Lying in bed, the bedroom was utterly silent, with only the faint sound of running water coming from the bathroom.
Ye Xingmian silently curled up under the covers, her fingers reaching up to touch the collar around her neck. The texture was rough yet comfortable, seemingly made of high-quality leather.
She couldn’t see the collar, only feel it with her fingers. She tried to find the lock or clasp, but after searching for a long time, she found nothing.
She finally gave up on the idea of secretly removing it.
Sitting up, she looked around, her gaze landing on the nightstand. She remembered Qin Haiyue had put her cellphone in there.
Hesitating for a moment, and thinking that Qin Haiyue was still showering and wouldn’t be out anytime soon, she mustered her courage. She gently pulled open the drawer and, sure enough, found her phone.
She glanced warily toward the bathroom, then pressed and held the power button, trying to turn it on. It failed.
It won’t open?!
A flicker of panic appeared in her eyes. How could this be? Was it out of battery? That shouldn’t be the case. It clearly had twenty percent battery when she checked this morning; it shouldn’t be dead by now.
Could it be that she thought she had turned it off, but it actually wasn’t fully off and had been secretly draining power?
Carefully, she placed the phone back in its spot and pushed the drawer closed. After multiple failed attempts, she had no choice but to give up.
Feeling uneasy, she stared blankly at the wall not far away before shrinking back under the covers. She hugged her lower abdomen tightly, a pained expression appearing on her face.
‘I really want to leave here, to run away, to find Liu Yinuo.’ She thought. That kick from earlier still hurt so much, it was so uncomfortable, and there was no relief at all.
She carefully restored everything to its original state to prevent Qin Haiyue from noticing.
‘She’s always been so gentle, so considerate, attentive to every detail. If I’m gone for too long and don’t reply to messages, she’ll definitely realize something’s wrong, right? If it were the Class Monitor, she would never treat me so violently.’
‘When that time comes, will she come looking for me?’
Even though she had just dismissed this possibility moments ago, she couldn’t help but cling to a sliver of hope now. She felt a bit ridiculous. In the end, she hugged her knees and curled up into a ball.
After all, that day, Liu Yinuo had suddenly appeared in her world like a savior.
She had already made up her mind to accept Liu Yinuo’s kindness, to change her way of thinking. So, please, come save me.
Please.
Her mind was occupied with these nearly impossible thoughts. Before long, Qin Haiyue emerged from the bathroom.
She was only wrapped in a towel, seemingly not even wearing underwear. Of course, Ye Xingmian didn’t care about that. She just stayed curled up on the bed, lost in her own thoughts.
Soon, Qin Haiyue changed into pajamas and climbed onto the bed from behind Ye Xingmian. Her cold hands touched Ye Xingmian’s sensitive skin, causing her to shiver involuntarily.
“Don’t move. I didn’t sleep well last night. Let me get some rest.”
Hearing her words, Ye Xingmian didn’t dare move again. She remained silent, turning her gaze to the side.
Right beside her, Qin Haiyue’s hand rested on the collar around her neck. That slight feeling of pressure seemed to be a constant reminder—that she was now Qin Haiyue’s possession.
It was uncomfortable.
She narrowed her eyes, burying this feeling deep inside. Before long, Qin Haiyue actually fell asleep, her steady breathing audible from behind.
Combined with the tired look she had earlier, perhaps what she said about not resting well last night was true.
After all, she had just taken a flight to leave yesterday and came back in just one night; she must be quite tired.
But what did that have to do with her? She didn’t care about Qin Haiyue; she was just thinking out loud.
She quietly turned over, moving as gently as possible to avoid waking Qin Haiyue. She lifted her gaze, watching Qin Haiyue’s sleeping face.
Her heart, however, was not calm. Looking at Qin Haiyue’s face, she even felt a sudden impulse—to strangle her while she was asleep. Just slip behind her, use an elbow to choke her throat…
But it was just a thought. She had some self-awareness about her own weak strength. If she actually tried that, she might get overpowered and even strangled herself.
Her eyes showed a hint of dejection. Then, she gently shifted her body backward, trying to put as much distance as possible between herself and Qin Haiyue. She didn’t want to sleep with Qin Haiyue, let alone be her body pillow.
Even back at the Lin Family, facing Lin Zi, she had already had enough.
However, before she could move very far, Qin Haiyue suddenly reached out a hand, stopping her. Startled, she immediately froze, thinking Qin Haiyue had suddenly woken up. For a moment, she didn’t dare speak.
The silence stretched on for a while. Qin Haiyue still didn’t open her eyes or say anything. Only then did Ye Xingmian belatedly realize the other woman was truly asleep.
What was that movement just now? Was she dreaming?
She didn’t know, and she didn’t want to know.
She quietly moved back again, wanting to get off the bed and sneak out of the bedroom.
This time, it went surprisingly smoothly. Qin Haiyue didn’t stop her.
She jumped off the bed, thinking that as long as she escaped, left this place, took her phone, found somewhere to charge it, and vowed never to come back here again, then begged Liu Yinuo to come get her… Qin Haiyue probably couldn’t do much about it, right?
After all, that threat about “exposing her identity as a girl” didn’t bother her as much anymore. At most, she was just afraid of Qin Haiyue’s violence.
Having made up her mind, she first retrieved her phone from the nightstand again, then slipped to the bedroom door. Not even bothering to get dressed, she planned to first figure out an escape route.
However, she was stuck at the very first step.
The door was locked, and she didn’t know when that had happened. It wasn’t a lock that used a key. If it were a key lock, she could have tried to find the key. But this was a digital lock.
There was no way… she had to go back.
She sighed inwardly, hugging her chest with her arms, and prepared to return to bed. However, the moment she turned around, her movements froze.
Qin Haiyue was awake, and she didn’t know for how long. She was staring at her coldly.
“Where are you going?” Qin Haiyue demanded.
“I… I wanted to go downstairs to get something…” Her mind raced, coming up with a clumsy, full-of-holes excuse.
Qin Haiyue just stared at her. Ye Xingmian thought she was going to get hit again and lowered her head fearfully.
This time, however, Qin Haiyue didn’t question her further. She just looked at her for a while, then turned her head away.
“Come back. Behave. Don’t run around.”
For a moment, Ye Xingmian was surprised, but more than that, she was scared. She climbed back onto the bed. Before she could even lie down, Qin Haiyue suddenly extended her hand.
“Phone.”
“Ah? Oh… okay… okay…”
Stiffly, she handed the phone over.
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