Lin Zhi'en
camouflage
After Xie Yong finished speaking, he looked straight at me, exuding an air of confidence and arrogance.
His courage to confront Jiang Zhao also stemmed from the pride instilled in him by his family. Xie Yong's father had passed the final election and become the new mayor of the Imperial State. Even Jiang Zhao wouldn't be so unscrupulous in his presence.
“I know you don’t want to go with him, don’t be afraid,” Xie Yong said calmly.
Ye Fenglin stood up from the side, his gaze towards Xie Yong filled with gratitude.
He reverted to his arrogant and flamboyant attitude, sneering at Jiang Zhao: "I may not have inherited the entire family like you, Crown Prince. However, I have one thing in common with you: I won't rape women like you."
Jiang Zhao's already cold and aloof appearance was further shrouded in a chilling aura, giving him an indescribable sinister and indifferent demeanor. I have no doubt that his loathing for Ye Fenglin was enough to make him take action against Ye Fenglin.
I remained unmoved.
"Xiao Fu, don't go with him." Ye Fenglin also grabbed my hand. He smiled and said, "You're my girlfriend. I won't let anyone take you away."
My expression froze for a moment. Xie Yong raised an eyebrow, his eyes darkening as he watched Ye Fenglin grasp my hand.
"Ye Fenglin".
Jiang Mingzhuo, who had been silent the whole time, slowly spoke.
I paused, but my gaze remained unchanged. Jiang Mingzhuo chuckled silently, a mocking smile playing on his thin lips.
As if sensing some danger, a bad feeling instantly arose in my heart, and the hairs on my body stood on end.
I'm afraid of Jiang Mingzhuo. Maybe I was briefly attracted to him once, but now I'm so afraid that I tremble when I see him.
"Do you know that Xie Yong goes to your house every night?" Jiang Mingzhuo's eyes were cold and his tone was elegant as he reminded Ye Fenglin.
Ye Fenglin's expression suddenly underwent a subtle change. He remained silent for a few seconds, then hesitantly turned to the side, seemingly trying to ease the stiffness in his body, and looked at Xie Yong in disbelief, "Brother Yong?"
"I couldn't help but seduce her. I forced her to meet me behind your back. Don't blame her." Xie Yong admitted the "fact" with unusual frankness. Ye Fenglin paused and even looked down at my wrist, which was still tightly gripping his.
He looked extremely pained, longing for me to say something comforting, even if it was just like in the hospital, simply looking at him gently...
I stared blankly at the floor, and it was only at this moment that everyone realized something was wrong with me.
It was as if I had lost all the power to perceive the world. Anyone could hold my hand, and I was like a doll that couldn't speak or react.
"Speak! What exactly is going on between you and Xie Yong!"
He gripped my hand tightly, and red marks were quickly left on it. But when Ye Fenglin saw that I didn't even cry out in pain and just stared blankly to the side, he panicked completely.
"Xiao Fu...did you hear me?" Ye Fenglin had lost all his elegant demeanor. He looked at me hesitantly, pleading with me for even the slightest response. "Say something."
My eyelashes drooped, obscuring my gaze, and I secretly watched Jiang Mingzhuo.
No one knows my situation better than Jiang Mingzhuo.
He knew that in my extreme fear and terror, I would fall into this state, dazed and confused, unable to speak or react, and never wake up again. During the time we were married, I was almost always in this unconscious state.
I noticed that after Jiang Mingzhuo washed his hair, all the muscles from his neck to his jaw were tense. His face remained calm and indifferent, but when he saw me in this state, he showed a slight hint of annoyance and regret.
...His gaze swept over me, his outward appearance remaining calm and dignified, but his eyes were keenly observing my unusual behavior.
I couldn't help but have the illusion that if Ye Fenglin hadn't been holding me back, and Xie Yong hadn't been blocking him and Jiang Zhao, he would have been as close as a hunting dog to my face, carefully sniffing my scent and scrutinizing my every move...
Jiang Mingzhuo took care of me for more than ten years, no, even decades. He knew me intimately from head to toe. He knew what I was thinking with every breath I took, every tremor, every cower. He controlled me, manipulated me, and even indirectly "monitored" me.
If he gets any closer, he'll soon find out I'm faking it.
My throat tightened and became slightly dry, and I remained in a daze.
Ye Fenglin looked at me with a mixture of confusion and surprise. He blamed everything on Xie Yong, but his eyes burned with anger as he scrutinized me.
Just as Ye Fenglin's fist was about to strike Xie Yong, a powerful and authoritative voice rang out from the side.
"Let's stop here. Our family is the master of today's charity auction."
Lin Zhi'en's voice was gentle, but the words she uttered were extremely arrogant: "Have you all made enough of a scene?"
I don't know when, but she came out of the next room. After the banquet, Lin Zhi'en changed into a beautiful, form-fitting light-colored dress with a satin texture, which suited her very well. My gaze flickered slightly, and my eyelashes drooped limply.
I understand that I was the one who started all this farce.
If I hadn't appeared...
Xie Yong and Ye Fenglin remain her perfect and charming childhood sweethearts.
Jiang Zhao is a cold but patient fiancé.
Lin Jindong was her brother who loved her the most.
Jiang Mingzhuo is a friend who will patiently accompany her shopping.
She was the most elegant and beautiful "female protagonist" in the game, and deserved to be loved and pampered by everyone. I messed up her originally peaceful and uneventful life.
Lin Zhi'en smiled gently, concealing the mockery in her eyes. "Ye Zi, can you let her go?"
Ye Fenglin's movements seemed to have been paused. Lin Zhi'en's eyes were full of indifference, and this undisguised look of disgust seemed to make Ye Fenglin belatedly realize that he was being overly anxious. Apart from him, everyone else present was very calm.
Lin Zhi'en walked over, looked at me, and said softly, "You should rest now. I'll take you back to your room."
I still refused to look up at her. Lin Zhi'en reached out her hand to me, her voice indifferent, "Your Highness, you broke off the engagement without my consent tonight, making me look so humiliated. Just hand her over to me, okay?"
Lin Zhi'en's voice was gentle, and she usually behaved like a goddess, never losing her composure. In fact, her aura was no less than that of these privileged individuals, and there was even an invisible sense of pressure. She looked at Jiang Zhao, her tone gentle, but it was definitely not a tone of negotiation or request.
"Let's go." Lin Zhi'en gently patted my back. "The snow outside is heavy. I'll find you a doctor tomorrow."
My heart skipped a beat. But I didn't want anyone to see through my act of being dazed and confused, just blankly. Lin Zhi'en carefully lifted my wrist and held my hand, her movements gentle yet firm.
My heart pounded harder and harder, louder and louder, and I actually started to feel afraid of being alone with Lin Zhi'en. @Unlimited great articles, all at Literary City
At this delicate moment, I knew that to escape the terrifying control of Jiang Mingzhuo and Jiang Zhao, I could only follow her and leave this suffocating environment. My fingers trembled slightly, as if Lin Zhi'en had noticed. @Unlimited good articles, all at Literary City
"It's okay, don't be afraid." She easily took my hand in hers, her long, slender fingers weaving through my skin to hold it tightly. Her warm, faintly fragrant skin touched me, as if sending a gentle electric current through me.
There were only Lin Zhi'en and me in the room.
She led me into the bathroom and had me sit in the huge massage bathtub. The water slowly soaked through my dress, and I was completely soaked, from head to toe. Water dripped down from my head, and my long, curly hair was already disheveled, sticking messily to my neck.
Lin Zhi'en expressionlessly reached out and gently splashed water on my arm; she had adjusted the water temperature to a perfect level.
Not long after, the Lin family's servants came in with a tray containing bath towels, light pink underwear, a nightgown, and top-quality skincare products.
"Miss, let me do it."
"No, you'll hurt her."
I gently raised my eyes to look at her. Lin Zhi'en still had those gentle eyes and brows, patiently helping me take off my dress. Her nails shone with a lustrous sheen, like scallops. The maid beside me probably never imagined that a young lady from a high-class family like her would patiently serve me.
Was she testing me? I hesitated. After all, on such a grand occasion as tonight, because of my presence, her fiancé, childhood sweetheart, and other familiar faces all seemed to have become different people... She was so respectable, while I made the people around her so unbearable. She should hate me.
Lin Zhi'en saw the marks on my neck from the bear's mouth. Her hand reached for the tightly closed clam shell, so delicate and vulnerable. I was startled by her poking me and quickly opened my eyes wide. Her long hair fell slightly as she searched the area discreetly, then smiled slightly. "It's good that no snake went in. I know you're not that stupid."
My shoulders hunched.
The bathroom was filled with steam, and the thin white mist made it impossible for me to see Lin Zhi'en's expression. Her long hair was hanging down, and she still had that gentle look in her eyes, but I knew that she had already discovered that I was pretending to be mentally unstable.
I was feeling uneasy, but Lin Zhi'en smiled again and turned to the maid beside her, "What drinks are left?"
"Miss, would you like orange juice or apple juice? Or perhaps champagne? The hotel can provide all of those." @Unlimited Good Articles, all at Literary City
"Orange juice, with ice, go get it." Lin Zhi'en calmly ordered. The maid lowered her eyes and retreated, quietly closing the door. Suddenly, I felt a sense of fear, my hair stood on end, and I stared straight at Lin Zhi'en in front of me.
She still had the elegant appearance of snow-white skin and black hair, a gentle demeanor, and beautiful features, but it made me feel nervous.
“I used to have a very beautiful antique doll, just like you, with fair skin and delicate features. My favorite thing to do was to change her clothes and hold her to sleep every night.”
Lin Zhien gently stroked my neck, feeling my pulse pounding in her palm.
Her voice was soft, and her movements were gentle; my eyelashes trembled in panic.
"However, my parents felt that I was too easily distracted by my hobbies, and that it was not a good thing to reveal my interests. On the afternoon I went to ballet class, they threw away the dolls in my room and even cleaned up the handmade clothes I had specially bought. From that day on, I knew that my life was not up to me."
Lin Zhi'en's voice was very pleasant, her pronunciation was clear, and she spoke very slowly. "My older brother is my father's illegitimate son and has no right to inherit anything. Everything in the family belongs to me, but no one has ever asked me if I want it. They all seem to think that it is only natural for me to inherit the entire business and find a suitable fiancé."
“I know I’m popular, and I think all the men around me should like me, but I don’t want to get married at all. For a ballet dancer, getting pregnant and having a child is like a death sentence for her career; she will never have another chance.”
Lin Zhi'en's gentle words sent chills down my spine. She gently and delicately gathered my hair with her fingers. "However, I still dream that I marry them, but my marriage is not happy. They don't seem to love me. We treat each other with respect and live our own lives. But there's something strange. No matter which man I marry, you always appear."
Suddenly, she leaned closer to me, a slight smile playing on her lips. "Sometimes, it's Jiang Zhao who insists on divorcing his wife to be with you. Sometimes, it's my older brother, you, who divorces your husband and remarries him. I've even dreamt of Xie Yong and you making love in the mayor's office... I'm really curious, why do other people like my doll so much? Or is it because I miss her so much that she appears in every one of my dreams?"
The shock I experienced was far more terrifying than what Lin Zhi'en casually mentioned.
A belated shiver crept up my spine, but my stiffness did not escape Lin Zhi'en's notice.
She smiled slightly and said, "I always thought it was a dream. Those dreams told me to stay away from these men. Anyway, I don't like them. Why should I go against my heart and interact with them every time? Until three years ago, I was driving to the state university to visit a classmate and met you, a freshman, on the way."
"My doll actually came to life! She walked on the street, and everything was exactly as I imagined: beautiful, vivid, and pitiful. Of course, I was so excited I was almost going crazy. I observed you every day, partly to see if you would appear next to those men like in my dreams, and partly... I felt so sorry for you, struggling to live. I was even more glad that I wasn't the woman who was loved."
My heart skipped a beat as I watched Lin Zhi'en lean closer to me and call out again, "Xiao Fu."
I stepped back, and she suddenly fell silent. Then she quickly adjusted her tone and smiled, "I don't want to hurt you. I just want to take you back and protect you. When I was little, I didn't have the courage to rebel against my parents, but now you can completely trust me."
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