...

"...Quick! Force it down her throat! Shi Youxi is coming soon!"

The icy liquid was poured into her mouth, and the pungent alcohol made Mu Yiran choke violently, struggling frantically with her hands and feet.

She squinted and saw the two people choking her.

It was Helian Xin and Sakiya.

"No! No!"

"Smack!"

Sagin slapped her, "You bitch!"

The intensely spicy liquid churned in Mu Yiran's stomach, and a burning sensation quickly spread throughout her body, even making her vision spin and feel dizzy.

Seeing her dazed and lifeless state, Helian Xin released her hand. "Not enough! Is there any more medicine? And some wine?"

The two men were about to force more wine into the woman's mouth when, in the next instant, the unconscious woman grabbed a scattered wine glass and smashed it hard against the men on top of her.

"Ah!" Helian Xin screamed loudly, her head covered in broken glass. She was pushed away by Mu Yiran and even got her hand pricked.

"Help... Shi Youxi! Shi!"

Mu Yiran used both hands and feet, calling out to her watch in a daze. She stumbled and crawled, crawling unconsciously. She couldn't see anything clearly. She had a low alcohol tolerance and didn't know how much alcohol she had been given. Her limbs were weak, and she crawled haphazardly like a blind person, crashing straight into the low sofa chair.

"Hehehe! Go ahead and climb, let's see where you can climb to, huh?!"

Sage grabbed Mu Yiran's hair and stomped hard on the watch with her high heels.

The stinging sensation on her scalp cleared her vision, allowing her to see Sedge's ferocious and crazed face.

"Climb on, why aren't you climbing anymore!"

Helian Xin retaliated by grabbing Mu Yiran's face and this time pouring not wine, but a thick liquid.

"Enough!"

The two men dragged her toward the room.

"Let me go... let me go! Helian Xin!" Mu Yiran's remaining consciousness was only enough to hold onto Helian Xin tightly. She knew that once she was dragged into the room, everything would be over.

You can't go in!

Let's delay a little longer! Let's delay a little longer!

Shi Youxi will definitely find her soon!

"Helian Xin, if something happens to me, it won't do you any good. The people behind me won't let you off the hook... I'll leave here, leave England, please let me go!"

Mu Yiran begged for mercy in a low, panting voice. She knew what Helian Xin cared about, and she was willing to do anything to sway him even a little!

"Heh, the person behind you, are you referring to that woman named Tessa?"

Helian Xin pulled open her eyes and pointed to the unconscious woman on the ground not far away, saying, "Do you want her to save you? Or Shi Youxi?"

Helian Xin's tone was filled with a reckless madness.

"But what can we do? If Shi Youxi sees your ecstatic expression under a man, do you think he'll throw up!"

"How dare a lowly bar hostess steal my man! All because of her face! Her face!"

Mu Yiran's face was being scratched frantically, breaking the skin and splitting her lips.

"Hey, that's enough!"

Inside the room, a man came out and, seeing Mu Yiran's face covered in blood from the torture, angrily stepped aside from Helian Xin, saying, "Miss Helian, if you've destroyed her, I don't want her anymore."

"Alright, you two can leave now. Where's Simpson?"

Sage watched stiffly as her boyfriend gently wiped Mu Yiran's face. "He'll be here soon."

"Tsk, so beautiful... Alright, you can leave now." Henry picked up Mu Yiran and stood up. Seeing Sagina blocking the doorway with tears in her eyes, he chuckled, "What's wrong, darling?"

Sage wanted him to stop sleeping with Mu Yiran, and wanted to ask her what she lacked compared to Mu Yiran that made him want to dump her after only three days!

But the words caught in his throat and he found them laughable: "...When are you going to keep your promise to me?"

Henry kissed her. "You'll get what you want tomorrow, provided I'm happy tonight. Don't be sad, baby. I only like this woman's body, but I still love your soul the most. Come home and wait for me."

Sagin took a deep breath, said no more, and pulled Helian Xin out of the room.

Mu Yiran thrashed about as her head slammed against the bed, a heavy man pressing down on her.

"Get away! Don't touch me! Don't touch me!"

Her strength was soft and gentle, like a cat's claws, making Henry's heart itch unbearably. He pulled the lock on the headboard and fastened it around Mu Yiran's wrist.

"Baby, don't worry, I'll make you feel good right away!"

Her skirt was torn open, revealing her bare, cool thighs.

A chill ran through her chest, and Mu Yiran froze for a moment. Memories buried deep within her bones broke free and overlapped with this moment.

The wicked panting, the sticky touch, and my own desperate cries for help.

She trembled with fear.

Help me!

Help me!

Is anyone there?

Is there anyone who can save her?

Just like back then, could luck take pity on her one more time? Someone, please!

Please... anyone, please help her...

I don't know when, but the weight on my body disappeared, and all I could hear was my own hoarse, unpleasant screams.

"Sister... Sister, don't be afraid, don't be afraid! I'm here, I'm here!"

The boy's low, husky voice gradually became clearer in her ears. Mu Yiran opened her eyes, which she couldn't see clearly at first, and saw a bright light pink color. "...Shi Youxi?"

"It's me, I'm here! Don't be afraid, sister, it's alright, it's alright!"

“Shi Youxi…Shi Youxi, I’m scared…” Mu Yiran clutched the boy’s shirt, trembling all over, her tears soaking a large patch of his shirt.

Shi Youxi lowered his head, looking at Mu Yiran, whose face was covered in tears and whose eyes were lifeless. His pupils were deep and intense, filled with countless emotions. He kissed her trembling eyelids and said in a hoarse voice:

"Close your eyes and you won't be afraid. Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, I'm here, I'm here."

"..."

Mu Yiran was on the verge of collapse. Upon hearing this, her nerves suddenly relaxed, and she collapsed, only her hands tightly gripping Shi Youxi.

Shi Youxi carried her out, amidst the chaos of bodyguards protecting the two and the clamor of exclamations.

He carried Mu Yiran through the hall that was originally a birthday celebration, stepping over the sticky cream spilled on the floor, and arrived at a quiet suite.

Perhaps the sound of the door closing startled Mu Yiran, for she jolted awake, crying out, "Help me! Help me—"

"I'm here, sister. Look at me, I'm here to save you."

Shi Youxi held her scratching hand and pressed it against his face, ears, forehead, and back of the head, and finally kissed her palm.

"As long as Shi Youxi is here, I am here, and no one will hurt you again."

"..."

After being fed water, Mu Yiran licked it. The icy water brought her back to consciousness and made her feel the heat in her body more intensely.

Mu Yiran started rambling incoherently.

"I feel so uncomfortable... Shi Youxi, I feel so uncomfortable. I want to take a shower, no, I don't want to take a shower, I can't take off my clothes... that person is tearing my clothes!"

Shi Youxi pressed down on the woman's torn cheongsam, rubbing her reddened thighs again and again, as if to soothe her or to wipe away the marks.

"They forced me to drink, am I drunk? I need to take medicine, hangover medicine! And, and they gave me disgusting food, Shi Youxi, I feel so awful!"

Shi Youxi held her tightly and coaxed her in a low voice, "Then what do you want me to do? I'll help you, okay?"

Mu Yiran was stunned. "How can I help—"

Before she could finish speaking, the wall clock in the room rang, the midnight chimes struck, and Mu Yiran fell silent.

It's the sound of bells.

She had heard that bell before.

The last time Shi Youxi turned 16, the clock struck midnight just like that.

Mu Yiran blurted out, "Happy birthday, Shi Youxi... Happy 16th birthday."

Shi Youxi froze, then pulled the person into his arms even tighter, pressing his face close to hers. "No, it's eighteen. You still owe me... 16, 17."

Mu Yiran fumbled around on her own, "I prepared a gift for you, the gift is for you... I didn't have enough money, so I used the bag you gave me to make up for it, it's very expensive... You're not allowed to complain."

"But what if I don't want this?"

Mu Yiran was surprised that he refused, and asked blankly, "...Then what do you want? I can't afford anything more expensive."

"You can afford it."

Shi Youxi sat facing her, his back to hers, nose to nose. He looked at the woman's face, his eyes overflowing with desire and possessiveness, "You can afford it."

"Sister, will you give yourself to me?"

"..."

Mu Yiran's expression was blank. Her body had reached its limit. The strong effects of alcohol and aphrodisiacs had overwhelmed her consciousness, and she couldn't understand Shi Youxi's words at all.

"...How can I give it to you?"

"No...no, I have a gift. You want that one, but you have to be good, Shi Youxi, you have to be good..."

She suddenly became frightened, and because she had no strength to hide, she began to tremble again. The person in front of her made her feel at ease, but at the same time, she couldn't help but want to run away.

But Shi Youxi wouldn't let her back down; he blocked all her escape routes and tempted her again and again.

"You promised me you would give me whatever I wanted, you promised."

"Are you feeling unwell? Do you need the antidote? Can I help you, sister?"

"The medicine is useless, that's why I am useful."

Mu Yiran finally couldn't take it anymore and leaned weakly into his arms, crying. She didn't know why she was crying; perhaps it was because she felt so bad, or perhaps it was because she knew how terrible tomorrow's reality would be after tonight.

In the very end, her physiology took over her mind, and she clung to the thorny straw in a daze.

It hurts, but it feels good.

Shi Youxi didn't stop for a moment. He stared intently at her, kissing her deeply and holding her to his very bones, until they were completely intertwined and he felt a suffocating satisfaction.

He knew what he had done; he knew how despicable he had been.

But he doesn't regret it.

His sister always coaxed him, saying that if he wished to do as he pleased, he would surely get what he wanted.

But only now does Shi Youxi fully understand that achieving one's wish depends on human effort.

He eventually became like his father, forced to seek the love he desired.