The Villain's Delicate Beauty Won't Run Away - Chapter 2

Xie Jinxiu carried me all the way back to my room. Curled up in his arms, I didn’t dare move a muscle. Even after he set me on the couch, I could only stare at him, stunned.

He flicked my forehead with a bent finger. “Why do you keep looking at me, Susu?”

I covered my forehead and answered cautiously, “Because my husband is handsome.”

He broke into a smile. “Oh? So it’s my face you like.”

At the sight of his genuine smile, I breathed easier. Apparently he wasn’t going to turn me into a human doll.

The next instant, his smile faded. He poured me a cup of hot tea and asked casually, “What were you doing out so late?”

My heart skipped a beat. Comments appeared before me.

【That’s our twisted villain. He saw everything, but he’s asking anyway. He’s setting a trap for her.】

【I bet she’ll lie.】

【She’s finished.】

Xie Jinxiu lifted my chin, his gaze cold. “Did you do something bad that you don’t dare tell your husband about, Susu?”

The hair on my arms stood up. My mind raced, and I decided to take a chance.

Tears spilled from my eyes as I threw myself into his arms. I told him everything about Lin Qingheng asking me to meet him, though in my version he had been harassing me relentlessly and I’d had no choice but to see him.

“Husband, I didn’t mean to meet him. I only wanted to make things clear. I told him there’s someone I love and asked him to leave me alone.”

“Oh? And whom do you love?” Xie Jinxiu asked, stroking my back.

I pulled away a little, blinked up at him through my tears, and kissed his thin lips. Then I buried my face in his chest as if shy and murmured, “My husband.”

The hand on my back went still. His whole body seemed to freeze.

“Susu. Say it again.”

“I love you.”

His arms tightened around me so fiercely they seemed ready to cut into my flesh.

A comment slid past. 【Damn, one little ‘I love you’ and the villain’s completely hooked.】

【He’s an obsessive guy who thought he’d never have her. This is the first time she’s kissed him or confessed to him. Of course he’s stunned.】

【Then what about the heroine?】

【Forget the heroine. Look at him. She’s asleep and he’s still staring at her face like a lovesick fool.】

【Ahhh! What’s he doing? Is he going to leave love bites all over her?】

When I woke the next morning, I rubbed my muddled head and went over everything that had happened.

Xie Jinxiu, the marquis’s unfavored son by a concubine, was actually an imperial prince, and his love for me bordered on obsession. If I tried to escape, I’d end up a human doll.

My only option was to win his favor so I could stay alive under his roof.

Trying to love a madman was dangerous, but he was a prince and the future regent. I could put up with that. Besides, he truly was handsome. If I overlooked his abnormalities, he wasn’t such a bad husband.

He liked me so much that perhaps one day I could even become a prince’s consort. The thought of a merchant’s daughter like me rising to that position made me want to celebrate.

Just as I was daydreaming, more words appeared.

【The reborn heroine is ruthless. She even cut flesh from her own body.】

【She has to win the villain’s trust if she wants to be with him in this life. His heart is bound to soften at a sacrifice like that.】

The reborn heroine? My daydream shattered. If she succeeded in stealing my husband, where would that leave me?

Once I was dressed, I threw on a bright red fur cloak and hurried toward Xie Jinxiu’s room. Passing a red plum tree in the courtyard, I stopped and asked a maid to break off a few flowering branches for me.

I burst into his room with the blossoms in my arms. “Husband.”

A chessboard stood before Xie Jinxiu, and a steaming bowl of medicine sat on the table. Third Miss Xie Lixue, who was seated opposite him, looked at me in surprise.

I had no doubt she was the reborn heroine. Ever since I’d married into the family, she’d constantly fussed over Xie Jinxiu’s health and looked at him with unmistakable affection. She treated me like air, except when she found an indirect way to speak ill of me in his presence.

I hadn’t understood it before. Now that I knew they weren’t related by blood, it all made sense.

The sight of that bowl of medicine, boiled from human flesh, made me nauseous.

Xie Jinxiu coughed a few times, his face pale, then looked at me. “You came to see me so early, Susu?”

I held up the plum blossoms like a treasure. “The winter plums in the courtyard were so pretty that I picked a few branches for you myself. What do you think? Do you like them?”

He nodded, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.

“I’ll put them in a vase.” I took an empty vase from his shelf and arranged the branches. When I sat beside him, I caught Xie Lixue glaring at me.

“Sister-in-law, if you have time to pick useless flowers, you might spend it doing your duty and caring properly for my elder brother.”

My eyelid twitched. I had the distinct feeling she meant more than she was saying.