Chapter 3

Chapter 3

His expression and his confession were both so sincere.

To say that I wasn't moved at all would be a complete lie. I even realized— as I listened to him say these things, there might have been a hint of secret joy in my heart.

But I couldn't help but think— if I agreed to him, then what about my fiancé? Could it be that I was the one who didn't understand what liking really was? If that was really the case, then did I even have the right to accept Mason Black's intense love?

I kicked Mason Black out of the room and sat alone by the large floor-to-ceiling window in a daze.

I felt like I had somehow fallen into an endless loop— no exit, no entrance, and no answer to what I was looking for.

Maybe he thought I was angry, because Mason Black didn't come to see me for several days in a row.

What surprised me was— the person who came to take care of me these past few days was actually my dear mom!

Every day, she would list Mason Black's good qualities in front of me, urging me to agree to be with him as soon as possible. When she saw that I was getting annoyed, she would take a short break and then start again— there was no way to avoid it, no gap to slip through.

The worst part was— my mom alone was enough to drive me crazy. And in the middle of it all, my dad actually joined the "persuasion team" too, trying to get me to accept Mason Black.

It made my head spin, and I just wanted to bang my head against the wall and end it all.

I had no idea how Mason Black had managed to turn my parents against me so completely. But in terms of this ability alone, I really had to admire him.

The chain around my ankle had been taken off on the day my mom came. But watching my mom guard against me going out like she was guarding against a thief every day, I just found it ridiculous.

Mason Black's room was right next to mine. For some reason, one day when my mom wasn't paying attention, I sneaked into his room.

The black, white, and gray color scheme was very much in line with Mason Black's personality. Though— if there was a touch more dark red...

— It would probably look especially sexy.

As I thought this, I casually pulled open one of the drawers of the chest of drawers. Inside, there was a large expanse of red.

But that shade of red looked somewhat familiar to me. When I took it out and unfolded it, I realized— this was exactly the red slip dress I had worn to go on that date!

I had wondered why it had disappeared after I wore it just once. It turned out that Mason Black, this "thief in the house", had stolen it!

Under that dress, there were many album-like books— square and thick, taking up most of the space in that drawer.

I randomly picked one up, then knelt down on the warm carpet next to the chest of drawers.

As soon as I opened it, I was so shocked that I lost my voice. It was indeed an album, but the neatly arranged photos inside were all of me— and they were all candid shots.

Looking at these things, I immediately realized— Mason Black was really something. Even while he was studying abroad, he had hired someone in China to keep an eye on my every move every day!

Was it terrifying? Yes.

Was I scared? Yes.

But somehow, I actually found it a little thrilling. And along with that thrill came excitement and secret joy.

I couldn't help but reflect— Oh no, am I the pervert here?!

On the back of each photo, there were words written by Mason Black. Some were about interesting little things in his daily life, while others were about his hopes, his longing, and his confessions of love...

My heart felt so full, like it was stuffed with something. Even the tip of my nose started to tingle.

My tears fell onto the album. The remaining tears that hung from my chin, about to fall, tickled my skin. I was just about to reach up to wipe them away when a warm chest pressed against my back.

Mason Black kissed away the tears that were tormenting me, then pressed his lips against my ear and whispered in a hoarse voice: "Sister, do you know how much I love you? When I found out you were getting engaged while I was abroad, my heart hurt so much it felt like it was going to break. Only when I'm with you do my life and everything I do have meaning."

"So no matter what method I have to use, no matter how much I have to pay—" He turned me around to face him, then suddenly pushed me down onto the black circular carpet, "I will have you."

A dark shadow flashed across Mason Black's eyes, and the rims of his eyes turned even redder. He took my lips in his. Unlike the innocent and gentle kisses of the past, this one was like that of a wild beast that had lost control— pouring out all his anger, jealousy, patience, and resentment into the intimate friction between us.

A hint of cold air slipped in around my waist. I tried my best to pull myself together from the overwhelming effect he had on me and grabbed his hand firmly.

Mason Black's back suddenly stiffened. He propped himself up, looking at me from below with that silent, wronged gaze.

After a moment of confrontation, Mason Black finally gave in. He leaned down again, pressed his lips against my ear, and mumbled: "Sister, please. I really, really like you."

His warm, damp breath drifted into my ear, tickling me so much that I couldn't stop trembling. The tight string in my mind seemed to snap suddenly under this invisible temptation.

That night, I slept without dreaming. Once a decision was made, there was no turning back. It seemed like all the confusion I had felt before was just me overcomplicating things. And that moment of excitement— no one could deny it.

7

After that night, it seemed like everything in the world had returned to normal.

Even when I faced Mason Black, it felt like there was a little less pressure.

I couldn't help but ask my parents about the reason Mason Black had used to convince them. Only then did I find out— in order to remove all obstacles on his way to winning me over, Mason Black had secretly started his own company a long time ago.

Now, the scale of his cross-border business had already surpassed that of my family's.

Wow, who would have thought? Back then, I had forced him to go abroad just to teach him a lesson. But now, that experience had turned into a tool to help him win me over?

Was this... a case of "trying to be clever but ending up shooting myself in the foot"? Did I just sabotage myself?

Mason Black had really gone all out to bribe my parents. He not only gave them a lot of shares in his company but also went out of his way to collect a bunch of things that Mom and Dad liked, catering to their preferences.

"So you just sold your precious daughter to him like that?" I pretended to be angry and asked.

"Hey, don't put it so harshly." My dad took a sip of the tea that Mason Black had brought as a gift, looking very contented, "Your mom and I just think that Mason had a point— only by marrying him can you stay within our protective circle forever, and no one will ever be able to hurt you."

I was stunned. If that was the reason, then it really had hit my parents' soft spot.

Even when Olivia Green found out that I had agreed to be with Mason Black, she raised both her hands and feet in approval.

The last bit of hesitation in my heart was finally erased by the persuasion and blessings of everyone around me—

That is, until I ran into my poor ex-fiancé, who had run away from the engagement.

One day, I got tired from shopping and randomly found a coffee shop to sit down and rest.

But when the waiter put down the things I had ordered, I realized— this waiter looked surprisingly familiar.

"You... why are you working as a waiter? Is this some kind of life experience?" I asked in surprise.

My ex-fiancé let out a bitter laugh and told me everything that had happened the day before our engagement, as well as all the things Mason Black had done to him.

It turned out that Mason Black had lured him with an extremely tempting offer. But just when he thought the deal was done and everything was settled, Mason Black had suddenly turned around and betrayed him. In the end, he had lost both his money and his reputation, ending up with nothing.

After listening to him, I fell silent.

It wasn't because I felt sorry for this ex-fiancé, who was so greedy that he had betrayed me for profit. It was because no matter how I looked at it, Mason Black's methods seemed to be treading a dangerous line. I really didn't want him to make a wrong move someday and end up in jail.

On my way home, I drew up a list of "forbidden rules", figuring out how to get Mason Black to sign it willingly. Otherwise, since he was so used to obeying me on the surface but doing whatever he wanted behind my back, I would never be able to feel at ease.

As soon as I stepped through the door, I headed straight for his study.

Mason Black wasn't back yet, so I simply sat down in his leather office chair. As I swayed back and forth, I noticed that there seemed to be something tucked inside one of the books on his desk.

I took it out and saw that it was a photo of a couple I didn't know. The photo was old, but it was still well-preserved— you could tell at a glance how carefully the owner had taken care of it over the years.

The familiar look in the couple's eyebrows and eyes made me immediately think of Mason Black's parents. After I took a photo of it and sent it to my parents to confirm, I was even more certain.

So he had already remembered his own background a long time ago! And he had been pretending to be amnesiac in front of me this whole time, tricking me into believing his lies!

At that moment, only a few words kept repeating in my mind: I. HAVE. BEEN. TRICKED!

The anger that surged up instantly burned away all my rationality. I didn't wait for Mason Black to come home. I just put the photo and the note I had written on the center of his desk, pressing them down firmly.

Then I quickly packed a few pieces of clothes and staged an unannounced "runaway from home".

However, it didn't even take three days for Mason Black to find me. His amazing speed really left me in awe.

Unlike me, who had been living comfortably, Mason Black looked absolutely terrible— almost to the point of being a mess.

The moment I saw him, I suddenly felt a twinge of regret. Because this man— it seemed like he really did love me very much...

He rushed over and hugged me without a care for anything else, roaring: "Chloe White! If you want to drive me to my death, just say so! Stop playing this game of disappearing on me! Don't... don't treat me like this anymore..."

As Mason Black spoke, his voice grew weaker. He opened his mouth and bit my shoulder lightly, sobbing silently.

"I'm sorry..." I felt a little guilty. I reached out, put my arms around his waist, and patted his back gently twice to comfort him.

After Mason Black's intense emotions had calmed down a little, he let go of me, then held my face in his hands: "Chloe, Sister. If I made you angry, you can question me to my face. You can even hit me or scold me. But please... please don't just disappear from my world like this all of a sudden. I'm scared. I'm really scared."

Looking at him, with his eyes red from crying, my nose started to tingle too: "Okay. As long as you agree to my terms, I will never leave you again."

As I spoke, I pulled the printed copy of my "forbidden rules" out of my pajamas. Even though this scene somewhat ruined the mood— it was even quite ridiculous— Mason Black still solemnly signed his name on my list of rules.

I even pushed my luck and got a sum of compensation for my poor ex-fiancé.

Of course, that night, in that very room, I paid an extremely painful price for running away from home this time.

"Sister, you're mine. You're only mine. So you'll never even dream of leaving me."

I was so tired that I just wanted to close my eyes and sleep. But right then, Mason Black's voice— half threatening, half cold— drifted into my ears.

I reached out impatiently, messed up his hair, then grabbed the back of his head and pressed it against my chest. I put my arms around him gently and said weakly: "Shut up and go to sleep, will you!"