her mouth twitched in disbelief.

The white Ferrari had gradually slowed down because of the flow of traffic. When it had come to a complete stop, the old man jumped and laid down directly in front of the car and wailed in pain, "Ah! It hurts! Oh god, someone help me! I was hit!"

It seemed as if expensive cars attracted everyone's attention, and even con artists.

'Now I don't feel so jealous anymore...' Joanna Gong thought.

In a short amount of time, there was a crowd gathered around the old man and the Ferrari, making the narrow road even more packed.

There were no traffic enforcers around this area, so often times, traffic jams like this happened. The crowd didn't seem to care whether or not the old man was actually injured. They were all trying to see who the man behind the wheel was.

The driver of the Ferrari didn't care much about the ogling crowd, and soon opened the car door and got off.

All of a sudden, the crowd quieted down.

At first, Joanna Gong intended to leave, but when she noticed the sudden silence of the crowd, she got a little curious. After hesitating a bit, she slowly moved to the crash site.

Peering in between and over all the other people there, Joanna Gong felt as if the owner of the car looked familiar. When she finally vaguely saw the side of his face, she suddenly realized it was the handsome man from earlier!

It turned out that he was not only handsome, but also very rich!

Again, she sighed at the injustices of the world.

The man stood in front of the old man and looked down at him with a slight frown.

The old man who was just shouting "pain" was shocked by the coldness from the man's eyes. He was dumbfounded for a few seconds, but the next moment when he came to his senses, he shouted out in pain, as if he just remembered that he was supposed to be pretending that he got hit.

"It hurts so much... It hurts... You careless driver! You have to pay for what you've done!"

The man glanced at his watch, looking as if he had no time for this old man's shenanigans. Taking out his wallet, he took out a stack of bills. "Is this enough?" he said coldly.

The old man sprang to his feet, staring at the money and nodding. "Yes! That's enough, that's enough!"

The old man looked eagerly at the money as he reached out his hand to take it.

The man was about to let him go in disgust. "Next time, don't--"

"Wait!"

Joanna Gong held on to the man's wrist, feeling the urge for justice to be brought down. She couldn't just stand by and do nothing when such a beautiful man was set up like that!

She stood in the middle of the man and the old man, holding her head up without any fear. "You were lying on the ground when the car stopped. How can you slander the driver like that?"

The money that was already within his reach seemed to get farther away. The old man's face was burning with anger. He shouted at the girl, "You bitch! Get out of here! What does this have to do with you?

Have you no respect for your elders?!" Raising her head in confidence, Joanna Gong matched his anger. "I filmed your little 'accident' on my phone. If you insist that the driver hit you, I don't suppose you'll mind letting the police handle it."

"Well, I.... You can't.... You!"

The old man gnashed his teeth, as he shook his finger at Joanna Gong. It was obvious that he was caught red-handed, and didn't know what else to say.

The man said nothing, but stood aside with defeat.

"It's just my luck to encounter such a meddling girl!"

The old man realized that he couldn't get any out of this one. If he still insisted that he got hit, he was definitely going to be at the losing end and lose a lot of money for fraud. After hesitating for a while, he finally chose to leave. Before leaving, he gave a hard look at Joanna Gong.

Cheerful with her victory, Joanna Gong was about to turn around and tell the handsome man that there was no need to thank her. To her surprise, the man was already opening the door to his car and getting in. "Mind your own business," he even said in a low voice.

Then, the engine purred and the crowd parted. Soon, the Ferrari drove away at full speed, sending clouds of dust in the air at its trail.

'What.... what an unreasonable man!'