Devoted to Him Until Death

[Complete] | @That Pigeon Crossing

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Cool and detached x dark and obsessive

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After Liang Sui finally got together with the man she had pursued, she began to feel that a pair of eyes was watching her from the shadows.

Whenever they embraced or kissed, that tangible gaze seemed to pierce right through her.

-

Liang Sui had never meant to get involved with Chen Jibai. He was a renowned scion of an illustrious family at Jing University, an almost godlike figure whom countless men and women pursued.

When her boyfriend accidentally offended him at a party, she hurried to the scene and declared that she would drink the punishment liquor with her boyfriend. A crowd of young masters surrounded her, joking that her boyfriend must have done something incredible to win such a lucky girl.

Then Chen Jibai spoke from the corner of the sofa, and the whole room fell silent. His unwavering stare made Liang Sui's back turn cold. "You're really good to your boyfriend."

Later, Liang Sui faced that kind of gaze more than once: naked, burning, and so direct it seemed ready to devour her.

She told herself she was imagining it.

But before long, she caught her boyfriend cheating with her own eyes.

With alcohol numbing her senses and her head spinning, Chen Jibai pulled her into his arms.

As she trembled with grief, he smiled and asked, "So who's your boyfriend now?"

Behind her was an unfaithful boyfriend. In front of her was a lowlife taking advantage of her vulnerability.

He said he liked her and asked if she would go out with him.

-

The two of them, worlds apart, began a romance that everyone knew about.

Just as Liang Sui thought she was only using him against her conscience, she realized that Chen Jibai had been scheming around her from beginning to end.

When she realized she had let things get out of hand, Liang Sui fled home in a panic.

In the cramped, dim stairwell, Chen Jibai was already waiting outside her door. He knew the exact floor and apartment number.

He advanced step by step, like a savage, violent beast, his eerily calm voice carrying a touch of madness. "I thought that if I acted sweet and did whatever you wanted, like that idiot, you'd like me and show me a little pity and kindness."

He gazed at her, making her tremble with fear. "But now you don't even want to lie to me anymore."

Trembling all over, Liang Sui shook her head wildly and said she wanted to break up.

He spread his lips in a smile and gripped the back of her neck, as if the slightest pressure would make it shatter. His expression was half amused, half mocking.

"Liang Sui, you don't get to call it quits."

"From now on, you'll love me. If you don't know how, you'll learn."

*Synopsis written on October 6, 2024

*Imperfect characters

-- Coming soon: Greed --

Ruan Ling had lived under the Qi family's roof for over a decade. Everyone knew she was barely a legitimate member of the family, and an outsider despised by the young master of the Qi family.

Qi Fan had been meticulously groomed as the heir. Enrichment classes, specialized lessons, international competitions: he was celebrated and renowned. Ruan Ling, on the other hand, was neglected and all but invisible.

When she was at school, she followed behind Qi Fan. He blocked her from getting into the family car, his icy voice cutting like a blade. "Don't follow me. I'm not taking you with me."

Though they lived under the same roof, their statuses were worlds apart. One was a favored son of heaven, living amid endless praise, while the other was an obscure girl from the maternal side of the family.

Ruan Ling did her best to play her part, hoping that one day she could leave the Qi family and escape that cold face that never welcomed her.

She never imagined his indifference was only a disguise for the ugliness beneath.

She vaguely remembered that summer after the college entrance exams. Her exemplary older brother knocked on her door and gave her a dog collar as a graduation present.

The collar was around his own neck, and he forced the chain into her hand.

She trembled in shock, shaking her head in refusal, tears welling in her eyes.

He pinned her down by force. The aloof, upright image he maintained gave way to a feverish, twisted fervor in his eyes. "Didn't you say your big brother was a dog?"

"Then this puppy can be your graduation present."

The silver chain jingled, numbing her senses.

"Do you like it?"

-

Only later did Qi Fan discover that the sweet little sister who affectionately called him Big Brother in front of their parents would hide away and curse him hysterically as a "pervert," a "horny dog," and "disgusting."

Somehow, he found a sick pleasure in the title he had once hated.

He began forcing her to call him that.

Theme: It's never too late to turn back.