A Carefully Planned Confession

The power went out.

Shen Lixu simply stayed at Yan Qingyu's place and did her homework by moonlight.

Soft moonlight spilled across them, and their shadows rested close together.

Yan Qingyu had been acting strangely lately, as if he had something against her new friend.

A pen tapped the back of her hand. Shen Lixu came to her senses and met Yan Qingyu's dark eyes.

He said coldly, "What are you spacing out for?"

Shen Lixu asked, "You don't like him, do you?"

"..."

Yan Qingyu narrowed his eyes. "Were you thinking about him?"

"Huh?"

Yan Qingyu scoffed. "He's terrible at basketball."

"..."

Shen Lixu hesitated.

She hadn't even said who she meant, had she?

- Coming soon: Waiting for His Fever to Break -

After their parents remarried, Ying Jia gained a younger stepbrother, just one year her junior.

Ying Jia carefully disinfected his wound. When the cotton swab touched it, his muscles tensed instinctively.

The boy lowered his lashes, his thin lips pressed together.

Feeling sorry for him, Ying Jia finished wrapping the bandage, opened her arms, and held him close. "We'll be a family."

Lost in her sympathy, she didn't see the boy's Adam's apple bob, or his gaze darken. The hand around her waist trembled with excitement, like a greedy viper anticipating the chance to slowly devour a delicious treat.

-

As family, Ying Xu was beyond reproach. More than a younger brother, he was like an older one: attentive care, constant protection, chasing off the debt collectors who came around drunk, taking care of trouble. He was considerate, patient, practically perfect.

Ying Jia fell for him, confessed her feelings, went to his room late at night, and started seeing him behind their parents' backs.

-

He grew more and more clingy, always looking for a chance to touch her. A brush of his fingertips brought a searing heat, leaving recurring red marks on her waist.

He wanted her often and intensely. His irresistible grip pinned her wrists as he kissed and licked her neck, like a beast marking what belonged to him.

Ying Jia was frightened. Carefully, she suggested they go back to being siblings as they had been at first.

Ying Xu looked at her quietly, then smiled and agreed.

Ying Jia thought that was the end of it. Who could have guessed Ying Xu was even more messed up than she thought?

Theme: Stand on your own and embrace a better version of yourself