Click.
The door opened.
Sunlight fell across Su Tao’s face. The sudden brightness made her squint for a moment. Before she could adjust, she ran barefoot toward the main entrance.
She grabbed the handle and pulled with all her strength.
The door did not move.
She lowered her head and saw a fingerprint lock. Its red indicator light blinked repeatedly like a cold, emotionless eye.
Lu Shiyu had installed a reverse fingerprint lock.
So he had been playing with her from the very beginning. She could not actually leave this place.
He watched her futile struggle as though she were a little creature trapped inside a glass bottle.
Su Tao clenched her fists and pounded on the door.
“Help! Is anyone there? Help!”
Her cries echoed through the empty living room, but there was no response from outside.
This was a newly developed residential complex, and they were the only residents who had moved onto this floor.
Su Tao’s voice eventually became hoarse. Her fists were red from pounding against the door. Finally, she slid down against it and collapsed onto the floor.
Sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the balcony and fell over her body, yet she felt cold. The chill seemed to come from deep within her bones.
She stood up and walked toward the balcony, looking down.
It was desolate. There was not a single person in sight. The roadside trees were still newly planted saplings, and the few scattered trash bins looked like toy blocks.
She could jump from here. If she was lucky, the system might complete the transmission before she fell.
If she was unlucky, she would become a bloody mess on the ground, but at least she would leave Lu Shiyu with one final act of defiance.
“Time is almost up.”
Lu Shiyu’s voice came from inside, calm and unhurried.
“One minute left.”
Trembling, Su Tao pushed open the balcony window. Wind rushed inside, lifting her disheveled hair.
【Host! The master bedroom bathroom! That’s the place farthest from the electromagnetic interference source! Go inside and lock the door! I’ll complete the transmission as quickly as possible!】
“Thirty seconds left.”
Lu Shiyu’s voice came from inside.
Su Tao immediately ran.
She rushed into the master bedroom and locked the door.
Then she opened the bathroom door and locked that one too.
She gasped for breath, her heart pounding so hard that it felt like it might leap from her throat.
【Interference level detected: Moderate. Transmission is possible.】
【Time reversal beginning now. 5%, 10%…】
The progress bar advanced little by little in her mind.
Su Tao stared at the locked door and strained to hear what was happening outside.
Footsteps.
Lu Shiyu was searching for her in the room. His pace was relaxed and unhurried, as though he were playing a game whose ending he already knew.
Su Tao’s eyes swept around the bathroom before landing on a mop in the corner.
She grabbed it and held it tightly, pointing it toward the door.
If Lu Shiyu came in, perhaps she could hold him off for a while.
The footsteps stopped outside the bathroom.
A key slid into the lock, followed by the faint sound of metal turning.
“Found you.”
Click.
The door opened.
Lu Shiyu stood in the doorway, his shadow completely covering Su Tao.
Su Tao swung the mop wildly, but Lu Shiyu caught it effortlessly, pulled it from her hands, and threw it aside.
He slowly approached her.
Su Tao backed away in panic until her lower legs struck the cold edge of the bathtub. She lost her balance and fell backward.
Lu Shiyu caught her around the waist and lifted her into the bathtub.
The shower turned on. Warm water poured down from above, soaking her hair and clothes and drenching his white shirt.
Water ran down his jaw, and his shirt clung to him, revealing the outline of his physique beneath it.
Su Tao sensed danger and tried to get up, but he suddenly held her against the cold tiles.
“Lu Shiyu, let me go…”
Her words were cut off.
His kiss carried a clear sense of punishment and was far more forceful than before. He held her firmly, leaving her no chance to retreat.
Water continued pouring over them, surrounding them with warmth and tension.
She was trapped between him and the wall, unable to move freely or get away.
The shower kept running. Her oversized T-shirt was completely soaked, clinging to her body. Lu Shiyu pulled her closer.
The cold water made her shiver, but the chill soon disappeared beneath his warmth.
“You can’t get away.”
Water flowed down her back, tracing the line of her spine.
His touch followed.
She desperately shook her head, her wet hair clinging to her cheeks. She could no longer tell whether the moisture on her face was water or tears.
“Lu Shiyu… please…”
She did not even know what she was begging for.
Was she asking him to stop?
Or was she asking him to become the Lu Shiyu she once knew?
But deep down, she understood that the gentle Lu Shiyu would never return.
That had only been the side of himself he had deliberately shown her.
This was the person he truly was.
Lu Shiyu lowered his head and kissed the back of her neck, his touch lingering as though he was trying to keep her from slipping away.
His arm tightened around her waist, making it difficult for her to speak.
Water rose around them, surrounding her as she trembled.
“Taotao, you can’t get away.”
He leaned closer, his voice hoarse and his breath warm against her ear.
“You lost. You have to accept your punishment.”
Su Tao struggled desperately, sending water splashing in every direction. Waves spilled over the edge of the bathtub.
He did not move, absorbing every attempt she made to pull away.
He held her hand against the edge of the bathtub and intertwined their fingers tightly.
Su Tao bit her lip, refusing to make a sound.
“Don’t hurt yourself,” he murmured. “Tell me what you’re feeling.”
No one knew how much time had passed.
【90%】
Su Tao heard Fortune’s voice and finally stopped struggling.
She lay quietly in the water, looking at Lu Shiyu’s expression, which was clouded with emotion.
For a moment, she remembered what he had been like when they first met.
Back then, Lu Shiyu had been cold, distant, and quiet, but he had actually been a kind and gentle person.
He would feed the stray cats at school.
He would save the cardboard boxes from his experiments and give them to the elderly woman who collected recyclables.
【92%】
Perhaps because she was about to leave, Su Tao was briefly able to pull herself away from the hatred she felt toward him.
He had done terrible things to her.
But she had deceived him first.
She had played a part in turning him into the person he was now.
Tears slipped from the corners of her eyes.
【95%】
Her silent crying gradually became uncontrollable sobs.
Lu Shiyu stopped.
He leaned down and gently kissed her wet eyelashes, wiping away the tears there.
“I’m sorry.”
He buried his face against her shoulder, his warm breath trembling against her skin.
“I’m sorry, Taotao.”
“Lu Shiyu, everything will be all right soon.”
Su Tao’s voice was very soft, almost as though it had come from somewhere very far away.
【97%】
Lu Shiyu met her eyes and suddenly realized what was happening.
She had always been terrible at lying.
Her eyes were telling him that she was leaving.
He suddenly tightened his arms around her and held her with all his strength.
Too tightly.
It was as though he wanted to hold her so close that she could never disappear from his reach.
“Don’t leave me, Taotao. Please don’t leave me.”
Su Tao raised her hand and gently touched his eyebrows, his cheek, and the small mole on the bridge of his nose.
“I’m sorry, Lu Shiyu. I was the one who turned you into this. But soon, you won’t have to suffer anymore.”
Lu Shiyu shook his head desperately, his eyes turning red.
“Su Tao, you can’t go. You can’t leave.”
“I won’t lock you up anymore. I’ll let you go right now. Just don’t leave me.”
“Don’t go back to your original world. Please. I was wrong.”