Chapter 11 A Terrifying Nightmare: The One Who Stands Silently Behind Her Forever...
"Didn't I just say we didn't need to investigate anymore? Now you're not even listening to me, are you?" Lin Yuwei tilted her head and stared at Gu Qingyan. Her carefully permed long curly hair snagged on her long earring as she moved, making Lin Yuwei irritable. She frowned, turned her head and pulled the strand of hair out of the tangle. Because the movement was a little rough, her scalp hurt.
Lin Yuwei was in a terrible mood and didn't want to discuss the investigation with Gu Qingyan anymore. Yang Mingyuan was the most suitable lover she had met in recent years. She had failed too many times in love, and she was unwilling to accept it. She wanted to win this time.
"I'm listening." Gu Qingyan suddenly lowered her head, her thick eyelashes casting a shadow under her eyes. This submissive appearance inexplicably stung her nerves, as if she were some heinous tyrant.
"That's good. The moving company will be here tomorrow morning, but I have a date tonight and don't have time to pack. Since you're back early today, you can help me pack. You can continue to live in this apartment after I move out." Lin Yuwei turned around, grabbed her bag and phone from the entryway, and planned to go downstairs to wait for Yang Mingyuan so that they could avoid running into each other.
She composed herself, humming a cheerful tune as she headed towards the elevator.
It wasn't until late at night that Lin Yuwei returned to her apartment, having had her fill of fun. When she opened the door, the living room was dark, and a strong smell of alcohol hit her. She wrinkled her nose in suspicion, found the light switch, and turned on the light.
In the brightly lit living room, Gu Qingyan slumped between the sofa and the coffee table, with seven or eight empty wine bottles scattered around his feet. He never drank, but now he was completely drunk, his face flushed, his eyes bloodshot, and his shirt collar wide open.
Lin Yuwei looked at the empty wine bottles on the ground and asked Gu Qingyan incredulously, "You drank? Tsk, you can really drink! You must have drunk most of my stock, right?" Gu Qingyan did not respond, ignoring her words, and just stared into the void ahead with his bloodshot eyes.
Forget it, he's drunk after drinking so much. Lin Yuwei decided not to waste any more time on him and walked past him toward the master bedroom.
Pushing open the half-closed bedroom door, Lin Yuwei saw her suitcase overturned on the floor, several wrinkled dresses piled haphazardly inside, and the dressing table a mess. Anger instantly surged within her: "Gu Qingyan! What are you doing?!" She stormed back into the living room, her high heels clicking rapidly on the marble floor. She yelled at the person beside the sofa, "Is this the help you promised?"
Gu Qingyan, who was sitting next to the sofa, finally reacted. He slowly raised his head, and a dark current surged in his blood-red eyes that she had never seen before. He stood up unsteadily, staggered for a moment, and then Lin Yuwei noticed the dark circles under his eyes caused by long-term lack of sleep. He walked towards her, his tall figure blocking the light from the living room chandelier, and the shadow he cast completely enveloped her.
“I’ve changed my mind.” His voice was so low it was almost inaudible: “Lin Yuwei, you’re not allowed to leave.”
Lin Yuwei thought she had misheard: "What did you say?" How dare he talk to her like that? Has he eaten the gall of a bear and the heart of a leopard?
“I said,” Gu Qingyan said, emphasizing each word, “you are not allowed to leave.”
A sense of absurdity replaced her anger. Lin Yuwei couldn't help but scoff, turning around and heading back to her bedroom to pack her own luggage. She muttered sarcastically, "If you can't drink, don't try to drink like others. You get drunk and act crazy. If you won't help, fine, I'll pack myself." She haphazardly stuffed her dress into her suitcase, swept all the scattered cosmetics on the table into it, and pulled her suitcase toward the front door.
As she dragged her suitcase through the living room, Gu Qingyan's statue-like figure remained standing still. She deliberately turned her face away from him and walked straight past him.
Just as she reached the entrance, she heard footsteps behind her. As she reached for the doorknob, a burning hot body pressed against her from behind, and a pair of large arms embraced her tightly, almost suffocating her. Hot breath sprayed onto her neck, mixed with the scent of alcohol and despair.
"Gu Qingyan, what are you doing? Let me go!" She struggled, her manicured fingertips slicing across his arm, leaving several deep red marks.
Gu Qingyan seemed oblivious to the pain. He spun her around and roughly pinned her against the entryway, throwing her suitcase aside. Lin Yuwei's head slammed against the cold wall, a sharp pain shooting through her. Gu Qingyan's long, slender fingers traced her collarbone upwards, encircling her neck. His hoarse voice, tinged with despair and broken sobs, cried out, "Lin Yuwei, you always say I'm your dog… I accept that, but I've been your dog for over a decade, how dare you abandon me? Just throw me away like that? Lin Yuwei, do you really have no heart?!"
Gu Qingyan's forehead pressed against hers, and hot tears pelted Lin Yuwei's face like a torrential rain. She opened her mouth to say something, but Gu Qingyan's lips, reeking of alcohol, sealed her lips, silencing all her attempts to defend herself.
Lin Yuwei's lips were numb from his ravaging, and her oxygen-deprived brain made her limbs feel weak like cotton. Gu Qingyan easily lifted her up, as if she were a trophy. Her fists pounded on his thin back, but it was like hitting a copper wall. Lin Yuwei's screams echoed in the corridor, but only earned him more determined steps.
The door to Gu Qingyan's bedroom was kicked open with his out-of-control force, the heavy impact echoing against the wall and making the window frame vibrate. He strode in carrying her and threw her onto the large bed without any mercy.
The moment Lin Yuwei sank into the soft mattress, she was bounced up and down, unable to get up quickly for a moment.
Gu Qingyan walked to the bedside, opened the drawer, and took out several ties. Lin Yuwei felt a sense of foreboding. She recognized these ties; they were all left behind in the apartment by her ex-boyfriends. She had clearly told Gu Qingyan to take them and throw them away, but instead of doing so, he collected them all, as if they were evidence of betrayal.
"What are you going to do?" Lin Yuwei's voice began to tremble. She had never seen Gu Qingyan like this before. Those eyes that always looked at her gently were now burning with the crazy flames of hatred.
Gu Qingyan didn't answer. He straddled her, firmly pinning her struggling body down with one hand, and with the other, he picked up a dark blue tie and deftly tied her wrists to the carved pillar at the head of the bed. Lin Yuwei struggled fiercely, reaching for his face with her other hand, but he easily subdued her and tied her to the headboard as well.
The silk tie felt cold and cruel against her wrist; the more Lin Yuwei struggled, the deeper the tie dug into her delicate skin, causing sharp pain. "You can't do this to me!" she screamed, her voice filled with genuine fear. "Gu Qingyan! Are you insane?"
When the last tie tightly bound her ankles, Gu Qingyan finally stopped. He stood by the bed, looking down at her, the madness in his eyes gradually settling into a chilling calm.
"Mad?" He chuckled softly, his laughter filled with bitterness. "Yes, I've been mad for a long time." His gaze pierced through time, as if returning to the distant past. "Probably... I've been mad since more than ten years ago, since the moment I fell in love with you. Oh, you drove me mad yourself. You haven't forgotten, have you?"
Lin Yuwei's breath hitched. Gu Qingyan had never directly said the word "love" to her. Even in their most intimate moments, he always maintained the demeanor of a servant and never dared to overstep his bounds. Yet now he uttered it so easily, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
She forced herself to remain calm, trying to keep her voice authoritative: "Gu Qingyan, you're drunk now. You'll definitely regret everything you've done when you sober up. How about this, let me go now, and I can pretend none of this ever happened. Otherwise, your bright future will be ruined."
Gu Qingyan laughed loudly, a laugh that sent chills down her spine: "Regret? I'm more clear-headed than ever. What's the point of this bright future without you? Lin Yuwei, even now, you still don't understand what I want?" His voice suddenly deepened: "From beginning to end, all I've ever wanted is to be with you. Isn't that ridiculous..."
He leaned closer, his fingers gently tracing her cheek, his movements incredibly tender: "I investigated every man who approached you, painstakingly digging up their dark histories, watching you get hurt time and time again only to return to me... I thought that as long as I tried hard enough and waited patiently enough, you would eventually turn around and see me, giving me a chance to be your boyfriend. By the way, didn't you say that no one truly loves you? I've always loved you, can't you see that?"
Lin Yuwei stubbornly turned her face away, disgustedly avoiding his touch: "Dream on, a dog doesn't deserve to love me? To me, you're nothing more than a substitute that's at my beck and call."
“That’s right.” Gu Qingyan straightened up: “But now, the substitutes have gotten smarter and decided not to wait any longer.”
He turned on the heater, and the room temperature rose with its hum. Like unwrapping a long-awaited gift, he slowly and meticulously peeled off the burgundy velvet dress he had given her. With each inch of exposed skin, a burning kiss followed, as if declaring ownership. Then, he unbuttoned his own shirt, one button at a time, his movements elegant yet dangerous.
As the last piece of cover fell to the ground, Lin Yuwei saw the hideous, old scar on his body, a mark left when he shielded her from a knife at the age of seventeen: "Lin Yuwei, it's time for you to repay me, with interest, the warmth you borrowed from me."
Gu Qingyan's long-planned revenge came fiercely and thoroughly. For the first time, Lin Yuwei realized that Gu Qingyan, who had always stood silently behind her, had long since grown into a monster that devoured the light in the darkness unknown to anyone, becoming her most terrible nightmare.
He was no longer as gentle and restrained as before, but rather brutally invaded every inch of her skin, as if to erase all traces left by others. His kisses were no longer devout offerings, but biting with a sense of punishment, leaving red marks on her snow-white skin.
"It hurts, doesn't it?" he asked hoarsely, his fingers gripping her waist, forcing her to be intimate with him, the force so strong it almost left bruises. "Do you know, for the past year or so, every time I saw you come back smelling like someone else, it hurt like this?"
Lin Yuwei had never seen Gu Qingyan like this before—out of control, violent, and aggressive. He was no longer the silent, loyal guardian, but a cornered beast that had finally torn away its docile facade and begun to fight back.
He possessed her again and again, as if to make her remember that this body should only ever belong to him. Lin Yuwei was caught in a vortex of pain and pleasure, her makeup smudged by tears and sweat. When Gu Qingyan finally pulled away, she lay sprawled on the water-stained sheets like a broken doll.
Lin Yuwei's wrists and ankles ached terribly; the areas bound by the tie burned intensely. She finally pleaded, "I won't leave. I'll stay with you. Please let me go, okay? It really hurts..."
The madness and intoxication in Gu Qingyan's eyes had been largely released during their repeated intimate encounters. He glanced at the shocking marks on her wrists, his eyes darkening. After hesitating for a moment, he finally untied the restraints. The tie had already dug deep into her flesh, leaving purplish-red marks on her snow-white skin, which looked particularly glaring.
Gu Qingyan silently got up and left the room, but soon returned, holding a familiar liniment for bruises and sprains.
Lin Yuwei was familiar with these ointments, because Gu Qingyan usually kept them for her, who was always carefree. Whenever she accidentally injured her hands or feet, he would carefully apply the ointment to the wound, just like the one in front of her.
Gu Qingyan knelt by the bedside, gently applying medicine to her wrist. "I'm sorry, I hurt you." The coolness of the ointment slightly relieved the burning pain in Lin Yuwei's wrist. She saw Gu Qingyan's eyelashes trembling violently, his voice filled with pitiful pleading: "Weiwei, as long as you stay, I will never hurt you again." For the past ten years, Gu Qingyan had always treated her like a princess; she was willing to believe his words.
Looking at the distraught Gu Qingyan before her, Lin Yuwei felt a mixture of fear, helplessness, and an indescribable pity. She sniffed and repeated, "I'm not leaving."
Gu Qingyan looked up and gazed deeply into her eyes: "You won't lie to me, right?" Lin Yuwei nodded emphatically. Gu Qingyan straightened up, gently embraced her, and kissed her forehead with the same tenderness he had shown countless times before: "Then let's get some rest, Weiwei."
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