Bzz, bzz, bzz—
A fair, soft little hand struggled out from the messy silk blanket, blindly fumbling toward the sound. With a smack like swatting a fly, she turned off the alarm clock.
But the device didn't seem to plan on giving up that easily.
Less than a minute later, the vibrating sound returned with a vengeance.
The little head under the covers rubbed against the blanket in dissatisfaction, shifting directions to bury herself even deeper.
The next second, the warmth beside her shifted slightly.
Ye Jinzhi propped himself up with extremely light movements. His gaze lingered for a moment on the exposed fair nape of Bella's neck before he slipped out of bed without a sound.
Barefoot on the thick carpet, he grabbed his phone and walked out of the bedroom. His fingertips applied just enough pressure when closing the door to prevent even the slightest click.
Hello, what is it.
As the sound of the door closing faded, Bella, who was supposedly fast asleep, fluttered her eyelashes twice and then snapped her eyes wide open.
Where was the slightest trace of sleepiness in those big eyes? They were filled with nothing but sheer, dumbfounded panic.
[Help... this is so awkward!]
Bella stared at the curtains by the bed, her brain frantically loading the fragmented memories of last night.
[What is the experience of waking up to find yourself curled up in the arms of a yandere demon king? Waiting online, it's pretty urgent.]
The most devastating part was that she had slept so heavily last night.
When she woke up just now, she could feel the man's well-defined, muscular chest pressed tightly against her back. The touch was scorching and hard, clearly indicating... he wasn't wearing a shirt.
Thinking of a certain moment from last night, she carefully slipped her hand under the covers and quickly felt around her own body.
A silky texture...
[Phew—thank goodness, thank goodness I have clothes on.]
At least it hadn't reached the point where she wanted to smash her head into a block of tofu and end it all.
She wrapped the blanket tightly around herself, listening to the faint sounds of Ye Jinzhi handling business outside the door, wanting to cry but having no tears left.
[So, can someone tell her what she should do after accidentally sleeping with her former master?]
Before she could come up with a countermeasure, a translucent screen popped up.
[Current HP: 3 days, 22 hours, 47 minutes, 35... 34... 32...]
Three seconds later, the screen vanished.
[System, are you alive again?]
[System?]
Alright, dead again.
Hmm?
The time had increased.
Recalling the time that popped up on the screen when she transmigrated into a doll, comparing the two, it had barely added another 3 days.
But how was this added time calculated?
Awake?
A deep voice suddenly rang out beside her. The moment Bella heard it, she froze, deliberately slowing her breathing.
[As long as I don't move, he can't see me! He can't see me!]
She sensed that the person behind her hadn't left; instead, he methodically walked around the foot of the bed and stopped precisely on her side.
Bella subconsciously gripped the blanket tighter, pulling it up inch by inch.
Ye Jinzhi looked at the little bulge on the bed and smiled silently.
Those eyes, usually hiding a fierce hostility, were incredibly soft at this moment.
He naturally knelt on one knee on the carpet by the bed, reached out, and gently patted her through the blanket, his tone filled with overflowing tenderness:
Darling, are you feeling uncomfortable anywhere? Hmm?
Bella hid in the covers and didn't make a sound.
Uncomfortable? Aside from feeling a bit dizzy, there didn't seem to be any major issues.
But the most fatal thing was her completely empty stomach, which was currently protesting furiously.
She muffledly shook her head inside the covers, not even considering whether the other party could see it through the blanket.
Seeing the little head shift under the covers, the heart that Ye Jinzhi had been keeping suspended all night finally settled back into his chest.
[Good, she can react. At least she isn't so mad about last night that she's ignoring me.]
Are you hungry?
Ye Jinzhi leaned over slightly, his magnetic voice lingering by her ear as he began to list off dishes:
Auntie Yang made your favorites this morning. There are thin-skinned and juicy soup dumplings, incredibly fresh wontons, crispy pan-fried beef buns, sticky rice balls...
With every dish he named, Bella uselessly swallowed her saliva under the covers.
...And your absolute favorite, bamboo shoot and pork shaomai.
[Bamboo shoot and pork shaomai!]
As soon as those words came out, almost as a conditioned reflex, she whipped the blanket down. Her movements were so swift that there was no trace of her previous playing dead act.
However, before she could even catch her breath, Bella crashed straight into a pair of eyes full of laughter.
Sunlight slanted across Ye Jinzhi. He was currently wearing only a pair of dark gray silk pajama pants, his upper body bare.
His lean yet explosive muscle lines were on full display. In particular, his usually sharp wolf-cut hairstyle had lost some of its wildness, replaced by a touch of domestic intimacy.
He knelt halfway by her pillow, resting his chin on one hand, smiling so hard his eyes curved like a fox that had gotten its way.
Bella was stunned.
So handsome.
Looking at this magnified, god-like face with its bewitching smile right in front of her.
She suddenly realized that she probably had—a bird's nest for hair and a puffy face and eyes.
...Ugh.
Her face flushed red. Filled with shame and indignation, she pulled the blanket back up, revealing only a pair of round eyes that stared at him with alert awkwardness.
I didn't expect that in my baby's eyes, I wouldn't even have as much charm as a few shaomai.
Seeing her bury her head in the sand like this, Ye Jinzhi chuckled softly, his tone full of teasing.
Bella blinked, her mind full of question marks:
[?]
She really wanted to ask: Handsome, are we really close enough for this?
Calling her baby left and right was making the tips of her ears heat up, but the plot of the book in her head kept frantically reminding her that this man was very dangerous.
Seeing her space out, Ye Jinzhi raised his hand and extremely naturally rubbed her little head,
as if soothing a frightened kitten: Hurry up and get out of bed. I'll wait for you downstairs.
It wasn't until she heard the sound of the bedroom door closing that Bella violently threw off the covers, jumped out of bed, and rushed into the bathroom like her hair was on fire.
[Wash face! Brush teeth! Rebuild the beautiful girl image!]
She admired herself in the mirror for a bit—yes, still looking pretty. Looking down, she finally noticed she was wearing a light gray silk slip dress.
The texture was as silky as a second skin, with a delicate circle of vintage lace pressed along the neckline and the sides of the hem.
It's quite pretty... Wait, who changed me into this?!
The man from just now instantly popped into Bella's mind.
Ahhh! She helplessly grabbed at her hair a few times, like an irritable groundhog.
[Calm down, Bella, you've seen the world! This is nothing... yeah, right!]
She took a few deep breaths, forcing herself to calm down.
Shifting her gaze, she saw that the shelves of the washbasin were filled with a huge pile of beautiful hair ties, velvet scrunchies, and even various exquisite hair clips.
These things looked very new, as if they had been specially prepared for someone for a long time.
She hesitantly picked up a sea-salt blue scrunchie, just about to tie up her long hair.
The moment she raised her wrist, the image in the mirror struck her like lightning.
A string of bruises on the side of her fair neck, scattered like stars, spread all the way deep into her collarbone.
Bella closed her eyes. She didn't even need to think about it; this was undoubtedly the handiwork of a certain possessive devil.
Last night, he had left these marks all over her while murmuring soothing words.
Although she had been mostly delirious last night, she remembered how he had pressed close to her toward the end, whispering filthy, heart-racing things that made her blush.
Bella thought that was the extent of it. However, when she dawdled back to the bedroom's walk-in closet to change, she took off her clothes, looked down to check...
It wasn't just her neck. There were finger marks on her waist, her thighs... even around her ankles.
Looking at her reflection in the mirror, covered in marks like she had been stamped all over, Bella fell silent.
Was this man a dog? He had bitten her so ruthlessly.
