"Forbidden Territory."

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"Why didn't you just deliver it yourself?"

Back in the car, Elizabeth looked at David, full of curiosity.This famous ladies' man actually didn't deliver the gifts personally?Totally not his style.

"There's so many of them. How long do you think it would take me to finish? I'd be dead tired! And besides..."David shrugged. "There are some who seriously hate me. What if one of them lashes out and scratches my face?"

"Legendary!" Elizabeth was seriously impressed by his 'strategy'—he'd really never seen anyone like this before.Today was an eye-opener.

"You still send gifts to your exes... Can't tell if you're a hopeless romantic or just can't let go."

"Hey, just 'cause we broke up doesn't make us enemies. I genuinely loved them all, okay? Besides, if we bump into each other again, it's good to keep things friendly, right?"

Elizabeth was speechless.This guy...

Call him a scumbag?Well, he's willing to spend all his money buying gifts for his exes without a second thought.

Call him pure-hearted?The moment he sees a pretty girl, it's "true love" all over again. His body clearly runs the show over his brain.

Everything about him was just a giant contradiction—like some rich kid out here roleplaying life.Totally carefree.

About an hour later, the car pulled into a villa community inside the third ring road.

After telling the assistant and driver to leave, Elizabeth led David inside.

The moment they opened the door, Elizabeth stripped off her jacket, yanked down his pants, threw on a pair of slippers, and completely let himself go.

Gulp gulp gulp—a whole bottle of cold beer disappeared into his stomach.

"Ahhh, that's the stuff!!"

He turned to David and said, "Make yourself at home, alright? Auntie, make something good for dinner tonight!"

"Got it," the housekeeper replied with a smile, totally used to his antics, and left.

David glanced at Elizabeth, who was now basically just wearing three scraps of fabric, and decided not to even view him as human anymore.

Although...David clicked his tongue.With that scrawny frame, there wasn't really much to look at anyway.

He strolled around, checking out the villa, and couldn't help but click his tongue again.No wonder she's one of the Four Famous Actresses—rich rich.

Being a big celebrity seriously raked in money like crazy.

Elizabeth tossed him a cold Coke."Don't just stand there drooling. When you're famous too, you'll be able to afford a place like this."

David gave a small smile.

This tiny house?If his mom saw it, she'd probably cry about how he was suffering.

Living in a place like this would be no different than Sean earning over 10K a month—still scraping by.

"Alright, I'll take that blessing," he said with a laugh.

Dinner was a feast. The housekeeper's cooking was top-notch.

After dinner, Elizabeth brought David up to a room on the second floor.

"You'll be staying here. My room's right next door."

David gave her an "OK" sign."Thanks for taking me in, boss. One day I'll return the favor and take you to the top!"

Elizabeth rolled her eyes."Cut the crap. Tomorrow you're coming with me to Huayi to sign a contract. Let's secure your meal ticket first."

"Hang on, lemme make a call first."

David grabbed his phone and called his mentor, Dean, to check how the movie investment thing was going.

If it wasn't settled yet, he could maybe use tomorrow's trip to Huayi to pull some strings. Worst case, he'd just have to bite the bullet and ask his family for help.

Getting that first pot of gold is never easy. A little help from home wasn't the end of the world.

A few minutes later, David hung up and shot a look at Elizabeth.

"Yeah, I'll go to Huayi with you tomorrow. I'll also be talking about investment stuff."

"Wait, Huayi's investing in you?"

Elizabeth looked shocked."You...you sold your body or something? You're a total newbie, how the hell did you pull that off?"

David gave him a look."Listen to yourself. Bro's got connections, alright?"

"Who?"

"Dean. My dear mentor."

"...Holy shit. You've got that kinda backing and didn't say anything earlier?! Had me running around like a damn fool!"

Elizabeth looked at David in disbelief, a little shaken inside.

No wonder this guy could sneak into the Painted Skin crew as a deputy director—turns out he had big people behind him.

Others might not realize it, but she definitely knew exactly how powerful Dean was.

"You still wanna sign with Huayi then?"

"Of course!"David grinned and slung an arm around Elizabeth's neck."Otherwise all your hard work would've been for nothing. I'd never do that to you, man!"

"At least you've got some conscience left," Elizabeth grumbled.

She gave him a playful headbutt to the chest, sending David stumbling back.

David silently swore that one day he would definitely get her back.

Even if she was just a walking pile of bones.

Damn it!

After Elizabeth left, David looked around the room.Pink. Soft. Full-on girly vibes.

Who would've thought that despite Elizabeth's rough and tumble attitude, her home style was so... cutesy?

After a whole day of traveling, David was dead tired.He took a nice, hot shower, then gave Linda a call and chatted for over half an hour.

Honestly, he was pretty happy with Linda—she never nagged him about flirting with other girls.

After the call, he passed out the moment his head hit the pillow.

The Next Morning

Elizabeth pushed open David's door, only to see him working out in nothing but a pair of shorts.

Her face turned bright red instantly.And, uh, it was pretty hard not to notice certain...features while he was moving.

"I thought you were still sleeping, didn't expect you to be up so early. What are you doing?"

"Family health routine. Gotta practice every day. If my grandpa and my granddad found out I slacked off, they'd literally kill me."

David kept doing his exercises, his face showing real fear.

It was the first time Elizabeth had ever seen that kind of expression on him, and it made her a little curious.

"You're actually scared of someone? Were your grandpa and granddad really that strict?"

"Strict?"

David gave a cold laugh."Those two old bastards started using me as a test subject when I was six years old. I almost died, man. You tell me if that's strict."

Elizabeth listened, completely stunned."Uh...what kind of people were your grandpa and granddad?"

"Stop being nosy. Not something you wanna know."

Elizabeth figured maybe they were some kind of reclusive masters, the kind who didn't like being talked about, so she didn't ask any more.

Watching David's serious practice, she decided to join in too.

Surprisingly, it actually worked! She broke a sweat and felt super refreshed.

David gave her a sideways glance."This is a secret family health routine. Practicing it means you're basically part of the David family now."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes."Yeah right. Acting like your family's some big deal."

I mean, they couldn't even afford rent. What "amazing family" could that be?

David just chuckled and didn't explain.

He was actually kinda looking forward to the day Elizabeth found out the truth—two absolute legends calling her granddaughter-in-law.

Her face would be priceless.

Heh.

David couldn't help but laugh to himself, while Elizabeth looked at him like he was a total idiot.

Suddenly, Elizabeth felt a chill run down her back.

Must be her imagination!

No way this guy was anything special!

"....."