She gazed deeply at Liu Ran for a long while, until she could barely sit up anymore.
“I told you, until I die, you will always be mine…”
***
When Liu Ran woke again, everything before her was a hazy gray. It took her half a minute to recognize it as the ceiling.
The back of her head felt like it had been smashed with a hammer; even awake, her thoughts moved sluggishly, her mind foggy and rusty.
Her throat burned with thirst, the lining of her mouth dry, itchy, and painful, urging her to bite down hard—to break the skin and draw blood to relieve the discomfort. Her hands and feet had no strength, soft as if boned, numb and wooden. Her stomach growled with hunger.
By the dim light, Liu Ran slowly realized she was lying in the room at Ming Siyu’s house.
Ming Siyu’s home.
Ming Siyu.
She had been tricked and drugged by Ming Siyu…
At that moment, the door opened. Ming Siyu wheeled in, turning up the lights a bit. They both saw each other’s faces clearly and froze.
Liu Ran asked, trembling, “What time is it?”
The curtains were drawn, blocking all natural light. The room’s lamps alone could not tell if it was day or night.
Habitually, she reached for her phone by the bed, only to find herself bound. No matter how she struggled, she could not move. The more she strained, the tighter the restraint bands around her wrists and ankles became. She was like a fish with no way to fight back—the bed her cutting board, to be slaughtered at will.
Bai Yu, Bai Yu’s surgery…
Rage and despair crashed through her heart like wild beasts, tearing her bloody. Liu Ran raised her head and screamed at Ming Siyu, “Let me go! Ming Siyu, you lunatic! Let me go!”
Ming Siyu’s lips twitched, her forced smile cracking slightly.
“Don’t waste your energy. Your throat is dry from not drinking water; shouting like that can damage your vocal cords.”
“Let me go!”
Ignoring Ming Siyu’s warning, Liu Ran’s mind was filled only with Bai Yu’s surgery. What time was it now? Had the surgery started or not? Was it going smoothly? She had promised to be there for it—without her, would Auntie Chen worry?
Had Ming Siyu not already indirectly destroyed her mother? Now she wanted to strip away even the chance to accompany her for surgery? If something went wrong with Bai Yu’s operation, she might not even see her mother’s last moments!
Was Ming Siyu even human?!
“I want to leave! Let me go, let me go, let me go! Ming Siyu, what the hell do you want? What did I ever do to you to make you treat me like this? This is illegal detention right now—why haven’t you been arrested and thrown in jail yet?! Do you think this will make me obey you? You’re dead wrong. I’ll never, ever listen to you again!”
She shouted too forcefully, and sure enough, just as Ming Siyu had warned, her throat felt like it was being scraped by knives, followed by the metallic tang of blood. She opened her mouth and coughed.
Ming Siyu sat silently on the edge of the bed, like a motionless sculpture, as if she hadn’t heard a thing.
Liu Ran could only move her head. She went berserk, slamming it against the bedboard with loud thuds, twisting her body desperately as she cried out through sobs, “You just want someone to submit to you, don’t you? There are so many people who’d willingly obey you—why not go after them? Why me? Because I won’t listen and it hurts your pride, bruises your ego? Ming Siyu, do I owe you? Does my whole family owe you?”
She really wanted to rip open Ming Siyu’s chest and see what kind of heart and organs were inside. The storm, the flight delay… all those were warnings for her, but she’d ignored them and come to see Ming Siyu anyway, delivering herself right into the trap to be tied up.
“Ming Siyu, I hate you.”
Liu Ran choked up.
She never imagined that “I hate you” would come out of her mouth before “I like you.”
She had once liked Ming Siyu so purely. She’d even willingly set aside her pride and call her “Master”—the one thing she hated most—just to make Ming Siyu happy. She’d even been tempted to bare her soul completely, holding nothing back…
If she’d known this day would come, she should have let Ming Siyu die back in that hospital overrun by the gangsters.
Ming Siyu gripped the wheelchair armrests tightly. Even while Liu Ran was still unconscious, she’d anticipated that she would lose it upon waking and spew all the words Ming Siyu never wanted to hear.
She no longer had the energy to figure out what had made Liu Ran so unyielding, or who was to blame. She just wanted Liu Ran to stay quietly at home. As long as Liu Ran was by her side, she didn’t care what methods she had to use.
She wished Liu Ran wouldn’t wake up. That she’d stay peacefully asleep with her eyes closed, like she was slumbering right there on her pillow.
But she knew that was impossible. Better to hear Liu Ran curse her out than watch her lie there like a vegetable while she fretted in panic. At least this way, it steeled her resolve to keep her bound.
Ming Siyu wheeled closer to the bed, grabbed a pillow, and placed it behind Liu Ran’s head. Her tone was stiff as she said, “Yes, you owe me. I bought you for twenty-five million.”
“I’ll pay you back! The cars, the houses, the jewelry… I’ll pay it all back!”
“I don’t need it.” Ming Siyu’s face was ashen. “Rest. Even if someone dies, I won’t let you go.”
Ming Siyu meant to emphasize that she wouldn’t release Liu Ran no matter what, hoping to stop the pointless struggling and shouting. But to Liu Ran’s ears, those words immediately linked to Bai Yu. She’d already been worrying about risks in her mother’s surgery, and now her mind spiraled: What if something really goes wrong during the operation?
Her venomous gaze sharpened into daggers, brimming with hatred. Ming Siyu bit her lip and avoided Liu Ran’s eyes. If looks could kill, she’d already be dead hundreds of times over.
When she’d dragged Liu Ran back from the hospital and tied her to the bed, Ming Siyu had thought this would force her to obey. Now, her heart clenched with emptiness. It felt like pointless effort—the harder she tried to hold on, the faster it slipped away. Liu Ran had become the water and sand seeping through her fingers.
After adjusting the pillow, Ming Siyu instinctively brushed the stray hairs from Liu Ran’s face. Liu Ran was so furious she couldn’t think straight; she’d do anything to hurt Ming Siyu. Without hesitation, she turned her head and sank her teeth into Ming Siyu’s wrist.
This time, she held nothing back. Her sharp canine teeth easily pierced the skin, and bright red blood trickled down the pale wrist, sliding along Liu Ran’s lips. She tasted Ming Siyu’s blood again—more bitter than last time, making her eyes water uncontrollably.
Ming Siyu yanked her hand back in pain, but Liu Ran’s bite was too strong. She clearly felt her flesh tearing, as if the meat might be ripped straight from the bone.
Cold sweat beaded instantly as Ming Siyu’s entire arm trembled. She reached with her other hand to choke Liu Ran’s neck. Perhaps out of reluctance, or maybe sheer weakness, her fingers only loosely gripped the throat.
Liu Ran refused to let go, mumbling through her mouthful, “Let me go, and I’ll let you go.”
Ming Siyu heard her clearly and frowned tightly. “Impossible.”
Forget a chunk of flesh—even if it cost her whole arm, she wouldn’t release Liu Ran.
They stayed locked in deadlock for a while, but Liu Ran had no other options. Biting off a piece of Ming Siyu wouldn’t free her; it would only enrage her more. And having human flesh in her mouth felt utterly repulsive no matter how she thought about it.
She released her bite. Ming Siyu pulled her hand back, shaking from the pain. In a cold voice, she said, “Liu Ran, you’re just asking to die.”
Liu Ran stared up at the ceiling. Her own blood mixed with Ming Siyu’s, the metallic stench overwhelming. She gasped for air, her throat hoarse beyond recognition, her eyes vacant as she murmured, “I’m sorry, I was wrong. It’s all my fault. I won’t run anymore. I’ll be your Little Wolf. I’ll be good—you say east, I won’t go west… I really was wrong. I shouldn’t have met Zhu Xinghan. I shouldn’t have gone to B City alone… Please, can you untie me from the bed? Just for one day. I promise I’ll come right back after…”
“President Ming, Master, I’m begging you. Little Wolf’s begging you…”
Ming Siyu had never seen Liu Ran break down like this. What was so urgent that she was this desperate? Who was she going to see? Who could make her lose control to this extent?
Liu Ran’s despairing, ruthless expression made Ming Siyu flinch a little.
But then the searing pain in her wrist reminded her: if she let Liu Ran go now, it wouldn’t be easy to catch her again. Wolves bite and fight back. Liu Ran’s past obedience had just lulled her into complacency.
Steel yourself, she thought. “Don’t even think about it.”
Liu Ran closed her eyes. Blood smeared her cheeks like a crime scene, tears carving pale trails through the mess.
This commotion made Ming Siyu forget why she’d come in the first place. She’d wanted to talk while Liu Ran couldn’t move—ideally resolve things, or at least keep her tied if not. The blood streaming from her wrist made her dizzy. Trembling, she picked up her phone and called the doctor to come stitch her up. The flesh was nearly torn free; stitches were unavoidable.
After gritting her teeth through the explanation to the doctor, she glanced up and saw Liu Ran struggling to wrench her hand free from the restraint. These were reinforced cuffs she’d specially ordered, like handcuffs that tightened with resistance—virtually impossible to escape alone. She was dead set on keeping Liu Ran by her side.
Liu Ran kept at it, her face expressionless, eyes filled with ferocity and resolve.
Her hands turned purple from the pressure, the cuff edges scraping skin raw, blood staining the silver metal. Suddenly, Ming Siyu recalled the first time she’d seen Liu Ran in the basement—so similar to this scene. Back then, she’d unlocked the chains and taken her home. Now, she’d clamped the cuffs on herself, and Liu Ran fought desperately to escape.
Ming Siyu’s face darkened. “Keep that up, and your hand will break!”
Liu Ran ignored her, struggling on as if she felt no pain.
A thought struck Ming Siyu: Liu Ran wanted to break her own hand. She’d run even if it meant snapping bones.
The urge for “Liu Ran to run” overshadowed why she was doing it. Ignoring her still-bleeding arm, Ming Siyu lunged forward and grabbed her. “You can’t leave. I won’t allow it…”
It was no use. She couldn’t overpower her.
With a click, just a split second before Liu Ran could snap her hand and break free, Ming Siyu pressed the unlock button.
