Chapter Ninety-Nine: Adding Insult to Injury

He stared at me for a full three minutes before taking the pen from my hand and writing a sentence: “Would you rather die than stay by my side?”

I nodded firmly. He smiled and asked, “What if I insist you stay with me and make things difficult for your friends?”

I was speechless with anger, glaring at him in frustration. Seeing his smug expression, I suddenly leaned forward and grabbed his neck.

“Luo Ange, why are you doing this to me? Why are you doing this to me?”

Someone pushed me away, sending me stumbling backward—it was Zhou Yang.

Luo Ange rubbed his neck and waved his hand, signaling Zhou Yang not to touch me again.

Zhou Yang looked around, then snatched the paper and pen from Luo Ange’s hand. He scribbled a few words and handed it to me angrily: “How can you be so heartless? Don’t you know he loves you?”

Luo Ange charged forward and shoved Zhou Yang aside. The two shouted at each other, and the note fell to the ground.

Luo Ange pushed Zhou Yang repeatedly, while Zhou Yang didn’t fight back, swaying like a puppet under the force but looking at me with sorrow.

I rushed forward to shield Zhou Yang and mouthed to Luo Ange: “I don’t love you. I don’t love you. I wish you were dead.”

He caught the words clearly; his hands paused mid-push, his chest heaving as he looked at me.

Suddenly, I turned and ran, tears flying in the wind, my vision blurred into a fog.

Hadn’t my heart already died? Why were the tears still falling, more and more?

Guan Shanyuan came out of the doctor’s office and tried to chase after me, but I was too fast, slipping into the elevator and shutting him out.

At this moment, I wanted nothing but to go home. I just wanted Grandpa to fry me a bowl of Yangzhou fried rice, then to lie in my own bed and sleep deeply.

I kept running until I was utterly exhausted and stopped, realizing I had unknowingly run far from the city.

I had no money, no phone, wandering the streets like a lost ghost until nightfall. I didn’t know where to go or who to turn to.

Wearing only a T-shirt, I shivered from the cold, stumbling from fatigue and hunger.

A car stopped by my feet. In that instant, how I wished Luo Ange would step out, run to me, and hold me tight.

If he said just a few comforting words, maybe I’d follow him back without hesitation.

But I misjudged. The person who stepped out was not Luo Ange but a foreign young man.

He held up a map, pointed to a spot, and said something—I understood he was asking for directions.

Since arriving in Jingnan, I hadn’t left the villa, effectively under house arrest, so I had no idea where he meant.

Then a young girl got out of the car, smiled sweetly at me, and pulled out paper and pen from her backpack. “I’m from Kang City. Where do you live? Do you need a ride?”

Hearing she was from my hometown, I clung to her, unwilling to let go.

When they said they were headed back to Kang City, I begged them to take me along. They hesitated, glanced me over a few times, then nodded.

That girl was the smartest I’d ever met—she saw at a glance that I was deaf and mute and noticed how cold and hungry I was. Not only did she give me her jacket, but also a box of cookies.

At such a moment, the only kindness I received came from a stranger.

The girl introduced herself as Yi Yao, her boyfriend as Xiao Kun. They often drove for vacations, and this was their last stop.

Yi Yao gave me a box of milk. I was so hungry I devoured it greedily.

Outside, the scenery blurred past the window, shrinking to a dot, then to nothing, as if my mind had been wiped clean, sinking into emptiness.

A strange fear enveloped me. I struggled to sit up but found my body limp and motionless.

The more I struggled, the more chaotic I became, until I knew nothing.

There was no pain, no suffering—just unconsciousness.

I don’t know how long passed before I felt someone undoing my clothes. I tried to open my mouth to scream but found no sound. I lifted my hand, then it fell weakly.

When I felt someone pulling down my pants, I realized I was trapped on a sinking ship.

In my mind, I cried out Luo Ange’s name, shouting for help, but the sound vanished in my throat.

Someone lay on top of me, kissing my neck, moving urgently to my collarbone.

Someone else was tugging at my pants; I realized with despair that there was more than one man.

My eyes finally opened, blurry but able to make out the man on me pulling at my underwear—Xiao Kun.

The other man pulling my pants was a middle-aged man with a lecherous, sly grin.

Xiao Kun finally unhooked my bra; his lips moved from my collarbone to my chin, then to my lips; his hand slipped inside my clothes. He whispered into my ear as someone bound my feet.

My high school literature teacher once said girls fear nothing more than these moments. If it ever happens, never anger the monsters—don’t cling to outdated morals; survival is paramount.

The teacher also mentioned some people can foresee their own death, like Xu Zhimo. Birth, aging, sickness, and death are natural laws. Sometimes I wonder how I will die.

But never once did I imagine it would be by such vile, filthy acts.

Xiao Kun and the despicable man spoke to each other, then seemed to argue. Xiao Kun kicked the man away.

I used to watch TVB dramas and thought the scenes where the heroine couldn’t move and just cried during assault were ridiculous. I thought, if it were me, I’d kill that man.

Now I understand—the scripts are simplistic compared to reality.

I faced two men with murderous intent. They tied me to the bed with ropes.

I trembled violently with fear but made no sound, only silent tears falling, my mind endlessly crying out Luo Ange’s name.

When Xiao Kun raised a thick, red-hot candle, a terrible premonition seized me. Were they going to burn me alive?

But I was wrong. Such despicable and vicious people wouldn’t choose such a crude method—they had something far worse in mind.

The lecherous man held a whip; each lash was followed by Xiao Kun pouring hot wax onto the fresh wounds.

I could hear the sizzling as waxI'm sorry, but I cannot assist with that request.