It was clearly such an intimate scene.
Such a gentle tone of voice.
Lin Jiujiu bit her lip, not even daring to cry anymore. Goosebumps rose across her back, and her fingertips and toes instantly turned cold.
Shen Huan had sent someone to follow her!
Or rather, he had been monitoring her!
He had clearly told her not to come looking for him unless something happened, but in reality, he had already laid out a trap—a trap waiting for her to walk right into it.
Lin Jiujiu did not want to die.
She was afraid of pain, and she cherished her life.
Her already sweet voice grew even softer with her sobs. As if struggling, she reached out and clutched Shen Huan’s shirt collar, raising her face and murmuring, “It’s not like that. I only went to see Aunt He.”
Shen Huan lowered his eyes to look at her hand. “Oh?”
“I—I don’t have a mother.” The young woman cried so hard that she occasionally sniffled between words, making her explanation sound all the more sincere. “Aunt He watched me grow up. She was worried about me, so she asked me to come over for dinner. I didn’t know Gu Wenhe would be there too.”
Shen Huan gave a quiet “oh,” his questioning tone devoid of emotion. “You don’t have a mother?”
Lin Jiujiu stated firmly, “I really don’t. I only have a stepmother! She’s not good to me at all, and my father isn’t good to me either. Only Aunt He treats me well.”
Shen Huan smiled.
His eyes narrowed as he continued staring at Lin Jiujiu.
That terrifying, sharp sense of oppression still lingered around them. A sinister chill clung to her body, and his hand remained wrapped around her neck. Lin Jiujiu was so nervous that she could barely breathe.
Half a minute later, Shen Huan’s hand moved upward. He gently smoothed her hair, his voice so sweet it sounded almost flirtatious. “Why are you crying so hard? Are you very afraid of me?”
Lin Jiujiu was frantically nodding inside, but in reality, she only sniffled twice and shook her head. “No.”
The muscles in her trembling legs finally relaxed a little.
She had probably survived this ordeal.
“No?”
Shen Huan was still looking at her with a smile. He gently wiped away her tears. “If you’re not afraid, then why are you crying?”
Lin Jiujiu was on the verge of a mental breakdown.
She cried and laughed at the same time. “I’m not crying. Sob… I just got a stone in my eye.”
“All right.” Shen Huan ruffled her hair, then stepped away from her and switched on the living room lights. He turned back with a smile playing at his lips. “I wasn’t implying that I suspected you. I was only worried that you had disappeared. You wouldn’t misunderstand, would you?”
Lin Jiujiu’s eyes, the tip of her nose, and her lips were all red. She huddled pitifully behind the door, shaking her head like a rattle drum. “I didn’t misunderstand.”
As if she believed that.
That lunatic was absolutely threatening her.
“Oh, and one more thing.” Shen Huan picked up his glasses from the coffee table and put them on. His gaze was cool and listless as he sat there with elegant, noble poise, making it impossible to tell that he had looked so sinister in the darkness earlier. “Since I couldn’t get in touch with you, I found a way to open the door to your home. You don’t mind, do you?”
Lin Jiujiu once again transformed into a human rattle drum. Her legs weak, she moved away from the door and said, “I don’t mind.”
Her life was practically hanging by a thread.
And he was worried about whether she minded him using a key.
Sob.
“Good. It’s getting late, too.”
Shen Huan stood up. Lin Jiujiu lowered her head and held her breath, waiting for him to say goodbye.
Instead, those leather shoes came closer and closer. The man’s voice, barely suppressing his amusement, sounded above her head. “It’s our wedding night. We should sleep together.”
Lin Jiujiu’s legs were already weak, and she promptly dropped to her knees again.
Sleep together? What exactly did he mean by “sleep together”?
The tears she had finally managed to stop came spilling down again. Her lashes fluttered as she struggled to get up, but perhaps she was too frightened—she simply could not muster any strength.
Shen Huan narrowed his eyes as he looked at her.
He knew perfectly well that he was not a good person. There were indeed many people who feared him.
But Lin Jiujiu was different.
The Lin Jiujiu of the past had been extremely arrogant in the Shen family, acting as though she were above everyone else. He had no interest in people who thought themselves clever, much less any desire to keep one by his side.
But now?
Now this little thing was as timid as a turtle. Teasing her was unexpectedly amusing.
He watched as Lin Jiujiu tried and failed to get up with her hands and feet. Her hair was piled messily around her head, and that destructive impulse of his maliciously began to surface again.
But this time, he suppressed it.
If he played too roughly, he might really end up killing her.
He kindly pulled her up, gathered her into his arms, and lifted her, asking with concern, “What’s wrong, Madam?”
He called her that so naturally that Lin Jiujiu shuddered again. She instinctively grabbed his clothing and hurriedly shook her head. “N-Nothing. Sob…”
“Good, as long as nothing’s wrong.” He clasped her wrist. His tone was gentle, but his actions allowed no argument. “Upstairs.”
Lin Jiujiu was dragged upstairs and into the bedroom, her backside sticking out as she clung to the doorframe and muttered, “Um… I’m not very convenient today…”
Shen Huan was forced to stop pulling her into the room. He turned his head and asked, “What do you mean, not convenient?”
“I—I’m on my period.” Lin Jiujiu pretended to cover her stomach. “What bad timing.”
Shen Huan saw through her little ploy at a glance, but for the moment, he simply did not expose her. Narrowing his eyes, he nodded. “Your health comes first. We can talk about the rest another day.”
When it came to his prey, he had always preferred to torment them slowly.
It would not do to scare her away all at once.
Only then did Lin Jiujiu breathe a sigh of relief, though she remained nervous, afraid that Shen Huan might go back on his word.
Fortunately, Shen Huan seemed to have genuinely discovered a conscience. Though they slept in the same bed, the night passed in silence, and neither of them interfered with the other.
…
Shen Huan was a light sleeper. The next morning, he was kicked awake by a leg lying across his chest.
He stared silently for a moment at the pale, jade-like foot just five centimeters from his face, a dull ache beginning to spread through his head.
She had been so frightened of him the night before that she had cried, yet by morning, she had already climbed onto his head in such a bizarre position.
He propped himself up, his gaze falling on Lin Jiujiu’s face.
The tear marks had not yet faded from the young woman’s face. Her complexion was rosy, and her breathing was light and even. She looked as obedient as could be.
Shen Huan found himself somewhat impressed that she could sleep so peacefully beside someone who had nearly killed her.
Lin Jiujiu woke up another three hours later, by which time Shen Huan was already gone.
She had not eaten her fill at the Gu family’s home the previous night, and hunger made her feel miserable. Still groggy and dizzy, she climbed out of bed, washed up, and planned to go to the kitchen to find something to eat.
However, as soon as she reached the bottom of the stairs, she saw four or five muscular men dressed as bodyguards standing in the living room, all listening respectfully to the person seated on the sofa.
She could only see his back. He leaned lazily against the sofa, looking somewhat absent-minded yet irresistibly alluring. From a distance, there even seemed to be a hint of gentle, scholarly refinement about him.
Lin Jiujiu froze for a moment, and a thought suddenly passed through her mind.
Shen Huan had probably not stayed the night on a whim. It seemed more likely that he had been testing her.
Testing whether she still harbored the same murderous intent toward him as before.
If she had done anything at all, she probably would not have lived to see the sun today.
Only then did she belatedly glance outside.
Amazing. She had survived another day.
Before she could figure out how to sneak into the kitchen, the doorbell rang.
A man in a perfectly tailored suit stood outside. He looked like a secretary.
Lin Jiujiu did not move.
Neither did the bodyguards.
After a moment, Shen Huan let out a half-laugh and said, “Jiujiu, you have a visitor.”