28 Chapter 56

Fourteen years ago, the Lu Family took in a little girl. Eight-year-old Bai Jin was cold and aloof, like a solitary snowflake adrift in isolation. Yet she was the one person Lu Huan despised above all others. Simply because she had stolen away half of what had once belonged solely to Lu Huan—the room, the toys, and even their mother's affection. Fourteen years later, Lu Huan had inherited the family business. Her long, straight black hair framed a face that still carried the same flamboyant, domineering air. When they crossed paths again, Bai Jin had blossomed with age into an even more striking beauty, like a cold flower atop a lofty peak. Faced with this renewed threat to her claim, Lu Huan no longer recoiled in childish disgust. Instead, she changed her tactics. She baited her. She lavished her with affection. In the dark of night, they tangled together in intimate whispers and lingering caresses, sweet lies weaving between them. Lu Huan made Bai Jin trust her. Depend on her. Even love her. And once her goal was achieved, she planned to cut all ties. That night, outside a karaoke lounge amid a raging downpour, there she was—squatting on the wet ground, her body curled tight, eyes bloodshot like an abandoned stray cat. Lu Huan approached under her umbrella and crouched down in front of her. Her gaze fell on the fresh red marks blooming across Bai Jin's snow-white neck. Desperately, Bai Jin clutched at the hem of Lu Huan's clothes. "You said you wouldn't fall for anyone else." Lu Huan's fingers tightened around the umbrella handle. Steel her heart, she thought. A cold laugh escaped her lips. "Haven't you figured it out yet? It was all just a game to string you along." Bai Jin's voice trembled. "But I believed it..." Lu Huan rose to her feet and shifted the umbrella aside, letting the icy rain lash down on Bai Jin. Her tone turned frigid, laced with scorn and sarcasm. "I never did." Bai Jin had loved one person for fourteen long years. Whatever that person did to her, Bai Jin endured it all. Anything, so long as it came from her—Bai Jin savored it like honey. She could bear Lu Huan's bullying, her deceptions, even her manipulations. But the one thing she could not tolerate was Lu Huan loving someone else. The moment she saw the object of her obsession embracing another woman, Bai Jin's facade shattered. She laid a trap. She lured her in. And then she dragged her into a remote hideaway. It was another cold, sodden rainy night. In a room thick with desire, Lu Huan's hands were bound, the space before her eyes shrouded in shadow. Vibrant red silk cords coiled around her body, setting off the pale chill of her skin. "What are you doing?" Lu Huan demanded. Bai Jin gripped one end of the binding and pressed forward atop her. "Haven't you figured it out yet, sis?" Sweat and rain mingled on their skin, breaths coming in ragged gasps. Her words slithered out like a spell—bewitching, unhinged, impossible to escape. "I want you to love me. Forever." "Forever... only me—"