The morning sun rose, but it brought no warmth to Jow’s trembling frame as he walked through the heavy school corridor.
He kept his head firmly hung low, his long bangs carefully adjusted to hide the faint purple marks left on his jaw from yesterday’s brutal ordeal in the dark laboratory.
His small body felt stiff, and his skin was abnormally pale under the fluorescent school lights.
Every step felt like walking on glass, but Jow forced his tired legs forward, his fingers tightly gripping his notebook against his flat chest.
He was an exceptionally handsome, soft-spoken boy, and even in his broken state, his ethereal innocence still managed to draw soft, protective glances from several passing junior classmates.
From the very back bench, Teng merely stared at him in absolute silence, his dark eyes tracking Jow’s fragile silhouette, but he didn’t initiate any attack today, keeping a dangerous composure.When the final school bell finally rang at 4:30 PM, Jow packed his heavy backpack and practically rushed out of the room, heading straight toward ‘The Daily Fresh’ supermarket.
He quickly changed into his green employee apron, stepping onto the brightly lit floor for his very first night cashier shift behind register number three.
Jow was nervous, but the moment the evening rush of busy shoppers began, his natural, soft-spoken politeness took over.
Every time a customer approached, Jow offered an incredibly sweet, humble smile and spoke with a gentle respect that warmed everyone’s hearts.
His breathtaking, fragile beauty combined with his unmatched manners instantly became a sensation inside the store.
Elderly shoppers patted his hands, and busy parents smiled warmly, completely charmed by the new handsome cashier boy.By 8:00 PM, an unbelievable phenomenon occurred.
Word had quickly spread around the neighborhood about the exceptionally beautiful and polite boy at register number three, and shoppers were deliberately bypassing other counters just to stand in Jow’s line.
The entire mall’s sales skyrocketed within hours, the registers ringing continuously.
Seeing the massive influx of customers and the unprecedented sales boost, the store manager,Mr.
Harris, walked up to Jow’s counter with a wide, proud smile.
He was holding a large, neatly wrapped box.
“You did an outstanding job today, Jow.
The entire mall is thriving because of your wonderful behavior,” Mr.
Harris praised warmly.
“I noticed your school uniform was ruined yesterday, so I bought this for you as a bonus.” Jow opened the box to find a brand new, high-quality school dress uniform.
A profound sense of relief and pure happiness washed over his heart, a genuine smile lighting up his pale face.
He was finally succeeding in protecting his dream.Meanwhile, miles away in a high-end, luxury private estate, a completely different conversation was taking place inside a grand, dimly lit study room.
Teng was leaning back against a leather sofa, lazily swirling a glass of expensive drink, his dark eyes reflecting the flickering glow of the fireplace.
Sitting across from him was his older brother, a cold, powerful young man who managed a significant portion of their family’s massive corporate dynasty.
His brother looked up from his tablet, a calculating smirk on his face as he looked at Teng.
“Ray sent me a report today.
You seem unusually obsessed with that new penniless transfer student, Teng.
You even trapped him in the old lab yesterday.
Why waste your time on a nobody?”Teng let out a low, dangerous chuckle, a dark smile cutting through the dimness of the room as he set his glass down on the marble table.
He leaned forward, his handsome features turning incredibly cold and possessive.
“You don’t understand, brother,” Teng whispered, his voice laced with a sinister, dark satisfaction.
“There is something about Jow’s innocent face that drives me insane.
Watching him tremble, seeing those large eyes fill up with pure terror while he refuses to break…
it’s intoxicating.
I swear, brother, I love tormenting him more than anything else in this world.
Breaking his quiet spirit is the most entertaining game I’ve ever played, and I haven’t even started yet.” His brother grinned coldly, nodding in approval as they began to meticulously discuss new, powerful ways to torment Jow at school tomorrow, entirely blind to the fact that their prey was currently smiling miles away, holding his new uniform.Mr.
Harris patted Jow’s shoulder affectionately, noticing how the young boy’s eyes filled with a soft, watery sheen of absolute gratitude.
“Take it, Jow.
You’ve earned every bit of it.
A polite, hardworking boy like you deserves to wear the best uniform in that prestigious academy,” the manager added before walking back to his office.
Jow held the cardboard box tightly against his chest, feeling its solid weight melt away the freezing coldness that had settled in his bones since that horrific experience in the abandoned school storage room.
For the first time in what felt like an eternity, a genuine, radiant smile illuminated his pale features,highlighting his breathtaking, ethereal beauty.
He realized that his silent endurance was finally paying off; he was successfully generating enough income to secure his grandmother’s vital heart medication while protecting his educational dreams, all through his own dignity and honest labor.Meanwhile, miles away from the bright, comforting reality of the supermarket, an entirely different and sinister atmosphere filled a grand, dimly lit study room inside a heavily guarded, luxury private estate.
The room was choked with the rich scent of mahogany and expensive leather, the crackling fireplace casting long, distorted orange shadows across the walls.
Teng was leaning deeply back against a velvet sofa, lazily swirling a crystal glass of an expensive dark drink, the ice cubes clinking with a sharp, cold rhythm.
Sitting across from him at a massive oak desk was his older brother, a cold, calculative young man whose ruthless business strategies managed a significant portion of their family’s multi-billion corporate dynasty.
His older brother looked up from a glowing tablet screen, a critical, amused smirk playing on his sharp lips as his gaze fixed onto Teng’s unusually quiet form.”Ray sent a very interesting encrypted report to my security team this afternoon, Teng,” his older brother spoke, his voice dripping with an authoritative, patronizing tone.
“He says you’ve been completely distracted for the past forty-eight hours because of a penniless, weak transfer student named Jow.
You even went as far as dragging him into the abandoned chemistry lab and ordered your boys to drench him in filth during the autumn festival today.
Why are you wasting your valuable time and our family’s immense influence on a complete nobody?” His brother leaned forward, crossing his arms on the desk, waiting for an explanation.
To their elite circle, messing around with lower-class scholarship students was seen as a trivial, beneath-their-status distraction that yielded no financial or social power.Teng let out a low, dangerously calm chuckle that resonated chillingly through the quiet room.
He slowly set his crystal glass down onto the black marble coffee table, his handsome features instantly twisting into an incredibly cold, possessive expression that bordered on obsession.
“You don’t understand it yet, brother,” Teng whispered, his voice laced with a dark, terrifying sense of satisfaction that made the air in the room feel heavy.
“There is an intoxicating quality about Jow’s innocent face that completely drives me insane.
He looks so fragile, like a glass doll that would shatter under a single touch, yet his spirit is entirely different.
When I look into those large, pure eyes, I see a quiet, unbreakable resolve that stubbornly refuses completely bow down to my absolute authority.”Teng stood up, walking slowly toward the large panoramic window that overlooked the dark, sprawling city below, his reflection looking like a phantom in the glass.
“Watching him tremble under my grip, seeing those beautiful eyes fill up with pure terror while he desperately tries to hold back his tears…
it gives me a rush of power that nothing else can replicate,” Teng continued, his fingers tracing the cold windowpane with a systematic, chilling fixation.
“Breaking his quiet spirit, stripping away that fragile dignity piece by piece until he has nothing left but to beg for my mercy—it is the most entertaining, thrilling game I have ever played in my entire life.
And the best part is, brother, I haven’t even officially started playing with him yet.
This is just the prologue.”His older brother grinned coldly, highly amused by Teng’s ruthless, predatory nature, which perfectly aligned with their family’s bloodline of dominating everything they desired.
The two brothers then sat together under the dim light, meticulously discussing new, powerful ways to mentally torture and corner Jow at school tomorrow, completely utilizing their vast wealth to ensure the boy would have absolutely no escape route.
They remained entirely blind to the profound irony that miles away, their beautiful prey was currently standing under the bright supermarket lights, holding his brand-new uniform with a hopeful smile, completely unaware of the massive, dark storm that was brewing to swallow his fragile world whole.”And as the fire in the fireplace flickered out, Teng’s brother leaned back with a sinister smile, whispering, ‘Then let’s make sure tomorrow at school, his little paradise turns into a living hell.'”