130: The Beast's Resonance! The Queen's Rules!

The St. Regis San Antonio.

Outside the presidential suite on the top floor.

Lin Feng stood before the heavy solid wood door, pulling up his hoodie to hide his face deeper in the shadows.

A soft carpet lined the hallway, absorbing all sound.

It was so quiet he could hear the frantic beating of his own heart.

He knew what kind of presence was behind that door.

He also knew what pushing open this door would mean.

Guilt toward Yoona was like an invisible rope still coiled around his heart.

But the thirst for victory and the obsession with revenge were a hotter flame, scorching that rope.

His chest heaved once.

Then, he raised his hand and pressed the doorbell.

"Ding-dong—"

The crisp chime sounded particularly abrupt in the quiet hallway.

There was no immediate response from inside.

Time seemed to stretch out.

Every second was filled with torment.

Just as Lin Feng thought no one was inside and prepared to turn and leave.

"Click."

With a soft sound, the door unlocked.

The door was pulled open from the inside, leaving a crack.

The one opening the door was none other than Taylor Swift herself.

She wasn't wearing any makeup.

She wore only a black, silky bathrobe with a wide neckline that revealed her fair collarbones.

Her blonde curly hair was draped casually over her shoulders.

In her hand, she held a goblet swirling with a dark red liquid.

She leaned against the doorframe just like that, showing no surprise in her eyes.

Those beautiful blue eyes, filled with undisguised aggression and appreciation, scanned the man outside who was bundled up tightly from head to toe.

Her gaze seemed to have a penetrating power, seeing through his disguise and witnessing the inner struggle and distress he felt at that moment.

Lin Feng didn't speak.

Taylor didn't speak either.

She simply stepped aside, clearing the entrance.

A silent invitation.

Lin Feng's Adam's apple bobbed up and down.

He took a step forward and entered the room.

Behind him, the door was gently closed, shutting out everything from the outside.

The room was huge.

It was decorated luxuriously and filled with an artistic atmosphere.

But Lin Feng's attention wasn't on any of that.

His gaze was immediately drawn to the massive TV screen in the center of the living room.

On the screen, no music videos or movies were playing.

What was replaying was the highlights of Game 5, the match from a few hours ago that had sent him plunging into hell.

Once.

And again.

On the screen was his distressed figure, trapped tightly in that cage by Leonard, Green, and Splitter.

It showed him charging in vain time and again, only to be knocked to the ground.

Finally, it froze on Duncan's sky-blocking block.

That image was like a knife, once again stabbing ruthlessly into his heart.

"It looks bad, doesn't it?"

Taylor's voice came from behind him.

Holding her wine glass, she slowly walked to Lin Feng's side.

In her tone, there was no sympathy, let alone comfort.

Only a near-cruel calmness as she stated the facts.

Lin Feng's fists clenched.

Taylor didn't look at him; her eyes were fixed on the miserable figure on the TV screen.

She raised her glass and gestured toward the screen.

"They want to impose rules on you."

"They use three people, those dirty little tricks, the referee's bias, and the boos of the entire crowd."

"They use everything to tell you how you should play the game."

"They want to define what you are."

She turned her head, her blue eyes shining with startling brightness under the crystal chandelier.

She walked up to Lin Feng, so close that he could smell the dangerous scent of red wine mixed with perfume on her.

She looked him straight in the eyes.

She said, word by word.

"And what you have to do."

"Is to destroy all of their rules."

These words hit the depths of Lin Feng's soul like an electric current.

He looked up sharply at the woman before him.

He realized she didn't understand basketball at all.

But she understood better than anyone the pain of being bound by the world, defined by rules, and scrutinized by countless people.

And that bone-deep desire to tear it all to shreds.

That night.

They didn't discuss basketball tactics for a single moment more.

They talked about creation.

They talked about how a song goes from a broken thought to a melody that sweeps the globe.

They talked about fame.

They talked about the loneliness of standing in the spotlight, loved by countless people yet hated by just as many.

They talked about fighting.

They talked about how to turn those doubts, slanders, and the dark hands trying to pull you off your pedestal into the most moving notes in your work.

Lin Feng discovered that deep in her soul, she was just like him.

Both hid a beast that refused to be bound or tamed, longing to tear everything apart in its own way.

This feeling was completely different from the warmth, protection, and unconditional trust Yoona gave him.

With Yoona, he felt at peace, and the world seemed to soften.

But with the woman before him.

He only felt the combative instincts in every cell of his body being ignited.

It was the excitement of meeting a worthy opponent.

It was a resonance of souls between one powerhouse and another.

A more burning, more dangerous attraction.

The music in the room had changed at some point to a rock song with a powerful rhythm.

Alcohol.

Music.

Hormones.

Everything intertwined and fermented within this enclosed space.

The atmosphere became scalding hot.

Taylor set down her wine glass.

She took another step toward Lin Feng.

She reached out, her fingertip lightly touching Lin Feng's chest.

Right where his heart was beating.

"There's a beast locked inside you."

Her voice carried a hint of seductive raspiness.

"It's very angry right now."

"Let it out."

Lin Feng looked at her.

He looked into those blue eyes burning with fire.

He could no longer suppress himself.

All the accumulated anger, resentment, frustration, and humiliation from the crushing G5 defeat.

At this moment, they found the most explosive outlet!

He suddenly reached out, grabbing the back of her head and pulling her toward him!

This was not a gentle dalliance.

This was a fierce collision filled with conquest and release.

He felt the negative emotions that had nearly consumed him being completely released at this moment.

And they were transforming into a new, terrifying power filled with a primal desire for destruction!

At the very peak of passion.

The cold, emotionless system notification tone.

Rang out solemnly in his mind.