Chapter 32: The Aloof Heiress

Three years had passed, but being pulled into this embrace again still brought the familiar scent and softness.

Luo Yihuan instinctively buried her face in it, her cheek pressing against the fair skin as she deeply inhaled the long-missed fragrance that belonged to Jiang Li.

The hand resting at her waist lifted, then slowly and firmly settled on Jiang Li’s lower back, her fingers sliding from the right side to the left as if marking her territory.

Without even looking, Luo Yihuan knew exactly where her hand rested in that moment.

It was the very spot where Li Zhu had deliberately wrapped her arm around Jiang Li right in front of her.

Her eyes darkened, and Luo Yihuan unhesitatingly used her own hand like disinfectant, stroking inch by inch to wipe away the “poison” left by Li Zhu’s touch on Jiang Li’s lower back.

The soft pads of her fingers glided dryly across the skin, sending a series of tingling electric currents—like a mild shock—from the lower back through her limbs, making one shiver pleasurably.

Even as her hands performed this possessive caress, tears silently welled up in Luo Yihuan’s eyes where they were buried in Jiang Li’s shoulder and neck. The droplets slid down her cheeks and fell into Jiang Li’s embrace.

The tears trickled along the deep V-neck of the long gown, seeping straight into Jiang Li’s heart.

The water was cold, yet Jiang Li felt the tears burning against her chest, hot enough to nearly scorch her.

Her heart ached thread by thread for the woman before her. Jiang Li had no attention to spare for the small movements at her waist; she simply stroked the other’s hair gently, over and over.

Recalling the deeply aggrieved words Luo Yihuan had just uttered, Jiang Li’s heart nearly melted with pain. She focused entirely on comforting her.

First came the response to Luo Yihuan’s initial plea.

Jiang Li’s hand stroked down Luo Yihuan’s back, pressing against the delicate shoulder blades that fluttered like wings, then tracing the inward curve of her waist. The touch was exceedingly gentle.

Her voice remained as tender as ever after three years, rich and pure like a moonlit spring, pouring into Luo Yihuan’s heart, which had been parched for three years, slowly nourishing it.

“No other dogs. In this lifetime, I’ll only have Luo Yihuan.”

“Look, is anyone else as obedient as you? As compliant? As willing to endure punishment, to wait patiently for my return, to do anything for me?”

“I’ll only have you.” Jiang Li repeated the words.

She murmured them again and again beside Luo Yihuan’s ear, lightly patting the soft, water-like body beneath her hand. It lay quietly against her.

Only me…

Luo Yihuan knew deep down that this woman was a skilled liar, yet she still craved the sweet words from her lips. She contentedly closed her eyes and rubbed lightly against the soft skin before her.

She thought: Even if Jiang Li fed her a candy-coated poison, as long as Jiang Li smiled and promised to take another to die together with her, Luo Yihuan would swallow it without hesitation.

Better to be deceived with sweet words than not at all.

Her arms tightened around that slender waist, and Luo Yihuan gently brought her lips to Jiang Li’s earlobe. Her breath stirred faintly as she turned her cool cheek aside, her pale blue eyes catching shadows in the light.

The light and shadows intertwined intimately around the two women, creating an atmosphere so that it flushed cheeks, causing onlookers to unconsciously hold their breaths, afraid to disturb the moment.

The azure cheongsam rippled like water in waves from her embrace, her thin waist and back supple as boneless against the other woman’s chest—fragile yet beautiful.

“So, these three years… you still remember that night. You remember me, right?”

The soft question came near her ear, and Jiang Li’s body stiffened momentarily before she nodded in affirmation.

“Yes. I’ve been thinking of you all along.”

Liar.

Luo Yihuan’s senses were keenly attuned to the woman in her arms; she certainly didn’t miss that brief hesitation in Jiang Li’s response to the question, fleeting though it was.

It didn’t matter. It was fine… As long as she was back, that was enough. Back, and she would never give her another chance to leave. Never!

Her face against Jiang Li’s shoulder flushed unusually red, and the obsessive emotions in her eyes began to roil, shattering the ice that had encased her for three years.

In merely a short time with Jiang Li, the frozen rivers of those three years thawed instantly. The dark thoughts buried in the permafrost, which she’d thought long dead, now stirred restlessly.

Every second screamed to lock the woman before her away, in a place visible only to herself.

Li Li, you still couldn’t tame this mad dog after all.

Her throat moved silently as Luo Yihuan stared at Jiang Li’s snowy, elegant neck. Thick desire in her eyes chased away her reason; her tongue moistened her lower lip, yearning to leave her teeth marks there.

Jiang Li couldn’t see the movements in her embrace, but from three years ago, she had known that the person she loved was a madwoman.

And it was her own silent departure that had driven this madwoman completely over the edge.

Remembering the vulnerable, tearful words Luo Yihuan had just confessed—utterly without threat—Jiang Li felt only heartache and guilt.

“Luo Yihuan.” She called the name softly, the one she had whispered countless times.

A low hum of response came from her embrace, subdued and hoarse from crying.

Hearing that voice only deepened Jiang Li’s guilt. She gently pulled Luo Yihuan back from her chest, meeting her eyes with utmost seriousness, word by word.

“Luo Yihuan, if you truly resent me, you can hit me. You can curse me.” She stroked the shoulder beneath her hand, her heart trembling at the wetness in Luo Yihuan’s eyes. “Just don’t cry.”

The clear heartache in Jiang Li’s gaze was visible to her, like a mild, neutral ointment gently healing the wounds beneath the skin, leaving only a faint itch.

Don’t look at me like that.

Bathed in such tender eyes, Luo Yihuan’s dark thoughts recoiled shamefully. She repeated to herself over and over that Jiang Li was a liar, one who discarded her after having her.

Yet Luo Yihuan couldn’t stop the massive wound from three years ago from beginning to heal uncontrollably—just because of the joy in Jiang Li’s eyes.

The scar that no knife could cut away now quietly scabbed over with a single sentence from Jiang Li.

During the darkest period, the hardest to endure, Luo Yihuan had collapsed wretchedly at home, refusing to go out or eat, endlessly tracing the traces Jiang Li had left throughout the house, immersing herself in her fantasies.

At night, cold moonlight streamed into the hall. She lay alone on the icy floor in thin clothes, staring out at the moonlit sky, her eyes pooling with crystals on the floorboards.

She thought: She should have killed her the moment she realized her feelings.

That way, Jiang Li would accompany her forever.

Her flesh and bones would be ground to powder—her bones perfectly shaped everywhere, the powder exquisitely beautiful.

She could carry it in a sachet, keep it at home forever waiting, see only her in her eyes.

Luo Yihuan had obsessed over that idea for a time.

Until the first rays of dawn sunlight illuminated her deranged fantasies.

Jiang Li had left her. She was still the abandoned wretch.

“Luo Yihuan, Luo Yihuan.”

Seeing Luo Yihuan’s face grow pale as lost in some thought, Jiang Li hurriedly soothed her from head to toe, her worried gaze fixed on Luo Yihuan’s cheek.

The calls by her ear pulled Luo Yihuan from the nightmarish past. She blinked dazedly, and there was the real woman before her.

This time, not a dream—truly Jiang Li standing there.

“Mm…”

The porcelain-fragile beauty tightened her arms around Jiang Li’s waist to the utmost, and in Jiang Li’s brief distraction, Luo Yihuan yanked her fiercely into her embrace.

Hugging with such force as if to meld that fiery red into her own verdant hue, dissolving her limbs and body, covering her entirely in her own scent and color.

Jiang Li, Jiang Li, Li Li…

Luo Yihuan chanted her name like one possessed, and Jiang Li felt the hands at her waist nearly crushing her bones. Yet the soft murmurs in her ear were like winter breaths, fleeting.

Jiang Li stood still, allowing Luo Yihuan to bury her head in her neck. Her eyes narrowed slightly, silently sweeping away the prying gazes around them.

But she could fend off the others—yet not Li Zhu.

That was the deal she had made with Li Zhu.

They had met abroad, when the World Consciousness blocked Jiang Li; she had to wait three years for the next world line reset before it would allow her near Luo Yihuan.

The World Consciousness reigned supreme in this world; even 123 and Jiang Li, from a higher realm, couldn’t bypass its barriers to reach Luo Yihuan.

Electronic messages vanished silently, physical items disappeared in transit. Jiang Li had even tried having 123 send her back into Luo Yihuan’s Dream Realm.

123 had shaken its head: Once the world’s task ended, the link to the task target severed.

Jiang Li had racked her brains for countless methods, but all dissolved silently beside Luo Yihuan under the World Consciousness’s interference.

The closest she’d come, she’d nearly touched Shore Lake’s edge.

Anxious, frustrated, missing the one across the ocean—tormented by the World Consciousness, she could only gaze at the endless coast, trapped in agony day after day.

It was during those three years she met Li Zhu, then wandering abroad. Both harbored pain for their beloveds and became confidantes over time.

As the three-year mark approached, Jiang Li learned Li Zhu had taken over business in Shore Lake, where H·L’s operations overlapped heavily with those of Luo Corporation.

After several talks, Jiang Li and Li Zhu struck a deal: Jiang Li would work at H·L’s Shore Lake branch for ten years, with Li Zhu granting her authority to expand business.

Jiang Li’s condition: H·L would not target Luo Corporation.

Tonight’s banquet was one where Jiang Li attended as vice president of the group—a key figure who couldn’t be absent.

So, no matter how idyllic the atmosphere here seemed, Li Zhu still had to intervene.

Li Zhu coughed lightly into her fist and approached the pair. “Jiang Li, the ceremony is about to start. Remember to come.”

“Got it… Hiss.”

Jiang Li tightened her hold on Luo Yihuan’s waist and responded to Li Zhu’s reminder.

As expected, the grip at her waist instantly tightened. Luo Yihuan hugged with all her strength, refusing to let Jiang Li budge an inch.

Just as Jiang Li opened her mouth to speak, Luo Yihuan’s eyes flashed fiercely. Without mercy, she bit down on Jiang Li’s shoulder, triggering an instinctive tensing of the skin.

No. Absolutely not letting her go.

Luo Yihuan ignored the slight reaction, her eyes fixed on that patch of skin. Her teeth ground harder and harder, Jiang Li’s pained grunt filling her ears.

Without looking, Jiang Li knew the state of her shoulder.

If her teeth allowed, Luo Yihuan would have pierced straight into that hateful flesh.

“Luo… Yihuan.”

Jiang Li’s palm gently pressed the back of Luo Yihuan’s head. Her brows furrowed lightly against the pain radiating from her shoulder as she soothed the agitated woman.

“I have to go.”

The teeth paused for an instant, then bit harder, with a suicidal ferocity. Luo Yihuan’s eyes gleamed with savagery, trembling with excitement, tears glistening.

Her teeth quivered as her voice thickened with obsession. “No. I won’t allow it!”

A faint metallic tang spread, exciting Luo Yihuan further. Her arms crushed Jiang Li closer, head buried as she sucked at the shallow blood, her expression entranced.

Her shoulder dampened by the touch, body immobile, Jiang Li knew exactly how to handle her. Meanwhile, Li Zhu had glanced over impatiently several times.

She couldn’t delay any longer.

Forcibly pulling Luo Yihuan from her embrace, Jiang Li gazed at the woman whose lips bore a thread of blood, her features lost in madness. She cupped her face.

Jiang Li kissed her. Cool red lips met scorching heat; in moments of stunned pause, it turned into a wild tangle.

They had only ten seconds.

Seizing control of the kiss, Jiang Li retreated a few steps, drawing them fully into a blind corner of the hall. Cupping Luo Yihuan’s cheeks, she fiercely sucked and entwined with her soft tongue, a flush of excitement rising on her face.

In that hidden nook, unknown to all, the azure and crimson beauties embraced in a fervent kiss.

The wet sounds of lips and tongues intertwined heart-poundingly, drawing her tongue closer, soothing and sucking desperately, venting longing and pain into that one kiss.

Five seconds left.

The kiss was so intense that Jiang Li’s face bloomed with several shades of red. Opening her eyes, she saw—

Luo Yihuan staring fixedly at her face with obsessed, reddened eyes.

Gazing deeply at her, lost in her, trapped in the kiss.

One second.

Jiang Li reached out to cover Luo Yihuan’s eyes, pressing her deeper into the shadows. Her tongue hooked lingeringly once more before withdrawing slowly.

Her voice emerged hoarse with arousal. “Wait for me. I’ll come find you right after the ceremony ends.”

Li Zhu was already calling her name. She couldn’t delay.

She left again. Abandoned her once more.

Luo Yihuan’s sharp nails dug into her palm. Hurt darkened her eyes as she watched Jiang Li’s departing back. The wound that had just begun to heal was viciously torn open again.

Ruthlessly salted.

Finally, seeing Jiang Li go stand beside Li Zhu, Luo Yihuan’s inner fire erupted uncontrollably. Blood-red madness twisted horrifically in her eyes with her expression.

Jiang. Li.

Three years ago, devoured her clean, then vanished the next day.

Three years later, tossed her a charity kiss before seeking new joys elsewhere.

Fine. Perfect. Jealous flames scorched her body as Luo Yihuan stared at the pair on stage, one left one right. Utter insanity sank in her eyes; she bit her beautiful lips without care.

Blood trickled slowly from the corner of her mouth along their perfect curve.

Luo Yihuan stood in prime shadow. The two on stage bathed in the brightest, most glamorous lights. From below, it stabbed her eyes.

She was like a demon from hell, craving warmth that wasn’t hers.

Watching the smile on Jiang Li’s face, the devil chained in Luo Yihuan’s heart silently broke free. She stayed no longer, turning wordlessly to leave.

The abyssal glow in her eyes, at that moment, deeper than any void.

Where was she? Where did she go?

The tedious ceremony finally ended. Jiang Li lifted her skirt hem and descended the stage, heading to the spot of their kiss to find Luo Yihuan—only to find it empty.

The banquet hall buzzed with conversations everywhere. Jiang Li had arrived with Li Zhu tonight, bearing the title of H·L vice president; escaping attention anywhere was impossible.

Finally, she dragged Li Zhu over to handle the socializing for her, freeing herself to search.

Jiang Li scoured the entire hall but found no sign of Luo Yihuan.

Did she leave first?

Jiang Li frowned, dismissing the thought. From her understanding of Luo Yihuan, she wouldn’t leave so easily; she must still be at the banquet.

But she’d checked everywhere in the hall—no Luo Yihuan.

Thinking it over, Jiang Li grabbed a passing server and asked about other venues booked for the event besides the main hall.

As expected, there was an outdoor scenic area.

Jiang Li headed there. The further she walked, the fewer people around, until it was nearly deserted.

Yet the emptier it grew, the more certain Jiang Li became that Luo Yihuan was there.

The trickle of water sounded nearby. The hotel grounds held only a few warm yellow path lights illuminating the trail.

Jiang Li’s stilettos clicked slowly on the ground, shattering the surrounding quiet. The crisp heel strikes echoed one after another in the space.

A pair of obsessed black eyes appeared woodenly.

Jiang Li sensed it and called out tentatively. “Luo Yihuan.”

Silence all around, only the night wind rustling against exposed skin.

That gaze—definitely her, Jiang Li thought.

Looking around, warm light illuminated flowers and trees ahead, but no figure entered her view.

Luo Yihuan wouldn’t come out on her own, but her stare clung unmistakably to Jiang Li, just like in the Dream Realm three years ago.

But this was reality, where Jiang Li held different agency than in the dream.

Fine. Time for that trick.

“Luo Yihuan, I’ll have to leave soon to handle some documents with Li Zhu. Want to come with me?”

Her voice floated unanswered.

After patiently waiting, still no Luo Yihuan.

Her heels shifted as Jiang Li stepped back slightly—and bumped into a soft body.

Jiang Li’s lips curved upward, about to turn—

“Mmph!”

A fragrant handkerchief flashed before her eyes.

The next second, it clamped ruthlessly over her nose and mouth. Strong, distinct knuckles pressed it hard, the soft fabric rubbing against her face.

The woman’s red lips smeared chaotically onto the plain white cloth.

Luo Yihuan, you!

“Baby, you really… deserve a spanking.”

A voice cold to the extreme, brimming with rage, rasped in Jiang Li’s ear. The scent overwhelmed her mind to blankness, though she recognized the owner—

Luo Yihuan.

The struggling in her arms gradually weakened, but Luo Yihuan’s grip never slackened. Only when Jiang Li was fully dazed did she release the cloth.

Gazing at the now-quiet woman leaning in her embrace, Luo Yihuan’s eyes brimmed with ink-black sickness and obsession, her face dark like a storm about to break.

You dared make me watch you flirt with Li Zhu.

Jiang Li, after three years apart, your courage has really grown.

Heh.

Scooping her up, Luo Yihuan vanished into the night with Jiang Li from Berman Hotel.

Step by step, she walked, gazing at the obedient sleeping face in her arms. Tenderness softened her features like water, every movement full of utmost care, lest she shatter the precious one.

Good girl, sleep well. When you wake, we’ll go home.

Once home, no more sleeping.

Tell me about the three years after you slept with me—how many Li Zhus did you sneak off to have behind my back?