The boy absolutely could not accept even the slightest bit of "coldness" from Bella.
"Well, are you satisfied with my decision, Bella?"
He leaned close to Bella's ear, his voice soft and light.
Bella: "..."
The room was excessively quiet, the air seemingly frozen. This silence made Ye Jinzhi's breathing unconsciously grow heavy.
"Bella, are you keeping quiet because you've realized your mistake too?"
Bella: "..."
[Thump!]
Without any warning, Ye Jinzhi raised his hand and slammed it heavily onto the table.
The comb, hair clips, and bows on the table were all knocked to the floor, making a harsh, sharp clatter.
He reached out to touch Bella's large, lifeless eyes. After staring for a moment, Ye Jinzhi's anger bizarrely dissipated.
Putting on an innocent smile once again, he reached out and gently rubbed Bella's ice-cold fingertips.
"I'm sorry, I scared you, didn't I? I'm just... so afraid you'll leave."
His voice was muffled, carrying a trace of grievance unique to his age:
"Bella, are you mad at me?"
"But Bella, you are mine. Mommy gave you to me," he murmured.
He couldn't remember how long it had been since he last saw his mommy. They said she had gone to a place very far away, so far that he couldn't even reach her in his dreams.
At this thought, a layer of mist welled up in his eyes, making him look like a lost lamb.
"Mommy..."
It took a good while before he swallowed that fragmented whisper back down his throat.
He clumsily rubbed his eyes with his small hands, trying hard to rub the mist away.
He remembered Mommy saying that brave children don't shed tears. As long as he was good enough, maybe one day he would open his eyes and Mommy would be back.
By then, Daddy would definitely go back to how he used to be. He would lift him high in the air and laugh heartily...
But at the mere thought of the word "Daddy," Ye Jinzhi's small face paled a bit, his heart feeling as if it were being pricked by countless tiny needles.
Ever since Mommy left, Daddy was just like...
Holding Bella, he stood alone in front of the massive floor-to-ceiling windows on the fourth floor, looking down at the backyard.
"Bella, yesterday the butler uncle directed some workers to move that giant white toon tree away."
Those branches, which had originally bloomed so beautifully and lushly, had long been chopped off by Daddy's own hands.
After the white flowers fell, they were covered in mud, gradually withering and dying.
Ye Jinzhi looked at the filled-in spot in the yard, his eyelashes trembling slightly.
He felt that Daddy was just like those chopped-off white toon flowers. He used to be so bright and tall, but now, the sunlight in his life was gone, and his whole being seemed to wither rapidly along with it.
That day, he had a nightmare. In the dream, the house was completely empty, and he was the only one there.
Mommy wasn't there, Daddy wasn't there, and even his beloved Bella was gone.
Barefoot, he ran to the end of the corridor, his hands trembling as he gently pushed open the tightly shut door.
"Cough, cough cough..."
A spicy and pungent smell of tobacco rushed at his face, choking him so much that he almost shed tears.
The lights weren't on in the room; he could only see a tiny spark flickering in the dark.
He slowly approached Daddy and found him with a face full of stubble, gently muttering to an empty sofa:
"You promised me you wouldn't leave... right? You promised..."
He took small steps toward that figure, tentatively reaching out his little hand, his fingertips resting gently on the back of Daddy's hand.
However, Daddy didn't turn around, nor did he hold his hand in return like he used to.
He didn't want to go back to that cold bedroom alone. The sweet scent Mommy had left behind had vanished from there long ago.
Holding Bella, Ye Jinzhi silently climbed onto the wide single sofa next to him, curling his body up into a tiny ball.
By his ear was Daddy's repetitive soliloquy.
The fragmented words echoed in the dead of night, yet they became Ye Jinzhi's only lullaby.
He closed his eyes and gradually fell asleep.
When he woke up the next day, the morning sunlight was spilling onto his pillow through the gap in the curtains. Ye Jinzhi opened his eyes and found that he was actually lying in his own bed.
He sat up abruptly, first fumbling frantically under the covers until his fingertips touched Bella's cheek, at which point he breathed a sigh of relief.
Last night seemed like a bizarre dream, but he knew it wasn't a dream, because Bella's skirt still carried the faint, bitter scent belonging to that room.
He looked down at Bella: "Bella, Daddy carried me back last night... He still loves me, right?"
Retracting his gaze, Ye Jinzhi pulled Bella out from his embrace.
He giggled, tilting his head to the side as his black hair slid down his forehead.
"Did you know, when that crybaby was holding you just now, right here..."
He grabbed Bella's small hand and pressed it against his own chest, his brows furrowed tightly, his voice carrying a hint of a sob. "It feels so stuffy here, like little bugs are biting me. It hurts so much."
"Bella, you are mine. Since you are staying by my side, never try to run away again. Otherwise..."
He let out a deliberate smile, but there was not a trace of warmth in his eyes.
"I'll take you apart and put you inside my chest. That way, you'll truly only be able to stay with me."
"Or..."
Ye Jinzhi suddenly leaned in, rubbing his nose against Bella's, his tone soft yet chilling.
"Then I'll help you glue all your joints together, okay? That way, you'll forever be stuck in this pose hugging me, never able to move again."
Looking at Ye Jinzhi, who was spouting harsh words while licking his wounds alone, Bella felt a twist in her heart.
Her originally stiff sapphire pupils unconsciously trembled slightly due to the emotional fluctuation.
The next second, Ye Jinzhi forcefully pulled Bella into his arms. He lifted his head, and where was the aggrieved look of a broken little pitiful thing from just a moment ago?
A radiant smile slowly bloomed on his exquisite little face, sweeping away the gloom in his heart.
[Tsk, it seems you fall for the 'playing the victim' act.]
In the bedroom at night
"Goodnight, Bella."
Ye Jinzhi pressed a soft kiss to her cheek and contentedly held her against his chest.
Before long, the sound of long and steady breathing echoed by Bella's ear.
Bella made sure this kid was truly fast asleep before she finally dared to breathe a slight sigh of relief from that suffocating embrace, letting out a shrill scream from the depths of her soul.
Hungry... I'm so hungry!
The last time I ate was literally the last time!
I've never been so wronged in my entire life, having to watch the same person do an eating broadcast for two meals in a row.
Both the adult and the kid are exactly the same, completely black-hearted!
Speaking of hearts, she suddenly really craved a grilled sausage.
And it had to be the kind that cost five bucks for two.
Just as she indignantly shifted into a slightly more comfortable position, a faint pale blue fluorescent light silently appeared in mid-air:
[System Prompt: Location locked successfully.]
[Location: Ye Family Manor]
[Escape Method: Make physical contact with the male lead, Ye Jinzhi.]
[Current Lifespan: 0 hours 59 minutes 45 seconds... 44 seconds...]
