During her brief fainting spell, the storyline automatically flooded her mind, filling in the blurred character names.

It was as if a book had been placed before her, with the notorious villain’s name glaring prominently before her eyes

Shen Yanli.

Lin Zhiyu: …

By the time they returned to the Shen residence, night had deepened. The villa was still lit, with cobblestones paving the path from the main gate.

Inside, the radiant Starry Sky Crystal Chandelier suspended from the high ceiling cast a warm glow, its crystals clear and sparkling, scattering brilliant colors throughout the room.

“Aren’t we sleeping separately?”

In the bedroom dominated by gray and cold tones, Lin Zhiyu looked at the room’s furnishings and then at Shen Yanli, their eyes meeting in mutual bewilderment.

Knowing full well that she still held hostility toward him, how dare he share the same room?

Yet the man’s nonchalant expression seemed genuinely unconcerned.

Lin Zhiyu raised her eyes to him: “Aren’t you afraid?”

Shen Yanli leaned lazily against the doorframe, arms crossed, and replied: “What should I be afraid of?”

“We’re in a hostile relationship now. Aren’t you afraid I might wield a knife in the middle of the night while sharing a bed with you?”

The man chuckled softly at her words. With an air of calm indifference, he pondered her threat for a moment before gently countering: “Would you?”

“You can test it.” Lin Zhiyu raised an eyebrow slightly and let out a cold laugh.

What kind of talk was that? It was hard to say with one swift move of her hand, she could end it all and go straight home.

No wonder he had been so dismissive on the steps earlier.

She had openly declared in front of the villain that she intended to eliminate him, and yet the villain had responded with composure.

He hadn’t lost his temper on the spot could it be that the marriage certificate was having an effect?

Shen Yanli looked down at her, his clear, beautiful eyes holding a spark of anger, like a kitten puffing up, ready to bite at any moment.

His eyes brimmed with amusement. He wanted to tease her but had no intention of truly provoking her. Tilting his chin slightly, he gestured toward the distance: “There are still some unresolved issues at home. I’ll deal with them as soon as possible. Don’t worry, I’ll stay on the sofa. Once it’s late and everyone’s gone, I’ll move to the study.”

Lin Zhiyu followed his gaze. A gray glass partition separated two areas, with the sofa hidden behind it. Unlike the soft yellow lighting in the bedroom, the floating linear lights in the lounge area were much brighter.

Beyond the lounge was the circular balcony, where lace curtains fluttered in the wind. Standing at the bedroom door, she could faintly feel the cool breeze.

If not for the extreme cold color palette, this would be the exact image of her dream home.

Shen Yanli was still leaning against the doorframe, waiting for her response. His head was slightly tilted, and the golden light cast ambiguous shadows across his face, accentuating his flawless features beneath his brows.

Lin Zhiyu stared at him, carefully considering how feasible this arrangement was. Shen Yanli, however, remained lazily indifferent, meeting her probing gaze openly without the slightest change in expression.

She sighed softly: “Fine.”

Times had changed, and it seemed this was the only way.

The villain’s current situation was one of secretly competing with the Shen family and Shen Jun.

No wonder Shen Jun hadn’t seemed pleased about their marriage could it be that some deal had been struck and Shen Yanli had fulfilled it?

! It couldn’t be the marriage, could it!

Lin Zhiyu firmly believed in her own speculation.

It must be.

Damn, then her life in the Shen family wouldn’t be easy either.

Lin Zhiyu tossed and turned in bed.

Shen Yanli kept his word. After the lights in the bedroom went out, he slid the glass door shut, completely separating the two spaces.

The incandescent light filtered through the rippled glass, reflecting the blurred silhouette of a man on the sofa. One hand rested casually on his leg, his long fingers gliding over the laptop touchpad.

In the silence, faint clicks of keyboard keys could be heard. Lin Zhiyu turned over, staring absently at the flickering shadow on the screen.

It was hard to imagine that the story’s utterly wicked antagonist was actually an elegant and refined nobleman. Compared to Shen Yanli, the character of Lu Yuchen seemed far more fitting for the role of the villain no wonder she had mistaken his identity at first.

But then again, male-oriented novels were full of twists. Perhaps Lu Yuchen’s frivolous demeanor was just an act, a disguise to throw others off guard.

Thinking this way, it might have been that very playboy facade that lulled Shen Yanli into lowering his guard, only to be ambushed by the wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Resting her head on the back of her hand, Lin Zhiyu couldn’t help but grow fearful of her own predicament.

By marrying Shen Yanli, she had unknowingly been cast into a faction. The book never detailed the fate of the antagonist’s wife, but it wasn’t hard to guess it wouldn’t end well.

Ji Xianlin must have misunderstood her relationship with Lu Yuchen. The sensation of choking on water earlier was still vivid in her mind.

No, no she had to clear things up.

Sighing in resignation at the thought, she noticed the figure behind the glass door seemed to sense something. He turned his head, glancing toward the room beyond the glass.

Startled, Lin Zhiyu yanked the covers over her head in a fluster.

Peeking out from under the quilt, she saw no reaction from beyond the glass. He didn’t seem to have noticed anything unusual and had returned to his work.

Relieved, she flopped heavily back onto the pillow, silently screaming, “It’s over, it’s all over!”

Marrying him was a problem, but not marrying him was no solution either.

Why didn’t you just push me into the water earlier? Now we’re married today can we get divorced tomorrow?

In the novel, the antagonist’s wife was only briefly mentioned with the phrase “died young,” brushed aside in a single line.

How could she possibly die young?

Lin Zhiyu punched the mattress in frustration and resolved, “No, I can’t just sit around waiting for disaster. I have to find a chance to explain, or I’ll die without even knowing why.”

The roar of thunder and rain filled the air. Beyond the glass door, all was dark, save for the occasional flash of blinding lightning.

In this unfamiliar environment, Lin Zhiyu had expected to lie awake all night. Yet, when she woke again, she realized she had slept soundly for three hours.

Rubbing her temples, her head felt heavy. Finally awake, she checked her phone it was already 1 a.m.

Outside, lightning still flashed and thunder rumbled.

Her lips were painfully dry. Using her phone’s flashlight to guide her, she felt her way downstairs.

The first floor was empty. A wall lamp near the staircase cast a dim light, leaving the entire villa eerily silent, as if shrouded in gloom.

The two-story floor-to-ceiling windows amplified the horror of the moonless, windy night.

Holding onto the handrail, she made her way down, grabbed a glass from the kitchen island, and poured herself some water.

A flash of lightning illuminated a terrifying scene, jolting her fully awake. She couldn’t help but mutter, “Is this a male-oriented novel or a horror movie?”

Though she had never believed in such things, the atmosphere made her imagination run wild.

Glancing around, the sinister ambiance sent shivers down her spine. Without finishing her water, she hastily set the glass down. “Forget it, forget it. My life is more important.”

A deafening clap of thunder struck abruptly, accompanied by a man’s piercing scream of pain: “Ah ”

As if deliberately timed, it followed right after the thunder, barely noticeable if one didn’t listen closely.

Raindrops beat against the floor-to-ceiling window, streaks of water sliding down the glass. A flash of white light crossed the sky, and the damp, heavy air pressed down like a foreboding threat.

The sound came from behind the staircase, and if one listened carefully, faint, intermittent murmurs of conversation could still be heard.

Lin Zhiyu gently set down her water glass. Leaning against the wall, she craned her neck to peer further, her nerves twitching with each flash of lightning as suppressed sobs drifted in and out.

Her heart pounded violently, as if it might burst from her chest and plunge into the darkness. Pressing her palm against her chest, Lin Zhiyu tried to calm her racing heart and restrain her unbearable curiosity.

The torrential rain outside seemed to urge her toward the source of the sound. Her steps moved almost involuntarily, as if guided by some unseen force, until she found herself behind the staircase.

It was a basement, concealed by a storage cabinet. Pushing open the slightly ajar door, she was met with a narrow set of steps.

Guided by the sounds, she moved forward step by step. A sliver of light seeped through the poorly shut door, faintly illuminating the dim corridor.

Lin Zhiyu paused at the doorway, leaning against the wall as a sudden thought struck her.

This scene felt all too familiar.

Wasn’t this the classic scenario where the protagonist just had to sneak a peek, only to get caught red-handed?

Her lips twitched, and she couldn’t help but silently muse, “Can’t blame them if I were in their shoes, I’d be tempted too.”

“Ugh… ah ”

“I was wrong, Little Director Shen, I was really wrong. Please let me go, okay? I know Little Director Lu’s secret. Spare me this once, and I’ll tell you everything, I swear.”

In the confined space, the pleas for mercy were amplified several times over. There must have been an open window in the room, as the sound of the wind carried into the hallway, sending a chill down Lin Zhiyu’s spine.

After half a minute of internal struggle over the age-old dilemma of whether to stay or leave, she ultimately couldn’t resist her curiosity and let her gaze drift through the crack in the door.

A man was kneeling on the ground, his legs bent beneath him. The room was lit by a red glow, casting everything in a dim, murky light. It was impossible to tell whether the dark pool around him was water or blood. The figure in power sat with his legs crossed, half of his face obscured by the door, making it difficult for her to see clearly.

A baseball bat extended from behind the door, tracing a line along the man’s leg. Though blindfolded, the man seemed to sense it. He scrambled forward in panic, kowtowing and begging for mercy before the seated figure.

“Too late.”

A voice that was both familiar and strange.

Lin Zhiyu froze. It was Shen Yanli’s voice.

She didn’t know why she was shocked this was his villa, after all. Who else could it be?

Shen Yanli tilted his chin up slightly, the sole of his shoe pressing down on the man’s slumped shoulder. His eyes were hidden in the shadows of the dim light, his expression inscrutable, radiating an undisguised sense of aggression.

The sole of his shoe ground into the man’s torn wound. Trembling, the man pressed his face against the floor, whimpering in pain.

“Yang Lin, President Shen treated you well. It’s rather tasteless of you to act this way.”

“The Ji’an Project is a massive undertaking, and you handed it over without a word. Did you ever stop to think about the consequences of betraying President Shen?”

The baseball bat slid up the man’s spine, coming to rest with a few light taps on his head. The man shuddered even more violently. “No, no… President Shen, I beg you, let me go. I know, I know…”

“Your aunt isn’t dead yet. Lu Yuchen has her hidden away in a nursing home. She didn’t… she didn’t die back then…”

“Old President Shen, should we… bring her back?”

He stammered through the words, yet they plunged everyone present into silence. All eyes converged on Shen Yanli, but he remained unmoved, as if this matter wasn’t shocking enough to warrant any reaction from him.

His long fingers curled and lightly tapped on his thigh, his voice hoarse and devoid of inflection: “Even a life at stake can’t make the information you offer any more valuable.”

At these words, two burly men hidden behind the door hauled Yang Lin up from the floor. His arms were wrenched behind his back, his legs dragging limply across the floorboards.

The man in power lifted his chin slightly, as if delivering his final verdict. A baseball bat was raised high, aimed at the back of the head. Lin Zhiyu covered her mouth in terror.

Shen Yanli’s amused expression faltered as his gaze shifted to the door crack, where a pair of clear, bright eyes stood out starkly.

Her face was pale, her eyes clouded with fear. The crimson light cast across her features made her resemble a rabbit that had stumbled into a tiger’s den panicked and helpless. Upon realizing she’d been discovered, she fled in disarray.

Lin Zhiyu ran all the way to the bedroom and locked the door behind her. Weakly, she collapsed by the bed, resting her forehead on her arm as she gasped for breath.

Her heart continued to pound wildly. Even in the bedroom, the scene from the basement replayed violently in her mind. Her hands and feet turned icy, and she trembled uncontrollably.

Just as her breathing began to steady, the soft touch of the bedsheet against her skin made her hairs stand on end. She immediately snapped to awareness, pushed herself up, and headed for the door.

This was Shen Yanli’s villa after all. Hiding in the bedroom would be futile.

The thought of that baseball bat soon pointing at her head sent shivers through her entire body.

The basement scene remained vivid in her mind she couldn’t let her life end like this here.

She still had to go home. She never should have trusted the words of such a villain. He put on a respectable front, but who knew he could be so brutal in private.

The lock clicked as Lin Zhiyu turned the handle downward. The moment the door opened, a horizontal arm blocked her path, pressed against the door panel. A faint scent of cedarwood wafted over, lingering at the tip of her nose.

Caught off guard, she tried to slam the door shut, but it was too late. Shen Yanli braced the door with one hand. The disparity in strength between men and women was too great; she couldn’t hold it. Reflexively, she let go, and the door panel smacked against the wall.

He advanced slowly, step by step, closing the distance between them in an instant. The cedarwood fragrance grew stronger at her nostrils.

The room outside was dim, and the man’s figure enveloped her entirely. His shadowed gaze fell upon her, making her instinctively retreat.

“Where are you going?” His eyes were deep and intense, pressing closer.

“Where? I’m going home, where else…”

Lin Zhiyu swallowed, fear invading every part of her. Avoiding Shen Yanli’s gaze, she gauged the distance to the door, took a deep breath, and mustered all her strength to dash toward it.

Before she could reach the doorway, an arm wrapped around her waist and lifted her. Her legs dangling in the air, she flailed and reached out to grab his shoulders in her panic.

“What are you doing? What are you doing?” she cried out in alarm, struggling incessantly as terror swept through her. “Let’s talk this through. Put me down, put me down first.”

Shen Yanli’s steps remained steady, completely unperturbed by Lin Zhiyu’s struggles.

“If you’re already thinking of running away like this, how can we possibly talk things through properly?” Shen Yanli’s voice was low, unmoved by her resistance.

After a dizzying spell, Lin Zhiyu was thrown onto the bed. She struggled to get up but was harshly dragged back.

Her straight long hair cascaded across the sheets, her slender figure trembling slightly. His arm braced beside her ear, pressing forward.

Their heated breaths mingled. Propping herself up on her elbows, Lin Zhiyu inched backward across the mattress.

A large hand cupped the back of her head, cutting off her retreat. With deliberate pressure, he tilted her face upward until Shen Yanli’s breath fanned across her skin. Her breath hitched, heart racing uncontrollably.

“What did you see?” he asked.

Lin Zhiyu trembled, too terrified to answer. This version of Shen Yanli was frighteningly unfamiliar his stern interrogation made her feel as if she were the one kneeling on the basement floor.

“I…”

Her nerves were stretched taut, mind blank. She couldn’t even formulate a response. Shen Yanli’s cold expression loomed before her, his demeanor suggesting that one wrong answer would bring the baseball bat crashing against her face.

Long fingers brushed aside stray strands of her hair, twirling them thoughtfully. He paused, tone teasing. “Haven’t thought of an answer yet?”

“N-nothing… I didn’t see anything?” she stammered.

“Didn’t see anything…” His fingers stilled, eyebrows lifting slightly as a knowing smile played on his lips. “Good girl. You know what should and shouldn’t be said.”

The oppressive atmosphere vanished instantly. Shen Yanli tapped her left cheek with his knuckles. “Be good, understand?”

No catastrophe had ensued as she’d feared. Stiffly, Lin Zhiyu nodded at the contact.

Shen Yanli straightened up, chuckling softly at her reaction. “Scared?”

She scrambled to the far side of the bed, pressing her back against the headboard as she watched him warily.

Clearly, she was.

The tyrant casually crossed his long legs and sat at the foot of the bed, the distance between them now vast as a galaxy.

He suddenly asked, “Will you betray me too?”

Lin Zhiyu froze. On guard, she forced out the lie: “No.”

“No?” He lowered his head in contemplation.

She had no idea what he was scheming. A rabbit caught by a wolf with fresh prey before him she refused to believe he had no ill intentions.

Was he tenderizing her slowly like simmering rabbit meat?

No, no her life was at stake. She had to escape this place eventually.

“Do you know what happens to those who betray me?” Shen Yanli leaned close again, his tailored trousers brushing her calf. Bracing a hand behind her, he whispered near her ear: “They end up just like him…”

His thumb traced her eyelid, icy fingertips sketching her brow. Terrified, Lin Zhiyu nodded repeatedly. “I won’t, I won’t!”

He smiled, apparently satisfied with her answer.

“Go take a shower.”

Lin Zhiyu stared in disbelief. “What?”

A shower? Was he preparing to dissect the rabbit already?

He tugged at her collar, the damp basement odor wafting from her clothes. His expression twisted in distaste. “Filthy.”

How was she filthy?!

Lin Zhiyu gritted her teeth, anger simmering beneath her silence.

Shen Yanli leaned against the bathroom doorway, as if doubting she’d obey.

She glared at him, but he remained unmoved.

What kind of man loitered outside while a woman showered?

Click the lock slid shut.

He glanced at the frosted glass door and chuckled softly.

The sound of running water echoed. He retreated consciously. Outside, rain hammered down. Standing before the door, he gazed into the distance, lost in distant memories.

Flickering white light cast shifting illumination across her face, her features blending into the darkness while her eyes remained exceptionally clear.

The sound of running water gradually faded unnoticed as thicker mist surged from the room. The young woman emerged while rubbing her damp hair, first casting a wary glance toward the doorway before seeming to relax upon finding no one there.

Silhouetted against the light, her figure was outlined by layers of cascading white gauze that traced her graceful curves slender waist and delicate legs, like Venus emerging from her bath, breathtakingly beautiful.

Shen Yanli’s breath caught as he slowly unfastened his wrist cuff.

Waiting for the rabbit by the tree stump

He paused.

Waiting for the rabbit in the room this was indeed not a favorable expression.

💝 Support the Team

soowe05

✍️ Translator

💙 PayPal