Thinking of this, he asked, "Are you feeling better?"
Su Xingyu was momentarily stunned before she realized what he meant, recalling the chaos and disgrace of the previous night. The shame and humiliation she had barely suppressed surged back into her heart. She bit her lip, controlling herself not to lose composure. After a moment of silence, she said, "I’m fine."
Under the chandelier in the living room, the girl’s skin looked pale and fragile.
Lu Shifeng slightly raised an eyebrow, "No need to pretend in front of me."
"I’m not pretending." She turned her head aside, gazing at the intricate patterns on the heavy door, her voice muffled.
Lu Shifeng did not argue with her, only said, "Come here."
She understood what he meant, walked over, and reached up to help him take off his suit jacket as she did last night. Standing on tiptoe, tilting her face up, it was still somewhat laborious to do all this, her body close enough to his to feel his breath and warmth.
She felt uncomfortable all over, finished as quickly as possible, turned around, intending to hang the jacket on the coat rack.
Lu Shifeng reached out to stop her.
"What are you doing?!" She was startled and blurted out.
He looked at her with a hint of amusement, "Are you really that afraid of me?" New ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄhapters are published on novel•fire.net
"I’m not!" She glared at him angrily, her heart pounding wildly. After being humiliated several times in succession, she was suddenly blocked by him again, it was surprising she didn’t get scared. However, no matter how scared she was, she didn’t want to show weakness in front of him.
Lu Shifeng spoke calmly, "Untie my tie."
Only then did she realize that he was still wearing a silver-gray tie around his neck, and its cool texture suited him perfectly. Last night, he hadn’t let her untie it, so she didn’t even know there was this step. Now that he requested, she had to swallow her anger and comply. Her slender fingers slowly unraveled the silver-gray tie, accidentally brushing against his chest, sending a tingling sensation through her.
He looked down at her, his gaze deep yet faintly heated, almost tangible.
His gaze made her flustered, increasingly nervous, her fingers stiffening, and it took several attempts to untie it.
Unexpectedly, he grasped her hand.
She was so startled she almost cried out again.
His voice was somewhat hoarse, "That’s not how you do it." His long, steady hand held hers, ignoring her shrinking back, and taught her bit by bit how to undo it. The silver-gray tie fell between them.
Su Xingyu’s face began to burn again, her body weakening, nearly unable to stand.
She tried several times to pull her hand back but couldn’t, so she had to softly scold, "Let go of me."
But even her voice was soft and powerless.
Lu Shifeng didn’t release her, gently touching her cheek with his other hand, "Move to my bedroom tonight."
She looked at him in panic, "No... I..."
His hand on her cheek pressed slightly, "I thought you were already starting to learn how to be a good wife."
She couldn’t find words, realizing this was his reminder to her, a warning, leaving no room for negotiation. This man was always so domineering, never considering her, never minding hurting her to satisfy himself. She quickly recognized her place—yes, she had just resolved to obey him well this morning, to gain his trust, numb him, and if sacrificing her body was unavoidable, so be it. In fact, this was one of the few tools she could use to please him.
After all, there was no escaping.
She obediently moved to his bedroom, wearing a light, soft silk robe, climbed into his bed.
He was very satisfied, and therefore somewhat merciful, patiently peeling her robe off, turning her body to face him little by little. The girl curled up under the blanket, clearly terrified, trembling, yet insisted on pretending nothing was wrong, which stirred an inexplicable ripple in the depths of his heart. "Does it still hurt?" he asked.
Her long eyelashes fluttered a few times, seemingly not understanding what he was referring to.
He laughed softly, "I asked if the injury from last night still hurts?"
This time she understood, her face flushed red all at once, but she didn’t answer. How was she supposed to respond? To say it didn’t hurt was false, to say it did hurt seemed like showing weakness or even coquettishness. She was always wary of him, guarded against him, like a rose with thorns, fully armed.
Lu Shifeng didn’t ask further, lowered his head to kiss her, the kiss gentle unlike last night.
She trembled even more, memories of last night and the harsh ones from two years ago surfacing, making her want to escape.
"Lu Shifeng..." She trembled, calling his name, hands against his chest, "Don’t..."
"I..." Tears welled at the corners of her eyes, wanting to resist, yet didn’t dare. He had shown her several times the consequences of resistance with brutal reality, yet she really couldn’t bring herself to comply with him readily.
Lu Shifeng kissed away the tears at her eye corners, his actions gentler, yet forceful, with an indisputable will, possessing all of her. He knew she was scared, perhaps unwilling—after all, a girl inexperienced with the world, in the prime of her beautiful dreams of love, married him, a stranger only met a few times who had hurt her, it was hard to accept. But it was not a big problem, love was always an intangible thing, and she would eventually understand she didn’t need it.
What she needed was simply relying on him.
And he would take her under his wings, tenderly care for her.
She dazedly felt like her body wasn’t her own, the scorching heat almost melting her. Helplessly, she let him manipulate her, not knowing how long it lasted, exhausted, she curled up in his arms, softly sobbing.
He reached out to wipe her tears, frowned, "Why are you crying again, still hurt?"
She shook her head, tears streaming even more fiercely. He would never understand, would never understand what she had sacrificed for this night. The first two times he possessed her, it was after she had resisted with all her might to no avail, a passive endurance, but tonight was different. She had voluntarily given up on herself, obediently embraced him, even striving to restrain the impulse to push him away.
She cried, unable to speak, from now on, she would no longer be the Su Xingyu who retained the last bit of pride no matter what adversity she faced. All her pride was trampled underfoot by him, crushed, insignificant.
She cried for a long time, falling into a drowsy sleep in his arms.
Throughout the night, plagued by nightmares, restlessly sleeping, she woke up soon again.
Opening her eyes, she saw Lu Shifeng getting out of bed, his bare body faintly visible in the dim light of the night lamp, tall and swift, like an ancient god of war.
She unconsciously watched him for a few seconds before suddenly realizing he was naked, turned her head away as if startled.
The movement was too large, he noticed, a low voice came, "Awake? It’s still early, go back to sleep for a while."
She dared not look at him, glanced at the alarm clock on the bedside table, the time pointed at five past five in the morning.