Must a Villainess Be Punished? - Chapter 10

My hair had concealed the scent-blocking patch on my nape, so Jiang Shechuan hadn’t noticed it.

Not until I revealed the truth and swept my hair aside.

His gaze locked on the patch.

“…Who did this?”

“Huh?” I didn’t follow.

Weren’t we discussing my withdrawal? What was he asking about?

“I asked”—he inhaled deeply, as though restraining something—”who you let touch your scent gland.”

Since I had already told him about secondary differentiation, there was no reason to keep lying.

After a moment’s hesitation, I answered honestly.

“Chu Ruoqing… but he volunteered. I didn’t force him.”

Jiang Shechuan said nothing.

Assuming he didn’t believe me, I twisted around to prove my innocence.

“Really. We get along wonderfully now. Ask him if you don’t believe me. He wanted to visit during the holiday anyway—ow! What are you doing?”

I was trying to demonstrate that I hadn’t bullied a classmate. Jiang Shechuan didn’t hear a word.

Like a brutal robber—or a condemned prisoner forcing himself to read the verdict with his own eyes—he reached out with a trembling hand and ripped the patch from my neck while I was still talking.

The rich scent of cedar poured out.

The pheromones Chu Ruoqing had injected before the holiday still hadn’t fully metabolized. That alone proved how deep and forceful his mark had been.

For once, I felt a flicker of embarrassment. I raised a hand to cover myself and silently cursed a certain rabid dog who had never tasted meat.

Someone seized that wrist.

The room spun.

Jiang Shechuan yanked me down by the arm, leaving me facedown across his thighs.

What?

This familiar position. The familiar sound of a belt being unfastened beside my ear…

Wait.

I had just opened my mouth to scream for help when the belt came down.

“Ah! Are you insane? What did I even do?”

Jiang Shechuan didn’t answer. He struck me again.

Alphas were frighteningly strong, and he wasn’t holding back. After two lashes, my backside swelled.

“Jiang Shechuan, you lunatic! This is vigilante justice. I’ll call the police—ow, ow! Brother, I was wrong! Stop! I was wrong, Brother!”

He had whipped me plenty of times over the years.

Usually, the moment I called him Brother and yielded, he stopped.

Not this time.

No matter how I begged and apologized, he remained unmoved, as though deaf.

“You’re cheating! You’re breaking the rules! I admitted I was wrong… Stop! You’re going to kill me!”

Being whipped across the backside hurt, but the humiliation was even worse.

The sharp cracks filled my bedroom. Hurt and aggrieved, I burst into tears.

I sobbed as though my brother had died.

Jiang Shechuan’s hand paused.

Then the belt fell even harder.

What?

His voice was cold, but it couldn’t conceal the jealousy burning underneath.

“You love crying so much. Did you cry like this in his bed too?”

Jiang Shechuan finally spoke, and silence would have been better.

Was that something a brother should say to his sister?

At the very least, it wasn’t something an old-fashioned man like him should say.

I heard what lay beneath it and belatedly understood the cause of this undeserved calamity.

I stared at him in disbelief. “Jiang Shechuan, are you some kind of pervert? What sort of brother acts like this?”

He sneered.

“You think of me as your brother? Other than asking me for favors and using my name while you run wild, when have you ever treated me like one?”

The moral high ground vanished beneath my feet.

Why did he hold grudges so well?

My voice shrank. “What I do is my business. That doesn’t mean you can act like a monster too…”

“Why can’t I?” Jiang Shechuan rolled me over and caught my chin. “You aren’t related to the Jiang family by blood, and you don’t regard me as your brother. Why else would I treat you so well?”

Because he was kind?

Fine. A man who had taken control of the Jiang family at such a young age could hardly be good and gentle.

All his old-fashioned restraint and strict obedience to rules were merely a disguise and a set of chains he had imposed on himself.

Now he clearly had no intention of maintaining either.

“I told you to behave. You insisted on fighting me.” His fingers slid to my nape and squeezed hard. “If you won’t be my little sister, then you can—”

“Stop, stop, stop.”

I could tell perfectly well whether a young lady or a lover held more power.

I sprang upright and clapped a hand over Jiang Shechuan’s mouth.

“I was wrong, Brother.” Mimicking Chu Ruoqing, I forced my face into a pitiful expression. “Don’t say things that undermine family unity, all right?”

“My rebellious phase has simply lasted a little longer. You have to give me a chance to correct myself, don’t you?”

Jiang Shechuan lowered his eyes. “A fifteen-year rebellious phase?”

So what?

Despite his words, he did give me one chance to “correct” myself.

“If you want to remain the young lady of the Jiang family, then behave like one. Don’t parade around reeking of a stray dog.”

“Tomorrow, I’ll contact a professional clinic and have them wash that filth out of your gland.”