The dating reality show host just wanted to give up, but the rich girl fell for him.

The island at night is so quiet that the only sound can be the distant roar of waves crashing against the rocks.

Along the winding coastline, Lin Mo and Jiang Ruoyun walked back to the Heartbeat House side by side.

The kiss on the forehead of the century-old lighthouse seems to still be fermenting in the air.

Neither of them spoke, but the ambiguous tension between them was so intense that it almost became tangible.

Jiang Ruoyun clutched the hem of her floral dress tightly, her head down, following closely beside Lin Mo.

That fair and beautiful face was still as red as a ripe apple even now.

Lin Mo stopped downstairs at the foot of Villa A.

He turned around, his deep gaze falling on the girl's fluffy hair, a gentle smile playing on his lips.

"Alright, go upstairs and get some rest."

Lin Mo's voice sounded particularly deep and magnetic in the night breeze.

Jiang Ruoyun raised her head, her peach blossom eyes shimmering with tears, filled with reluctance and longing.

She nodded obediently, like a docile kitten.

"Then you should go to sleep early too, goodnight."

Until I watched Jiang Ruoyun tiptoe into the door of Building A.

Lin Mo then looked away, put his hands in the pockets of his loose shorts, and slowly walked towards the drafty storage room in Building C.

As night deepened, the lights in the Heartbeat House gradually went out.

However, in the shadows where no one can see.

A long-planned, insidious storm is quietly brewing.

On the most secluded back balcony on the second floor of Villa A.

Zhao Kuo stood in the shadows, wearing an expensive silk robe, his face grim.

The cigar between his fingers glowed and dimmed, its scarlet light illuminating his face, utterly distorted by jealousy.

During the day today, he was brutally humiliated by that beat-up old car on the winding dirt road.

His Ferrari, worth millions, broke down in the mud, making him the biggest laughing stock on the internet.

As soon as Zhao Kuo closed his eyes, all he could see in his mind was Lin Mo's nonchalant, arrogant, and mocking face.

"Poor bastard! Trash!"

Zhao Kuo cursed through gritted teeth, his fingers holding the cigar trembling slightly uncontrollably.

Just then, a rustling sound came from the bushes below the balcony.

Immediately afterwards, a figure, soaking wet and covered in mud, struggled to climb up the drainpipe.

That person was Zhao Kuo's personal assistant.

In order to avoid the heavy surveillance and security measures set up by the production team on the island.

Under the cover of night, the assistant boarded an unlicensed fishing boat and secretly landed on a wild beach behind the island.

"Young Master Zhao..."

The assistant lowered his voice, panting as he climbed over the railing and collapsed onto the balcony floor.

"Useless! Why are you so late?!"

Zhao Kuo covered his nose in disgust, took a half step back, and kicked his assistant impatiently.

"Did you bring the items?"

The assistant, barely catching his breath, quickly pulled a waterproof document bag from his pocket and presented it with both hands.

"Here it is! Everything you wanted is right here!"

Zhao Kuo snatched the file bag and eagerly tore open the seal.

By the faint moonlight from the balcony, a thick document was revealed.

The bright red official seal of Xingyao Entertainment Company was prominently displayed on it.

It was the exclusive contract that Lin Mo signed for the S-level dating reality show "Heart Signal"!

The assistant wiped the cold sweat from his face and reported in a low voice, as if seeking praise.

"Young Master Zhao, the company's legal department has completed all the procedures overnight."

"You now have full authority to make the final decisions regarding this contract."

Zhao Kuo flipped through the documents in his hand page by page, his cold smile growing wider and wider.

"Good! Well done!"

The assistant added slyly from the side:

"This kid thinks that as long as he doesn't withdraw from the competition and just stays in the game until the last day, he'll be fine."

"This is unbelievable!"

"This is an S-level dating reality show, with the strictest confidentiality agreement and full attendance clause in the contract."

"Now the power to dispose of it is in your hands. You can just find any excuse, such as the company having an urgent business activity, to initiate a mandatory recall."

"If he dares to refuse, that would be a malicious breach of contract, directly triggering the penalty mechanism!"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Kuo's eyes practically blazed with malice.

A whopping five million in breach of contract fees!

For Lin Mo, whose parents ran a run-down noodle shop in a small town in Jiangnan, this was a very different story.

Let alone five million, even five hundred thousand could break the backbone of their entire family in an instant!

This is practically an indenture from which there is no turning back!

"Hahahahaha!"

Zhao Kuo gripped the contract tightly in his hand, finally unable to hold back a low, arrogant laugh that reached its peak.

He turned his head, his gaze passing over the balcony, fixed on the pitch-black Building C not far away.

"Lin Mo, oh Lin Mo."

"Weren't you having a good time showing off on the mountain today?"

"Don't you like to act aloof and sentimental in front of Jiang Ruoyun?"

Zhao Kuo's facial features were completely distorted, resembling a venomous snake flicking its tongue.

"Tomorrow is the grand finale, a night for tens of millions of people around the world to confess their love online simultaneously!"

"I'm going to slam this contract right in your face during this grandest live stream, in front of the entire internet audience!"

He could almost see the wonderful scene tomorrow night.

Lin Mo, that arrogant poor boy, turned pale with fright when faced with a huge claim of five million.

In order not to implicate his family, he could only kneel on the ground like a stray dog, crying and begging him to grant him a few more days.

And Jiang Ruoyun, this high-and-mighty young lady from Beijing's elite social circle.

After seeing Lin Mo's humble, down-on-his-luck, and pitiful state, manipulated at will by capital.

They would be completely disgusted and would turn away without hesitation.

"A penniless bastard who doesn't even know where he'll be begging tomorrow dares to try and steal my woman?"

Zhao Kuo took a deep drag on his cigar, exhaling the smoke into the night wind, feeling all the pent-up frustration of the past few days vanish.

He seemed to have grasped the nuclear weapon that could control Lin Mo's life and death.

At this moment, Zhao Kuo was so engrossed in the immense pleasure of his impending revenge that he could not extricate himself from it.

But he had no idea.

In order to create a survival atmosphere, the island completely blocks out external communication signals.

His phone could only connect to the program's local network; it couldn't receive any messages from the outside world.

Just a few hours ago.

Located in the heart of Beijing's CBD, thousands of miles away from this island.

A swift and decisive crackdown on Xingyao Entertainment has come to a clean and efficient end.

Dozens of law enforcement vehicles with flashing red and blue lights silently surrounded the headquarters building of Xingyao Entertainment.

The State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, in conjunction with the Beijing Economic Investigation Brigade, launched a swift and decisive raid.

Those usually arrogant and domineering executives didn't even have time to react.

He was dragged out of bed by fully armed law enforcement officers.

The glass doors of Xingyao Entertainment were sealed with glaring white tape.

All financial accounts were frozen on the spot, and all dual contracts were seized.

Meanwhile, Zhao Kuo's father, who thought he could wield immense influence in Beijing's social circles, was wearing cold handcuffs.

Sweating profusely and looking ashen-faced, he sat on the iron chair in the interrogation room, honestly confessing to the crime of tax evasion.

The mastermind behind all this was none other than Song Wan, the seemingly gentle and elegant mother-in-law who lived far away in the capital and whose influence was actually immense.

He offended her precious daughter and her chosen son-in-law.

What awaits these parasites of capital is only destruction with no hope of recovery.

And on this night.

Zhao Kuo still resembled a comical clown.

Clutching a tattered contract that had long since become worthless, he naively dreamt of turning things around tomorrow.

The night wind howled, making the large trees outside the balcony rustle.

Zhao Kuo stubbed out his cigar in the ashtray.

He glanced one last time in the direction of Building C, his eyes filled with condescending pity and mockery.

"Enjoy your last peaceful night, you penniless wretch."

"Tomorrow night, I will personally send you to hell."

at the same time.

Just as Zhao Kuo was eagerly anticipating the "massacre" the following night.

In that dilapidated, drafty, and run-down sea-view room in Building C, which he despised to the extreme.

Lin Mo didn't sleep at all.

The lights were off inside; only a sliver of cool moonlight streamed in through the repaired wooden lattice window.

Lin Mo sat quietly on the rattan chair that she had personally crafted.

His broad shoulders slumped slightly, and his whole body disappeared into the half-light and half-dark shadows.

The air was filled with the faint scent of mugwort, but it couldn't soothe the deep, unyielding sorrow between his brows.

The image of the century-old lighthouse replayed in his mind again and again.

Jiang Ruoyun closed her eyes, slightly raised her chin, and looked docile and unreserved, ready to be taken advantage of.

It strikes at the heart more directly than the sharpest blade.

However, as soon as he closes his eyes, another image will forcefully intrude into his mind.

It was a dilapidated noodle shop in a remote water town in southern China.

The parents were so worried about the five million yuan penalty for breach of contract that they couldn't sleep for nights on end, and their backs became increasingly hunched.

Lin Mo took a deep breath and slowly lowered his head.

He picked up the phone that was on the small wooden table; the screen emitted a faint, cold light.

With slender fingers, she gently swiped and opened the mobile banking app.

My gaze was fixed on the pitifully small number in the center of the screen.

Balance: 3250.00 yuan.

This is all the money he has now.

A bitter, self-deprecating smile crept onto Lin Mo's lips.

Who does he think he is?

A low-level worker who not only can't afford many coins, but also has to constantly be on guard against being exploited by capital.

What makes him worthy of that pampered, privileged heiress who grew up at the top of the pyramid?

The families are not of equal social standing.

These five words felt like an invisible mountain, pressing down on his chest.

Jiang Ruoyun is willing to do anything for love, and she can even use her unlimited black card to help him resolve issues.

But that was her money, it was the Jiang family's money.

Although Lin Mo always talked about giving up and living off women, acting like a shameless scoundrel.

But deep down, he was a master strategist who had lived two lives.

He possessed the absolute pride and dignity that belong to men.

How could he possibly feel at ease hiding under a woman's wing, using her money to fill the hole his ex-girlfriend dug?

He would never allow Jiang Ruoyun to become the laughingstock of Beijing's elite circles because of him.

"If they can't even give you a basic, stable home..."

In the quiet room, Lin Mo murmured something to himself.

His voice was hoarse, as if it had been sanded on sandpaper.

"What right do I have to hold your hand?"

He couldn't selfishly drag Jiang Ruoyun into his own quagmire, which was bound to explode at any moment, just for that fleeting moment of attraction.

Even if he was reluctant to let go, even if he knew that letting go would hurt so much that he couldn't breathe.

He also had to make a man's choice.

That five million dollar overbearing contract was like a time bomb strapped to his body.

It could blow up everyone around it to pieces at any moment.

Since there's no way to avoid it.

Then he should face it and bear the consequences himself.

We must not let this dirty water splash even a fraction of its way onto Jiang Ruoyun's pristine white skirt.

Lin Mo sat in that worn-out rattan chair for a full hour.

Until the old-fashioned wall clock began to tick dully.

The struggle and bitterness in his eyes gradually faded, replaced by an unprecedented resolve and coldness.

Since these capitalists are determined to ruin him.

Then he will finally break through this barrier before tomorrow's highly anticipated confession night.

Even if the price is being criticized and having to quit the show.

Even if the price is facing a long legal battle and huge debts alone.

He would never back down.

Lin Mo sighed heavily.

The sound was particularly heavy in the empty room, yet it carried a certain sense of relief, as if one had given up all hope.

He locked his phone and tossed it onto the table.

then.

Lin Mo slowly stood up, straightened his back, took long strides, and pushed open the wooden door without hesitation.