"What did you say?"
Bella's heart sank, her voice tightening. Silence spread between them, like the final stillness before a storm.
Sleep with me?
Beneath this man's aloof and noble exterior, how could he utter such vulgar words without changing his expression?
Bella then quickly calmed down, revealing a smile that caught Ye Jinzhi by surprise.
She stepped right onto the bed and turned around.
Leaning close to him, she raised her hand and pinched his chin with her thumb and index finger, pressing into his cool skin, her tone soft and light:
"You want me? Fine."
The next second, Bella made no secret of her disdain:
"But I don't listen to the words of a madman. If you really want to climb into my bed, you first have to learn how to be an obedient puppy."
She bit out the last word very lightly, deliberately carrying a condescending sense of humiliation.
The originally tense, explosive atmosphere was shattered by these words, as she scratched his chin with a teasing undertone.
Then, she deliberately lifted his entire face, forcing the young man to pant wretchedly under her gaze.
Ye Jinzhi's originally cold and fierce eyes shrank when he heard the English word.
"Say it again."
His breathing momentarily became chaotic and scorching.
The young man did not feel the anger of being humiliated like an ordinary person would. His pitch-black pupils showed not a hint of embarrassed indignity; instead, at this moment, he felt an unprecedented sense of security.
Hearing his request, Bella tilted her head and offered a wide, bright smile:
"Want to hear it?"
Bella increased the force of her fingers as she spoke, and the young man made no move to break free.
Staring dead into Bella's eyes, the madness and fervor in his gaze surged ever more ferociously, the corners of his mouth lifting into a curve.
"But what should we do... only an obedient little doggy gets a reward, and you..."
She paused deliberately, catching the anxious pleading in his eyes, and intentionally slowed her voice, bringing up something else:
"Since you like this so much, then from now on... I'll call you that when I'm punishing you? How about that?"
"Little doggy..."
He repeated it in a low voice, with a hint of a choke.
Ye Jinzhi looked up at her, his gaze glued to her opening and closing lips:
"As long as it's a collar you give me, whether it's ropes or chains, I'll take it, but remember..."
He backhanded grabbed Bella's wrist with great force, his eyes revealing a paranoid determination to perish together:
"Once you raise a mad dog, you can never let go for the rest of your life. If one day you get tired of playing and want to throw me away... I will drag you down to hell along with this chain around my neck."
Bella looked down at the young man as he spoke these ruthless words while slowly kneeling down, his back taut.
He tilted his head back, and Bella saw it very clearly—it was the desperate ecstasy of a predator being leashed.
The world became damp.
At this moment, apart from submission, I could find no other way to exist.
The smile she wore was wide, wide enough to contain all my wretchedness.
I kneeled there, feeling that the floor was very cold, and that this title was very fitting.
The dim yellow halo fell on her face. The smile was beautiful, but logically it should have been cruel; the smile did not match the humiliation of the moment, yet it seemed extremely reasonable.
I watched her tilt her head, like watching some kind of natural phenomenon:
For example, the morning sun just before dawn breaks;
In this absurd midnight, being called a 'little doggy' seemed like an undeniable fact that I didn't need to resist, just like how I must breathe air.
She said that word, and I heard it.
Then, I noticed my palms starting to sweat, and the lines on the floor became unusually clear.
Some twisted emotion crawled out from the cracks in the floor and took over my breathing.
Looking at her, a near-physiological throb rose from the bottom of my heart.
It wasn't pain, nor was it simple pleasure, but a kind of lightness after being stripped of one's identity.
He thought, if the world was destined to be a giant absurd arena, then becoming the 'puppy' from her mouth was perhaps the most sober decision he had made in his entire life.
Bella stared at him, feeling that this scene was a bit too pale, lacking a bit of a spark, and the desire to destroy slowly wrapped around her heart.
She turned her head; outside the window, it was dry and pitch black.
"What a pity,"
she sighed softly, her tone carrying a childish regret, "The weather isn't cooperating."
But this regret only lasted for half a second before sparks of eagerness leaped in her eyes.
If the conditions aren't there, then create them.
She nimbly hopped off the bed, grabbed Ye Jinzhi by the wrist, and pulled him into the bathroom.
The place had been kept very clean by her and Shen Wenjing, the tiles gleaming with a cold white light.
Bella raised her hand and turned on the showerhead. Cold water instantly poured out, kicking up a thin layer of mist.
She took a half step back and gently crooked her finger at the young man.
Ye Jinzhi, like a puppet pulled by silk threads, walked over quietly.
"Go."
She pointed at the dense curtain of water, a smile rippling in her large eyes,
"Let's act out that scene from just now once more."
As she spoke, she unlocked her phone, her fingertips swiping rapidly across the screen to find a background track of thunderstorm sounds.
To avoid disturbing the neighbors, she kept the volume very low.
Ye Jinzhi stood there, letting the cold water smash over his head and face.
His body trembled slightly from physiological instinct the moment it touched the water.
The soaked black T-shirt instantly clung to his back, and water droplets smashed into his eyes along his cold brow bone, bringing a sting of pain.
But he didn't close his eyes. Instead, through the hazy mist, he looked at Bella, who was operating her phone.
The thunder coming from the phone was muffled and distorted, like a poorly made background track for a stage play.
But to him, Bella's existence itself was a miracle.
"Okay."
He spoke, his voice shattered and washed away by the sound of the water.
At this moment, he showed no embarrassment. On the contrary, amidst that awkward phone music, he slowly lowered his head, allowing the water to pour down his collar and completely drench him.
Wet strands of hair stuck to his face, hiding the overflowing fanaticism in his eyes.
"Whatever Master says, goes."
He even voluntarily took a step forward, letting the densest center of the showerhead aim directly at the top of his head.
The young man's pale face was washed almost transparent, and the corners of his eyes were stained red. It was impossible to tell whether what was streaming down his cheeks was freezing cold water or tears.
Bella stood on the edge of the dry tiles.
Finally, having had enough fun, she turned off the shower and reached out to pull the drenched person up from the floor.
When her fingertips touched his skin, her heart softened, and she leaned over to gently rub his slightly reddened knees.
"Alright."
She gently fetched a towel and tossed it to him, her tone brisk,
"That was satisfying. You can leave now."
Ye Jinzhi: ???
Rain, thunder, kneeling—Bella had textbook-replicated a melodramatic soap opera trope, and only then had she fully satisfied her craving for melodrama.
Once the craving was satisfied, naturally, the person was no longer needed.
She turned and walked out of the bathroom, dropping a line without looking back:
"Don't be an eyesore here, hurry up and leave."
Seeing Bella about to turn away, Ye Jinzhi pounced forward almost out of instinct.
"Bella... don't go..."
Bella stopped what she was doing and turned to look at him.
She did not struggle, merely tilting her head slightly, letting her hair slip down her shoulders.
"What is it?"
Bella still maintained her slight, dismissive smile, but Ye Jinzhi grabbed her hand.
"Let's talk," Ye Jinzhi said. Not only did he not let go, but he also squeezed her hand slightly.
"What do you want to talk about?"
Bella raised an eyebrow, her tone laced with sarcasm:
"About how you 'ended up in distress' at my doorstep, or about your non-existent illegitimate younger brother?"
Ye Jinzhi remained noncommittal. In his eyes, half-hidden in shadows, the previous humble madness settled down in this moment.
He leaned in slightly, his breath intimately close:
"Let's talk about... why you came to this world."
The smile on Bella's face froze.
"...What do you mean?" she asked, her voice trembling slightly.
Seeing this, a hint of a smile finally surfaced in Ye Jinzhi's eyes.
He kissed the back of her hand, his movements gentle.
"Now, can we sit down and have a calm conversation?"
Ye Jinzhi's soaking wet clothes clung tightly to his skin. Just like that, he pulled Bella all the way out of her house.
The two of them hailed a taxi.
Inside the taxi, the air conditioning was blasting.
The middle-aged driver glanced in the rearview mirror. Seeing Ye Jinzhi drenched from head to toe, with water still dripping from the tips of his hair, he could not help but frown and mutter:
"Hey, young man, you are so wet it looks like you fell into a river. This is a new car! With you sitting there, how am I supposed to pick up my next passenger later? You are holding up my business."
The driver's complaints echoed in the car, clearly filled with annoyance.
Ye Jinzhi turned his head to look at Bella, his large hand still holding hers.
The corners of his slightly pale lips curled up in a smile, and his tone was calm:
"I am sorry, sir. When we arrive, I will pay you an extra five hundred yuan as a cleaning fee."
The driver was stunned, instantly swallowing back the disgust that had been stuck in his throat.
Five hundred yuan?
His previously tight, wrinkled face instantly smoothed out like spring rain, and his tone took a complete 180-degree turn:
"Oh my, young man, look at you... I was just saying. Being soaked in the summer can easily catch you a cold. Sit tight, I will turn down the AC for you!"
The car fell into silence once again.
Bella turned her head to look out the window. The neon lights along the road continuously sliced through the darkness, rapidly retreating.
She could feel a scorching heat radiating from their clasped hands, but her own heart kept sinking in this summer heatwave, plummeting all the way to rock bottom.
Ye Jinzhi lowered his eyes to look at the girl's stiff profile.
He leaned in slightly. A drop of water from his cold, wet hair fell onto Bella's shoulder as he spoke softly:
"Bella, do not be afraid."
Bella did not say anything, silently watching the scenery outside the window.
The originally bustling and colorful neon lights gradually thinned out, eventually vanishing completely into the dark night.
The sound of tires rolling over gravel was exceptionally clear at the foot of the mountain.
"Young man, the GPS says this is the place."
The driver stopped the car and poked his head out to look at the pitch-black mountain road, looking a bit troubled.
"I cannot go any further up this road."
"Alright, thank you for the trouble."
Ye Jinzhi paid the fare with a composed expression, pushed open the car door, and led her out by the hand.
The two walked up the winding mountain road for about a hundred meters until a massive iron gate stood imposingly before them.
Before they could even get close, the gate slowly slid open as if it were on an automatic sensor.
Three men in sharp suits quickly ran out, stood bolt upright under the lights, and bowed their heads in unison:
"Young Master."
Bella looked at Ye Jinzhi and rolled her eyes right in his face. This was the guy who claimed he had been "kicked out of the house"?
Ye Jinzhi rubbed his nose unnaturally and said in a low voice:
"Do not be mad. I will explain later."
Behind the iron gates, a row of white golf carts was parked.
A bodyguard was about to step forward to drive, but Ye Jinzhi raised his hand to stop him:
"No need, I will drive myself. Thank you for your hard work."
He gave the three men a slight nod, tucked Bella into the passenger seat, stepped on the gas pedal, and sped toward the top of the mountain.
The summer night breeze rushed into the cart along the ascending mountain road, blowing Bella's long hair into a mess.
Ye Jinzhi held the steering wheel, his peripheral vision catching Bella's eyes looking around. Suddenly, his Adam's apple bobbed, and he spoke tentatively:
"Bella... do you find this place a bit familiar?"
Familiar?
Bella paused slightly and turned to look out of the cart.
The surrounding mountain shadows were heavy and pitch-black. Even when they occasionally passed by a few dim yellow streetlights, they only illuminated a small patch of ground, making it impossible to see the whole picture.
She looked back at Ye Jinzhi. By the light from the cart's roof, she could clearly see the hope ready to burst forth from his eyes.
What was he expecting?
Expecting her to say something?
Baffling.
Bella's small face was written all over with confusion and guardedness.
Ye Jinzhi stared at her for a few seconds. His previously bright eyes gradually dimmed, and he finally lowered his eyelashes in disappointment.
He did not speak again, only his fingertips tightened sharply on the steering wheel as he subconsciously stepped on the gas, speeding up the cart.
The golf cart sped along the winding mountain road. Before long, the headlights shone on an iron gate.
This gate was a size smaller than the giant one at the foot of the mountain.
As the iron gates slowly slid open to the sides, the tires rolled over a smooth stone path.
The moment the golf cart drove through the gates, the previously dimly lit estate suddenly lit up completely, bright as day.
"Bella, this is my home."
The lights dispelled all the darkness, and Bella instinctively raised her hand to shield her eyes.
But when she truly saw the scene before her, she was still taken aback.
Neatly trimmed lawns, geometric shrubs, a driveway paved with white stones, a Gothic fountain spraying water, and a somewhat familiar European-style villa not far away...
Was this not the Ye family estate!
The cart stopped in front of the European-style villa. A figure stood at the entrance, nodding slightly with a perfectly straight back.
The moment Bella saw the person's face clearly, she froze. It was her.
She remembered clearly that when she had possessed the doll, the first people she saw, besides the girl named Klee, was the person standing before her.
She remembered that this person was the housekeeper here, apparently named Sister Cheng.
Sister Cheng stepped forward, neither servile nor overbearing. Her gaze lingered briefly on the soaking wet Ye Jinzhi before shifting quite naturally to Bella beside him.
There was no surprise or curiosity in her eyes, only a polite smile.
"Young Master, you have returned."
Sister Cheng turned slightly and made an inviting gesture. "Hot water and clean clothes are already prepared."
