Yuxi had reached her breaking point. The weight of everything—the constant manipulation, the suffocating control, the world she was forced to be a part of—had pushed her too far. For months, she had tried to hold it together, tried to convince herself that she could play along with Gu Zeyan's game, but now? Now, she was done. Her patience, stretched thin by every sharp word, every calculated move, was finally snapping.
She stood in the middle of the room, her body trembling with the fury that had been building inside her for far too long. Her chest rose and fell rapidly, the heavy rhythm of her breath matching the thunderous pulse in her veins. Her hands were clenched into tight fists by her sides, nails biting into the palms of her hands, but it didn't ease the rising tide of anger inside her. She could feel the heat of it, swirling like a storm, ready to explode. The suffocating tension that had ruled her life, the way Gu Zeyan had manipulated her every step, controlled her every decision—it had to stop.
She wasn't going to let him control her anymore. Not this time.
Turning toward him, her eyes blazing, she opened her mouth before she could stop herself. "You have no right to control my life, Gu Zeyan!" The words spilled out in a rush, unfiltered, raw, and filled with frustration. "You're the one who forced me into this marriage in the first place! I never asked for this. I never asked for you to dictate my every move, to keep me locked in your world like some… some prisoner!"
There it was—the truth. She had been trying to deny it, trying to pretend that she could handle it all, but she couldn't. Every inch of her being screamed for freedom screamed for release from the chains he had wrapped around her.
Gu Zeyan stood by the window, his back to her as always, but even without seeing his face, she could feel the tension radiating from him. It was like he was a predator, poised and waiting for the right moment to strike. His silence stretched between them, thick and suffocating, only making her pulse quicken. She wanted to scream at him, to make him understand just how much he had pushed her, how much he had taken from her. But as much as she wanted to shout, a part of her wanted to run from him—run from the danger of the man who had tangled himself into her life in ways she didn't understand.
She watched as he turned slowly to face her. The moment his eyes met hers, a chill ran down her spine. His gaze was unreadable, that same cold, calculated expression she had seen a thousand times before, but there was something different now. There was a flicker—something colder, harder. A glint of something she couldn't quite grasp, but it unsettled her more than she wanted to admit. It was as if the man she had known, the one who had always held all the power, was now wearing a mask that felt more dangerous than ever.
He crossed the room toward her, each step measured and deliberate. She could feel the weight of his presence, the intensity of his every movement, the way his eyes seemed to strip away everything she was trying to hide. Her heart skipped a beat as he closed the distance between them, his stride unrelenting. She stood her ground, refusing to back down, but deep inside, her nerves were on fire, her breath hitching in her throat as he drew closer.
Then, in a voice that was low, controlled, and yet carried a dangerous edge, he spoke, each word calculated and cutting. "Then start acting like my wife, Jiang Yuxi. Or do you want me to treat you like one?"
The words hit her like a slap to the face, a brutal force that stunned her into silence. It was as if the ground beneath her had disappeared, leaving her suspended in the air, struggling to find her footing. The air between them thickened, charged with an energy she couldn't define, but she could feel it, like static before a storm. Her pulse quickened, her breath shallow as she tried to process what he had just said. There was a promise in those words, a threat, but more than that, there was something deeper—something more intimate, more dangerous.
She wanted to fight back, wanted to spit out a retort that would burn him, something to make him see how wrong he was, how wrong they both were. But her mind was a blur, the fury inside her consuming everything else. She couldn't speak, couldn't move. All she could do was stand there, her chest heaving, struggling to find her voice again.
She had never heard him speak to her like that before. There was an edge to his tone, an undercurrent of something dark and raw, something that stripped away the polished veneer of his usual calm, cold exterior. It wasn't just a threat—it was something more. The intensity of it terrified her, leaving her frozen in place, unable to respond.
Gu Zeyan's eyes locked onto hers, his expression unreadable, but there was something in the way he looked at her now that made her skin prickle. It was almost like he was daring her, daring her to do something—anything—that would shift the balance of power between them. He was toying with her, testing her boundaries, and a part of her feared that she might break under the weight of it.
Before she could find the words to challenge him, to demand an explanation, he turned away from her, the sudden movement so abrupt that it almost felt like a physical blow. He walked toward the door, each step heavy, each one a reminder of the space growing between them. The sound of his footsteps echoed in the silence of the room, a steady rhythm that seemed to mark the distance between them, and Yuxi could feel it. It was the unspoken distance of a chasm that had widened between them, a gap that felt impossible to bridge.
He reached the door, and without so much as a glance back, he slammed it shut behind him, the sound reverberating through the room like a gunshot. The force of it sent a shock through Yuxi, and for a moment, she stood there, utterly still, unable to process what had just happened. The world outside seemed to collapse into silence, and all she could hear was the rush of blood in her ears, the frantic beating of her heart.
Yuxi remained frozen in place, her chest rising and falling rapidly as the gravity of the situation sank in. She was alone. Alone with her thoughts. Alone with the storm that was now swirling inside her, threatening to pull her under. The promise he had made—the threat—lingered in the air like smoke, and she couldn't shake it. She couldn't ignore the words he had said. They haunted her, echoing in her mind, replaying over and over again.
She felt trapped, not just by the marriage, but by the feelings she could no longer deny. Despite her anger, despite the fight she had put up, there was a part of her that couldn't ignore the pull he had on her. The way he twisted her emotions, the way he made her both hate him and desire him in equal measure. It was maddening. And it scared her.
She shook her head, trying to push the thought away, but it clung to her, refusing to be dismissed. She couldn't afford to care. Not now. Not when she had already lost so much, not when the storm between her and Gu Zeyan was only just beginning to brew.
She stepped toward the window, the glass cool against her palm as she leaned against it, staring out over the sprawling city below. The lights twinkled like distant stars, mocking her, reminding her of the life she had once known—a life she could never return to. It felt like the entire world was closing in on her, trapping her in a life she hadn't chosen, in a marriage that had been forced upon her. Yet, she couldn't help but wonder—was it possible that, somehow, she had crossed a line herself?
Had she begun to care?
She closed her eyes, trying to push the thought away. She couldn't afford to feel anything. Not for him. Not for this life. Not for the man who had claimed her so thoroughly and yet had never let her go.
The door slammed behind him, and Yuxi stood in the silence that followed, the storm raging outside mirroring the chaos inside her heart.