Chapter 27: Sick of Living

A sharp pain shot through her forehead. It took a long moment for Natalie to steady herself and open her eyes.

In his fury, the showerhead in his hand had been flung against the bathtub.

Her reflexive flinch had sent her head slamming into the wall.

As the initial throbbing subsided, she felt a warm trickle sliding down her forehead.

She reached up to touch it; it was thick, sticky blood. She hissed, drawing in a sharp breath of cold air.

He looked on with a mix of dark amusement and genuine concern. He hadn't actually intended to hit her.

"Are you alright?" He reached out to inspect the wound.

Natalie was shaking like a leaf, but she didn't dare pull away, fearing an even more violent outburst.

She knew she was no match for him; head-on defiance never ended well.

He knit his brows. "You're bleeding. The wound needs to be treated immediately."

He scooped her up. Her soaked body pressed against his shirt.

He frowned with discomfort but focused on changing her into dry clothes first. Then, he brought out a medical kit to disinfect the gash.

Natalie felt like a doll, allowing herself to be handled without resistance.

His hot breath fanned over the top of her head like a heavy, suffocating cloud.

Suddenly, a phone vibrated on the table, shattering the silence.

He glanced over. "It's his call."

Natalie grabbed the phone to see that the "he" was the older brother.

She answered hurriedly, "Hello?"

"It's me. Your cousin."

"Mhm."

He gave a lazy laugh. "Are you this cold to everyone, or do you just enjoy playing hard to get?"

Natalie pursed her lips. "I'm just a slow starter."

"..."

"Right... well, I saw your luck was good last night. I wanted to ask if you want to go again tonight?"

Natalie looked at the man in front of her. He gave no instructions, his indifferent face betraying nothing of his thoughts.

She couldn't wait any longer; she just wanted to get out of this room. "Where should I meet you?"

The older brother laughed at her tone. "In such a hurry?"

Natalie took a steadying breath. "Are we going or not? Just send me the address."

Fortunately, he wasn't one for dramatics. "Fine!"

After hanging up, Natalie didn't bother changing or doing her makeup. Her hair was still damp as she grabbed her small bag to leave.

He reminded her coolly, "Put your earpiece in."

"Right." She took the earpiece from him and looked him in the eye. "Is there anything else you want me to carry on me?"

"Like what?"

She was blunt: "A camera? I'm going to do everything I can to get into the casino inside that club tonight."

He remained silent.

She held out her hand. "I'm sure you have everything prepared."

He spread his hands. "Forget it. In your state, you shouldn't go."

Natalie's brows shot up in anger. "I'm going. If you don't let me out, I'll bite off my tongue and end it!"

He lowered his eyelids, his gaze shrouded in darkness.

Natalie slammed the door behind her.

He didn't stop her.

Inside the elevator, she touched the gauze on her temple.

She wondered if she’d be scarred for life.

She swore that from this day forward, she and the man upstairs would be mortal enemies.

When she met the older brother, his first question was, "Did someone hit you in the head?"

He was dressed much like the night before—loud and colorful.

Natalie brushed her hair over the bandage. "I just tripped and hit it."

"That eager to see me?"

She instinctively denied it. "No, I hit it this afternoon."

He paused, then burst out laughing. "Quite the clumsy one, aren't you?"

Natalie was annoyed.

He draped an arm over her shoulder. "Alright, I'll stop teasing you."

She quickly moved his hand. "Let's skip the casino for now. Why don't you listen to me sing for a bit?"

His eyebrows rose. "Sure."

Back in the same club suite from the night before, he mentioned, "I sent you a message at noon. Why didn't you reply?"

"Did you?" She pulled out her phone to check. She had been so busy managing her assistant and sitting through back-to-back video meetings that she truly hadn't noticed.

She said casually, "I assumed you slept all through the day."

He chuckled. "Sleep? I've been busy enough to lose my mind."

"?"

"Do you think our family holds a place in Macau's entertainment industry based on our influence back home?"

"Isn't it?"

"You're dreaming, little sister. Let me tell you, power is sometimes a blade that keeps you in check."

Natalie listened intently, but he didn't seem inclined to reveal more. He handed her a microphone. "Let's hear you roar a bit for me."

Natalie picked a duet, but he didn't know the song.

"Can we change it?"

"What do you know?"

He scrolled through the list. "This one. 'Love is Difficult' by Leslie Cheung."

Coincidentally, her previous husband had sung it to her before.

She started with the female lead's part: "It's best to keep loving as long as we live..."

He raised an eyebrow and picked up his mic to join in: "Life is really just about finding a companion..."

As they were getting into the rhythm, Natalie's phone buzzed. She glanced at it.

It was the husband who had been missing for days!

She stood up abruptly. "Uh, my stomach hurts. I need the restroom."

As she set down the mic, she slipped the earpiece out of her ear and into her bag.

She walked into a stall and answered.

"Natalie."

Hearing that voice, her emotions surged; she nearly sobbed aloud. "Where have you been all this time!"

"I had some urgent business abroad. By the way, what is he doing with you in Macau?"

Her breathing grew shallow. "He wants me to seduce his brother."

"Seduce him?" The voice on the phone sounded shocked. "We'll talk when you're back. I've arranged a flight for you. Go to the airport immediately."

Her mind went blank for a second. With less than two seconds of hesitation, she agreed: "I'm going now."

She needed to escape his clutches right now!

Heading out, she feigned calm, took the earpieces from her bag, went back into the bathroom, and flushed them down the toilet.

She couldn't think about anything else—she just wanted to go back.

At least her husband wouldn't treat her the way he did.

She only had to play the damsel, and her husband might even give his life for her.

The older brother didn't stop her when she said she had to leave. He only asked, "Need a ride?"

She didn't refuse. "Yes. Take me to the airport—and I want you to drive fast."

He didn't waste words and sped off.

"Picking someone up?"

She shook her head. "Catching a flight."

He seemed surprised. "Leaving so soon?"

She smiled. "Yes."

He guessed immediately. "Was that a call from my cousin just now?"

She didn't deny it. "Mhm."

He laughed again. "You young people... a fight every two days, a scene every three. Good thing my cousin has a decent temper. Anyone else wouldn't be so easy to deal with."

After getting out at the airport, she ran all the way. Luckily, the airport was small, and the gate was only a few steps away.

She boarded the plane and waited anxiously until it took off. Once they were stable in the air, she looked out at the clouds and finally let out a long, shuddering sigh of relief.

Then, a low, malicious voice sounded from behind her: "Running away without my permission? I think you're sick of living."

Chapter 28: You Must Be Punished for Running Away

Every hair on Natalie's body stood on end.

This was, without a doubt, the most terrifying thing she had experienced in her twenty-one years.

She pinched the flesh on her thigh hard to force herself to stay calm.

Like a startled bird, she scanned the cabin with wide eyes.

It was a small private jet arranged by her husband—the space was limited and visible at a glance.

The flight attendant, who had been pouring a drink, had already discreetly retreated.

She took a deep breath. She met those eyes, which were darkened to an extreme. Before he could utter the words "Get over here," she scrambled to his feet and wrapped her arms around his lean waist.

She clung to him tightly, buried her face in his chest, and cried out, "I thought I'd never see you again! I was so scared!"

Only the last part was true.

A mix of truth and lies was the easiest way to bluff through.

Since they had crossed paths, a full-blown confrontation served no one.

He looked down with an interested glint in his eyes.

"Thought you'd never see me again? What happened?"

His tone carried a mix of feigned surprise and concern.

See? My acting isn't bad,

she thought.

She nodded frantically, her voice trembling with tears. "I had a drink at your brother's club and lost consciousness. After that... after that, I don't know what happened."

"When I woke up, I got a call from your cousin. He said you were in trouble and told me to get back quickly. I... I was terrified, so I came to the airport..."

Buried in his chest, she couldn't see his expression, but she heard him give a low chuckle above her head.

His hot palm landed on the back of her head. Her heart tightened, sensing danger, and her shoulders began to shake uncontrollably.

But his hand only stroked her hair, over and over, with a gentleness that was terrifying.

She looked up, her eyes red. In that short moment, she had managed to squeeze out a few tears.

The hand stroking her hair moved to behind her ear. His thumb gently brushed the tears from her cheek. He leaned down and kissed her brow.

At this moment, he was unbelievably gentle.

In a moment of lost self-control, she hooked her arms around his neck and looked at him with watery eyes. She leaned in, stopping just before their lips touched, her mouth slightly parted in a deliberate act of seduction.

For a long time, the expected kiss didn't come.

She couldn't help but open her eyes.

She saw a dangerous smile in his gaze. His large hand slowly caressed her cheek, the sensation hot and itching.

"If you heard I was in trouble, why didn't you come to save me?"

She pursed her lips. "He said he had people arranged to save you and told me not to cause trouble."

The reason was logical enough.

But as the words fell, his hand suddenly tightened, gripping the back of her neck.

Her body stiffened instantly.

He gave a cold laugh. "No logic, lying through your teeth, riddled with holes. You can't even spin a coherent lie. Natalie, are you really this pathetic?"

Her breathing grew rapid. They were thousands of feet in the air; if he got angry enough, he might actually throw her out!

She was ready to beg.

"It's because of the boy. I was truly scared. It involves your cousin's 'First Love.' If I didn't listen to him, who knows what would have happened?"

"So you're saying you're caught between me and my cousin, struggling on both sides?"

She nodded vigorously. "Exactly! You're both big figures I can't afford to offend!"

"If you were the one who held all the power, would I have to work this hard?"

She was taking a jab at him.

He called her pathetic? From where she stood, he wasn't exactly doing great either.

In his family, he had no real say; he likely grew up living at the whim of others.

On the outside, he was a chairman of a listed company, but a single word from those in political or financial power could turn him into nothing.

He read the disdain in her eyes and his lips curled into a smirk. "Natalie, you really are full of surprises."

She was confused. One moment she was "pathetic," the next she was "full of surprises"?

Seeing the tension ease, she got up from the floor and sat obediently in the seat next to him, buckling her seatbelt.

He stopped talking and leaned his head on his hand, closing his eyes as if to nap.

She touched the gauze on her head and followed suit, falling asleep.

When she woke up, the moon was high. She followed him off the plane and into a car in a daze.

It took a while for her to realize something was wrong.

This was a different city—not her home!

She looked at him in terror.

He gave a mocking smile. "What? Did you not consider this outcome when you were on the plane?"

"You! Bastard!"

She grabbed his collar. "Tell the driver to stop the car!"

He didn't move an inch, looking at her with cold indifference. "If you're in such a hurry to get back, you won't see the boy anyway. I told you, you have to listen to me. Otherwise, every crime will be pinned on him."

"You jerk!"

"You absolute jerk!"

In a fit of rage, she tried to open the door to jump out.

Before she could touch the handle, she was yanked back. The wound on her forehead slammed into his hard chest.

The impact nearly made her pass out.

"I really misunderstood you before."

"Misunderstood?" His gaze was intrigued, but she couldn't hold on and fainted.

The impact had been too much.

He carried her into the estate. The butler came forward to ask, "Young Master, do you need a doctor?"

He kept walking. "I'll handle her myself."

Once in the room, she regained consciousness. Stabbing pains shot through her forehead. She couldn't open her eyes, but she reached out and grabbed an arm, gripping it with a death grip.

"I did what you asked. You can't go back on your word."

"I won't," he answered tonelessly. "But you must be punished for running away."

She bit her lip hard.

"Stop torturing me. I... I wish I had never met you."

He laughed. "There's no turning back once the arrow is fired. I gave you chances back then, remember?"

Her chest heaved shallowly.

Of course she remembered.

The first time, he had said seriously, "We shouldn't get too close."

The second time, he had said casually, "I'm not a good man. I'm prone to abandoning people once I'm done. Some things are better left untouched."

The third time, just as he was about to speak, she had stood on her tiptoes and kissed him, blocking his words, expressing her feelings with a passionate directness.

He had frozen like a green youth, wanting to respond but hesitating.

That day, she had insisted on tearing away his polite, formal exterior and dragged him to a hotel suite.

The first half of their first time had been led by her.

Afterward, he had kissed her as if he couldn't get enough, his voice husky and intoxicated: "You really are different."

But before it all began, he had indeed warned her: "Natalie, don't you dare regret this. If you do, I'll make sure you pay the price for what you've done today."