The Beloved One Is Always Coveted - Chapter 18

Chapter 18

◎The Girl’s Face Was Unbelievably Red◎

But Tang Xi couldn’t see it. She hooked Yu Li’s chin, forcing her closer. Her voice was so low it felt like it was dripping water, yet it was also teasing. Yu Li couldn’t distinguish the truth anymore.

“She fancies you. Hmm, you understand what I mean? You’re my potential stepmother.”

Yu Li’s eyes flew open instantly. She couldn’t believe it. This was a Cinderella script, but Cinderella was a Duke’s daughter, and she was nothing. How could this be possible?

Yu Li wanted to shake her head in denial, but Tang Xi hooked her chin back. They were very close. She could smell the scent of Tuberose on her, mixed with a slight metallic odor.

The thing she had momentarily forgotten came rushing back: Tang Xi had killed someone.

So she didn’t dare to struggle, only managing to say, “How is that possible?”

Even if powerful figures grew tired of luxurious banquets, they wouldn’t choose plain porridge with no substance. If they drank porridge, it would be a meticulously prepared broth enhanced with the most expensive ingredients.

Tang Xi placed a finger on Yu Li’s lips, signaling her to be quiet.

Yu Li dared not move anymore.

The scent of Tuberose filled her nostrils. She felt dizzy, letting Tang Xi push aside her thick bangs to reveal her smooth forehead and the distinct birthmark.

Her face was small. The eighteen-year-old girl’s face had a hint of baby fat, soft to the touch.

Tang Xi pinched her cheek. The eyes, now uncovered, flashed with tiny specks of light. It must have hurt.

In fact, she wasn’t an ugly duckling. With her bangs lifted, she wasn’t ugly at all. Her appearance was especially obedient, and even the birthmark became her unique identifier. Sprawled across her pale forehead, it looked exceptionally vivid.

“Have a little confidence, Jiejie. If I were her, I’d like your type too. You’re pretty, obedient like a rabbit, a little bit proud, and your waist is very thin. Hmm… very easy to hold.”

Tang Xi’s statement sounded like a conclusion. She was indeed easy to hold; she had lifted her effortlessly just now. What did she eat to grow up? She was terribly light.

Strangely, Yu Li’s focus was on the word “pretty.” Tang Xi had listed so many of her advantages, things she had never noticed before.

Before, only her mother had ever called her pretty.

“Jiejie, do you want to be my stepmother?”

A moment later, Tang Xi wrapped an arm around Yu Li’s waist to prevent her from sliding off the cabinet. She asked her the question with a seductive whisper, very soft, yet the content startled Yu Li.

She shook her head helplessly, unsure if she was denying the idea of becoming a stepmother or denying that Tang Nianyi wanted her as a mistress. Either way, she was unwilling. She was only eighteen; her life had just begun. She still had to attend medical school at Donglin University.

“I still have to go to school.”

“Beg me. I’ll help you solve it.”

At this moment, Tang Xi brushed across her tightly furrowed brow, showing kindness by offering to help Yu Li.

When her finger didn’t smooth out the frown, she pressed down instead. Yu Li’s brow relaxed, only to furrow again once the finger left.

The scent of Tuberose grew stronger. Her mind was in a haze. She cautiously tugged at the corner of Tang Xi’s shirt, her voice softening as much as possible, “Please, Miss Xi, I want to go to school. I don’t want to…”

Poor thing. Tang Xi glanced at the finger pulling her shirt, slender, pale, and soft. How could it possibly overcome the towering tree of the Tang family?

So, Tang Xi also lowered her voice and offered her a solution a very muddled solution: pretend to be her girlfriend. A mother couldn’t possibly fight her own daughter for someone, right?

Yu Li was utterly clueless in this regard. Her mind was racing with anxiety. On one hand, she thought it was impossible Tang Nianyi couldn’t possibly fancy her. On the other hand, she couldn’t help but agree. Otherwise, why would Tang Nianyi sponsor her to go to Huizhi for no reason, and even pick her up from school, when Tang Xi was her actual daughter?

So, in her desperation, she sought out the nearest quack.

The quack said, “Be with me. My mom can’t steal her daughter’s girlfriend. This is a lawful society that respects ethics. You can safely live in my house.”

For some reason, Yu Li felt her face burning. She didn’t agree, tilting her head slightly to look out the window. The sky was very dark now. She could only see the silhouettes of the roses outside. The branches and leaves swayed in the wind.

Tang Xi was relentless. She said Tang Nianyi wouldn’t let her go. “She drove you home yesterday, didn’t she? Didn’t she also try to get inside your house? That was the first step of her plan.”

Yu Li couldn’t help but argue that she didn’t come in.

Tang Xi still had a reason. An assassin’s ability to adapt is strong. Tang Xi usually hid it, but she displayed it perfectly while coaxing Yu Li to agree.

She told her that Tang Nianyi didn’t want to make her too nervous, as she preferred the method of “boiling a frog slowly.” Once you’re willing to let her into your home, you’re finished.

“She’s extremely controlling. She won’t even let you leave the house. You’ll have to stay in the Tang family, be her obedient mistress, and won’t even be able to go to school. Your life will be ruined.”

“Plus, she has no loyalty. Once she tires of you, she’ll immediately pack up you and your mother and toss you out of the Tang family, without even giving you settlement money. She’s ruthless.”

Yu Li’s head felt even foggier. She blinked, feeling exhausted, wanting to sleep. Her eyelids were heavy.

Tang Xi wouldn’t allow her to escape, shaking her shoulders hard. She said, “Only I can help you. Only I can save your life.”

“What do you want?”

Yu Li stared at her for a moment before asking. She had been persuaded. Combined with Tang Nianyi’s strange behavior, her life truly seemed to be over.

Tang Xi was her savior.

She blinked and repeated it: Tang Xi was her savior.

No one does business at a loss, not even a savior. She needed to know what Tang Xi wanted.

“Don’t think so badly of me. I just want the right to use a girlfriend.” Seeing Yu Li yield, a relaxed smile appeared on Tang Xi’s face. She cupped Yu Li’s face but didn’t move on, waiting for Yu Li to speak.

There was a reason Jian Mingyue and Tang Xi got along. They were equally clever, knowing how to manipulate Yu Li’s weaknesses.

Jian Mingyue knew to feign distress to elicit sympathy. Tang Xi was more extreme, confining the person to her side, claiming to be genuinely helping her under the guise of doing what’s best for her.

Yu Li blinked again. The ceiling was dark and blurry. She couldn’t make anything out. Tang Xi followed her gaze. The room was dark; the lights hadn’t been turned on.

Tang Xi used the unlit room to her advantage. She said, “If you don’t agree, Tang Nianyi will resort to forced confinement. She’ll lock you in a small room during the day and drag you to bed to play with your body at night. By then, your life will be completely dark, just like this unlit room.”

“Only I can save you. Only I can turn the lights on in this room.”

Yu Li was terrified by the talk of forced confinement. She stared wide-eyed and slowly nodded her head.

Before she could even blink, a kiss landed on her face.

A blush spread outward from the kissed spot. She met Tang Xi’s eyes, full of shock. How could she just kiss her without saying anything?

“Jiejie,” Tang Xi called out obediently, her voice low and husky, full of unspoken intimacy.

Yu Li withdrew her gaze, not daring to answer. She sensed something was about to happen. She still didn’t know what the “right to use a girlfriend” meant.

“Girlfriend~” Tang Xi held her waist and called out again.

Yu Li couldn’t handle it. She lowered her head, her bangs falling back into place.

Tang Xi pushed her bangs aside, telling her to look up. Girlfriend was still better than Tang Nianyi’s mistress.

“I want to exercise my rights,” Tang Xi continued. She took one of Yu Li’s hands, bent down, and kissed the back of it. Then she looked up, her gaze fixed intently on Yu Li, and said:

“Bottom or top?”

“Choose yourself.”

Such direct words came right out of Miss Xi’s mouth. This was never about protection. What did someone else’s life have to do with her? All she wanted was to destroy, to pluck the naive, unripe fruit that the Family Head mother was so intent on securing.

Oh, and there was that villa in the city center.

She issued a command, demanding Yu Li choose one.

Yu Li’s mind was blank. She shook her head, instinctively resisting: “No, I need to go home.”

Her resistance was always futile, especially since she had already agreed to Tang Xi’s girlfriend request.

“Jiejie, didn’t you agree to me?” Tang Xi’s eyes darkened, and she tossed out a light threat, “You don’t want the Family Head to be the one to make you choose, do you?”

Yu Li’s eyes filled with tears. She craned her neck, refusing to choose, but her peripheral vision caught a glimpse of the knife blade, the blood-stained blade whose blood hadn’t even dried.

That was Tang Xi’s first step to intimidate her.

Finally, she bit her lip and lifted her shirt, exposing a section of her pale, slender waist.

Tang Xi smiled, pleased with her submission.

So, all she had to do was make a slightly worse demand, and Yu Li would choose for herself.

Tang Xi helped her lift the shirt further, unbuttoning the uniform one by one. Her cold fingers went straight underneath.

Through the thin cotton layer, the shape felt full. The moment Tang Xi touched her, she trembled softly.

Not just that, but Yu Li’s shoulder was trembling too. Looking up, the girl’s face was unbelievably red.

And this was in the dark. If the lights were on, she wondered if her face would look like it was dripping blood.

This was a completely different sensation from the equipment room. Yu Li forced herself to suppress her body’s trembling. Something was stuck in her throat. She had to clench her lips tightly to keep from letting it out.

Tang Xi had removed the obstacle, placing her hand directly on her skin. It was a completely new sensation.

Yu Li couldn’t help but stretch her neck. Tears spilled out, hot and salty, meandering down her face, dripping into the hollow of her collarbone, collecting into a small pool, then overflowing onto Tang Xi’s fingers.

Tang Xi applied pressure, tormenting her with a sharp pinch. She didn’t use her mouth, but it felt close enough.

Soft and white, a press of the fingertip left a stubborn red mark. Tang Xi wiped her tears onto the area, making it shimmer with moisture, even prettier.

“How does it feel?”

Tang Xi asked huskily, wickedly demanding she vocalize it.

How could she possibly say it? Her breathing grew heavy. She refused to speak, biting her lip until it turned white.

The wetness gradually spread. Tang Xi slowly and steadily increased the pressure, cruelly playing with her. Yu Li suddenly cried out, a muffled, drawn-out sound she couldn’t stop.

After a long while, her body was tight as a string. She threw her head back, gasping for air like a fish out of water. Through her blurred vision, she saw a figure outside the window, staring at them with a blazing gaze, completely unashamed.

She shrieked, shrinking into Tang Xi’s embrace for shelter, but the person walked closer and tapped on the window, utterly brazen.

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