The room was dark and enclosed, its only light coming from the single door ahead.

The light fell upon his pristine white suit, seeming to coat it in a soft glow.

But Jiang Zheyu had been staring into the darkness for so long that the sight of the glowing white suit was jarring and uncomfortable.

She lowered her gaze slightly, avoiding the piercing light. Her dark hair, damp with sweat, fell forward with the movement of her head.

Si Yu slowly approached and crouched before her. He stroked her cheek, his voice unhurried. "Why is your face covered in so much sweat?"

Jiang Zheyu: ...

’Is he playing dumb? Doesn’t he know what he did to me?’

’He drugged me, so what’s with the questions now?’

Though she thought this, she certainly didn’t have the courage to say it out loud.

Besides, Jiang Zheyu felt that while Si Yu’s tone was light and airy, it carried an undercurrent of madness and gloom beneath its calm surface.

She was furious that he had locked her in a dark room and chained her up, but to avoid further suffering, she decided that discretion was the better part of valor.

Si Yu’s long, slender fingers gently lifted her chin. Unable to resist, he leaned in, his face close to hers, his deep, dark-green eyes fixed on her face.

Jiang Zheyu slowly raised her eyes to meet his. The drug’s effects had made her delicate, beautiful face even more tender and alluring. Her lovely, tea-colored eyes were red-rimmed and soft, her forehead was beaded with sweat, and her hair was plastered in damp strands against her pale skin.

Looking into Si Yu’s deep, dark-green eyes, she quickly blurted out, "I was wrong!"

’Just apologize first.’ ’In reality, she didn’t think she was wrong at all.’

This time, however, Si Yu had no reaction to her words. He simply tightened his grip on her chin, then lowered his head and kissed her cheek.

Jiang Zheyu froze. She felt a cool dampness on her skin, a soft trail across her cheek, like gentle raindrops falling on her face.

Her heart tightened. ’What is he doing? What does it mean to kiss my cheek without saying a word?’

"Liar." His raspy voice uttered the single word.

Jiang Zheyu’s eyes flickered. ’He doesn’t like it when I lie. But he’d like it even less if I told the truth.’

Si Yu bit her lip savagely. The soft, familiar sensation drove him wild and broke his heart all at once.

’How could she lie to him time and time again!’

’Saying she wanted to be with him, that she liked him—it was all lies! The moment anyone else came along, she would leave with them. Where did he even rank in her heart? When she left him, did she even spare him a single thought?!’

Si Yu bit the woman’s lip until it bled, but she didn’t resist or react violently. She even tried to soothe him gently.

’It was always like this. He was always the one being abandoned, yet she always made him feel as if he was number one in her heart.’

The color of his eyes deepened, as did his sorrow.

"Why don’t you struggle?" Si Yu gripped Jiang Zheyu’s chin, his fingers digging in with extreme force as he questioned her coldly. "I dragged you back here, but you don’t resist, you don’t scream, you don’t curse me. What, don’t you miss those Beast Husbands of yours?"

The pressure on Jiang Zheyu’s chin was so intense it felt as if the bone was about to shatter.

’Wait, how could I forget!’

"System, quick, quick, a painkiller!" Jiang Zheyu hastily called out to the System in her mind.

The System quickly administered a painkiller to Jiang Zheyu.

Once the painkiller took effect, Jiang Zheyu indeed felt no more pain.

If it weren’t for the System’s painkiller, Jiang Zheyu wasn’t sure she could have kept up the act while enduring such pain.

She reached out and grasped Si Yu’s wrist, speaking slowly. "Don’t be angry anymore. You’re hurting my chin."

’Even though I can’t feel the pain, what if he actually breaks the bone?’

Jiang Zheyu’s submission and gentleness gave his resentment no outlet.

"You still don’t get it!" Si Yu’s eyes flashed with savagery. He slammed a hand on Jiang Zheyu’s shoulder, lunged forward, and sank his teeth viciously into her neck. His teeth instantly pierced her skin, and blood began to flow, yet the woman didn’t make a sound.

Jiang Zheyu even gently stroked Si Yu’s head and said slowly, "Are you done? Now that you’ve vented, can you let me out of this dark room? It’s really uncomfortable in here."

Still biting Jiang Zheyu’s neck, Si Yu loosened his jaw slightly and asked in a gloomy tone, "Doesn’t it hurt?"

Jiang Zheyu fell silent for a moment. ’The truth is, it doesn’t hurt because I used a painkiller. If I hadn’t, I probably wouldn’t be this calm.’

After all, she could feel the blood trickling down from her neck all the way to her collarbone, so Si Yu’s bite was definitely not light. Thankfully, she’d had the foresight to use a painkiller.

’Otherwise, a bite like that would have made me forget all about acting or being discreet. I’d have just slapped him across the face.’

’But since I’m on painkillers, I don’t feel anything, so I’ll just let him throw his fit.’

"Of course it hurts," Jiang Zheyu said, her voice full of grievance.

Even though she didn’t feel any pain thanks to the painkiller, she still had to put on a show. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

Si Yu’s fingers slowly traced the blood on Jiang Zheyu’s neck and collarbone. He spoke in a low, haunting voice, "Yu Yu, how can you endure so much?"

The cold touch of Si Yu’s fingertips sent a shiver through Jiang Zheyu.

’Endure so much? In reality, I can’t endure anything at all.’

’It’s all thanks to the System that I seem so tolerant.’

"The drug has been in your system for so long. Aren’t you going to beg me to help you?" Si Yu’s cheek brushed against hers, his dark-green pupils reflecting Jiang Zheyu’s sweat-drenched appearance. His eyes were a deep, dark abyss. "Beg me."

It was only then that Jiang Zheyu realized what he meant by her "endurance." ’Oh, he’s talking about the drug’s effect.’

’But it’s not that I can endure it. It’s all the System, it’s all the System!’

’That’s why I don’t feel anything, right?’

But looking at Si Yu now, Jiang Zheyu figured since they had shared a bed before, there was no point in being shy about it.

"I’m begging you!" Jiang Zheyu stared earnestly into Si Yu’s eyes.

"Beg me for what? Be specific," Si Yu said, the corner of his lip curling into a mocking sneer.

Jiang Zheyu paused, her gaze fixed on Si Yu’s face. ’Those words are a little too embarrassing to say out loud.’

"Then what do you want me to beg you for?" Jiang Zheyu looked at Si Yu innocently.

"What do *you* want to beg me for?" Si Yu tossed the question right back at her.

Jiang Zheyu: ...

’This is getting ridiculous.’ Jiang Zheyu was tired of the back-and-forth. This man’s mood was truly impossible to predict.

’Fine, I won’t beg. I’ll just kiss him and see if he dares to refuse.’