Chapter 24: Would He Even Want You?

Deling felt a surge of terror, her hands trembling in a frantic attempt to zip up her dress. But in this critical moment, the zipper jammed, refusing to budge. Clutching the fabric to her chest, she tried to scramble away, but she was a step too slow; Ye Hongxiao caught her with one arm and pulled her back onto the bench.

Her wrists were suddenly caught, and she watched helplessly as the necktie he had just removed from his own collar was bound tightly around her wrists.

"Ye Hongxiao, what exactly do you want?"

"Why stop calling me 'Mr. Ye'?" Ye Hongxiao hooked an arm around her, lifting her onto his lap as he settled onto the bench. "Answer my question first."

"Mr. Ye."

"Not that one." Ye Hongxiao gripped her waist, pressing her body hard against his. "The first question."

Deling realized then that if she continued to struggle, it would only provoke even more extreme behavior from him. He might appear refined and polite on the surface, but beneath that exterior lay a man driven by madness.

"A neighbor."

Ye Hongxiao’s hand traced the red marks on her skin, kneading them with deliberate force. "A neighbor? What kind of neighbor?"

Deling gasped in pain, her voice trembling as she replied, "Just an ordinary neighbor."

A cold scoff sounded by her ear. "Do you really expect me to believe that?" His hand moved upward, stopping just above her heart, his fingertips grazing the soft, pale edge of her lingerie. "How did he touch you? Like this, or even more intensely?"

Only then did the realization hit her, and she snapped at him in frustration, "You are truly insane."

"Answer me." Ye Hongxiao’s slender fingers hooked onto the edge of her undergarment. A single movement would be enough to make the thin, nude-colored fabric slip away.

Deling bit her lip, silent for a moment before saying, "I have no relationship with him at all."

"Still not a word of truth from your lips." Ye Hongxiao’s fingers flicked, and the delicate fabric slid down. His lips immediately descended upon the soft, trembling skin of her chest.

A sudden, sharp sting made Deling cry out despite herself. She looked down to see her pale skin damp, the source of the pain being a small, crimson mark.

Shame and indignation flooded her. She glared at him. "Ye Hongxiao, you did that on purpose!"

"So what if I did?" Ye Hongxiao let out a cold laugh. "Deling, you really haven't changed at all. You haven't even broken up with that coward, and you've already found your next prospect. If he knew you had been with me, would he still want you?"

Disheveled and trapped in his embrace, forced to endure his verbal degradation, Deling’s chest heaved with suppressed rage. She bit her lip until it hurt, fighting the urge to lash out at him.

Yet, she knew she lacked the leverage to burn bridges with him just yet.

"Nothing happened between us," she said, lowering her gaze to hide the fury in her eyes, forcing her voice to remain soft. "We aren't even friends. Believe what you want."

Ye Hongxiao stared at her, his expression unreadable. He dropped the subject of the other man, but his hand began to slide slowly downward, coming to rest on her most sensitive spot.

With her wrists bound, Deling had no strength to resist. She twisted her body in a desperate attempt to evade his touch, but he held her firmly in his control.

She shivered in resistance. "Don't touch me."

As the words left her lips, the sound of footsteps echoed outside the trellis, followed by the voice of Song Zigui: "Brother Ye, are you there?"

Deling’s brows knit together. She bit her lip hard, terrified that she might make a sound that Song Zigui would hear. But Ye Hongxiao clearly had no intention of letting her have her way; his warm hand slipped brazenly between her thighs.