Hugging one arm, she stood elegantly outside the elevator. She wore a thick, deep purple coat with a sharp, clean-cut hem. Only one of its jet-black buttons was fastened, faintly reflecting the light.

Underneath, she wore only a form-fitting black top that accentuated her alluringly slender waist. Her fair neck was set off by the sparkling diamond earrings she wore.

On her lower half, she wore tights and a textured, form-fitting skirt.

Chen Yuan felt an immediate sense of familiarity. The resemblance was obvious at a glance.

Not to mention, for a split second when the elevator doors had opened, he’d thought Jiangg Ning had arrived.

Jiangg Ruxue’s gaze lingered on Chen Yuan’s face for a few seconds, and she seemed slightly taken aback.

Then she strolled into the elevator.

She kept a subtle distance.

She didn’t know Chen Yuan, nor did she think he resembled anyone. From her perspective, he was, at best, a handsome young man. She could tell in a few seconds that he wasn’t even twenty.

There was an air of naivety and inexperience about him.

He was quite tall, though.

She had just finished installing cameras in Jiangg Ning’s suite. Her assistant had already gone ahead to wait in the parking area downstairs, while Jiangg Ruxue stayed behind to inspect the placement of each camera herself.

Once she was satisfied, she checked the time. It was a little past eight in the evening.

It was about time for dinner.

Inside the narrow elevator.

The faint fragrance from Jiangg Ruxue quickly filled the space. She stood with poise, her slender fingers clutching an expensive leather bag at her waist. Her loose hair seemed weightless, and as she swayed slightly, one could faintly glimpse a mole on the nape of her neck through the strands.

Though in her forties, she hadn’t aged much. When she wasn’t smiling, there were only faint lines at the corners of her eyes. She exuded a mature, womanly aura far more potent than Jiangg Ning’s, but she lacked the refined air of a lady from a prominent family. Instead, she gave off a voluptuous, full-figured impression.

But she wasn’t fat; she was just a little shorter than the two sisters.

Jiangg Ruxue’s body was a living testament to the fact that you can’t judge a woman’s figure by her weight alone.

Standing behind her, Chen Yuan was in a daze for a long moment.

Then, it finally dawned on him.

A terrifying thought surfaced in his mind—’Don’t tell me… I’ve just met my mother-in-law!’

The resemblance was just too uncanny. He wasn’t an idiot; he could tell at a glance. Besides, if this wasn’t Jiangg Ning’s mother, why would she be on this particular floor in Fengting District?

Putting it all together, there was a ninety-percent chance that the woman sharing the elevator with him was Jiangg Ning’s mother.

Chen Yuan suddenly felt a pang of nervousness.

He had imagined countless times how Jiangg Ning would one day introduce him to her family, but he’d never anticipated it would happen in such a dramatic fashion.

Chen Yuan awkwardly took a small step back. A faint, alluring scent wafted from Jiangg Ruxue, continuously teasing his nostrils.

He had no idea whether he should strike up a conversation or just keep his mouth shut.

‘If I say something, she’ll think it’s weird… But if I stay quiet, what happens if I meet Jiangg Ning’s family for real one day and my mother-in-law recognizes me? Am I supposed to pretend I don’t recognize her then?’

‘That would feel so fake.’

Just as Chen Yuan was hesitating…

Jiangg Ruxue suddenly turned her head, her gaze casually sweeping over him.

Chen Yuan cringed so hard his toes curled in his shoes!

‘She’s definitely looking at me. I can feel her eyes on me.’

‘Wait, Ningning, have you told your family about me or not? Don’t tell me you already have! If so, I look like a total idiot just standing here!’

Chen Yuan wailed internally.

He forced himself to look back at her.

But he found her expression… odd.

It wasn’t indifferent, nor was it particularly emotional, yet her clear, dark eyes were fixed on his face.

After a few seconds, a peculiar expression appeared on her face.

Her brow furrowed, and then she quietly looked away.

For a moment, Chen Yuan wondered if there was something on his face.

‘Otherwise, why would my future mother-in-law be looking at me so strangely…’ he thought, his head spinning.

“You live in this building, too?”

Suddenly, an incredibly pleasant voice spoke.

Chen Yuan froze instantly.

‘She… She actually spoke to me first!’

He scrambled to answer, “Y-Yes, I live in this building too.”

He nearly choked on his own spit, and his voice cracked on the first word. It was mortifyingly awkward. He could feel his back go ramrod straight, his butt cheeks clenched tight…

To his surprise…

Jiangg Ruxue’s voice was unbelievably pleasant! A magnetic, sultry voice!

It sounded a bit like the affected voices you hear when scrolling through short-form videos.

It was completely different from Jiangg Ning’s and Jiangg Yao’s voices.

“Oh.”

After hearing him speak, the light in Jiangg Ruxue’s eyes clearly dimmed, and she lost all interest in continuing the conversation.

She lowered her gaze and silently waited for the elevator doors to open.

The residential elevator was rather slow. It descended from the thirteenth floor with no one else getting on. But whether it was just his imagination or the elevator was actually malfunctioning, it seemed to be crawling down, floor by agonizing floor.

A cold sweat broke out on Chen Yuan’s forehead. All he wanted was to get out of there as quickly as possible.

Suddenly!

“KZZZT—”

A scalp-numbing electrical crackle echoed through the car as it was plunged into darkness. With a THUD, the elevator dropped a few centimeters!

The sudden jolt made both Jiangg Ruxue and Chen Yuan lose their balance, nearly sending them to the floor.

Her expensive leather bag flew from her hand and hit the floor with a SLAP. Jiangg Ruxue completely lost her footing. She reached out for the wall but grasped at empty air as she staggered and fell backward.

Chen Yuan barely managed to steady himself and instinctively reached out to catch her, his hand landing on her shoulder.

“Are you okay?”

In the pitch-black darkness, Chen Yuan’s voice echoed off the elevator walls.

“What’s going on? Is the elevator broken?”

Jiangg Ruxue was remarkably calm. Even before she had fully steadied herself, she asked the question in her habitually commanding tone.

“I think so… I don’t know either.”

“This complex is a real dump,” Jiangg Ruxue muttered, frowning. As she turned her head, she finally registered the feel of Chen Yuan’s hand on her shoulder. She couldn’t see him clearly, only a vague silhouette. “Whatever… Just press the alarm button.”

Jiangg Ruxue brushed a stray lock of hair from her forehead and, going by memory, fumbled for the button panel on the right, feeling for the one at the very top.

She pressed it.

But there was no response.

“Is this not the one?”

“Let me use my phone’s flashlight. Hold on.”

Chen Yuan hurriedly fumbled for his phone and turned on the flashlight. Instantly, Jiangg Ruxue and the entirety of the narrow elevator became clearly visible.

He held the sole source of light, illuminating Jiangg Ruxue from above.

A hint of irritation on her face, she looked up at Chen Yuan.

“What are you looking at me for? Find the alarm button.”

“Right, right… Could you move aside a bit?”

“Mm.”

Jiangg Ruxue brushed against him as she moved aside.

“There was a couple arguing downstairs earlier. They were probably just mashing buttons. It shouldn’t be a big deal.”

“I hope so.”

Jiangg Ruxue was starting to feel a little flustered. She cherished her life, and her mind couldn’t help but conjure images of the elevator suddenly plummeting… even though that was highly unlikely.

But in this claustrophobic environment, it was hard not to let her imagination run wild.

Moreover, for some reason, a grating CREAK CREAK sound kept coming from above, as if something was stuck and grinding back and forth.

“Found it!”

Chen Yuan quickly pressed the alarm button, and someone picked up within seconds.

“Hello, which building are you in?”

“Building 33, West One.”

“Understood. We’re sending someone over right away. Please don’t move around or press any more buttons!”

“Understood—”

SCREECH!!!

A grinding screech, loud enough to shatter eardrums, ripped through the air as the elevator suddenly plummeted a significant distance.

Chen Yuan and Jiangg Ruxue were thrown to the floor, the word catching in his throat.

His shoulder slammed into the back wall, and his head hit with a heavy THUD. He instinctively clutched his head as he fell backward. Jiangg Ruxue screamed, and they both ended up in a heap on the left side of the car.

It all happened in less than half a second.

Then the elevator jolted to a stop again.

Chen Yuan’s phone had been knocked from his hand, and the elevator was once again plunged into absolute darkness where nothing was visible.

A bewitching fragrance washed over Chen Yuan’s face. He didn’t have time to think; the impact had left his mind a complete blank.

All he could feel was something warm and soft in his arms, and something pressed against his stomach.

“It’s not… It’s not really going to fall, is it!”

Her voice was laced with terror.

“Hiss…”

Chen Yuan was in no condition to answer. His head was throbbing, and he knew without even touching it that a huge lump was already forming.

“Why can’t I see anything? My phone is in my bag… Where’s my bag? I can’t find it!”

Jiangg Ruxue frantically felt around the elevator, her earlier composure completely gone.

At the end of the day, she was only human.

It was impressive enough that she had managed to stay calm for as long as she had.

Chen Yuan forced himself to sit up, clutching his head. “Doesn’t this elevator have emergency lights?”

No one answered.

Jiangg Ruxue was still searching for her things. She was kneeling on the floor, and after a long moment, she sat down in frustration, no longer caring about her appearance.

“This elevator… It’s not going to fall again, is it?”

Pure terror filled her eyes.

Then, just as she said it, a GROANING sound came from overhead again.

Jiangg Ruxue let out a piercing scream that made Chen Yuan’s head spin.

“Don’t be scared, it’s okay. The people we called will be here soon,” he said, trying to soothe her while searching for his phone, which had been thrown somewhere. “Whatever you do, don’t stand up. Stay low to the ground; it’s better for balance.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Scoot a little closer to me. We should try to stay low and close together.”

“Okay.”

Jiangg Ruxue moved closer to Chen Yuan, and he could hear her panicked gasps.

He searched all around them.

Finally, Chen Yuan’s hand found his phone. He flipped it over, and the elevator was once again filled with light. He let out a sigh of relief.

Chen Yuan swallowed hard, then found Jiangg Ruxue’s bag and handed it to her.

“Thank you…”

She took it, quickly unzipped it, and turned on her own phone’s flashlight.

The two of them sat there in a daze, constantly looking up at the smooth ceiling. The reflective stainless steel walls mirrored the two coin-sized beams from their flashlights.

“I’m not going to die in here, am I…?”

After waiting for more than ten minutes with no sign of the maintenance crew, and no idea what was happening…

Jiangg Ruxue finally couldn’t take it anymore, her voice trembling with fear as she asked the question.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep