Chapter 18 Pluck Nightmare.

Chapter 18: Nightmare.

Cen Yingshuang almost reflexively pushed Chen Yanli away, and she looked around in panic. She didn't see He Yuzhou's car, and her gaze quickly swept across the entire spacious, bright lobby, trying to find something.

Her sudden panic left Chen Yanli confused and even more concerned.

"Yingshuang, what's wrong? What are you looking for?" Chen Yanli frowned and stepped closer to her. "Who called you?"

As Chen Yanli approached, Cen Yingshuang felt a chill run down her spine, as if a pair of eyes somewhere behind her were fixed on her.

She hurriedly stepped back, putting distance between them. "Brother Yanli, I'm okay."

"You don't look well." Chen Yanli's brow furrowed deeper.

"I'm just a bit tired." Beads of cold sweat formed on Cen Yingshuang's forehead as she continued to back away. "Brother Yanli, it's getting late. You should head back. I'm not feeling well... I'm going up..."

With that, she turned and hurried to the elevator.

Cen Yingshuang was so out of character that Chen Yanli knew something was up. She must be in trouble.

Or someone was bothering her.

The iPhone's earpiece was a bit loud, even without speakerphone.

Chen Yanli clearly heard a man's voice.

From the way the guy had effortlessly dropped a fortune on a priceless pearl necklace, it was obvious he came from a wealthy, influential family, way beyond ordinary means.

If that were the case, even Zhou Yalin couldn't protect Cen Yingshuang.

But since Cen Yingshuang wouldn't say, Chen Yanli couldn't keep pressing.

He had no standing or right to.

It felt like a heavy stone was lodged in his chest, making it hard to breathe, an indescribable suffocation.

But if his guess was right, he had to find a way to help her.

Chen Yanli watched Cen Yingshuang disappear into the elevator before turning away, his heart heavy with worry.

Not far from the lobby entrance, around a corner, stood a large sycamore tree in a pitch-black area with no courtyard lights.

As he got closer, he noticed a black Rolls-Royce parked under the tree, blending into the night.

Lost in thought, he nearly walked into it.

Distracted, Chen Yanli rubbed his temples and kept walking.

He Yuzhou sat in the car, lounging comfortably in his seat, legs casually crossed, turning his head slightly to look out the window as Chen Yanli's figure passed by.

Phone pressed to his ear, He Yuzhou gave a faint smirk, his voice even: "What's your relationship with him?"

Her voice came through intermittently, unclear—probably bad signal in the elevator.

He Yuzhou waited patiently.

Finally, he heard Cen Yingshuang's uneven breathing clearly, her voice small and hesitant: "You... what did you say? I didn't catch it."

"I said," He Yuzhou enunciated each word, "what's your relationship with him?"

"He's just my mom's friend's son... like a brother to me." Cen Yingshuang answered honestly.

He Yuzhou had already investigated their background thoroughly, but rather than those surface-level answers, he wanted to hear her explain it.

"Brother." He Yuzhou dragged out the word deliberately, then asked lightly, "Didn't you call me brother too?"

"..."

Cen Yingshuang instantly got his implication.

Meaning—she saw him as a brother, but he didn't see her as a sister, and had improper feelings for her. And Chen Yanli was the same.

"No!" Cen Yingshuang shot back immediately.

"No what?" He Yuzhou pressed. "Not seeing me as a brother?"

"..."

He was really good at turning things around, a logic genius who could always leave people speechless.

After a long silence, Cen Yingshuang said earnestly: "He's more than ten years older than me. He's been good to me, and even if there are feelings, they're like family—seeing me as a little sister, a close confidant. How could he think of me that way? After all, he's so much older..."

She rambled on, and He Yuzhou quickly got her point, especially how she emphasized "older than her" twice.

She wasn't just talking about Chen Yanli; more than that, she was hinting at him.

Maybe still trying to suggest he might be mistaken about his own feelings.

"Cen Yingshuang."

He Yuzhou said her name slowly, each word deliberate and forceful: "No one says feelings have an age limit. I'm ten years older than you, and I've never been in a relationship before, but I'm not so clueless that I don't recognize my own feelings. When I say I like you, every word is carefully thought out."

"..."

Cen Yingshuang fell silent again. Just hearing him say her name was oppressive, and "I like you" scared her.

He hadn't even asked who she liked.

Maybe he didn't care who it was.

His aggressive, determined approach left her defenseless.

Cen Yingshuang's breathing grew heavy, and she was trembling audibly.

"Scared?" He Yuzhou suddenly chuckled, amused. "Am I gonna eat you?"

"..."

After another long silence, unwilling to keep sparring with him, she mumbled: "I... I need to go home. My mom's gonna worry."

"Mm." He Yuzhou agreed readily. "Hang up."

A few seconds later, she remembered something: "Wait..."

He Yuzhou waited patiently for her to speak.

"Where are you now? Still downstairs at my place?" Cen Yingshuang asked cautiously.

Hearing this, He Yuzhou slowly glanced up at the building, his smile deepening. "Asking like that, you wanna see me?"

"..."

Cen Yingshuang didn't believe He Yuzhou couldn't pick up on what she meant—she was basically asking how he knew about Chen Yanli hugging her earlier, whether he was spying on her.

But she was truly no match for He Yuzhou. He was always quick-witted, his ability to steer the conversation was so strong that he could effortlessly control the situation, divert anyone's attention, blur the real meaning of what was said, and steer the topic wherever he wanted.

With every question, it was only a matter of whether he wanted to answer. If he didn't, don't expect to get a straight answer out of him.

As it turned out, she had indeed let him successfully distract her. Scared he might come find her right away, she didn't dare make a peep and quickly hung up.

Cen Yingshuang was still holed up in the stairwell.

After hanging up, she quickly opened her purse and pulled out a compact. It was all good until she looked in the mirror—then she got a real shock.

She looked a total mess, with "I got bullied" written all over her face. No wonder Chen Yanli was so worried.

She pulled out a wet wipe to clean the lipstick smeared around her lips and the smudged eyeshadow.

Then she patted on some powder, put on a light layer of lip gloss, and checked the mirror again. The redness and puffiness in her eyes were covered up, so you couldn't really tell she'd been crying.

She fixed her hair and clothes, did some mental prep to hide her bad mood, put on a brave smile, walked to the door, unlocked it with her fingerprint scanner, and went inside.

"Mom, I'm home!" Her tone was light and cheerful.

Zhou Yalin was sitting in the living room waiting for Cen Yingshuang. Hearing the noise, she immediately got up and walked over. "My baby's finally back! You weren't picking up your phone—I was so worried!"

"Mom, I'm an adult now, not a kid anymore!" Cen Yingshuang said with a serious expression as she took off her coat.

Zhou Yalin took her coat. "You'll always be my baby, no matter what. It's dangerous for a girl out there on her own. My baby's so pretty—if someone bullied you, I wouldn't know what to do."

Hearing this, Cen Yingshuang almost lost it. Her nose started stinging again, and she almost started crying.

She forced herself to turn around like it was no big deal, took a deep breath and blinked fast.

"Oh, by the way, the birthday gift from Brother Yanli is over there. Go ahead and open it." Zhou Yalin pointed to a big white-and-pink wrapped board leaning against the wall.

Cen Yingshuang nodded. "Okay."

It was clearly a painting.

A big one—taller than her.

Just taking off the wrapping paper took a while.

"Oh my, this painting," Zhou Yalin's eyes widened. "Brother Yanli's style is getting more and more refined! It's gorgeous!"

"A masterpiece, an absolute masterpiece!" Zhou Yalin couldn't stop praising.

In the painting, she was watering flowers while chomping on a red apple, laughing heartily.

She vaguely remembered it.

Back then, she had just turned sixteen. Zhou Yalin was at some brand event in Italy, and she had gone along.

That day, with nothing to do, she was wandering around the backyard of Ye Mingzhu's villa in Rome and picked a ripe, red apple.

The Italian summer was hot and dry, the dry kind of hot. But standing in the shade of a tree was nice and cool.

The flowers, baking in the scorching sun, were all wilted and lifeless.

She spotted a hose nearby, walked over, and turned on the faucet to water the flowers. But the water pressure was too strong, and the hose popped off, spraying water everywhere, scaring Cen Yingshuang half to death.

Chen Yanli showed up just in time and reattached the hose.

Soaking wet, she casually shook her head to dry off and picked up the hose to water the flowers.

Chen Yanli's hair was also drenched.

She vaguely remembered Chen Yanli seemed to be in a bad mood back then. To cheer him up, she pinched the end of the hose and sprayed him with it: "Brother Yanli, don't be sad! Come play in the water!"

Cen Yingshuang never expected Chen Yanli to paint that moment, let alone remember such a random, ordinary moment.

If it were any other time, she would have reacted even more enthusiastically than Zhou Yalin.

But now, she had no energy to appreciate the painting. No strength left to force a smile.

"Yeah, it's really well done," Cen Yingshuang said half-heartedly, then yawned tiredly. "Mom, I'm so sleepy. I'm going to bed now."

"Alright, alright, go ahead." Zhou Yalin patted Cen Yingshuang's face. "I'll wait for your dad a bit longer."

"It's so late. Dad's not back yet?" Cen Yingshuang asked.

"Yeah, your dad said he had to work overtime," Zhou Yalin said. "He should be home soon."

Lately, Cen Powen seemed unusually busy. Often leaving early and coming back late. His mood seemed low too, as if something was weighing on him.

But Cen Yingshuang didn't think much of it, simply assuming he hadn't gotten over the loss of one of his patients.

She went upstairs to her room.

The moment she closed the door, all her strength drained away, and she collapsed onto the bed.

It was as if she'd been drugged with sleeping pills—the moment she lay down, she lost consciousness and fell into a deep sleep.

She never knew you could still dream even in a deep sleep.

She was back at the restaurant that night, sitting at the table, mentally rehearsing her confession.

The private room door slowly opened. She turned to look.

Jiang Suian walked in.

She stood up excitedly and said to him, "You're here."

They had dinner together, and when the atmosphere was just right, Cen Yingshuang finally mustered the courage to say those four words: "I like you."

He smiled back and replied, "I like you too."

Jiang Suian stood up and walked toward her, slowly leaning in.

She held her breath nervously but closed her eyes in anticipation, waiting for her first kiss.

She felt his warm lips press against hers. His kiss was so soft, so tender, so careful—it calmed her nerves.

But in the next second, all the warmth vanished. His tongue surged like a violent tide, forcing open her teeth and ravaging without restraint.

She opened her eyes and froze.

Because what she saw was He Yuzhou's face.

She gasped in terror, shoved him away as hard as she could, and stumbled her way back home. She closed the door, flung herself onto the bed, and wrapped her body in the blanket.

Before she knew it, she dozed off.

When she woke up, it was already midnight. The blanket was suffocating her with carbon dioxide, and she threw it off, gasping for air. When the desk lamp clicked on, He Yuzhou’s face materialized on the ceiling.

She scrambled off the bed, panicked, and bolted into the bathroom.

She turned on the faucet and splashed water on her face over and over, her breathing ragged and uneven. The second she looked up, He Yuzhou’s figure appeared in the mirror again.

He was behind her, slowly walking toward her.

A faint smile lingered on his face, his gaze was condescending, his eyes openly aggressive.

“What are you afraid of? Am I gonna eat you?”

He finally reached her, his hands gripping the edges of the sink, boxing her in from all sides. He leaned down slightly, his lips close to her ear.

The cold lenses of his glasses brushed against her cheek, while his warm breath swept over her ear—like ice and fire clashing, making her feel like she was in hell.

He murmured:

“Running? Where do you think you're gonna go?”

“Ah!!”

Cen Yingshuang jolted awake, screaming.

Opening her eyes, all she saw was the clean white ceiling—no sign of He Yuzhou’s face.

She shot up, looking around like crazy, and finally breathed a sigh of relief when she saw he wasn't there.

It was just a nightmare.

She was drenched in cold sweat.

Exhausted, she curled up and hugged herself. The pearl necklace around her neck slipped down, brushing against her skin.

As if infected by some virus, she quickly tore off the pearl necklace and tossed it into the trash like garbage, along with the sun-shaped shell. She even stripped off the dress he had given her and threw it in too.

She collapsed onto the bed again, sobbing uncontrollably.

Fear, pain, anger, humiliation—all the negative emotions drowned her.

His words from the dream seemed to echo in her ears.

Where do you think you're gonna go?

Suddenly, Cen Yingshuang realized a very serious problem.

He Yuzhou was coming at her with full force, and he was definitely in the heat of the moment now. He might even come looking for her.

She absolutely couldn’t sit idly by.

She couldn’t stay here any longer.

She couldn't mess with him—she'd just have to steer clear.

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