‘Damn… I did it again… This time I’m not getting out of it easily…’ Ryan cursed in his mind, watching Rose’s back as she leaned against the limousine. He could still feel the warmth of her body on his fingers and her sweet smell lingering on his shirt.

Just based on the car her father used, Ryan could guess Rose lived in one of the nearby luxurious villas while being one of the rich young misses. Even if her dad couldn’t put him to jail for his action, it wouldn’t be hard to create problems for him if he wanted.

Sigh…

‘If only she resisted earlier… I would be able to stop myself before anything happened…’ Ryan lamented as he breathed out deeply.

It was the only reason why Ryan still didn’t think of himself as a bad person. Each time his urges spiked up, he couldn't control himself but he was conscious of his actions nonetheless. His mind was cloudy and filled with desires but the moment he feels any resistance from a woman, all of his urges magically disappear as if he was never under its influence.

The scene from a moment ago could be an example of this phenomenon. Once Rose pushed him away and showed a sign of fear in her eyes, his movements halted. In just a few seconds he returned back to normal as if a part of him was always controlling the situation, only pushing forward if the other partner wished for it.

If there was nothing that could hold him back, Ryan would rather prefer to stay locked up just in case. He would hate himself if he ever hurt anyone.

Vroom!

The sound of the car engine snapped him out of his thoughts. The car window lifted with Rose still being outside of the vehicle and drove away, leaving the two alone. She slowly turned around and just as he expected, she started glaring at him.

Rose walked up to him step by step and poked him on the chest upon reaching him. “Do you have any idea what you just did?” She asked sternly and began recounting, stabbing her nail into his skin for each offense he did.

“You groped my butt, touched me all over my stomach and felt my breasts. You didn’t finish at that but also started kissing my neck. You did all that in front of my father who watched from the car. Do you know how embarrassing it was…?”

She watched his face closely as she spoke, checking what reaction he would have and he showed nothing but a guilty and helpless expression. He wasn’t in a position to justify his actions.

Her cheeks were still flushed so he imagined the embarrassment she felt, being a pure girl she was.

“Do you have anything for your defense?” Rose asked much softer this time, suddenly looking down with her long brown hair covering her face. “I know you warned me before I hugged you but I still think you went too far…”

Ryan resisted an urge to pat her head by stepping away from her and admitted how he felt, “There is no question that I’m guilty. Even though you said I don’t need to hold back, I indeed went too far for which I apologize. I will take any punishment you have as long as you can forgive me.”

This couldn’t be solved differently other than asking Rose for forgiveness.

Rose finally looked up at him as if she heard the words she wanted to hear and smiled gently. She opened her mouth to speak when Ryan suddenly realized something.

“Wait… Why did you hug me in the first place…?” He asked confused, recalling all the events. Nothing would happen if she didn’t hug him out of nowhere.

He stared at her and saw panic in her eyes. Her expression looked as if she got caught at stealing candy from the forbidden drawer after she was told not to.

It was his time for questioning but Rose cut it short as she grabbed his wrist and called out, “Come with me!” She pulled him without saying anything and he didn’t resist, speechless.

He finally understood why she did it after recalling her words just before her father’s arrival.

“Rose… Don’t tell me you—” Ryan tried to confirm his guess but she interrupted him midway, crying out without turning back, “Because I didn’t have a choice!”

She continued to pull him by the wrist as she continued, “I could avoid blind dates my mom set up by pretending I have a boyfriend this whole time. If she learns that I never had a boyfriend in the first place, she will attack me with full force. She doesn’t believe me anymore so today she prepared five profiles for me to look at. When I threw them into the trash, she said that she already contacted one of them. She told him to come to our home today.”

Describing the situation, she finally turned around to face him, back to her calm self. She didn’t let go of Ryan’s wrist as if scared he will escape.

“So this was the reason you ran away from home I assume?” Ryan questioned and seeing her firm nod, he asked curiously, “Can’t you just say no? Your mom can’t force you to marry against your will. They need your signature after all.”

“I can’t… My mom is sneaky…” Rose replied quietly. “Each time I reject, she starts crying which makes me feel bad…”

“Ah… Emotional blackmail. My mom is also experienced in many tactics like those.” Ryan knew this unfair method really well.

“Anyway, we don’t have much time. Will you help me?” Rose asked straightforwardly. “Just pretend you are my boyfriend for a week and then you will be free. I will forgive you for everything you did…”

She mentioned his deeds, hoping he will agree but Ryan didn’t have a choice but to reject her.

“I’m sorry but I can’t. Didn’t I tell you? My mom also pushes me to find a girlfriend and prepared candidates for me. I have a certain reason why I need to have one by the end of this week. If I don’t, my mom will probably disown me,” Ryan explained, letting out a deep sigh but to his surprise, it made Rose’s blue eyes shine.

“Isn’t that perfect!?” Rose exclaimed, grabbing onto his hand with excitement. “I can pretend to be your girlfriend and you can act as my boyfriend. We will both settle our matters and then we will quietly walk away. We are really lucky that fate brought us together.”

She didn’t give him the time to agree or reject and began running, pulling him together with her. “Let’s go to my house! Father invited you for dinner and I said you will come.” Rose called out excitedly, holding onto his palm tightly.

“Rose, wait! I didn’t agree to anything yet!” Ryan shouted, trying to stop her from making a mistake she didn’t want. His situation was more serious than she thought.

Unfortunately, she didn’t listen. She showed him a bright smile while turning into one of the parks as a shortcut and suddenly informed, “We don’t have a chance anyway. If my dad learns the truth, he will probably kill you. He wouldn’t allow a stranger touch me like that so only by being my boyfriend you are safe.”

“Wait… What?!”