Jingchuan, each day I measure the depth of my love and desire for you. It is like descending into an ocean trench, beyond daylight, with no knowing where the bottom lies.
—Shen Jibai
Qingyue Manor, the Shen family estate in Shengjing.
In the early hours, just as the sky began to lighten, a fine, unrelenting rain started to fall.
“Hh... Is it... raining outside?”
Ye Jingchuan had only just awakened. His mind was still hazy.
A faint red tinged the corners of his eyes. He sat languidly amid the rumpled bedding, his black silk pajamas having slipped open at some point and now hanging in the crooks of his arms, exposing shoulders as pale and cool as jade.
On closer inspection, vivid red marks covered them, like red plum blossoms flowering in snow: intimate and striking.
Ye Jingchuan was a high-ranking Alpha, so extraordinarily handsome that it was difficult to look away.
Yet his usually luminous, alluring eyes were unreadable now, as though a dangerous storm were gathering within them.
He sat in silence for a long while, staring out the window.
His intent expression suggested he was admiring the view, but his gaze was empty. There was nothing in it.
Then a slight headache began.
It wasn't severe, but it persisted.
Frowning faintly, he rubbed his throbbing temples with his fingertips, trying to ease it, to little effect.
Just then—
Creak.
The Alpha sleeping beside him suddenly rolled over, and the sound startled him.
Looking at the still-sleeping Alpha, Ye Jingchuan couldn't help sighing.
He still had no idea how to resolve this enormous problem...
After turning over, Shen Jibai naturally reached beside his pillow, wanting to touch Ye Jingchuan. This time, all he found was cold bedding.
He was gone!
Shen Jibai jolted awake and sat bolt upright.
Only when he spotted Ye Jingchuan at the edge of the bed did the panic gradually leave his face.
Slowly relaxing, he wrapped his arms tightly around Ye Jingchuan from behind and asked hoarsely, “Brother-in-law, it isn't even light yet. Why aren't you sleeping?”
Ye Jingchuan closed his eyes in disgust, his emotions a tangled mess. “Xiuchen is being buried today. I have to see him off one last time!”
He did not answer Shen Jibai's question. He told him what he intended to do next.
Shen Jibai enclosed Ye Jingchuan's cold hands in his own to warm them, and refused with quiet gentleness. “Brother-in-law, your health has never been good. And it's been raining so much lately... I can't let you go and risk getting sick.”
“My brother loved you so much. I'm sure he would understand.”
Ye Jingchuan drew a deep breath and fought down the fury inside him.
He broke free of Shen Jibai's embrace, turned to face him, and said scornfully, “Shen Jibai, you're a shameless lunatic!”
“And I'm not begging you, much less asking your opinion. I'm informing you that I'm attending Xiuchen's funeral today. I don't need your permission, and you have no right to stop me!”
Shen Jibai showed no anger. He merely got out of bed, picked up the plush slippers on the floor, and came over to kneel on one knee beside Ye Jingchuan. “Brother-in-law—no, Jingchuan. Insult me all you like, but don't gamble with your health. Come, put your slippers on first. Then I'll let you scold me as much as you want. All right?”
Ye Jingchuan instinctively backed away, but the golden shackle around his ankle quickly checked his movement.
Unable to escape, he could only steel himself and face Shen Jibai.
The chain clinked, startlingly loud in the quiet room, though the sound itself was not unpleasant.
“Shen Jibai, stop pushing me!”
Ye Jingchuan lowered his lashes, hiding his expression.
Deep in his eyes lay an exhaustion so dense it would not dissipate. His hands were clenched tightly at his sides and never relaxed.
Shen Jibai wiped a tear from the corner of his eye, his voice soft. “Jingchuan, I never wanted to force you. I only want you to be a little better behaved, a little more obedient. Like... you used to be with my brother... Treat me as if I were him. Can't we get along?”
As he spoke, he gently took Ye Jingchuan's ankle and slipped the soft slipper onto his foot.
With that approach having failed, Ye Jingchuan could no longer be bothered to humor him.
He discreetly moved away, raised a hand to wipe the tears off his face, and tried to remain calm. But Shen Jibai's outrageous words had stirred a tempest inside him.
He didn't understand!
He couldn't make sense of it!
He couldn't figure it out!
Why had Shen Jibai become this deranged?
Had the proud, refined, elegant, aloof Shen Jibai he once knew been an illusion?
In both his previous life and this one, Shen Jibai had been notorious for his ruthlessness and coldhearted lack of loyalty!
And there was only one person in his life whom he respected.
His own elder brother—Shen Xiuchen!
In the previous life, after learning that the protagonists had caused Shen Xiuchen's death, Shen Jibai had sacrificed everything to take revenge by any means necessary. Even left with nothing, he had come close to killing them all.
But now, scarcely had Shen Xiuchen died before his lawful spouse had been forcibly imprisoned by Shen Jibai, his husband's younger brother.
Why?
Ye Jingchuan racked his brains, utterly unable to follow Shen Jibai's reasoning.
Besides, he wasn't Qi Weichu, the novel's universally adored main character and everyone's dream bottom. He was just an ordinary Alpha. How had he ended up the target of the villain's coercive obsession?
It made no scientific sense!
It wasn't logical!
It wasn't normal!
But whatever Ye Jingchuan thought, the situation was already settled. He couldn't change it.
He knitted his brows and stared at Shen Jibai, his wariness unconcealed.
For the past week, he had been deprived of his freedom.
Shen Jibai had confined him to this room. He couldn't get out or do anything.
And Shen Jibai came every night. Sometimes he only held him beneath the covers and slept. Other times, like tonight, he forced him to have sex...
Shen Jibai smiled elegantly. “Relax, Jingchuan. I'm not as frightening as you imagine.”
Then, with a mixture of force and gentleness, he drew Ye Jingchuan into his arms, took his hand, and bent to kiss its back.
Ye Jingchuan shuddered and turned his head away in revulsion.
In terms of strength, he was no match for Shen Jibai, who had been hardened by military service. A rash attack would only enrage him and do Ye Jingchuan no good.
Besides, a week of observation had convinced him that Shen Jibai was insane. He couldn't afford to provoke him!
Under these circumstances, he didn't want a direct confrontation.
Otherwise, he would be the one left suffering the consequences.
Suppressing the anger and humiliation churning inside him, Ye Jingchuan said, “Shen Jibai, I am still your brother's lawfully wedded spouse. I must attend Shen Xiuchen's funeral and burial!”
His firm stance posed a slight difficulty for Shen Jibai, but he continued to smile courteously, revealing no displeasure. “Jingchuan, if you insist, I won't stop you any longer. But you must promise me one thing. There will be a great many people at the funeral. Don't wander off. Stay by my side. All right?”
“You know, Jingchuan, little Yu is only three. Losing my brother is already tragic enough. If he loses you, his papa, as well, he might not survive.”
Ye Jingchuan's gaze sharpened. He ground his back teeth. “Shen Jibai, little Yu is your own nephew! You're actually using him to threaten me? Are you even human? Do you have any humanity at all?!”
He regretted it. Regretted being dazzled by Shen Xiuchen's grand promises. Regretted agreeing to a contractual marriage. But most of all, he regretted ever meeting Shen Jibai...
Right now, he would rather spend time with the protagonists he hated than remain entangled with a twisted madman like Shen Jibai. At least with the former, he could walk away unscathed whenever he wished. With the latter...
But things had come to this, and time could not be reversed. He had no choice except to grit his teeth and keep going.
He had hoped his words might stir some familial affection or pity for Shen Jingyu. After all, Shen Jibai had respected Shen Xiuchen.
While Shen Xiuchen lived, Shen Jibai had always behaved himself and obeyed him, every inch the dutiful younger brother.
But Ye Jingchuan was wrong.
Shen Jibai didn't answer immediately. He simply lifted Ye Jingchuan into his arms and said without a change of expression, “Jingchuan, little Yu is my brother's child. He has nothing to do with me. Besides, my brother didn't necessarily like him all that much. Now that he's gone, wouldn't it be a happy thing if little Yu joined him? I've always believed he's worth far more dead than alive.”
“In the Shen family now, you're the only person I care about!”
Those cruel words chilled Ye Jingchuan to the bone, as though all the blood in his body had frozen.
“Shen Jibai, you're worse than a devil...”
He understood the implication. Fury surged through him, and he punched Shen Jibai in the chest.
But whether he was too weak or Shen Jibai too strong, it felt like punching a steel plate. Shen Jibai was unharmed; Ye Jingchuan's hand hurt.
He was, after all, a strong Alpha with no shortage of strength. Shen Jibai was simply monstrously powerful.
Indulging his every action, Shen Jibai curved his lips slightly, a trace of sick satisfaction on his face. “Jingchuan, if you're angry, let it out. I'm not afraid of pain. Hit me a few more times.”
“As long as you behave, I can give you anything...”
Halfway through, his tone suddenly changed, and his gaze turned vicious. “But if you disobey, little Yu really will be going into my brother's grave with him.”
Ye Jingchuan trembled with rage. The words also awakened a related memory from his previous life.
Back when he had still been pursuing Qi Weichu, he had heard that Shen Xiuchen's only son had died young—less than three months after Shen Xiuchen himself.
At the time, he had merely sighed and thought no more about it. Now he had no choice but to take it seriously.
He and Shen Xiuchen had married for mutual benefit, but throughout those three years, Ye Jingchuan had done most of the work of raising little Yu. He had long since come to regard him as his own son.
So when Shen Jibai uttered such vicious words so casually, it was difficult for him to remain rational.
They pierced his heart like a thorn, hurting so badly he could scarcely breathe—and made him afraid to act for fear of endangering the child.
Before he could react, Shen Jibai gently laid him on the bed.
Pain and struggle filled Ye Jingchuan's face. Hatred surged in his eyes, but it could do little damage.
Looking at him, Shen Jibai smiled ever more sincerely. “Jingchuan, for little Yu's sake, stay with us—uncle and nephew. Without you, I'll go mad. You know I can't control myself when that happens. I need you...”
“Don't worry. I've arranged the funeral and burial. All you and little Yu have to do is attend... From now on, I'll take care of you in my brother's place. I won't let you suffer the slightest injustice.”