Chapter 11: Being severely punished

“Sorry…I’m…sorry…”

Hunched over, the girl’s voice was restrained and suppressed, stammering as she apologized.

Ning Wan said nothing, malice growing in her heart as she leisurely admired the girl’s pitiful state before her.

It still wasn’t ugly enough, still not wretched enough—just this couldn’t satisfy her twisted mind.

Ning Wan narrowed her eyes, her gaze landing on the shards at Lu Weizhu’s feet.

The transparent fragments reflected a blinding light. 

She picked up a piece.

Rubbing the shard between her fingertips, the granules pressed slightly into her skin as Ning Wan stared intently at Lu Weizhu.

“Miss…Miss Ning, please give me money, I’ll do anything, I really need it.”

Lu Weizhu shivered under her gaze.

Forcing a smile, she stood up, trembling.

Ning Wan didn’t reply. 

She picked up a shard about 5cm long from the floor, playing with it in her palm.

“Hold out your hand.”

At her words, Lu Weizhu’s smile froze, her eyes fixed on the glass in Ning Wan’s hand, a chill running through her heart.

“What? Afraid? Didn’t you say you’d do anything?”

Ning Wan grinned, lips red and teeth white, but in Lu Weizhu’s eyes, she was a demon.

A demon who wanted to devour her, and against whom she could not resist.

In silence, Lu Weizhu extended her right hand.

She was wearing short sleeves today, her slender, pale arms exposed to the air, but with scabs on the back and palm that stood out starkly.

Lu Weizhu closed her eyes, not daring to look, not daring to imagine what she was about to endure.

“Open your eyes. Hold out your other hand too.”

As she spoke, she pulled Lu Weizhu’s right hand closer.

“……”

Reluctantly opening her eyes, Lu Weizhu held both hands out to Ning Wan.

“Be good, little kitty girl, understand?”

Not forgetting to mention that humiliating title, Ning Wan pressed the tip of the glass shard against Lu Weizhu’s palm.

A cold sensation spread from her palm, and Lu Weizhu’s heart leapt to her throat.

With force, the shard sank into her flesh, a stinging pain following as Ning Wan dragged the glass across her skin, tearing through scabs and flesh, leaving a line of blood across the girl’s palm.

The shard wasn’t sharp enough; as Ning Wan moved it, Lu Weizhu could feel her skin being tugged, the burning pain mixing with a strange kind of fear.

“Mm…mm…”

Lu Weizhu muffled her groans, biting down hard on her lower lip, trying not to embarrass herself further.

“Tsk.”

Glancing at the girl’s suppressed expression, Ning Wan felt a surge of irritation.

The more she held back, the more Ning Wan wanted to tear her apart, to prove that even if they looked alike, in the end, she was only fit to submit beneath her feet.

The wound stretched across her entire palm, blood dripping down steadily. 

When one hand was done, Ning Wan did the same to Lu Weizhu’s other hand.

“Ha…ha…Is it enough now?”

Both palms burned with pain, her wrists trembling, Lu Weizhu’s face had turned pale.

The cuts weren’t deep, and the bleeding wasn’t heavy, but the pain was intense, unbearable.

Each drop of red blood traced a line through the air, falling to the floor and blooming into blood flowers on the white tiles.

“Miss…Miss Ning? Please, I’m begging you.”

Lu Weizhu watched Ning Wan’s face carefully, her voice choked with tears, not knowing what else she could possibly do.

“Not so fast. You disturbed my beautiful dream—do you think that’s enough?”

Ning Wan stood up and told Lu Weizhu to put her hands down.

“Come with me.”

At her words, she headed toward the Study.

Lu Weizhu didn’t know what to say anymore; she could only follow Ning Wan carefully.

Blood dripped onto the floor, leaving a broken, intermittent trail, the air tinged with the faint scent of blood.

Ning Wan’s Study wasn’t large: a row of bookshelves, a desk, and a Full-length Mirror—this was all the Study contained.

“Put your hands on it.”

In front of the Full-length Mirror, Ning Wan had Lu Weizhu bend over, both hands pressed against the mirror’s surface.

From the mirror, she could see her own pale face, messy hair, and Ning Wan’s figure behind her.

Standing behind Lu Weizhu, Ning Wan gripped her waist with one hand.

“…S…”

Choking back a sob, Lu Weizhu said nothing more.

She lifted her head, above the mirror hung a Calligraphy of Righteous Spirit, the four characters seeming to mock her.

In a daze, Lu Weizhu recalled her childhood wish.

She wanted to be an upright, kind person.

Had she succeeded? 

Could she still do it?

“………”

Blood slid down the mirror’s surface, the shocking red forming lines that pooled into a small puddle beneath the glass.

Everything was over. 

Unable to hold on any longer, Lu Weizhu collapsed to the floor with a thud.

“………”

Her throat hoarse, after a long while, she spoke, but her first word was money.

Her hands had almost lost all feeling. 

Kneeling in front of the mirror, Lu Weizhu could only think of money.

“Tsk…Bandage your wounds, then take the money and get out.”

Wiping her hands, Ning Wan tossed a Card to Lu Weizhu.

Not bothering to apologize, Lu Weizhu numbly picked up the Card, leaving in disgrace, as if her soul had left her body.

“Not bad.”

After Lu Weizhu left, Ning Wan lay back in the chair behind her desk, her mind filled with Lu Weizhu’s earlier expressions.

From disbelief, to humiliation, despair, and finally numbness.

The air was thick with the faint scent of blood; before the mirror, blood and tears mingled.

“Truly…truly wonderful………………”

Ning Wan laughed.

Yes, watching the mistress who came between her and her lover fall into despair and numbness—how could she not feel joy and pleasure?

But compared to the thrill of revenge, what pleased her even more seemed to be a kind of absolute control, different from what she had with Bai Lu.

Ning Wan undoubtedly loved Bai Lu, but precisely because of love and all the constraints that came with it, she could never have absolute control over Bai Lu. 

She couldn’t bring herself to speak coldly, nor could she blame Bai Lu.

But facing someone she didn’t love was entirely different. 

To be honest, having complete control, having every order obeyed—this feeling was simply wonderful.

Ah, of course, the prerequisite was that the one she controlled had to be pleasing to the eye. No one liked an ugly pet, right?

“I almost don’t want her to leave.”

Her eyes darkened. 

At first, Ning Wan only wanted revenge because Bai Lu cheated, so she wanted to cheat too.

But now, things were different.

The pleasure Lu Weizhu brought her had already surpassed a certain threshold.

“How can I make her always obey me?”

As she pondered this, Ning Wan bit her fingertip.

On the other side, Lu Weizhu simply stopped the bleeding with tissues, not even bothering to disinfect, and left the villa in a daze.

Her legs shaking, she took a Taxi back to the Hospital. 

Rushing, she finally managed to pay the surgery fee before the deadline.

“I made it in time, so it wasn’t all for nothing………………I guess……”

In front of Lu Weiyu’s Ward, Lu Weizhu leaned against the wall, sliding down to sit in the corridor, hugging herself. 

“Wu…wu wu…”

Blue Eyes filled with tears, she buried her head in her knees and began to cry.

Her sobs were soft; if one wasn’t very close, they wouldn’t hear her.

Even when her heart was broken, she still had her pride and didn’t want anyone to see her at her most vulnerable.