Don't Force Me to Destroy You

In the bedroom's lamplight, the obsession in Xi Jin's eyes looked colder and more sinister.

"When have you ever made the first move?"

Xi Jin said, "Which one of us is more shameless?"

Nan Xingyu wiped away her tears and turned her head. "Anyway, if you dare tell my mom, I'll never speak to you again."

"Six months."

That was Xi Jin's final limit. "In six months, we'll get married."

Nan Xingyu looked at him and shoved his shoulder in anger. "You're crazy!"

"In six months, your mom will have retired and won't be at the manor."

Xi Jin seized her hand. "What excuse will you have then?"

Afraid he would really do it, Nan Xingyu blurted out, "I don't want to be with you!!"

The next second, her throat suddenly tightened.

Xi Jin grabbed her by the neck and pulled her in front of him.

"Say that again and see if I don't kill you."

"Then go ahead and kill me!!"

Nan Xingyu had thrown all caution to the wind.

She'd had enough of his suffocating control.

Enough of barely clinging to life under his obsession.

Xi Jin's eyes froze for a moment, a hint of disbelief in them.

The desire to separate was all too clear in her eyes.

Clear as a sharp knife.

Plunging straight into his heart.

Just like that day at the shooting range, when he received her message.

[I don't want to be with you anymore.]

Every word was a needle.

All he could do was pull the trigger mechanically, the sound of gunfire ringing out all night.

Yet it couldn't quell the chaos raging in his heart.

He remembered the first time she'd asked to break up. She'd been drunk.

He'd wanted to kiss her, but she'd pushed him away in tears. "Xi Jin, I'm tired. I don't want to be with you anymore."

His heart had trembled then.

He'd never imagined that one day they would separate.

He'd looked at the drunken girl as she cried and said:

"I never wanted to be with you."

"We were never from the same world."

"Can we break up?"

He'd tried.

Maybe he should let her go.

He'd tried not to contact her.

After the competition, he hadn't returned home right away. Instead, he'd caught a connecting flight to Iceland.

He'd once said he wanted to take her to see the northern lights.

She'd said she was afraid of the cold and too attached to home to go to that "end of the world."

He'd been waiting for her to change her mind.

Until today, when he'd been alone in Iceland's polar night, watching the northern lights flow across the night sky.

At that moment.

He'd hated himself as much as he'd missed her.

Even his courage to hold on to her could only be disguised as "control."

He couldn't let go.

The lamplight shone in Xi Jin's dark eyes, like an abyss ready to swallow her whole.

"Want to die?"

Xi Jin laughed, madness showing through his smile. "Nan Xingyu, even if you turn to ash, I'll crush you to pieces and carry you in my pocket."

"Let go of me!"

Nan Xingyu cried out, "Xi Jin, you lunatic!"

"My darling Xiaoyu,"

He curved his lips without a sound. "From the moment you barged into my territory at seven, you should have known that I, Xi Jin, am a lunatic. So you'd better think carefully about the consequences of leaving me."

The suffocating pressure made Nan Xingyu's blood run cold. Her survival instinct drove her to grasp his tensed arm with both hands, and she tried to beg for mercy.

"Xi Jin, please, let me go."

"If I let you go, who do you want to be with?"

Xi Jin's cold eyes narrowed slightly. After a moment's thought, he asked, "Is it Jiang Yu?"

"..."

Nan Xingyu had never even considered it. Worried about dragging someone else into this, she hurried to say:

"It has nothing to do with him. I just want to live my own life."

"A life without me is what you want?"

Xi Jin's gaze grew colder. "I'm telling you, that's impossible."

"You're not going anywhere for the rest of your life."

"Even if you die, you'll die by my side."

"..."

Nan Xingyu felt a chill rush up from the soles of her feet.

"Xi Jin, can't we let each other go?"

Her voice was pleading. "You deserve someone better. I'm not worthy."

"Someone better?"

Xi Jin scoffed. "I don't want anyone but you."

He took her hand and pressed it to his chest. "Xiaoyu, can you feel it? Every beat in here is for you."

He loosened his grip on her neck slightly and gently wiped the tears from her face with his fingertips.

"Xiaoyu, I love you. Why are you always thinking about leaving me?"

"Haven't I been good to you?"

"Why don't you love me?"

"..."

Nan Xingyu's tears fell even harder.

It wasn't that she didn't know how good he had been to her, but his obsession and control had long since worn it all away.

"I'm really tired. I can't bear your love. Let's break up, please."

"..."

Xi Jin gripped her chin and twisted his lips into a strange smile. "All of a sudden, I really want your mom to see what her daughter looks like in my bed."

"..."

A chill gripped Nan Xingyu's heart.

That was what she feared most.

"Don't you dare!"

"Just watch me."

Xi Jin narrowed his eyes slightly and threatened her. "Nan Xingyu, don't force me to destroy you."

Nan Xingyu was furious. "Xi Jin, you bastard! I want to break—"

Before she could finish, Xi Jin seized her shoulders and shoved her hard onto the bed.

She bounced like a fallen leaf.

"Get away from me!"

Nan Xingyu instinctively shrank back, but he gripped her ankle tightly.

Xi Jin's reason crumbled.

All he knew was that he couldn't let her leave.

Even if he had to use the roughest means.

He would keep her by his side.

"Baby, I hate it when you hide as soon as you see me."

Xi Jin held her ankle tightly and moved closer, inch by inch. "We said we'd be together forever. Whoever betrays that promise will go to hell."

As he spoke, he grabbed her other ankle and pulled with both hands, dragging her down the bed.

"Why can't you ever learn to behave? Are you trying to drive me to my death?"

"Break up! I want to break up with you!!"

Nan Xingyu picked up a pillow and threw it at him.

Xi Jin caught it, kept his gaze fixed on her, and tossed the pillow aside.

"Nan Xingyu, don't even think about it. I'll never let you go for the rest of my life."

The next second, he pinned her down with his hand and forcibly turned her over.

Nan Xingyu struggled, but a force held her down. Defiantly, she turned her head. "Lock me up for the rest of your life if you've got the nerve."

"What? You think I wouldn't dare?"

Xi Jin pressed down the shoulder she had raised and lifted her silk nightgown.

Without any foreplay.

He thrust straight in.

Nan Xingyu's face was buried deep in the soft pillow, her fingers clutching its corners as broken gasps escaped her throat.

Every sound was filled with unspeakable humiliation and pain.

Xi Jin's lips rested by her ear, his scorching breath brushing against it.

"Baby, will you be with me?"

His voice held a vulnerability even he hadn't noticed.

He was afraid of hearing her say no, yet he forced her to answer.

Nan Xingyu's brows were tightly knitted, her voice halting and thick with tears, yet still stubborn. "No... I won't..."

Before the words had faded.

A wave of searing pain struck her.

She couldn't hold back a muffled moan.

She felt like a shattered piece of porcelain.

Even the last intact part of her was to be destroyed by him.

Xi Jin's movements paused.

Her trembling beneath his palm was like a thorn, stabbing his heart with pain.

But that trace of heartache was soon swallowed up by the obsession that he couldn't lose her.

He closed his eyes, forcing himself to ignore her pain.

Holding fast to a single thought:

She's mine. She can only ever be mine.