Forced to Act out a Strange Script with a Rival - Chapter 86

Gong Zhiyuan was thoroughly manipulating You Yilin’s perception of her.

As a result, whenever You Yilin reported to her superiors, her mental image of the eldest miss was filled with scenes like this:

“It’s thundering… I’m so scared. Linlin, you’ll protect me, won’t you?”

The young lady’s voice would carry a slight tremor as she allowed You Yilin to lead her to the sofa. Wrapped tightly in a thick cashmere blanket with You Yilin warming her ice-cold feet, she would naturally lean into You Yilin’s embrace, snuggling against her like a seeker of warmth. Her body’s faint shivering would only subside after a long while.

“Linlin, could you come and help me look at this? These numbers and clauses make my head spin… I’m so stupid, I can’t seem to understand any of it…”

The young lady would always turn her gaze toward You Yilin, who stood guard like a statue. She would reach out, gently tugging at her sleeve and pleading softly. Her tone was always drawn out, coated in a honeyed, coquettish sweetness that made it impossible for anyone to harden their heart and refuse.

“Linlin, you’re so good to me. Having you by my side makes me feel at peace, like I’m not afraid of anything anymore.”

She would often gaze intently at You Yilin with eyes shimmering like rippling water, speaking in hushed tones. Her eyes were filled to the brim with absolute trust and fragile dependence, a gaze that acted like the finest silk, gently tracing the contours of You Yilin’s face over and over.

Because of this trust, You Yilin felt that…

This mission was simply too easy!

After reporting that there were no anomalies within the Gong family, You Yilin began calculating how to make her exit.

She was a Gyrfalcon soaring through the sky, a member of the Special Police Force burdened with duty; she was destined not to linger too long for any one person simply out of a sense of protectiveness.

However, this also caused You Yilin significant distress.

Gong Zhiyuan’s dependence on her was growing by the day, and their physical contact had become increasingly frequent and natural. The young lady seemed unable to leave her side, appearing as though she were being spoiled into total helplessness by You Yilin.

It had evolved from tentative hand-holding when they first met to a habit of grabbing You Yilin’s arm the moment they saw each other. While walking, she would lean almost half her body weight against her, and they would frequently interlock fingers or embrace tightly.

When tired of reading documents, she would naturally rest her forehead against You Yilin’s shoulder to rest her eyes.

While sunbathing, she would tilt her head onto You Yilin’s shoulder, her hair tickling the crook of her neck.

When in a great mood, she would even act like a cat being stroked into bliss, gently rubbing her soft cheek against You Yilin’s neck or the back of her hand, letting out a satisfied sigh.

When in a bad mood, she would constantly cling to You Yilin, seeking comfort.

Consequently, You Yilin’s scope of duty expanded infinitely.

She wasn’t just a bodyguard; she was a nanny, a secretary, a study companion, and an indispensable “universal crutch” in Gong Zhiyuan’s life.

From testing the bathwater temperature to screening her daily schedule; from patiently turning on the lights and offering soft comforts when she woke from a nightmare until she fell back asleep, to preparing paper, grinding ink, and mixing colors whenever the lady had a sudden whim to paint.

As a result, You Yilin felt rather smug, thinking her value as a bodyguard was exceptionally high and wondering how this young lady would survive without her. She had no idea that a certain “miss” was nearly having a heart attack from frustration over her obtuseness and rigid integrity.

This was especially true after You Yilin vaguely hinted at her desire to leave.

The young lady, who had always been as gentle as water and elegantly frail, darkened her expression for the first time.

She didn’t shout; she simply flushed with tears that fell silently. In a broken, abandoned voice, she asked, “Are you going to leave me too? Linlin, you said you would always protect me… Why do you want to leave me?”

She sobbed so violently she could barely breathe, terrifying You Yilin. You Yilin immediately knelt by her side, frantically apologizing and promising never to mention leaving again.

Though her mouth said one thing, You Yilin’s mind was still focused on returning to her squad as soon as possible.

It was primarily a matter of duty; there were too many people in the world who needed saving. A single fragile young lady wasn’t enough to make her stay indefinitely.

Then, strangely, the next day as she passed by the closed doors of Gong Zhiyuan’s study, she heard the lady’s voice. It was no longer the soft, timid tone used with her, but one that was calm, decisive, and even carried a hint of unquestionable coldness and majesty. Her speech was fast and clear, delivering heavy-handed orders.

That voice was so unfamiliar it made You Yilin dazed, almost doubting her own ears.

Peering through the crack in the door, she saw a subordinate kneeling on the floor. The high-and-mighty young lady looked down with a gaze of contempt and indifference, looking every bit like a queen in total control.

She was like a completely different person.

Despite this thought, as soon as suspicion arose, You Yilin quickly rationalized it away. If the lady were truly sinister and cruel by nature, she wouldn’t have let her discover a flaw so easily.

Therefore, it had to be a disguise. She didn’t even consider the possibility that she was meant to see it.

You Yilin simply thought to herself that this gentle and kind young lady was quite the actress. Managing such a massive family business required her to force an air of intimidation—she was essentially just a “tough-acting” chocolate cupcake.

You Yilin’s ability to become a special police officer naturally stemmed from her own excellence; she possessed an extraordinary sharp intuition.

Yes, in some aspects, You Yilin was indeed sharp.

However, her sharpness was a bit “skewed.” She could easily judge if others harbored ill intent—a vital skill for an undercover agent—but certain “abnormal” emotional dependencies fell entirely outside her range of judgment.

You Yilin could sense that Gong Zhiyuan’s dependence on her was genuine, and her trust was real.

In fact, from their very first meeting, the friendliness Gong Zhiyuan displayed had left You Yilin somewhat bewildered. However, it was only a fleeting confusion; she quickly brushed it off, categorizing it as simple chemistry between two girls who “clicked.”

At the same time, You Yilin was a believer in evidence. Once the investigation confirmed that the Gong Group was truly clean, and word came from her teammates that the real mastermind behind the treason case had been identified, You Yilin knew it was time to find a way to leave Gong Zhiyuan’s side.

Regardless of everything else, what You Yilin felt for Gong Zhiyuan was purely a protective instinct.

As it happened, an opportunity for a clean break presented itself.

She caught wind that the individual sending Gong Zhiyuan death threats planned to make a move soon. You Yilin intended to “sacrificially” die in the line of duty while protecting her, using a faked death to make her escape. She saw this as a way to repay the young lady’s trust.

As for whether the heiress would be heartbroken by her death, You Yilin figured there might be some grief, but it wouldn’t be too severe. It would pass quickly; after all, they hadn’t known each other for very long.

Sure enough, the culprit orchestrated a sophisticated bombing, intending to kidnap Gong Zhiyuan as a hostage amidst the chaos.

At the critical moment, You Yilin shielded the young lady and broke through the perimeter, but the two were pursued deep into the wilderness.

Seeing her chance, You Yilin calculated a way to “perish together” with the culprit. Wearing a high-performance bulletproof vest, she took several “hits” as the price for gunning down several attackers. She then left a tragic “last testament,” urging the young mistress to run and save herself.

To her utter shock, in that life-or-death moment, the supposedly frail and sickly young lady erupted with an incredible burst of strength. She stubbornly dragged the “critically injured” You Yilin along on a grueling escape. This level of loyalty and righteousness completely defied You Yilin’s expectations of human nature.

Because they fled blindly, the two ended up trapped in the desolate wilderness.

The pampered young lady, who had never so much as lifted a finger for manual labor, suffered immensely. Yet, she refused to abandon her “severely wounded” bodyguard.

To find food, the young lady pushed her sickly body to the limit, even risking her life to snatch food away from wild animals. She returned with her clothes torn and her body covered in bruises and scratches, yet she never uttered a single word of complaint. She never blamed You Yilin for dragging her down; she only offered her usual sweet smile and her unchanging refrain: “I’m not hungry. You eat it all—you’re the one who’s injured.”

Seeing the young lady go to such lengths for her, the seeds of gratitude and guilt in You Yilin’s heart grew like wildfire.

Specifically, because her injuries weren’t actually serious, having to watch this delicate, “golden-branched” lady exhaust herself and get hurt for her sake was an excruciating blend of mental torment and the stinging lash of a guilty conscience.

By the third day of surviving in the wild, the young lady’s face grew paler than even You Yilin’s. When she looked worse than the “patient” she was tending to, You Yilin’s guilt reached its breaking point.

This young lady—this rose she had meticulously nurtured, who couldn’t stand a gust of wind—how could she be allowed to fall into such a state for someone like her?

Just as she was about to confess the truth, the young lady suddenly kissed her.

Perhaps believing her end was near, in what she thought were her final moments, the young lady confessed her hidden feelings.

“I love you. You might think it’s scandalous for two girls to love each other, and perhaps you can’t accept my feelings, but I only hope you won’t hate me or distance yourself because of it. I just want to love you quietly, until the end of my life.”

As if she had rehearsed the words a thousand times in her heart, the sentence flowed with rare fluency. her eyes were filled with a mixture of terminal resolve and heartbreaking reluctance.

Overwhelmed by immense guilt, an inseparable protective urge, and a desperate wish to give the other woman the strength to keep holding on, a deeply conflicted You Yilin—swayed by the heat of the moment—ghosted into an agreement and accepted Gong Zhiyuan’s confession.

She promised to make sure she lived and vowed to protect her forever.

However, within fifteen minutes of officially becoming girlfriends, they were rescued.

The chaos had failed to provide You Yilin with an exit; instead, it had fused their lives together.

Now, it was even harder for You Yilin to leave.

Not only did she owe a heavy “debt of gratitude,” but she had also taken on the title of “lover.” Under the gaze of Gong Zhiyuan’s tearful yet smiling eyes, all of her escape plans were officially declared bankrupt.

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