Damn It! I Fell for the Hated Villainess Again! - Chapter 14

Yu Tanning had underestimated just how delicate Miss Jiang Yao was.

By the time they finished their hotpot and were waiting for their ride-share, Jiang Yao’s complexion had deteriorated badly. Even her foundation couldn’t conceal it. Her stomach churned violently. A cramping pain radiated from her abdomen throughout her internal organs.

She couldn’t hold out until the car arrived. Her vision went white, and she collapsed against Yu Tanning.

“Oh my god, what’s wrong?!”

“Driver, change the destination to the district hospital!”

“We’re here, we’re here! Teacher Yu, I’m strong—let me carry her!”

Everything was a chaotic blur around her. Her consciousness was hazy. She couldn’t tell how much time had passed, but the cedar scent lingering around her pen tip now carried a faint antiseptic tang.

Jiang Yao loathed the smell of disinfectant. Her stomach cramps were so intense she couldn’t focus on anything else. She frantically called out Yu Tanning’s name.

“I’m here. We’re in the emergency room now. You’ll feel better soon.” Cool fingers slipped into her palm, gripping her hand reassuringly.

The doctor gently pressed on her stomach, asking something. Jiang Yao was too distracted to pay attention. She squeezed the fingers in her hand with desperate strength. Her breath came in ragged gasps. “Yu Tanning…”

“Cover… cover my nose…”

What kind of weird fetish is this?

Yu Tanning didn’t understand, but she complied.

The cedar scent intensified, but the hospital seemed to have been pickled in disinfectant. Lingering traces of the antiseptic still tormented Jiang Yao’s senses.

Dissatisfied, Jiang Yao insisted, “Both hands…”

The patient is always right. Though the position looked suspiciously like Yu Tanning was trying to smother her, she silently obeyed.

The kitten’s damp nose pressed against Yu Tanning’s palm, rising and falling with each breath. Warm, moist air escaped through the gaps between Yu Tanning’s fingers, leaving a tingling sensation in its wake.

The eccentric young lady finally seemed comfortable. She hummed in response to the doctor’s questions.

Her soft lips opened and closed against Yu Tanning’s palm. Her slow, deep breaths brushed against Yu Tanning’s little finger. The shared contact synchronized their breathing, and Yu Tanning felt her own breaths deepen in response.

A strange numbness crept through Yu Tanning’s heart. She stiffly raised her fingers slightly, but Jiang Yao protested with a whimper. She insisted that Yu Tanning’s hand remain pressed firmly against her. She was proving to be quite the demanding patient.

Li An’an returned after paying the bill and froze at the sight. After a long moment of stunned silence, she finally muttered, “Teacher Yu is amazing! She even knows first aid.”

Yu Tanning: ……

“It’s likely gastroenteritis caused by irregular eating habits,” the doctor said, ceasing his simple examination. He turned to the two women. “Are you friends of the patient? Can you contact her family?”

Li An’an looked at Yu Tanning for help. “Teacher Yu, should we contact her counselor first?”

Yu Tanning stared at her fingertips for a long moment before slowly withdrawing her hand. “Alright, keep an eye on her. I’ll step out to make a call.”

Li An’an mimicked Yu Tanning’s earlier gesture. “Um, do I need to do that again?”

Yu Tanning gave her an inscrutable look. She then placed Jiang Yao’s own hand over her nose. “This will do. No need to trouble you.”

She flashed a perfunctory smile and turned to leave the room.

“I’ll prescribe some stomach-relief medication first. You can go pay the bill. Once the patient’s family arrives, we’ll conduct further tests…”

The clinic door closed slowly, sealing off the voices inside.

Yu Tanning walked to the end of the corridor. She took a deep breath and hesitantly dialed a number.

“Hello, this is the secretary’s office of Linrui Group.”

Yu Tanning lowered her voice. “Hello, Secretary Zheng. This is Yu Tanning. I need to speak with Chairman Feng.”

Having received instructions from the chairman, Secretary Zheng quickly surmised the caller’s purpose. He replied with utmost courtesy. “Certainly, Miss Yu. Please hold for a moment.”

The click of high heels ceased, and Feng Lin’s voice came through the line. “Xiao Yu, why the sudden call? Has something happened to Yaoyao?”

Yu Tanning answered truthfully, “Classmate Jiang’s eating habits have been irregular lately. The spicy hotpot earlier triggered something, and she’s at the hospital now. The doctor suspects gastroenteritis and wants to wait for family to arrive before conducting further tests.”

“Chairman Feng, I’m so sorry. I didn’t take good care of her.”

Feng Lin was silent for a long moment before sighing. “Xiao Yu, don’t blame yourself. Our agreement didn’t include you being her nanny. I’ll send Secretary Zheng over to check on her later.”

“After suffering this much, skipping meals like that, even the stubbornest mule would have to lower its head.”

“Thank you for your hard work these past few days, Xiao Yu. You’ve been a tremendous help to our family. I’ve already had the patent licensing agreement drafted. Once that brat obediently changes her major, come by and sign it.”

Yu Tanning lowered her gaze and offered an insincere thank you.

After hanging up, Yu Tanning leaned against the cold wall, feeling drained.

The flickering fluorescent lights overhead mirrored her wavering emotions, now bright, now dim.

She was finally about to get the licensing agreement. She was about to crush her cousin’s project and trample all the fools in her family who had ever looked down on her. She should be rejoicing.

But why was her mind trapped in that afternoon? Why did she keep remembering Jiang Yao bent over, helping her alter the dress?

Was she hurting Jiang Yao?

How could that be? Who would genuinely choose to live a life of feast or famine? Jiang Yao didn’t even like her stepsister. Even if they were temporarily at odds, how could she truly hand over the family business? Even if Jiang Yao was obsessed with designing clothes, couldn’t she inherit the business and pursue design as a side project? Wouldn’t that be the best of both worlds?

Why this unease? Why this guilt?

The images in her mind grew increasingly vivid, like a thorn in her heart.

Rain fell in her heart. Its soft patter numbed Yu Tanning’s nerves.

Amidst her chaotic thoughts, Yu Tanning suddenly remembered her aunt’s harsh words from years ago.

When her cousin was forcibly sent to a conversion therapy center, her aunt had cursed her as a heartless ingrate.

At the time, she had dismissed it as mere barking.

But now, five years later, the memory struck her like a slap. Her cheeks were burning. In a sudden impulse, Yu Tanning even considered calling Feng Lin back to withdraw her request for the pharmaceutical cosmetics patent authorization. She didn’t want to be an accomplice in destroying Jiang Yao’s dreams.

If she failed to secure the patent authorization for the medicinal cosmetics, the project she had painstakingly built would be shelved indefinitely. Its progress would stall.

This was her trump card to claim the entire Yu family fortune! How could she possibly give up now?

Jiang Yao had been born in Rome, where every road led to the center of the world. Young and reckless, she never had to worry about a fallback plan.

But Yu Tanning was different. She had been born walking on thin ice. She was one misstep away from losing everything. In her patriarchal family, a girl who couldn’t prove herself far more capable and valuable than the eldest son would be crushed. Her bones would be burned into a decorative vase to adorn some wealthy man’s home.

She couldn’t be Jiang Yao’s true friend.

Yet she couldn’t bring herself to sacrifice her own future either.

Yu Tanning gripped her phone tightly. She forced herself to remember her grandfather’s raised cane, her mother being treated like a servant at family banquets, and the smug, contemptuous faces of her uncle’s family. In the end, she didn’t return the call.

Nor did she have the courage to face Jiang Yao in the hospital room.

Outside the window, the setting sun pierced through the clouds, bathing the corridor in a blinding golden light. Yu Tanning slowly closed her eyes, tasting for the first time a bitterness far more complex than mere calculation.

“What do you mean? Are you threatening me?!”

A piercing scream erupted from a distant hospital room, shattering the melancholy that had settled over Yu Tanning’s heart.

Yu Tanning turned slightly, startled, and heard the clatter of dishes. Jiang Yao, cornered like a trapped cat, her voice sharp and hoarse, cried out, “Go back and tell her I’d rather starve than eat a single bite of her food! I won’t obey! I’m going to study what I love! If she wants to kill me, then so be it!”

Guilt, surprise, melancholy, and relief surged through Yu Tanning. Emotions crashed together like a dam bursting. She couldn’t quite name what she was feeling, only that her heart was racing.

She hurried back to the hospital room.

The door was closed but unlocked. Li An’an and the doctor had been dismissed earlier. Jiang Yao stood facing the small window. Her pale face was set with stubborn defiance, refusing to yield.

“Your health is your greatest asset,” Secretary Zheng said, bending to pick up the shattered food container. Catching sight of Yu Tanning out of the corner of his eye, he sighed and abandoned his futile attempts. He retreated from the room. “Miss Yu, I must continue to rely on you.”

As they passed, Yu Tanning heard Secretary Zheng murmur. His words carried a double meaning.

Her heart sank. After several deep breaths, she forced herself to act nonchalant as she pushed open the door. “Boss, what’s wrong? Was that your mother who just left?”

“What kind of look is that? She’s way too young to be my mom. She’s more like my sister.”

Jiang Yao, feeling much better after taking her stomach medicine, was back to her feisty self. She was ready to argue.

“Did you two have a fight?”

“Is it that obvious? Why even ask?”

Yu Tanning hummed. “Did the doctor say anything? About medication or tests?”

“Are you some kind of secret agent? Why are you so nosy?” Jiang Yao shot her a sidelong glance.

Yu Tanning paused, then forced a smile. “I’m just worried about you.”

How cheesy!

“I need to come back next week for a gastroscopy,” Jiang Yao said, quickly pulling out her phone to change the subject. “Li An’an went to pay the bill. Let’s go wait for her outside. This hospital smells awful.”

No wonder she was in so much pain earlier but still insisted I cover her nose… Such a delicate young lady.

Yu Tanning chuckled, remembering how Jiang Yao had clung to her hand earlier. “Still need my help?”

Jiang Yao: Huh?

Yu Tanning grinned, raising her hand in a familiar gesture that instantly jogged Jiang Yao’s memory.

“Forget it! Forget it!”

Here is the final part of your passage formatted in the novel style, maintaining the established voice, short sentences, and paragraph pacing.

Braised Kitten roared, “Mention that again, and you’re dead, you hear me?!”

Yu Tanning watched Jiang Yao bristle. Her smile deepened, a mischievous glint in her eyes. Deliberately mimicking Jiang Yao’s tone, she said, “Okay~ Forget it, forget it!”

Braised Kitten trembled with rage. She fled in disarray.

A cool breeze swept through the corridor. Yu Tanning watched Jiang Yao’s retreating figure disappear into the elevator. Her lips curved upward involuntarily.

The complex emotions that had been churning within her seemed to have subsided. They were replaced by a subtle sense of relief.

With newfound resolve, she sent a message to her father:

Yu Tanning: Dad, could you get me a sample of the latest material developed by my cousin’s project team?

Yu Tanning: Please don’t mention I asked for it.

Whether it was out of compensation or selfish motives, she wanted to cheat a little—at least to spare Braised Kitten from too much regret…

Jiang Yao: How did you know I needed this? Aha! You really are a spy!

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