Read this novel at subscribestar.adult/fallenhead
ILLUSTRATIONS POSTED FOR ALL CHAPTERS
Read Exclusive subscribestar at subscribestar.adult/fallenhead
Chapter 58 Part 4: Deals, Demands, and Devotion
"I gave her to you once; now I want her back not just to own her; honestly, taking her wouldn't be hard. I just don't want to see her destroy herself more. I want her happy. If you're honest, so will I be otherwise, kiss your chance goodbye."
He squinted at me, weighing me.
"I want to end this with both of us respecting her. She may pick neither of us. If that happens, you must promise to let it go. If she picks you, I'll wish you well. But if you make trouble after, I'll come for you."
Long pause, then a drag on his cigarette. "I love Wanwan more than you ever could. If not for you, we'd be married by year's end. When she became your slave, I was furious that was the first time I ever cursed her. I didn't want to let go, but she insisted. So I gave her a condition: she could go, but she must also be my slave for a year in all but name serving me completely during that time."
Flashes of Su Wan crying, nodding to me when I'd asked if it was her choice back then, I'd believed it and terminated our contract.
Now I knew she had lied, to protect Zhou Ting's reputation.
She was too kind, unwilling to paint Zhou Ting as the villain.
"To buy time, to keep her from you, I thought… I'll love her twice as hard in that year, show her the gulf between us in material and in love."
He was right about the materials. As for love how long had I known her, really?
"But you," he growled, "are a master of mental torture. If, that day, seeing us at the hotel, you'd lost it made a scene, even called the cops maybe she'd have been done with you. But you didn't. You walked away looking pathetic, which only hardened her resolve."
Another furious drag, the cigarette butt flaring. "I'm not reconciled! Seven years, I've cherished her defied my family for her. And you! You've let her down countless times. Do you know how often she's cried for you? How much effort I've spent making her smile? I finally had her consent to marriage but you appear out of nowhere to steal her back! I can't accept it!"
"So… that day you intended for me to see?"
"I didn't think you'd force your way in. I didn't think it would drive her deeper into obsession. I thought you'd fight and split, she'd forget you, come back to me."
He coughed from smoking too hard. I lit one myself, coughing too.
Smoking is harmful to health.
In truth, I understood him finding out your woman wants to be another man's slave? Same as my gut-punch seeing them in bed.
"Would you have hurt her if she refused your condition?"
He snorted, side-eyed me.
I didn't press. "Then we're even now."
No reply.
"One promise: I'll tell her truths that will loosen her attachment to me. Then it's fifty-fifty you may win her, or she may cast us both off. Either way, you respect her choice. Break that, and I'll ruin you."
After a long pause, he said, "Alright. I promise."
Finally, the picture was clear how I wasn't the original "me," how Su Wan's loyalties and the deal with Zhou Ting had tangled into this mess.
Back inside Yun Xia's, all three of us sat: me and Zhou Ting side by side, Su Wan across, collar gone, unsure.
Yun Xia perched with her vase like a judge.
I drew in a deep breath. "Su Wan, first… I'm sorry. I didn't think a lot of things through. But I swear: after the crash, I truly lost my memory. I'm not lying.
"But you need to understand: the me you see now is not the me you knew from five to fifteen, nor the me who reunited with you seven years later. Everything before the crash everything you, Yun Xia, the orphanage is gone. I'm like an upturned cup: empty. So the man you see is just a stranger in Yu Qi's skin."
She stared, some fear in her eyes.
Yun Xia kicked me under the table.
I smiled at her, shook my head, and went on: "After the crash, I suspect you noticed changes not just you, many did. All I can say is: from the moment I woke, I liked you. But I didn't know you; I just thought you were beautiful so at first, it was purely lust."
Su Wan was near tears. Zhou Ting's hands clenched.
"But you are kind, beautiful, and treated me well. Over time, that lust became real affection. I genuinely liked you that's why seeing you with him hurt me so much. But that's my side you can believe or not."
She trembled, eyes wet.
"That Yu Qi you knew died with his memories. No matter how I try to learn our past, it's incomplete. So I'm no longer the 'me' you're loyal to. That vow doesn't bind you to me anymore."
Yun Xia exploded: "You bastard you're dumping her? Denying everything with one line? You just fucked me, now call yourself a stranger? Don't you think that's outrageous? Even if you lost your memory, does that erase the feelings after the crash? The love you two had then? Wasn't that you too?"
I smiled. "Hear me out smash the vase on my head if you want after." Su Wan sat slack, soul absent.
It hurt, but I faced her: "I like you, Su Wan. I'd like to be with you. But think carefully I'm just someone who looks like Yu Qi. And though I hate to admit it, Zhou Ting loves you more than I do."
Yun Xia suddenly lunged, arm around my neck choking me: "Yu Qi, fuck you!"
I couldn't breathe; Su Wan didn't move. Zhou Ting pried her off before she killed me.
Still catching my breath, I said, "Don't be trapped by us. We agreed: whatever you choose, we'll respect it. You can pick me, him, or neither. I know we've hurt you; I'll make amends however I can as long as you live well. That's all I have to say."
Yun Xia started to speak; I covered her mouth.
Zhou Ting looked at Su Wan with aching eyes, fingers trembling, voice low and almost supplicant: "Wanwan, I love you."
My own chest and nose tightened.
I had a sick certainty I'd lose Su Wan forever.
So I stood, knelt beside the sofa, gritted my teeth, and told Yun Xia: "Big Sis, hit me." Whether she chose Zhou Ting or not, I didn't want to hear the answer.
If the ending held no place for me, then I'd rather run.
Yun didn't hit me she stood, looked at me, then at Su Wan, touched my head. "It's okay. Even if you've forgotten, Big Sis will always be your Big Sis."
My eyes burned; I turned my face away.
At the table, Su Wan slowly rose, walked to Zhou Ting, cupped his face, and kissed his forehead. Zhou Ting was so moved he wrapped her in his arms.
Read Exclusive subscribestar at subscribestar.adult/fallenhead
ILLUSTRATIONS POSTED FOR ALL CHAPTERS
-----------------------------------------------------------
To read Ahead go to subscribestar.adult/fallenhead
This novel has 190 chapters subscribestar
-----------------------------------------------------------