Reborn to Redeem: Their Abusive Love-Chapter 104: I love you

Pei Zhen entered. He didn’t greet her or even look at her. He simply took off his clothes, leaned against the wide sofa, and began to wait for her to apply his medicine.

He seemed to know he was very good-looking. He unabashedly allowed himself to be exposed under the lights. He resembled a handsome vampire; he had not a single superfluous bone or piece of flesh, and his features and bone structure were both alarmingly beautiful.

His silver hair cascaded down but couldn’t hide his exposed, well-proportioned muscle lines. He possessed a type of rugged handsomeness, a male physique that could be described as perfect. Combined with his cool, pale complexion, he was utterly addictive to look at.

Xu Si glanced at him twice, her gaze halting on his left chest. The wound there... it had completely healed.

It was magical. Previously, it had been a bloody wound that pierced straight through his heart. Now, there was no sign of scabbing or bleeding; even looking closely, one could only make out a faint white scar.

Is this the potion from the Underground City?

Xu Si was slightly surprised. Turning her eyes to the bruise on his arm, now that she was closer, she felt somewhat frightened by its irregular edges and deep purplish-blue color, which even had some black spots in the center.

But... Xu Si lifted her head slightly, held her breath, and looked straight into his ash-gray eyes. "Why didn’t you dodge? You definitely could have."

Xu Si had noted his reaction ability in the Octagonal Cage earlier; the giant had hardly had a chance to touch him. Other than it being intentional, Xu Si couldn’t think of any other possibility.

Pei Zhen leaned back on the sofa, then propped himself up with his hands to sit upright. He moved closer to Xu Si, looking up at her. His eyes were as deep and somber as fog-dimmed lights.

"If I had dodged, wouldn’t your medicine have been a waste?"

"You..."

Xu Si raised her eyebrows, finding herself at a loss for words.

An odd, racing sensation throbbed in her heart.

That long-suppressed thought finally surfaced again.

This man... was truly fucking insane.

She maintained a serious expression and lowered her head to open the medicine box in her hand. She rubbed a milky ointment in her palms until it warmed and turned into a clear, watery consistency, only then did she speak again.

"Extend your hand."

Pei Zhen stretched out his hand.

Xu Si also extended her fair, soft hand. She gently applied the ointment from her palm onto his bruises, bit by bit. Her demeanor was cool and decisive, yet her hands trembled secretly.

The moment she touched him, a tingling sensation, like an electric current, shot up her arm and straight to the nerves in her brain. It seemed to explode in her heart, scattering all her discomfort.

Pei Zhen slowly lowered his head. He felt an immense satisfaction and the violent thumping of his heart in his chest as his lips curved into a barely perceptible smile.

This wasn’t strange.

He had long known a fact.

—The world is rotting and festering, rank and putrid; it has never been bright.

—What’s truly bright has always been only Auntie.

Fearing he would frighten her, he barely suppressed the urge—the urge to lock her up immediately, take her back to the Underground City, and never let another soul glimpse her again.

Pei Zhen shifted his faint, subdued gaze back to her face and asked softly, "How’s the land for your hotel coming along?"

Xu Si lightly touched his arm with her fingertips, utterly unaware of his dangerous thoughts. She answered briskly, "Ah, I’ve already had Anshi go negotiate. It’s probably not going to be easy, but I’m determined to get it."

She paused, then said teasingly, "The Sanlian Chamber of Commerce controls quite a few hotels. We’ll be rivals in the future, so go easy on me."

"Go easy?" he murmured, his voice barely a whisper, his tone faint. "I never show mercy to competitors."

Xu Si’s fingertips pressed a bit harder. The corners of her mouth lifted slightly, revealing a sly, almost mischievous smile.

"No problem, I’m the same. But we’re not strangers, after all. It would be best if we weren’t so antagonistic."

Pei Zhen smiled. He lifted his free hand to brush a strand of her hair. The cool backs of his knuckles occasionally touched her face; his movements seemed to carry a chill as he said, "Then we could interact under different identities."

It tickled a bit.

Xu Si looked down at the thin layer of ointment on the bruise, ensuring no part was missed. She then capped the medicine box, placed it aside, and, pretending not to understand the meaning behind his words, chose a straightforward answer. "I’m definitely opening the hotel. I’ll leave this medicine with you. If you’re on Hong Kong Island and can’t get medicine from the Underground City, you can use this."

Having said that, she stood up calmly.

Perhaps because she had been squatting for too long, her blood sugar was a little low, and her calves felt numb. There was no time to adjust. She suddenly felt dizzy, and darkness enveloped her vision. Her limbs flailed, and she instinctively reached out to grab onto something.

Then, as if in a movie scene, her hand pressed against Pei Zhen’s chest.

She had thought she could steady herself gradually.

Unexpectedly, he seemed so "fragile," toppling backward from her push as if he were about to fall. And quite "reasonably," he grasped her arm, pulling her down with him. They both landed on the sofa.

Xu Si felt the world spin. When she reopened her eyes, she found herself sprawled neatly on top of Pei Zhen. Her gaze traveled up to meet his dark, deep eyes.

"..."

It was utterly silent; even the wind seemed to have vanished.

After they locked eyes for quite a while, the man still made no move. He asked her in an ethereal, lazy tone, "Is your nephew good-looking? Auntie."

The term "Auntie."

For Xu Si, that word was too transgressive, too forbidden.

A sense of shame and immorality, long suppressed, crept up her spine.

"Sorry."

Her ears reddened, her chest heaved violently, and her heart pounded wildly. She instinctively tried to push herself up.

But the man’s fingers pressed down on her waist with a heavy force, pinning her in place. His posture was relaxed, yet his gaze, piercing through the thin air between them, was both dangerous and noble.

"You’re being too obvious about avoiding me. How much longer are you going to make me wait? Always stringing me along—is this what you call taking responsibility? Auntie, is it because you don’t know what I’m capable of that you dare to toy with me again and again?"

It was as if the man was doing it intentionally. He knew what she feared and deliberately prodded that sensitive nerve, testing her precarious sanity.

Xu Si’s face quickly reddened. "Don’t call me Auntie. I’m not."

Pei Zhen laughed.

He grasped her waist, shifting her beneath him. A few strands of his silver-white hair fell forward. His brow was slightly furrowed, his lips set in a firm line as he looked directly at her. "Why do you keep stringing me along?"

Xu Si was captivated by his appearance. Seeing her own reflection in his smoky gray eyes, she felt, to be honest, somewhat frightened.

She didn’t know what he would do if his patience finally ran out.

Her heart was beating so fast it felt like it would burst from her chest.

She bit her lower lip.

Pei Zhen watched her shimmering eyes shift from confusion to panic. This woman, usually so aloof and superior, was now actually afraid of him.

He paused.

Then his lips curved into a smile, the corners of his eyes crinkling slightly. He looked like a heart-bewitching devil.

He lowered his head and kissed her red lips.

"What am I to do? I love you."