HC Chapter 6: I Fear You (V)
Jing Rong’s voice wasn’t loud, but it was very clearly transmitted into her ears. Dong Ci felt as though she received a hard blow straight to her heart.
Obviously, it was he who forcibly abducted her. And yet, how could he say those words so straightforwardly now?
Dong Ci’s thin eyelashes flickered as she thought about everything that the other teenager had done since they first met. She bit her lip and finally sat down.
“It’s good that you are obedient,” Jing Rong said, his eyes curling into happy crescents. It seemed that her compliance truly delighted him.
But this smile, which appeared on his face – Dong Ci couldn’t see any sincerity in it.
“When are you going to let me go?”
The dining room was very quiet, with only the two of them sitting there. Dong Ci could even hear the sound of his fingers as they reached for the knife, lightly brushing against a porcelain plate.
Seeing that Jing Rong was ignoring her, Dong Ci wrinkled her eyebrows, feeling even more anxious.
“My mother will be worried if she doesn’t find me when she gets home. Do you want her to call the police?”
“As far as I know, she will be working overtime tonight. She won’t be coming back until very late at night,” Jing Rong answered, looking completely unconcerned. He put down the knife and fork that he had been holding, and pushed a plate of steak in front of her whilst lightly commanding:
“Eat.”
The steak was very fragrant, but it was still a little bloody on the inside. Dong Ci frowned and was just about to open her mouth to say something, but Jing Rong stopped her by putting a fingertip on her lips. His other hand was supporting his jaw as he looked at Dong Ci with a smile, but his following words contradicted the light-hearted expression:
“Dong Ci, if you can’t finish the food – don’t expect me to let you go back.”
“Will you let me go after I finish eating?” the girl straightforwardly asked.
“Maybe, if my mood is good,” Jing Rong laughed back. “But I have to clarify something for you: if you don’t eat, I won’t let you go at all.”
So, if she ate – he may not let her go anyway, but if she resisted – he would definitely refuse to send her back…
Dong Ci picked up the dining utensils in silence and bowed her head to eat the steak. So what if it was too raw, making her feel a little nauseous?
As an eater, she was actually very picky, which led to her suffering from stomach problems. This, in turn, made her even pickier with her food. Usually, even if she liked to eat something, she could only eat a little of it. But today, under Jing Rong’s watch, she had to stuff the whole steak into her belly.
“Can I go now?” Dong Ci asked, pushing the clean plate to him. She could already feel the slight swelling of her abdomen. And even though there was no obvious discomfort in her stomach yet – after a while, she knew that it would feel like a roller-coaster was inside her body.
“Well, I’m in a good mood right now,” Jing Rong slowly stood up from his chair, taking a mobile phone out of his pocket and throwing it to her. “So I am not going to let you go today, but I may allow you to call your mother.”
“I don’t want to call anyone, I want to go home,” Dong Ci said, feeling frustrated with this kind of empty conversation. They just kept going back and forth, with no results to show for it.
She pushed the phone away, stood up, and ran out of the dining room. Unexpectedly, Jing Rong didn’t chase after her, and even the mansion’s security guards didn’t come out to stop her.
Dong Ci hopefully thought that maybe Jing Rong decided to let her go. But as she walked through the mansion, her eyes strayed to the sides and, gradually, her pace slowed down until she finally stopped.
The hall she was passing was surrounded by large floor-to-ceiling windows. The transparent glass clearly reflected the outside world, which was full of swaying trees.
Dong Ci took a few steps to one of the windows and squinted at the serpentine stone road, which seemed blurry in the darkness. Then she noticed a vague outline of the iron gates ahead – they were at a close distance from the mansion.
But even if the exit was a few steps away, so what?
Even if she went ahead and walked out through those iron gates – here, in the mountains, she wouldn’t be able to determine the way home!
“Finally stopped running?”
A huge sense of helplessness washed over Dong Ci when she heard the voice behind her. Her eyes filled with mist, until tears finally fell down her cheeks, hitting the back of her hand.
“What do you want? Why don’t you just let me go…”
Her body seemed to have lost strength – Dong Ci slid down the wall and sat directly on the ground. But she still stubbornly wiped her tears away, hiding her face from Jing Rong so as not to let him see her watery eyes.
“Dong Ci, if I remember correctly, you wish to enter the ‘A’ class in the next semester.”
The topic changed so fast that Dong Ci was caught off guard. She raised her head and looked at Jing Rong in a daze. Why would he suddenly mention this issue?
Jing Rong’s lips hooked up slightly as he stared at the girl on the ground. The way she was sitting, she resembled a small ball – very pitiful. But the boy was completely indifferent as he continued:
“I can send you to the ‘A’ class, but you will belong to me from now on.”
For a moment, Dong Ci felt as though she had a problem with her hearing. Was she so delirious that she imagined this kind of outrageous proposal? That, or he was joking with her.
“No need,” she refused when it became obvious that Jing Rong was serious. “I can take the test by myself. I don’t need you to help me, and I won’t make any deals with you!”
“Oh,” Jing Rong replied, nodding slightly. He was unconcerned, looking as though he had long expected that she would refuse. His dark eyes attentively observed Dong Ci as he slowly continued, “You can indeed take that test by yourself. But do you believe that I will be able to make you unable to enter the ‘A’ class despite your results?”
He squatted down to Dong Ci’s eye-level and placed the phone on the ground.
“Dong Ci, you have to understand that I am not discussing this issue with you – I am forcing you to choose. That is, whether to call your mother or not. But either way, I am not letting you go tonight,” he said, slowly standing up and dusting off his pants.
“Then I choose not to call!” Dong Ci smiled as she threatened coldly, “Aren’t you worried that my mother will go to the police if she can’t find me?”
She took a deep breath, slowly calming down and trying to logically think about her situation. Her hands rubbed her legs, which felt a little numb, so she continued to sit on the ground as her next words spilled out:
“Besides, although the environment of the community where I live is not so good, but the junction where you kidnapped me is monitored. It won’t take long for people to find me.”
At this time, it was completely dark outside, but the mansion and its exterior grounds were still brightly lit. The dense forest behind the windows seemed to be bathed in warm light – not as scary as she first thought.
“If you don’t let me go home, then I will ask the police to pick me up. That way, I might even be able to get a restraining order against you. How nice!” she mocked, staring straight at him.
“You really thought it out well,” Jing Rong smiled, looking completely unmoved by her threat. He took two steps in her direction and sat down on the ground, right next to her. Feeling her tight body stiffen even more, Jing Rong gently sighed and leaned in to whisper into her ear:
“If everything is really as you said just now, then why are you so nervous? Are you afraid that I will see through your lies?”
He put his arm around her shoulders and softly laughed. Then, with a deliberately lowered voice, he said, “Little liar, there is no monitoring at that intersection. Did you think that I wouldn’t know?”
Dong Ci’s shoulders shook slightly, feeling as though her last life-saving straw was crushed right in front of her eyes.
Jing Rong also felt her body tremble. He couldn’t help but lean in and lightly rub his lips against her warm cheek. But his move only served to awaken her desire to fight:
“Even if there are no cameras, but my mother will still call the police if she doesn’t find me at home. And you won’t be able to avoid the charges for kidnapping when I finally get out of here!”
Dong Ci tried to lean back and avoid the close proximity between their bodies, but Jing Rong’s arm stayed firm around her shoulders, preventing her from moving away.
“Ah, yes. If you expose me, then I will be taken away by the police,” Jing Rong easily agreed, looking completely unmoved by her struggles.
He seemed to be thinking about something – his long eyelashes were down, almost brushing against his cheeks as they cast a shadow over his eyes.
“That’s not good. Should I destroy the corpse directly? Then you won’t be able to accuse me and I can live a good life… Problem solved!” he mused out loud.
By the tone of his voice, it was completely impossible to tell whether he was joking or not. And even as he talked, his hand, which had been resting on her shoulder, slowly moved upwards until it was directly on the back of her neck.
“You…” Dong Ci stilled her movements, feeling Jing Rong’s cool fingertips as they rubbed against the sensitive skin. Even her hair felt as though they were standing on end from the sudden fright.
Since their first encounter, Dong Ci felt the danger coming from this teenager. Now, he even dared to say such things, making her completely convinced that her impression of him was correct. But, even as she felt the danger, her mind was completely blank, unable to respond.
As she sat there not knowing what to do, Jing Rong’s other hand also came up to encircle her neck completely.
Her breathing fastened as the boy’s palms gradually tightened, while his handsome face remained cold and indifferent. This, more than anything, made the situation seem real…
Was he really going to kill her?
Dong Ci’s palms slowly curled into fists as she prepared to fight to her death.
“Pfft,” there was a sudden burst of laugher.
Her slowly rising hands stopped moving as Jing Rong removed his palms from her neck. He chuckled slightly and embraced her, observing her pale face with a smile.
“Xiao Ci, how can you be so cute?” Jing Rong couldn’t help but kiss her. “You don’t even belong to me yet, so how can I bear to kill you?”
Was he… was he actually playing with her?!
Dong Ci’s heartbeat slowly eased. She felt as though she was about to die, only to wake up and find out that everything was just a dream. But as the fright receded, it was followed by two different emotions: anger and resentment.
Regardless of the soreness of her hands, which came from the previously tightly clutched fists, Dong Ci pushed the teenager angrily and opened her mouth to scold him:
“Are you sick? Did you forget to take your medicine?!”
He was the most perverted person that Dong Ci has ever seen in her life! Even if her personality was usually gentle – today, she was determined to beat him.
“It’s just a small punishment,” Jing Rong said lightly.
Both of them were sitting on the ground, with Dong Ci’s petite figure almost completely encircled by the smiling boy. His arms held her so tightly that she could barely move – not to mention actually beating him.
“Since you refuse to call, I can only take on this task of informing your mother. After all, I am still a bit reluctant to go to the police station,” Jing Rong joked. His fingers quickly moved to pick up the phone, swipe the keyboard, and press on the digits.
Dong Ci’s eyes widened when she saw the familiar string of numbers – it really belonged to her mother!
Beep beep—
A calm sound came from the microphone. When Dong Ci heard the signal connecting, her hand subconsciously moved to grab the phone away from Jing Rong.
Even if she didn’t know what to say to her mother, she still wouldn’t let him talk to her!
“Hello? Who is it?” Her mother’s soft voice came through.
“Mom, it’s me,” Dong Ci answered. She almost stuttered but managed to hold herself back.
“Xiao Ci?” her mother asked uncertainly. It was very noisy on the other end, so she was probably still at work. “You are not at home yet? Why are you calling me from an unfamiliar number?”
“I…” Dong Ci hesitated, not knowing what to say.
She felt completely overwhelmed by the whole situation. Jing Rong’s hand, which moved to her waist when she was distracted and started rubbing it, didn’t help in thinking up an excuse.
Dong Ci quickly squeezed Jing Rong’s fingers with her free hand, preventing him from messing around, and directly said, “Mom, I won’t be home tonight.”
“You are not going home?” Her mother was a little surprised. “Where are you going if you don’t come back? Did something happen?”
“No, nothing happened,” Dong Ci quickly reassured. Her brain worked overtime to find a suitable explanation, “My classmate’s parents are not at home tonight. Since she is a little afraid of being alone, so she asked me to accompany her…”
Fearing that her mother wouldn’t agree, she quickly added, “I have a good relationship with her, and she takes good care of me in class. I’m already at her house, so you don’t have to worry.”
“You, silly child…” Her mother sounded a little unhappy. But before she could say anything else, she was interrupted by someone on her end. There was a slight pause before the conversation resumed:
“I will agree to this right now, but we will talk about it later. Remember to pay attention to safety, lock the door when you go to sleep and if you have any concerns – call me at any time. I am very busy with work, so I will hang up first.”
Beep-
When the signal was cut off, Dong Ci’s drumming heart finally settled down. She threw the phone at Jing Rong and removed his hand from her waist.
“Are you satisfied?”
Zefelina's Translations 
Thanks for the chapter! ^ ^
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Thank you. Poor Dong Ci!
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