Welcome Home Mate

The scene unfolded with romantic notes of the Wedding March floating throughout the large, magnificent hall. One might get the impression that they were about to witness a luxurious wedding between two prolific families, and they would be sorely mistaken.

The main event that was taking place here was, in fact, a blind date -- the most unexpected yet most extravagant to ever take place in G City. Not only was it sponsored by the leading TV station in the area, but also by the Xu Group, one of the most prominent conglomerate entities in the city. Only upper class socialites and noble young men with prolific backgrounds were allowed to participate, and to say that everyone in attendance was outstanding in some aspect would be no exaggeration. That being the case, all marriage-minded young people from various wealthy families had all scampered to secure an invitation to the affair. After all, it was the perfect opportunity to forge strong, lifelong alliances with other powerful people.

Mandy Su's brows furrowed as she fiddled with the gilded invitation in her hand. She was sitting in an obscure corner of the huge hall, looking on at the mingling socialites and curling her lips with some measure of disgust.

She had been here for barely five minutes and she already wanted to leave. It was also the weekend, and she hated having to waste her time in this place.

For her, activities such as this was no different from purchasing a piece of meat in the market. The people here would no doubt choose their partners based on their family's wealth and influence. Surely nobody here was expecting to find their true love.

'Whatever. I'm out of here.'

Mandy plucked her purse from behind her chair and was about to rise when she heard her phone beep. She took it out and opened the message she had received. Her eyes widened in shock, and she looked around like a thief caught red-handed. The text had come from her aunt, warning her not to leave until the whole blind date affair was over. Clearly, she had spies installed around this place.

"How come you're sitting all alone, Miss? Do you mind if I sit down?" This came in a somewhat sleazy tone from above Mandy.

"I--" She was about to say that yes, she damn well minded, but she barely had the words out before the speaker plopped himself on the seat next to her. She turned to find a man with a fat and leery face sporting an obscene grin directed at her.

"Hello there, Miss. My name is Victor Li, and YH Group belongs to my family." Victor was very much undaunted at the prospect of approaching her, and it showed. The truth was that he had been eyeing her for quite some time now, and he liked everything he had seen. He had a habit of dating sexy and beautiful women, but the pure and innocent ones would occasionally catch his interest. Well, whatever sort of girls they were, he was sure he only needed to drop his family business' name and they would come to him like moths to a flame.

"Ha ha..." Mandy smiled awkwardly and lowered her head, pretending to attend to something urgent on her phone. There was no way she would even entertain such a foppish man, and she hoped that her cold attitude would communicate her disinterest to him and make him leave instantly.

Unfortunately for her, her intentions all flew over Victor Li's head. On the contrary, he interpreted her smile as an invitation, and her aloofness as a way of playing hard to get. And who could blame him? By virtue of his identity, he was basically entitled to the belief that all women would be attracted to him. And so, emboldened by his own expectations, he reached out a hand grazed his fingers along she smooth thigh.

She had been forced to wear a short, off-the shoulder dress, which complimented her curves and accentuated her long, slender legs. Mandy was a natural beauty, with fair skin and delicate features, and a desirably figure to boot. If she hadn't been cowering in the corner, she would have earned the amorous attentions of the male population in this room.