Qiao Chuchu's heart raced!
Pei Che was angry.
She tried to sound casual: "There's no place for me in this home anymore. It's awkward for me to come back now."
Pei Che pressed: "And who is it that made this home not have a place for you?"
Qiao Chuchu was hit where it hurt, and she fell silent.
Pei Che's imposing presence loomed over her, knowing full well: "Tell me, because of whom?"
Ashamed, Qiao Chuchu lowered her head and tried to walk past him.
Pei Che grabbed her wrist!
Qiao Chuchu felt a dizzying spin and was suddenly pinned down on the bed!
She widened her eyes in terror: "Brother!"
"Don't call me brother!!!"
Pei Che's voice suddenly rose, like a raging beast: "I'm no longer your brother! Because you destroyed everything!!!"
Qiao Chuchu tensed up, feeling Pei Che's strength like a vice pressing down on her.
She couldn't even move her arms.
Fear crept up her limbs like a swarm of insects, and she struggled to control herself, her voice already trembling with tears: "If you hate me, then let me go, why hold me here like this, are you sick or something?!"
"I said you're staying here, and that's final."
Pei Che pinned her hands above her head, straddling her waist with his legs firmly trapping her: "Qiao Chuchu, don't forget, even though you call us brothers, we have no blood relation, not even linked on the household register. Do you know what that means? It means we could be siblings, or we could be man and woman. Our boundaries are defined by our hearts."
Under the silvery moonlight, Qiao Chuchu's skirt spread across the bed, looking extremely disheveled, while Pei Che, impeccably dressed in a suit, looked down at her darkly: "You told me this yourself, do you remember?"
Qiao Chuchu closed her eyes in humiliation.
Of course, she remembered.
She could never forget the look in Pei Che's eyes after she said those words.
The look of looking at trash.
Pei Che squeezed her wrist, leaning closer: "You destroyed the home we painstakingly built, the happy times of our family of eight. I don't care what your past grievances or reasons were, now that there's a chance to mend this family, you must stay."
Qiao Chuchu's heart nearly leapt out of her chest from fear: "We can't go back to how things were."
[I've done so many terrible things, how can I just act like they never happened?]
Pei Che's voice rose: "So what!!!"
His forehead veins bulged, his handsome face contorted with hatred: "Tell me, even if you've done some wrong, so what?! Now you can come back, why are you being picky and unwilling to stay?!"
He just couldn't understand: "Clearly, you're the one who made mistakes, so why are you the one choosing to stay away?!"
Qiao Chuchu's head buzzed, and she got angry: "Can you treat me like you used to?!"
"I can!!!" Pei Che retorted sharply.
Qiao Chuchu couldn't hold back her tears: "Then look at what you're doing now, you're pinning me down, you're pressing me onto the bed!"
Pei Che was stunned, slowly realizing their positions.
Qiao Chuchu's tears streamed down: "You're terrifying right now, Second Brother!"
Pei Che was taken aback, gradually loosening his grip.
She sobbed softly, almost pleading: "Just let me go, we can't go back to how we were, but I can promise I won't cling to you like before, I'll help you in my own way, repaying all I've done."
[I'll use my strength to prevent our brothers from ending tragically, I won't hurt them anymore, I don't want this... I'm really sorry.]
Pei Che's heart skipped a beat.
Tearful, Qiao Chuchu said: "Let me go, I really don't belong here."
Pei Che didn't speak, looking down at her with a stern face.
Qiao Chuchu's curls spread across the bed, the moonlight casting a beautiful sheen on her hair.
Her eyes seemed to hold shattered stars, tears falling in big drops, wetting her auburn hair, her chest heaving with sobs.
He could even hear her breathing.
Mysteriously, Pei Che raised his hand and pressed it against her carotid artery.
Qiao Chuchu grew even more terrified.
[What is he going to do? Strangle me?]
Pei Che ignored her, just feeling the pulse under his fingers.
Qiao Chuchu was alive.
She hadn't fallen from a height, hadn't been stabbed.
She was alive, could retort, could fear, and would cry during arguments.
He moved his hand up, roughly wiping away her tears.
Qiao Chuchu felt like a kitten being groomed by a lion.
Pei Che's hand swept over her face, smearing her eye shadow and mascara into a mess.
She looked up, dazed.
Pei Che's face was no longer as contorted: "Don't let me hear you say you don't want to stay again."
Qiao Chuchu opened her mouth: "But—"
Pei Che covered her mouth: "You're dying here, do you hear me?"
She widened her eyes in terror, her body reflexively trembling.
Pei Che felt her tremble, a sinister smile curling his lips: "Are you afraid of me?"
Qiao Chuchu bit her lip, too scared to speak.
[How could I not be afraid, big brother? You're holding the key to my room, staring at me, and pinning me down, I've never been pressed down by a man like this my whole life, and your aura is heavier than a ghost's!]
Pei Che chuckled softly, leaning down: "Qiao Chuchu, don't you remember? When you were little, you liked me the most among the seven brothers."
Qiao Chuchu felt absurd: "Huh?"
She thought back, not really believing that.
She had always liked the eldest brother, Pei Yuan, the most.
Because Pei Yuan was gentle, like a nurturing mother, even though he was talkative, he really took care of people.
Pei Che had always been eerie.
As she thought, Qiao Chuchu suddenly had an epiphany, realizing something.
She looked at his wrist, where a scar of overlapping cuts was visible.
Pei Che followed her gaze to the scar on his wrist: "Remember now?"
Qiao Chuchu felt a creeping horror.
She remembered.
After their foster parents passed away, each of the brothers was devastated, and Pei Che had tried to commit suicide by slashing his wrists.
It was her who found him in the bathtub, holding him tightly in the blood-stained water.
Pei Che, drowsy, leaned on her shoulder: "Chuchu, there's nothing left in this world worth living for, I don't want to live anymore."
"You can't think like that, Second Brother, you have me, and the rest of us, if you leave, what will happen to the rest of us? We eight are indispensable."
Pei Che, sickly: "Indispensable?"
"Yes, indispensable!" She wiped the blood from his face: "We're a family, we have to stay together forever, never separate."
That day, Pei Che's dull eyes lit up with hope.
What else they said, she couldn't recall.
She only remembered Pei Che solemnly telling her: "It's settled then, Chuchu, no matter what happens, our family of eight must stay together, eat together, celebrate the new year together, go shopping together, travel together, not neglect family for love, not fall apart for money, and never hurt each other."
"We must stay together forever."
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Comments
Tee🖤👻
So touching 🥹
2025-01-26
1