8: Love and Strife

Ye Xiangwan stood there in a daze, unable to process what was happening, when she heard Huo Siqing speak to her in a low, pleading tone: "I beg you, please. I will give you however much money you want, just let my son go!"

As she spoke, she pushed a bank card across the table toward her.

"Wha—"

Before Ye Xiangwan could speak, a bone-crushing pain struck her shoulder. A hand yanked her backward, and her body was violently slammed against the wall.

Feng Jinyan?!

Her mind still reeling, Ye Xiangwan looked at the unyielding hatred in his bloodshot eyes and the sudden look of anxious grievance on Huo Siqing’s face. She felt utterly bewildered.

But when her peripheral vision caught sight of the bank card, the reality of the situation hit her instantly.

"Ye Xiangwan, are you still trying to extort money from my family?!" Feng Jinyan gripped her wrist, his eyes cold as shards of ice. "Should I just kill you, huh?!"

"I didn't—"

"I saw everything with my own eyes, and you’re still denying it?!"

Feng Jinyan’s exquisite face was now frozen in a mask of ice, his eyes burning with a crimson rage that pierced through to her soul. "Ye Xiangwan, do you even have a heart? You deceived me for six years, kicked me to the curb after taking my money, and after disgusting me for another six years, you’re still haunting me by coming after my mother?!"

The coldness in Feng Jinyan’s eyes gradually morphed into a dark, sorrowful gloom.

He sneered, his voice cutting to the bone. "I always thought you still had feelings for me, but it seems I was wrong again. You never liked me! Ye Xiangwan, you disgust me! I hate you! Go to hell!"

Ye Xiangwan trembled violently.

*You never liked me...*
*You disgust me...*
*I hate you...*
*Go to hell!*

Each word was like a blade carving into her heart, leaving it dripping with blood.

Ye Xiangwan saw Huo Siqing, standing behind Feng Jinyan, curl her lips into a smile, looking down at her as if she were nothing more than an ant.

Feng Jinyan’s cruel voice echoed in her head. The utter sense of powerlessness that had been building for an entire month surged through her entire body. With empty eyes, she lowered her head and let out a soft, hollow laugh.

This laugh only served to further ignite Feng Jinyan’s fury. He grabbed her wrist with his large hand and dragged her toward the stairs with brutal force.

Ye Xiangwan stumbled clumsily, raising her hands to pry away his grip, which felt like a hand clamped around her throat.

"Feng Jinyan..."

Her voice was hoarse and trembling, as if her body could no longer bear the weight of his name.

She felt something screaming and roaring within her chest. For a fleeting moment, she wanted to cast all caution aside and tell him everything.

She wanted to make him regret it, to make him love her again.

But if she told him, would Feng Jinyan even believe her?

And if he did believe her and stayed with her, what would have been the point of those six years of separation?

He would likely end up in a bitter fallout with his family because of it.

Thinking of this, all of Ye Xiangwan's impulses vanished instantly.

Since she had made her decision six years ago, she could not repeat the same mistakes.

"I beg you..." Ye Xiangwan’s voice was barely a whisper.

"What?"

"I beg you... let me go..."

The despair that was crushing her heart was distilled into nothing more than these few words.

"Go? Ha!"

Feng Jinyan’s expression was filled with cold disappointment and mockery. "You’re asking me to let you go?!"

Before the words had even faded, in a moment no one expected, Feng Jinyan suddenly raised his hand and delivered a sharp blow to the back of her neck.

Taken completely by surprise, Ye Xiangwan went limp and fell into unconsciousness.

She did not remain unconscious for long; she was jolted awake by a splash of freezing water.

The biting cold seeped into her skin, and she gasped. As she tried to move, she froze, realizing her hands were tied high above her head to the bedpost. Cold sweat mixed with the water trickling down her back.

"What are you doing?"

Ye Xiangwan shook the water from her face. The throbbing pain in the back of her head made her mind clearer. She watched Feng Jinyan walk toward her, expressionless, and felt a chill run down her spine.

"What am I doing?"

Feng Jinyan tilted his head, emphasizing the words with a tone that made him sound like a predator about to draw blood.

"Feng Jinyan, you..."

Ye Xiangwan instinctively backed away, but there was nowhere left to retreat.

"Do you remember when I said that on our eighteenth birthday, we had to do something big?"

Ye Xiangwan’s heart sank. Of course she remembered. She even remembered his beaming smile and the tenderness in his eyes when he said those words.

But that young, passionate face could no longer be reconciled with the extremely gloomy mask before her now.

"Feng Jinyan, please, calm down..."

Before she could finish, a slap landed hard across her face.

A pained moan caught in her throat. Ye Xiangwan curled her legs up, trembling and pulling herself into a ball.

She had never expected Feng Jinyan to actually strike her. Her stomach was already aching, and now she felt as though she were shattering into a thousand pieces.

"Calm down?"

Feng Jinyan grabbed her chin with one hand and knelt onto the bed with one knee. "Do you know the pain of giving your whole heart to someone, only to have it trampled underfoot and crushed until it’s unrecognizable? You have no idea! How dare you tell me to calm down?!"

His amber eyes were filled with a resolute madness. He reached for her collar and tore it with such force that buttons flew everywhere, hitting the floor with a sound that made Ye Xiangwan’s ears ring.

"You don't understand, because you have no heart. Since you cannot feel heartache, then let me make you feel a different kind of pain."

With a brutal movement, he pressed his body against hers.

"Feng Jinyan, stop... stop!"

Ye Xiangwan struggled with all her might, the pale skin of her wrists scraped raw and bloodied.

She had once imagined that if this day were to come, it would be beautiful—passionate, uncontrollable, and filled with intoxicating desire—not this, not this frantic, desperate, heart-tearing torment.

The intense pain rendered her brain unable to think; it was like a sharp blade slicing through her soul.

It hurt too much... the month of torture, the warm life that had slipped away in her hands that morning, and now this humiliating pain—it finally pushed her body and mind to their absolute limit.

Ye Xiangwan vomited a mouthful of blood, the piercing crimson splashing onto both of them. The thick, metallic stench of it made her cough violently.

Feng Jinyan was shocked, pausing for a moment. "What’s wrong with you?!"

Ye Xiangwan was in too much pain to speak. Seeing this, Feng Jinyan started to sit up, intending to lift her.

"Don't touch me!"

Ye Xiangwan screamed the words with every ounce of strength she had left. Her voice sounded hollow, as if her soul had been drained away. She raised her hand to her chest, her fingers digging deep into the flesh over her heart.