After Being Targeted by the Gloomy and Obsessive Movie Queen - Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Coercion – History Repeats Itself

Yu Shujin pulled Xu Yinyu into the SUV. Although a gentle smile was plastered on her face, the innate sense of oppression unique to a person of high status did not disappear entirely because of one expression; it followed her like a shadow, manifesting in every subtle movement.

Xu Yinyu sat stiffly next to Yu Shujin in the back seat, clutching Zhang Manru’s recording. Watching the car turn into an unfamiliar road, her pupils contracted slightly. She tried to make her voice sound natural, “Driver, please let me out at the City Hospital intersection.”

The driver didn’t react, the steering wheel steady as a rock.

Xu Yinyu turned to Yu Shujin and repeated, “Miss Yu, I should go back.”

Yu Shujin responded playfully, as if she hadn’t understood, her eyes curving slightly with amusement. “Yes, it’s dark now. We really should be heading home.”

Xu Yinyu’s expression changed. Her hand already on the opposite door handle, she tilted her head slightly and asked in a low voice, “Miss Yu, where are you taking me?”

Yu Shujin took in all her small movements, a smile of unknown meaning playing on her lips. “Is Ah-Yu worried that I’ll force you to do something?”

Although Yu Shujin was smiling, Xu Yinyu felt the surrounding air condense into sharp blades of ice.

“Relax,” Yu Shujin patted Xu Yinyu’s tense shoulder. “Though I was once infatuated with you, that was the rashness of youth before I thought things through. The person I am now is mature enough.”

It was true. Given Yu Shujin’s current status and position, countless people would flock to her. Yet, she chose to appear here, confining Xu Yinyu with an irresistible attitude. Xu Yinyu couldn’t understand her objective, nor did she want to.

Xu Yinyu’s patience was exhausted. “Where exactly are you taking me?”

Yu Shujin raised an eyebrow, picked up Xu Yinyu’s other hand. Xu Yinyu instinctively flinched, but was restrained by a stronger grip. Her palm was opened, and a piece of fruit candy was placed inside. “Naturally, to the place where we will rest.”

Xu Yinyu snatched her hand back violently, clenching the candy in her palm. Her tone was stiff. “We? You and I, where is this ‘we’?”

The smile on Yu Shujin’s lips completely vanished. Her long, narrow phoenix eyes were sharp as knives, like the snow of the far north winter, sending chills down one’s spine.

Outside the car window, the noise gradually faded, and traffic thinned out, eventually giving way to silence. The road ahead, however, grew wider, leading towards a tranquil villa area.

Anxiety flooded Xu Yinyu like a tide. She began pounding on the car door, her voice sharp with fear, “Yu Shujin, I want to go back! Yu Shujin, open the door!”

The only response was the suffocating silence inside the car. Yu Shujin crossed her arms and leaned against the seat, like an expensive, cold statue. No matter how hard Xu Yinyu struggled, the door remained unmoving.

No matter how hard Xu Yinyu pushed and smashed, the car door didn’t budge. Neither the driver nor Yu Shujin showed any reaction. It was as if she were throwing a childish tantrum, and everyone was patiently enduring her noise. The sense of suffocation attacked her like the air itself, making her chest ache and breathing difficult.

She fiercely clenched her fists, resisting with all her might, only to end up hurting herself.

“Why are you crying?” Yu Shujin suddenly moved closer, her warm fingertips gently wiping away the tears at the corner of Xu Yinyu’s eye.

Only then did Xu Yinyu react, forcefully batting away Yu Shujin’s hand and hurriedly wiping away the tears with the back of her hand. She glared at her. “Where exactly are you taking me?”

“Our home,” Yu Shujin’s voice remained gentle. “The place you will live from now on.”

“Are you sick?” Xu Yinyu was incredulous. She even suspected she had misheard. “I have my own house.”

“If you accept my help, you must accept my arrangements,” Yu Shujin’s tone was beyond dispute. “This is for your safety, Ah-Yu. You have no idea what kind of giant you’ve offended.”

But she couldn’t hide. She had a mother bedridden in the hospital. If she, the obvious target, hid herself, wouldn’t her mother become a fish on the chopping board, left to anyone’s mercy?

“Then I absolutely cannot go with you, Miss Yu. Please let me go back.” Xu Yinyu raised her head and looked directly at Yu Shujin.

Yu Shujin frowned.

“My mother is still in the hospital. I can’t leave her alone to face such a great danger. Yu Shujin, I beg you, let me go back.”

Yu Shujin’s frown eased, but her expression remained unmoved. She stared directly into Xu Yinyu’s eyes. “Do you think if you keep Auntie by your side, she won’t be in danger?”

No, she would be in greater danger. Xu Yinyu knew this clearly. But she couldn’t hide alone and let her mother become the living target for revenge.

“That is for me to worry about. I don’t need Miss Yu’s concern.”

“It’s no trouble,” Yu Shujin suddenly smiled, her amber eyes locking onto her. “Coincidentally, I also have a matter to trouble you with.”

Xu Yinyu had spent half the ride banging on the car door, looking at the undamaged door and car windows. The turmoil in her heart completely subsided.

She turned her head, her eyes meeting Yu Shujin’s gaze directly. The emotions in that gaze held no trace of lingering tenderness, like staring into an abyss.

Before Xu Yinyu could dodge, Yu Shujin pinched her chin, examining her closely without saying a word.

Xu Yinyu grew irritated with the scrutiny. She forcefully knocked Yu Shujin’s hand away. Yu Shujin acted as if she had already gotten what she wanted and didn’t get angry with Xu Yinyu because of it.

The car finally drove into a secluded villa. Lights quietly illuminated the night. Xu Yinyu was forcibly pulled out of the car.

Many details here were strikingly similar to a painting she had created years ago. It was the ‘home’ she had envisioned for herself, a detail she had never mentioned to anyone.

While she was momentarily stunned, Yu Shujin had roughly dragged her into the living room. The bodyguards silently closed the door, shutting out the outside world.

During this time, Xu Yinyu didn’t stop struggling until her hands were pinned behind her back, and she was pressed down onto the soft sofa. She panted, asking furiously, “What exactly do you want me to do!”

Yu Shujin leaned in, their breaths mingling. She whispered into Xu Yinyu’s ear, her voice dangerously low, “Don’t run around, and I’ll let you go. We can talk properly.”

Xu Yinyu’s chest heaved violently. Eventually, she nodded and said, “Okay, hurry up and release me.”

Upon receiving the answer, Yu Shujin let go of her and turned to enter the study. A moment later, she returned with a stack of documents and placed them in front of Xu Yinyu.

Xu Yinyu opened the first page, her pupils shrinking. She forced herself to read the rest calmly, her face alternating between red and white.

“Did you take the wrong document?” Her voice was dry.

Yu Shujin’s face also darkened. “Are you out of your mind?”

It was a marriage agreement.

The terms within seemed to heavily favor Xu Yinyu (Party B): during the marriage, Party A (Yu Shujin) must satisfy all reasonable requests of Party B (Xu Yinyu); upon termination, half of Party A’s assets would be given to Party B. Party B only needed to play the role of a ‘qualified partner.’ The term was two years, after which both parties could go their separate ways.

‘During the marriage, Party B (Xu Yinyu) must unconditionally obey all companion requirements of Party A (Yu Shujin).’

This wasn’t a marriage; it was a patronage, a naked trampling of her dignity.

“I can’t sign this,” Xu Yinyu looked up and told Yu Shujin. “You can find someone else for this favor. It’s inconvenient for me.”

Yu Shujin’s gaze instantly turned cold. “Inconvenient? Are you married?”

“No,” Xu Yinyu took a deep breath, trying to explain in a stable tone. “I just feel that marriage is a serious matter, and we are clearly not suitable marriage partners for each other.”

Yu Shujin didn’t try to persuade her further. Instead, she took out another manila file envelope and threw it carelessly at Xu Yinyu’s feet, as if it were an irrelevant object.

“Look at this, then decide if we are suitable or not.”

Xu Yinyu bent down to pick it up, a bad premonition crossing her heart. Her fingers trembled with tension. She pulled the documents out from the ripped seam. After only a few glances, her face completely sank.

These were the debt lists—the massive debts accumulated by her biological father, Li Lian, and her sister, Xu Lianyue. The most recent one was from just last month.

And now, the creditor for these debts was Yu Shujin.

“I didn’t take out these loans, and I didn’t spend this money. These debts have nothing to do with me,” Xu Yinyu tried hard to maintain her composure.

“Is that so?” Yu Shujin’s voice was icy. “Then I won’t hold back. I still vividly remember how they kidnapped and humiliated me back then. Now that they have fallen into my hands, Ah-Yu, don’t blame me for what happens in the end.”

Xu Yinyu suddenly stood up. She knew all too well how miserable the fate of Li Lian and Xu Lianyue would be if they fell into Yu Shujin’s hands.

“We already paid a heavy price for that incident back then. Can’t you, for my sake, for the fact that I risked my life to shield you, spare their lives?” Xu Yinyu’s voice was broken.

“I intended to spare their lives for your sake, but you feel that we are ‘unsuitable,’ don’t you?” Yu Shujin’s lips curved upward.

Xu Yinyu’s eyes were filled with shock and fury.

She looked at the stunningly beautiful woman before her, and suddenly, the image overlapped with the domineering, high-and-mighty figure of the Yu family matriarch eight years ago.

Starting from that kidnapping eight years ago, Li Lian and Xu Lianyue had been used as bargaining chips time and time again, placed before her, forcing her to make a choice.

Now, history was repeating itself.

Freedom, or the lives of her flesh-and-blood relatives.

Xu Yinyu lowered her head, found a pen on the coffee table, her fingers shaking. Under the signature line of the contract, she signed her name. A single tear fell onto the back of her hand.

The moment the pen tip descended, she felt her strength drain away. She watched herself make the exact same choice she had made years ago. Her heart, already fractured, shattered completely into dust, tumbling through her flesh and blood, a dull, aching pain.

Xu Yinyu was still Xu Yinyu. She would never be able to break free from the shackles the world had placed upon her, and the name of this lock was the Yu family.

Whether it was the high-and-mighty Yu family matriarch of the past, or the former lover before her now, harboring resentment, both were using the most sinister and deadly methods to clip her wings of freedom and peace.

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