They had been dating for four months now.
At first, he had behaved himself.
But as time went on, they went from holding hands to brief hugs. A few days later, he wanted to kiss and touch her, and after that, he coaxed her into bed.
After their first time, she was terrified. It had hurt, but what overwhelmed her even more was the soreness and weakness—and Xie Lan’s frightening stamina, which kept her in a state of torment all night.
The next day, he was thoroughly satisfied. He held her in his arms, tenderly kissing and caressing her.
“Baby, that’s what couples do.”
He saw her cheeks, still faintly flushed, and the exhaustion beneath her eyes, yet she seemed to glow with a soft, alluring sheen. Xie Lan kissed her brow and eyes. “Baby, next time…”
Jiang Wangsheng heard him and reacted as though he’d said something horrifying. She pushed at his chest and hurriedly shook her head. “No, no! I don’t want to…”
Her eyes were red-rimmed, her lips swollen from his kisses. She looked utterly pitiful.
Jiang Wangsheng had never had a boyfriend before. She knew about this sort of thing, but experiencing it herself frightened her.
Mostly because Xie Lan wanted it so many times that she couldn’t take it.
Xie Lan had been hooked from the very first time. How could he possibly stop?
He suppressed the darkness in his eyes and gently coaxed her. “If Shengsheng doesn’t like it, then we won’t do any of that.”
Xie Lan sighed inwardly.
What a shame. He’d prepared so many things to make her feel good.
Jiang Wangsheng was held captive in his arms, and she was so exhausted that she soon fell asleep.
Xie Lan gave a soft laugh, his gaze turning tender.
Then he held her and slept soundly through the night.
Jiang Wangsheng thought he was just clingy and overly affectionate. She had no idea he had secretly done other things, too.
He had installed surveillance cameras in her home and tracking software on her phone.
That way, when he wasn’t with her, he could always know where she was—and when she was home, he could see her, too.
Jiang Wangsheng knew nothing about any of this. All she knew was that her boyfriend was possessive and far too clingy.
She didn’t know whether all boyfriends were like that. He was the only one she’d ever dated, so she had nothing to compare him to.
But aside from that, Xie Lan really was good to her.
She never asked about his identity because she always felt that they belonged to two different worlds.
Jiang Wangsheng didn’t know whether she liked him at all. She felt that the tiny bit of affection and trust she had for him was nowhere near as strong as her fear of him.
She’d thought that even if he wasn’t a gentle, refined man, he’d at least be like a normal boyfriend.
But from her perspective, Xie Lan seemed as though he wanted to keep her completely under his control. He never showed such a sick, crazed side in front of her, but the fervor and obsession that slipped out now and then had already frightened her.
She regretted how easily she had agreed to date him that day.
Though she’d grown up in an orphanage and hadn’t met many people, she still knew whether she felt comfortable being with a man.
She didn’t feel comfortable with Xie Lan.
She wanted to break up.
The girl sat beneath the shade of a tree not far from the basketball court, stirring a cup of yogurt in her hand.
She hadn’t tied her hair up, letting it fall over her waist and lap, blending softly with her extraordinarily fair skin. She wore shorts that showed off her long, pale legs. Her cool, clear features were so striking that people kept glancing her way, even though she was doing nothing but sitting there.
“Shengsheng, let’s go watch the department basketball game.”
Lin Yun came over and sat beside her, taking her hand and gently squeezing it.
Lin Yun gazed at those slender, pale fingers. A strange glint flashed in her eyes.
“Shengsheng, what’s wrong?”
She leaned closer, breathing in the faint sweetness of her.
“A-Yun, have you ever had a boyfriend?”
Jiang Wangsheng turned to look at her, uncertain.
Lin Yun froze.
Jiang Wangsheng waited a long time for her to say something, but Lin Yun only tightened her grip on her hand. Jiang Wangsheng knitted her brows slightly and looked at her in confusion.
“A-Yun, you’re hurting me.” At her soft voice, the person beside her immediately came to her senses. Seeing the hand she’d squeezed red, Lin Yun looked flustered.
“I didn’t mean to, Shengsheng. Don’t be mad.”
She let go. The veins stood out on the backs of her hands, and her fingers were long and bony—much larger than Jiang Wangsheng’s, even compared with those of most girls.
Jiang Wangsheng didn’t notice Lin Yun’s gaze growing darker. Lin Yun spoke, her voice noticeably hoarse.
“Shengsheng, do you have a boyfriend?”
Jiang Wangsheng nodded.
She didn’t see the fury surging through Lin Yun’s eyes.
“When… did that happen?”
Jiang Wangsheng rested her chin on her knees and answered casually, “It’s been about four months…”
She said it so casually that Lin Yun felt as if the sky had fallen.
“But… I want to break up.” Jiang Wangsheng turned to her, looking troubled.
The rage that had been boiling inside Lin Yun seemed to ease all at once.
Her eyes trembled. “Oh…”
Lin Yun took her hand again, this time with a little force. Jiang Wangsheng saw it and wondered why Lin Yun always liked doing that…
“So when are you going to tell him?”
“Can you break up with him today?”
Jiang Wangsheng looked at her, puzzled. “A-Yun, I haven’t figured out what to say yet…”
She didn’t even know how to start. And when she pictured Xie Lan, she felt that telling him face-to-face would be terrifying.
Maybe she should just text him, or call?
She took out her phone and opened the messaging app.
Jiang Wangsheng had just replied to him, but now there were more than a dozen new messages. She bit her lip and opened them.
As expected, they were all cloying, lovey-dovey messages. Jiang Wangsheng skimmed for the important part: he wouldn’t come over tonight.
Beside her, Lin Yun’s eyes had already gone bloodshot.
“Kisses… Husband?”
And that shamelessly intimate chat history. Lin Yun gripped the fabric of her pants beneath her, her blood boiling all over.
At least Shengsheng’s reaction was mild.
“Shengsheng, if you’re going to break up with him, ask him to meet and talk it through.”
Lin Yun’s phoenix eyes, usually so clear, now glinted with growing menace as she stared at the screen as if she could bore a hole through it.
Jiang Wangsheng’s heart gave a sudden jolt.
No. No.
Xie Lan would be terrifying.
Jiang Wangsheng shook her head. “Let me think about it some more.”
She was just about to stand when Lin Yun pressed down on her knees. Lin Yun’s large hands rested on her faintly pink knees. A moment later, she felt as though electricity were coursing through her, leaving her tingling all over. She forcibly restrained her hands from gradually pressing harder.
“Shengsheng, why leave something you can do today until tomorrow? Don’t you want to break up?”
Lin Yun didn’t know how that man had tricked her Baby into dating him, and she didn’t care why Shengsheng wanted to break up now.
She just wanted her to break up with him as soon as possible!
She couldn’t believe that in the mere three months she’d been away, another man had tricked her Shengsheng away.
Lin Yun could have kicked herself.
She thought for a moment, then her beautiful eyes brightened as she glanced over at her. “A-Yun, why don’t you teach me what to say?”
Seeing how serious Jiang Wangsheng looked, Lin Yun felt most of her anger fade.
“Okay.”