His Sunday Substitute - Chapter 34

I descend to hell, while you ascend to heaven…

Qin Cangye’s steps froze as he stared in disbelief at the scene before him.

He understood why Su Yinuo had suddenly grown distant, why she had rented an apartment, but he couldn’t comprehend why she would throw herself into another man’s arms.

A surge of fury rushed to his head. Striding forward, he yanked Ji Wenjun away and punched him square in the face.

“What are you doing?!” Su Yinuo cried out, rushing toward Ji Wenjun, who had fallen to the ground, blood streaming from his nose.

“What am I doing? You’re asking me what I’m doing? Su Yinuo!” Qin Cangye grabbed her arm and pulled her into his embrace, his voice trembling with rage. “Su Yinuo, how could you hold another man like that?”

Su Yinuo looked up at Qin Cangye in terror, her heart pounding. Hugging Ji Wenjun had been nothing more than a thoughtless impulse, she hadn’t expected him to get hit, nor had she prepared for what would come next.

But now, there was no turning back.

Her eyes reddened, and even with all the courage she could muster, her voice still quivered. “W-why can’t I? If I like him, why can’t I? I’m not anything to you!”

“You like him?” Qin Cangye tightened his grip, nearly crushing her wrist. A torrent of sorrow and pain spilled from his eyes as he hunched over, staring at her with a hoarse whisper. “Then what am I, Su Yinuo?”

Tears rolled down her cheeks, blurring the agony on Qin Cangye’s face. Su Yinuo stood rigid, sobbing. “I’m sorry, Qin Cangye, I’m sorry. This is just who I am. I never made you any promises, never told you I loved you, because I’m fickle, because even when I was with you, my heart belonged to someone else. I’m not as good as you think. Just let me go. We’re not right for each other!”

Behind them, Ji Wenjun staggered to his feet, clutching his nose as he mumbled weakly, “Nuo Nuo…”

Qin Cangye’s gaze snapped toward him, sharp and murderous.

Ji Wenjun shuddered, his spine turning to ice as he froze in place.

Qin Cangye turned back to Su Yinuo, his voice icy with warning. “If you dare say you like him one more time, I’ll kill him right now.”

Under the dim streetlights, in the pitch-black shadows, Qin Cangye’s face bore the same cruelty and brutality Su Yinuo had once seen in Qin Weishu. She trembled uncontrollably, so terrified she forgot how to cry.

Without another word, Qin Cangye scooped her up and carried her to his Rolls-Royce Cullinan, tossing her into the back seat before slamming the door shut.

Too stunned to resist, Su Yinuo only remembered to reach for the door handle when the car was already speeding away under Qin Cangye’s reckless control. The sudden force of acceleration threw her back against the seat. She clutched her head, squeezing her eyes shut, trembling in fear.

She had no idea how much time had passed before the car finally slowed to a stop. Only then did she dare open her eyes.

Surrounded by darkness, she had no clue where they were. The sound of Qin Cangye slamming the driver’s door echoed before her own door was wrenched open and Qin Cangye lunged inside.

“No…”

Before she could speak, a fierce kiss descended upon her. A broad hand gripped her neck, pulling her entire body tightly against his restless form.

Su Yinuo was completely immobilized. Even if she resisted, she couldn’t stop the wild, invasive tongue that pried open her lips and plunged into her mouth.

Then, she felt something dripping onto her face, rolling down to her wantonly kissed lips.

She tasted salt.

Was he crying? Qin Cangye was crying??

Su Yinuo couldn’t believe it. A deep sense of guilt surged in her heart. As she lifted her hand to touch his face, Qin Cangye seized her wrist and slammed it against the car door behind her.

He thought she was trying to push him away. Enraged, he tore open her coat, released her lips, and pressed his face against hers, whispering in agony, “Su Yinuo, you’re mine! I don’t care who’s in your heart, I won’t let you go!”

“Let me go… let me go first…” Su Yinuo struggled to speak.

“How could I?” Qin Cangye straightened up, his hand slipping beneath her clothes to grip her trembling waist. “Just hate me, Su Yinuo.”

His voice was eerily calm. As her eyes adjusted to the dark, Su Yinuo saw the faint glimmer of tear tracks on his face and the hollow, lifeless eyes that seemed to have endured self-destruction.

“You… don’t be like this…”

What she wanted to say was, Don’t torture yourself like this. But overwhelmed with sorrow and panic, she couldn’t articulate her emotions properly. To Qin Cangye, her words sounded like another sharp rejection.

His heart was already in so much pain that it seemed nothing could hurt him more. His hand slid down, effortlessly stripping away her clothes. He pressed her down, trapping her slender legs beneath him…

Sobs echoed endlessly in the cramped space. She continued to struggle, but the man before her was too overwhelming, making her heart feel as if it might leap from her chest. Sensing his grip on her wrists weaken, she broke free, only to hear his hoarse command: “Don’t move!”

In an instant, her hands were seized again. She watched as he yanked off his tie and bound her wrists.

His hands returned to her waist…

After what felt like an eternity, the sobs gradually faded, replaced by soft, trembling moans.

Each delicate sound soothed his shattered heart like a warm breeze, easing his pain and drowning him completely in this intoxicating desire.

Just as he was about to bury all his anguish in the throes of passion, he suddenly regained clarity. Reaching for the condom he had bought near the company earlier, he…

At that moment, Su Yinuo felt an unexpected emptiness. Ashamed of her own emotions, she turned her face away, burying it in the seatback and unconsciously curling her legs.

“Trying to escape?” Qin Cangye immediately seized her ankle, dragging her back toward him. “Where could you possibly go?”

For a long time, as Su Yinuo drifted in and out of drowsiness, she remained trapped in this dark and cramped space.

Suddenly, her body was flipped over. She found herself pressed against the car door, her bound hands resting on the cold window. Her forehead bumped lightly against the glass, once, then again, jolting her back to full awareness. Behind her, she could clearly hear the deranged words being spoken.

“Do you hate me? Hate me for the rest of your life!”

“You provoked a madman, you’ll never escape now!”

“Qin Weishu is a beast, Qin Jianning is a coward, and I, Qin Cangye, am a lunatic!”

“The Qin family truly has no good people. They all deserve to go to hell!”

“But don’t worry, I’ll only let go of your hand on the day I die.”

“I’ll go to hell, and you can ascend to heaven.”

He leaned down, brushing aside the disheveled hair on her smooth back, biting inch by inch along her nape. Then, gripping her chin, he whispered in her ear, “If it weren’t for my addiction to your taste, I’d let you kill me right now.”

He turned her face toward him and kissed her lips. As the kiss broke, he pressed his lips to hers with a bitter smile. “You don’t love me, living isn’t much fun. But having you is.”

He nuzzled her nose, her forehead, tears rolling down again, his voice trembling. “So, when I get tired of it all someday, kill me then.”

Su Yinuo finally broke down in fearful sobs. “No… please don’t talk like that, I’m so scared…” In her dazed state, she blurted out the truth. “I do like you… I really do…”

Qin Cangye froze for a moment before letting out a self-deprecating laugh. “Liar. I know.”

Late into the night, the car door finally opened. Qin Cangye carried Su Yinuo, wrapped in a coat and deep in slumber, out of the car and into the bedroom of the villa.

“Are you cold, Nuonuo?” he murmured as he walked, lowering his head to nuzzle her cheek. Knowing there would be no response, he continued anyway, “Even if you’re lying, I love hearing it.”

The next day, Su Yinuo woke to the sun high in the sky. The surroundings weren’t unfamiliar, she glanced around and realized it was the same villa she had stayed in the day before yesterday.

She was completely naked but felt clean and refreshed. Su Yinuo guessed: Did Qin Cangye wash me?

Fragments of the previous day gradually surfaced in her mind, leaving her with a whirlwind of emotions. Nervousness, fear, regret, and self-reproach flooded her thoughts. She didn’t blame Qin Cangye for last night’s madness at all, only worried that she had made everything worse.

Why did I lie to him? Why did I provoke him with such a terrible idea? And I even dragged Ji Wenjun into it. Ah!!! Su Yinuo, how could you be so stupid? Couldn’t you have just talked to him properly? Mom even said we should thank him properly, he’s been so good to you, how could you drive him to that point? Su Yinuo, you really…

She clutched her head, berating herself internally for a long time. Only after this mental tirade did she finally understand the root of her chaotic thoughts over the past two days.

In the end, it all came back to Qin Weishu. It was because Qin Weishu had nearly killed Aunt Kong that she had been thrown into such a state of extreme anxiety and terror. Coupled with her already poor physical condition and fragile mental state these past few days, she had acted without thinking.

At this moment, the mere thought of Qin Weishu still filled her with fear.

Worried about her mother’s condition and wanting to apologize to Ji Wenjun, she hurriedly searched for her phone. It wasn’t on the bedside table, so she got out of bed and heard a clanking sound.

Her body stiffened. Slowly, disbelievingly, she looked down and saw a silver chain as thick as a thumb wrapped around her right ankle.

A chill crept up from her ankle, spreading through her entire body. Su Yinuo collapsed onto the floor, hugging her arms in terror. It took her a long while to calm down and accept the reality: Qin Cangye had imprisoned her.

So, of course, her phone was nowhere to be found.

Su Yinuo took a deep breath, stood up, and pulled a man’s robe from the wardrobe to wear.

The chain extended from a gap beneath the bed, seemingly capable of infinite stretching, with no discernible end. Su Yinuo walked to the window and found it locked tight. Outside was a deserted private garden. The soundproof glass blocked all noise from outside, making it clear that screaming for help would be futile.

She stepped out of the bedroom, walked down the hallway, and descended the spiral staircase to the first floor. Only when her feet touched the ground did she feel the chain tighten and pull taut.

She stood rigidly for a long time before slowly sitting down on the steps.

Her legs ached, her back hurt, and discomfort radiated from many parts of her body. Su Yinuo hugged her knees and rested her head on them.

Before meeting Qin Cangye, she had never had a boyfriend. Her limited knowledge of sex came from a few explicit foreign films and the sparse descriptions in domestic romance novels. She had never imagined that lovemaking could be as intense as it was with Qin Cangye.

So intense it felt like her body had been destroyed and remade. So intense her mind shattered and she lost herself. So intense that, despite her rational resistance, she found herself craving it more and more…

Su Yinuo covered her flushed face and sighed deeply, thinking: Am I really going to be locked up here from now on, spending every day having sex with him??

No, Su Yinuo. Be honest with him. Tell him properly, it’s not that you don’t like him, but you were afraid of Qin Weishu’s retaliation, worried about your mother’s safety, which is why you wanted to leave. Would he understand? He… should understand, right?

Su Yinuo wasn’t sure, because she remembered the terrifying things Qin Cangye had said last night.

“If you don’t love me, there’s no point in living. But fucking you is fun.”

“When I get tired of it one day, just kill me.”

How could he say things like that? How could he not want to live just because I don’t love him? How could he think of dying once he gets tired of sex? And asking me to kill him, how could I ever do that?

Sighing again, Su Yinuo raised her eyes and saw the clock on the wall.

It was already noon.

She touched her stomach, feeling hungry.

What’s for lunch? I can’t even get to the kitchen. Will he come back at noon to bring me food?

Just as she was thinking this, the front door opened, and Qin Cangye appeared in the doorway, his expression icy. In his hand was a black thermal lunchbox.