After Becoming a CEO, I Ended Up With the Gorgeous Lunatic Villainess - Chapter 14

“Ding ding ding. A beautiful night has begun. Host, are you ready? The new plot is about to begin.”

He Shu paused mid-step on the stairs. Why did the system voice sound higher than usual? Was it… happy? Excited?

“What beautiful night? At this rate, I might not live to see the morning!”

This time, she had read the plot in advance. She knew exactly what suicide mission awaited her next.

“Host, good luck. The script has been sent. Please proceed to the designated scene as soon as possible.”

There was no good luck to be had. She had spent the entire trip back trying to mentally prepare herself and cheer herself up, but it hadn’t helped at all.

She had hoped Cen Qianyi might run away on her own. That hope had also crumbled.

There was no other way. She would just have to get it over with quickly.

The good news was that once tonight’s scene was over, all she had to do was sleep. Then one more plot tomorrow, another night’s sleep, and it would be the day after tomorrow.

And by then, she would be completely free.

He Shu took a deep breath and pushed open the red door. She was caught off guard when she made eye contact with the person inside.

Their eyes met. Her heart skipped.

This was unexpected. Every time she had entered before, Cen Qianyi had been lying down with her eyes closed.

But now, she was sitting upright with her knees pulled to her chest, facing the door as if she had been waiting for her.

The sight made He Shu’s scalp go numb.

She was no longer wearing that tracksuit from the hospital. She had changed back into the white camisole nightdress she wore at the villa. Her skin, pale and bare, was fully exposed to the cool air.

He Shu’s gaze moved to her legs. A patch of discolored skin stood out. It was the same burn from earlier at the hospital and it still hadn’t faded after a whole day. Had she not reapplied ointment since then?

Her eyes moved upward to meet those pale violet irises. Cen Qianyi’s gaze was no longer misaligned like before. It now landed directly on her face.

The look wasn’t sharp, but the unexpected eye contact made He Shu’s heart jolt violently. A bad feeling rose in her chest.

Something was going to happen tonight. She could feel it.

“Ding ding ding. Host has arrived at the designated scene. Plot will now begin. Reminder: you cannot alter even a single word of the script, and you cannot leave until it is completed.”

Of course she knew these rules. The system’s unnecessary reminder made it clear it had sensed her desire to run and was issuing a warning.

She did want to run, but she knew there was nowhere to go. At least there was no killing intent yet. For now, she would probably survive.

He Shu took another deep breath, stepped inside, and closed the door behind her.

Cen Qianyi had been waiting.

She had found something useful at the hospital earlier. It might help her confirm whether the woman in front of her really was the “He Shu” from the files.

She had been waiting for her to return so she could verify her suspicion.

As the woman slowly approached, Cen Qianyi narrowed her eyes. Her clothes were the same as in the morning, but no longer so crisp. There were creases on her hem and cuffs, and she looked visibly tired.

As she drew closer, Cen Qianyi picked up on the faint scent of disinfectant, unique to police stations. Had she just been released?

That was unexpected. Someone like He Shu, with wealth and status, should have been in and out quickly.

Whom had she offended?

She looked at the woman’s face. Though blank, it was clearly tense. Her jaw was clenched, and the muscles on her face were tight.

With every step she took, He Shu gritted her teeth and told herself to hang on. If she could just make it through tomorrow, she would be free. But the closer she got to those pale violet eyes, the more it felt like she was walking into a pit.

Even knowing the pit was bottomless, she had no choice but to walk straight in.

In the end, she knelt in front of it, or rather, in front of Cen Qianyi.

“Baby, why are you looking at me like that? Doesn’t it feel good to see again?”

Following the script prompt, she gently lifted Cen Qianyi’s chin. Her voice was dry, and she sped through the lines, which were more than a little twisted.

“Baby, you better cherish it. If you make me unhappy, next time it won’t just be your sight you lose.”

Cen Qianyi blinked at her. Here it was again. She was saying those suicidal things again.

But something was different this time.

She wasn’t crying.

He Shu was relieved not to feel any killing intent. Otherwise, she might have stammered. There was no response line from Cen Qianyi, so she took a deep breath and rushed through the rest in one go.

“Baby, remember to be a good plaything. If I’m happy, not only will you be able to see, I might even let you move freely.”

She shook the chain binding Cen Qianyi, then let go of her chin and quickly stroked her cheek.

“You’re happy to see again, right? Then of course, we have to celebrate. Tonight, we’ll try something new.”

After rushing through every line and action, He Shu let out a deep exhale. Without waiting to see how Cen Qianyi reacted, she got up and headed to the tool room.

Cen Qianyi: …

As the top hunter of the Bounty Alliance, she rarely found herself at a loss. Yet this woman, who came and went like a storm, had managed to catch her off guard once again.

What was going on with her?

She spoke like a machine. Every question didn’t need an answer. Her words were fired off at a startling speed.

Had something happened at the police station?

Was she bullied?

Didn’t she bring an entire legal team?

As the woman opened the door to the adjacent room, Cen Qianyi bit the inside of her cheek lightly, her brows full of doubt.

What had she said just now?

Something new?

New what?

Russian roulette?

He Shu looked at the items the prompt told her to take and genuinely wondered if she would survive the night.

She could only hope she was still useful enough that Cen Qianyi needed her alive.

She picked up an eye mask, a gag, and a pair of handcuffs, then walked to the cabinet filled with candles.

Good grief. How was she supposed to choose? Why were there so many kinds of candles?

She had at least been able to gauge the materials of the earlier items. She had tried to pick the softest, least painful ones.

But the candles…

What made them different? Their shapes?

Some were clearly made to look beautiful, like the red roses and white camellias. Others were cute, shaped like little ducks or swans.

How was she supposed to choose?

There were no labels or explanations.

While she hesitated, the countdown began in her head again. The system urged her to hurry.

Left with no choice, He Shu took off her coat and turned it into a makeshift bundle. She tried to grab as many candles as she could.

When her coat could hold no more and time was running out, she rushed back to the pet room.

Cen Qianyi raised an eyebrow as she watched the woman leave and return in such a fluster.

This was another unexpected development.

Things were also slightly out of He Shu’s control. She had taken too many candles, and they kept falling as she ran.

Back in the pet room, just as she closed the door, two candles fell. One, a little yellow duck, rolled over to Cen Qianyi’s bare foot.

Panicked, He Shu moved to pick it up, but a pale hand beat her to it.

Seeing the candle now resting in Cen Qianyi’s palm, He Shu felt like ten thousand ducks were quacking through her mind. Each one sounded like it was sending her off to die.

And she couldn’t even fall to her knees and beg for mercy. She was being dragged down this road whether she liked it or not.

“Baby, let’s play something fun before bed.”

He Shu set all the items down on the floor. Cen Qianyi instantly realized they were all candles, each one shaped differently.

So many candles. What were they for?

A birthday celebration?

Blow them out one by one?

He Shu met her puzzled violet gaze and silently lit a few.

She picked up the eye mask and looked at Cen Qianyi. Her hands trembled as her eyes turned red.

“Baby, it’s more fun when you can’t see.”

She reached out to put the eye mask on but was terrified Cen Qianyi might suddenly snap and kill her.

Luckily, she didn’t move. She just watched.

Cen Qianyi, surprised by how red her eyes suddenly turned, felt a strange sense of confirmation.

She let her put on the eye mask. As darkness fell over her vision, she tightened her grip on the candle in her hand and was just about to ask what she planned to do when something was stuffed into her mouth.

Instinctively, she tried to turn her head and spit it out, but then she heard a soft sob.

He Shu only let her tears fall after placing the mask on.

Before, when Cen Qianyi couldn’t see, she had been able to pretend. The shameful actions had been tolerable.

Now that Cen Qianyi could see, everything felt exposed, like being caught on camera. She was overwhelmed with panic, embarrassment, shame, and a desire to disappear.

“This is to keep you from making too much noise. Let’s wear this.”

Her voice, thick with tears, brushed against Cen Qianyi’s ear.

Cen Qianyi bit down on the thing in her mouth. It felt a lot like what she had found in her mouth when she first woke up at the hospital.

It was the same one. He Shu had chosen the same soft material. This time, it was a small purple ball.

She fastened the leather strap, adjusting it so it was not too tight but also couldn’t be shaken off.

“Be good, baby. If it falls out, there will be punishment.”

He Shu sniffled hard. She already felt like she was being punished. Why did she have to do this? She really did not enjoy this kind of thing!

Crying the whole time, she quickly flipped Cen Qianyi over onto the mat.

Thankfully, Cen Qianyi still seemed committed to her “fragile flower” act and didn’t resist. He Shu wasted no time. She used the cuffs to fasten her to the metal bar on the wall.

She brushed Cen Qianyi’s hair off her shoulder, revealing her back, and lightly tapped it.

“Lie still, baby. Moving could get you hurt.”

Cen Qianyi’s breath hit the mat beneath her. She felt the tickle where He Shu’s finger had touched and had a guess about what she was about to do.

But she wasn’t entirely sure. There had been plenty of misread situations before.

This woman never acted in a way anyone could predict.

Take this moment. Cen Qianyi was clearly the one bound. Yet the one crying… was He Shu.

Click.

Cen Qianyi’s ears twitched. That sounded like a lighter. Soon after, a whiff of smoky scent drifted over. It was not unpleasant, even a little sweet.

But the smell of burning wax grew stronger. It started to sting her nose.

Cen Qianyi tilted her head, trying to guess what the woman was doing based on sound.

After making her into this setup, she had gone silent again.

Finally, there was a noise. A hiss.

“Tss—”

He Shu clutched her arm and bent over in pain. What kind of candle was this? It burned like hell!

She frantically wiped off the dripping wax from her arm. The skin had turned red.

As painful as it was, she was relieved.

Thankfully, she had tested it on herself first. If that had landed on Cen Qianyi’s back, she would have been burned.

Her skin was already sensitive. The red mark from the coffee earlier still hadn’t faded.

This wax was way hotter than that.

He Shu wiped her tears and snuffed out the pretty rose-shaped candle.

Good-looking things were often dangerous.

She reached for a white camellia-shaped one.

If red meant hot, maybe white meant cool?

She held her breath and tilted it over her arm. The wax formed a camellia bloom on her skin.

“Tss—”

Still burned!

Her tears, which she had barely held back, started falling again.

She put it out and reached for another.

Before long, both her arms were blotched red. But just before the countdown ran out, she found one that wasn’t too hot.

It was an ordinary red candle, roughly the width of her wrist and about the height of a cup. It even smelled faintly sweet.

Cen Qianyi, blindfolded, could only hear her soft gasps. Her confusion grew.

She pressed her head against the mat and tried to nudge the blindfold aside.

But just as she moved, a sudden heat hit her back.

She jerked reflexively.

Startled, He Shu’s hand shook.

Another drop fell, blooming like a rose on her pale skin.

“How does that feel, baby? Doesn’t it feel good? Exciting? Fun?”