Zhao Lifei felt her heart melt at his voice, which was so tiny and meek, like a terrified child. She felt her heart prickle at his behavior. Her brain chastised her for going so far, and her heart screamed to comfort him and ease his fears.

"Will you do it again?" She quietly asked, rubbing circles on his large and rough hands. Immediately, his fingers grabbed hers, completely entwining the fingers together, so that they were holding hands. Her heart skipped a beat at his action, a tiny smile on her face.

"I can't promise you a definite no, but I will try my hardest to be lenient." He snuggled his head on her shoulder, breathing in her lovely smell. It clouded his brain, the soft Jasmine scent teasing him.

She was quiet for a moment which prompted him to give her a squeeze.

"Are you still mad at me?" She asked him to which he shook his head.

"No."

She smiled, happy that she was finally able to tame his anger, even if it was through unethical measures. She turned her head so that her cheek was resting on the crown of his soft hair. "Good, because I'm not mad at you anymore either." She teased.

He breathed a sigh of relief which surprised him soon afterward. Since when was he so in love with her that soothing her anger would cause such a pure sensation of relief to flood through him?

"Then hug me again." He demanded, wanting to feel her arms around him again. It brought him reassurance and confirmation that she truly wasn't going to leave him.

Zhao Lifei was surprised by his sudden request. In her confused state, she turned around and lightly hugged him. She yelped when he hugged her tighter, crushing her face to his chest. "Uhm Yang Feng--"

"Don't walk away from me like that. I hate it." He ground his teeth, remembering the past when he came back to the country to catch up on things with her. He spotted her at a banquet and tried to approach her, but she freaked out and ran away, her reaction leaving him completely heartbroken.

"Yang Feng," She began, lifting her head to look at him. Her throat dried when she saw his perfect features. His face puts the gods to shame. "I won't walk away, as long as you don't try to tie me down." When she saw his softened gaze hardened, she reached up to gently caress his face.

"I don't like it when you're overly domineering. I don't like it when you're so bent on confining me like this." She watched his stare intensify further. He wasn't pleased to hear her words, but she didn't care. She needed to draw the boundaries if they were going to enter a relationship.

"I have so many scars from my past, I'm trying to move on, but it's so hard. I've been controlled by my parents in the past, I-I don't want a relationship like that." Her voice became shaky when she thought back to the dark days where her parents dictated her every move. Each note she misplayed on the piano was a slap to the back of her knees. There were days where she wanted to experience her childhood, but her parents forced her back onto the piano chair.

The fear of being controlled like a puppet scared her. All she ever wanted was freedom. She understood her push-and-pull behavior in this relationship wasn't healthy, but neither was his domineering behavior.

Yang Feng pressed his lips together, her words echoing in his mind. She thought his caring behavior was confinement?! The idea angered him. "I can't make any promises. It's in my nature."

"Well, neither can I promise to not run. The more you tie me down, the more I want to leave." How could she promise him when he couldn't do the same?

He scowled at her words, ready to open his mouth and give her a piece of his mind but decided against it. If he said the wrong words, she might push him away and stop hugging him. He quite liked having her body against his. Her skin was always cold for some odd reason, and to him who gets hot easily, hugging her was extremely comforting for his overly warm skin.

"I know you don't like the hospital, but you have to understand, staying in here and resting is for your own good. You're too stubborn to ask for help, so I have to intervene and do it for you."

Did he view her as a child? Why was he so persistent on keeping her here? She could recuperate somewhere else with a personal doctor — anything was fine, as long as it wasn't this chemical-filled location brimming with painful memories.

Her voice turned bitter. "I don't need your intervention."

His eyes became grim which made him look more intimidating than ever. "Don't be stubborn—"

"You're a hypocrite." She deadpanned, but inwardly cursed herself because she too, to some extent, was also hypocritical.

"You demand me to not be stubborn, but here you are again, also being stubborn. Why can't you respect my wishes and my words?" She paused, thinking back to the way she reacted when he rejected her request prior in the day. "All I wanted to do was take a stroll in the gardens. I could've asked nicely, but you wouldn't allow me to do so regardless."

His frown deepened. She was right. He wouldn't have allowed her to leave regardless of how she asked him.

"I'm not a child, Yang Feng, I can take care of myself. I don't need you to constantly hover over me like a watchdog." She added on, not sensing the warning bells.

His pupils became completely black, the color was darker than night itself. Lifeless and arctic, his eyes emitted an intent to kill. His fingers dug into his palm and his jaw tightened at her words. It was one thing to call him stubborn, but to outright insult him by calling him a hypocrite was something that couldn't go by unpunished.

All he wanted to do was care for her, to protect her, to keep her safe, to make sure she properly healed, yet here she was, blatantly ignoring everything he was doing for her.

He angrily ground his teeth, his eyes dangerously flashing. The darkness was creeping in on her, the shadows around him were like wispy ghosts of hell, surrounding him, ready to lash out at her. His eyes became emotionless, his expression hard to read. She had her guard up, but his was higher.

"Fine, do it your own way." Without another glance in her direction, he stormed to the door.

The door slammed open with so much intensity, the wall behind it cracked.

BANG!

She jumped when the door slammed shut, the force shaking the walls. It sounded louder than a gunshot. The power he used to slam the door shook her heart, sending it trembling in fear. But she was equally, if not, more stubborn than he was and perhaps that was their biggest flaw.

"Stubborn brute," She muttered under her breath. She ignored the prickling pain in her chest, the yearning of her heart to chase after him.

She felt her heart was being torn to pieces as thousands of needles rained upon it. The pain was suffocating her, the pure agony of it enraged and frustrated her. She wanted to ignore it, she wanted to forget it, but she couldn't.

She tried to remain confident by arrogantly raising her chin in the air, but she couldn't do so. Her eyes prickled with pain, burning as something threatened to spill.

She grabbed the closest thing she could find and tossed it at the door, which so happened to be a priceless vase. The porcelain shattered, frightening the men outside.

She refused to cry. She refused to give him the knowledge that he had hurt her. She breathed in deeply and practiced the tricks taught by her therapist. It didn't take long for her eyes to dry up. She refused to cry for him.

Walking to the door, she flicked on the light, but something caught her by surprise. There were a few bags on the floor near the couch and coffee table. When she took a few steps towards it, a delicious scent wafted over to her. Her nose tingled at the familiar scent of her favorite dishes. Her mouth watered when she saw the massive array of dishes laid out on the coffee table.

He had wanted to eat with her. Her chest prickled with guilt and for the slightest second, she hesitated.

But her frustration came back when she saw the shattered vase. She reluctantly packed it all up, took the bags, and brought it outside to the bodyguards. They were surprised when the door flew open. Instantly, they formed a human barrier, one thicker and stronger than the previous.

"You guys must be hungry standing outside. I'm too full to stomach these foods, please, have some." She passed the bags of luxury dishes to the astonished men who looked at her in bewilderment. Even a fool would recognize the quality of the signature restaurant called La Roche! A simple appetizer there was worth a few hundred and from the size of the bag itself, the food must've cost at least a few tens of thousands!

"Uhm, Lady Boss, are you sure-"

"If you don't want the food, toss it. I can't stomach food in my current state." She briskly said, not in the mood to stand here and convince them. Wordlessly, she closed the door and flicked the lights back off.

The bodyguards exchanged glances with each other. "It's too expensive to go to waste." Someone said which earned chimes of agreement. Half reluctantly and half excitedly, they began to eat the dishes.

Zhao Lifei waited a few minutes before going to her bed and stuffing the pillows under the blankets. She seized the bodyguard's momentary distraction to quickly grab her phone, go to the corner of her hospital room, and call someone she didn't think she would ever contact again.

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