C8 Chapter 8

People from old-money families care deeply about appearances and reputation. No matter how much it hurt, no matter that he could barely breathe, Xiao Jing'an would never do something as undignified as sticking out his tongue.

His face was terrifyingly red from lack of air, as if it were flooded with blood. Even so, there wasn’t a trace of panic or distortion on his face, only pained, ragged breaths. “Chu... Chu Jiuge... what... what do you want?”

“An apology, obviously,” Chu Jiuge said matter-of-factly.

She had the original owner’s memories, but she wasn’t that person. When it came to powerful families, she didn’t fear them the way the original owner had.

“A... Xiao... never apologizes!” Xiao Jing'an struggled to speak, but every word came out clear.

That was the pride bred into people like him.

Chu Jiuge might not feel that deep-rooted awe toward powerful families, but she understood their unyielding backbone, their refusal to bow even in death.

She knew that kind of spirit well.

Xiao Jing'an would never apologize under her threats. But he wasn’t the only one here. There was also Yuan Yunhua.

If Xiao Jing'an died here at her hands, the Xiao family would certainly come after her as the killer, but they wouldn’t let Yuan Yunhua off either as the one indirectly responsible for his death.

People with power and status were often very good at taking their anger out on everyone around them.

Chu Jiuge glanced at Yuan Yunhua and smiled. “If you won’t apologize, then you can die.”

“Mmph...” Chu Jiuge tightened her grip. Xiao Jing'an let out a low, painful groan, and his eyes started to roll back.

“Stop!” Yuan Yunhua and the three men in gray cried out at the same time, rushing forward to stop Chu Jiuge, though none of them dared actually make a move against her.

Chu Jiuge didn’t move, but her knee pressed against Xiao Jing'an’s tailbone as she leaned close to his ear. Her red lips parted slightly. “Young master, tell me... what do you think would happen if you wet yourself right here in front of everyone?”

Chu Jiuge and Xiao Jing’an stood so close they looked almost entwined, their posture intimate and suggestive. She spoke so softly that no one but Xiao Jing’an could hear her. To everyone else, it just looked like she had suddenly leaned in to take advantage of him.

“Shameless! Slut!” Yuan Yunhua trembled with rage, hurling one ugly insult after another. “Chu Jiuge, let me tell you this... you’re nothing but a disgusting, shameless toad. Neither Jing’an nor the North Duke is someone you could ever dream of having. Stop fantasizing. Jing’an will never like you, and that love letter you wrote him? He never even read it.”

Yuan Yunhua didn’t like Xiao Jing’an. The one she wanted was the North Duke, but she didn’t dare marry him. She was afraid of dying.

The North Duke had already gone through eight dead fiancées in a row. Who knew whether the ninth would die too? But even though she was too afraid to marry him herself, she couldn’t stand the thought of anyone else marrying him either.

By chance, she had seen the letter on Xiao Jing’an’s desk and learned that Chu Jiuge had begged him in it to take her away from East Forest this morning. So she had dragged Xiao Jing’an over to watch Chu Jiuge make a fool of herself.

Of course, Yuan Yunhua’s real goal was to blow up the story of Chu Jiuge being in love with Xiao Jing’an and wanting to run away with him, ideally making such a scandal that Chu Jiuge would never be able to marry the North Duke.

Yuan Yunhua had planned everything out, but she never expected things to go wrong from the start. She had tried to slap Chu Jiuge and ruin her face, only to end up ruining her own instead.

Now that the situation had slipped out of her control, Yuan Yunhua could only use Chu Jiuge’s letter to Xiao Jing’an as a threat. But Chu Jiuge clearly didn’t care in the slightest. She didn’t even spare Yuan Yunhua a glance. Lowering her head, she leaned close to Xiao Jing’an’s ear and urged softly, “Young Master,”

“You...” Warm breath brushed against his ear, sending a tingling numbness through him, like a current running down his spine. Before Xiao Jing’an could even process what he was feeling, he suddenly realized...