Chapter 71: Shackles
The car sped along the asphalt road, the interior so silent that only the hum of the engine could be heard.
Wen Yan looked down at his palm, not asking a single question.
The vehicle gradually came to a halt in front of a sprawling mansion.
“This way, please, Mr. Wen,” said the person in the car.
Wen Yan got out and followed the guide inside.
He did a quick sweep of his surroundings and guessed where they were.
The style was modern, yet it carried a heavy, stifling atmosphere.
The servant led Wen Yan to the study and said to the person sitting in the desk chair, “Chairman Pei, Mr. Wen has been brought here.”
Wen Yan looked at the man in the chair. He had a stern face and a powerful aura.
He had seen him before at Lin Seran’s birthday banquet—Pei Zhouye’s father, the current Chairman of the Pei Group, Pei Mingcheng.
Pei Mingcheng’s gaze lingered on his neck for a moment. Wen Yan realized why, but he was too exhausted to hide it.
He wasn’t wearing a scarf, and the bright red hickeys on his neck were glaringly obvious; there was no covering them.
Pei Mingcheng frowned, his gaze shifting up to stare at Wen Yan’s face, his brow furrowing even deeper.
“It was because of you before, and it’s still you now.”
Wen Yan didn’t know what Pei Mingcheng was talking about, but he met his gaze without being overawed.
“My agreed time with Pei Zhouye has ended. Thank you for helping me leave that place. I will stay far away from him in the future.”
“What use is your word?” Pei Mingcheng’s tone carried a hint of contempt; he clearly didn’t think much of Wen Yan.
“If it were really that simple, I wouldn’t have had to go through so much trouble to send him abroad back then.”
Shen Yao had mentioned that Pei Zhouye was sent abroad before he even finished high school.
Wen Yan didn’t want to know what all this had to do with him right now; he only wanted to rid himself of Pei Zhouye, who was a waste of time, heart, and effort with no future in sight.
He asked directly: “Do you want to use me to threaten Pei Zhouye?”
He cut straight to the point.
The look in Pei Mingcheng’s eyes changed slightly. “Very smart. You don’t have to do anything. He knows you’re with me; he’ll come.”
After a pause, he added, “Let him attend his birthday banquet properly.”
Wen Yan stared at Pei Mingcheng, his eyes cold.
“When? When can I leave?”
Even though Pei Mingcheng spoke in a calm, steady tone and didn’t use extreme language, Wen Yan still felt a strange sense of pressure.
The entire Pei family was abnormal.
Pei Mingcheng spoke in riddles, Mrs. Pei was mentally unstable, and Pei Zhouye was a complete lunatic.
He hated people who lied to him most. Pei Zhouye had promised to let him go on January 22nd, but he had broken his word.
“Can I contact my friends?”
Pei Mingcheng looked up, without a trace of a smile on his face. “His birthday is in three days. Just stay at the ancestral residence for now.”
Wen Yan: “What if I don’t cooperate?”
Pei Mingcheng gave him a flat look. “Do you think you have a choice right now?”
Wen Yan didn’t argue further.
“Can you help me take these things off?” His eyelids drooped, making him look very dejected. “They’re too ugly.”
He had a tracking bracelet on his wrist and a shackle on his ankle—like a heinous, high-risk convict.
The low hum of a car engine came from downstairs.
“He’s certainly back fast enough this time.” Pei Mingcheng stood up and walked to the window, looking at the scene below.
A tall, broad-shouldered man, radiating fury, was storming inside.
He was indeed different from when he was a child or during his green high school years, but his temper was just as bad—forever uncontrollable.
A minute later, the study door was slammed open.
Following behind Pei Zhouye were four bodyguards. They moved quickly, two standing by Pei Mingcheng and two by Wen Yan before Pei Zhouye could reach them.
Pei Zhouye’s face was dark. His gaze fell on Wen Yan, and seeing that he was unharmed, his aura softened slightly.
He tried to walk toward Wen Yan, but a bodyguard immediately pressed a hand onto Wen Yan’s shoulder.
“Young Master, please forgive us,” the bodyguard said, looking at Pei Zhouye.
“Take your hand off him.” Pei Zhouye’s tone was impatient and sinister as he glared at the hand on Wen Yan’s shoulder.
The bodyguard hesitated, glancing at Pei Mingcheng. After a moment of internal struggle, his hand shifted from pressing down hard on Wen Yan’s shoulder to hovering just a few centimeters above it.
Pei Zhouye stood rooted to the spot, his gaze toward Pei Mingcheng filled with hatred.
“What do you want this time?”
Pei Mingcheng was used to that look from Pei Zhouye. “You’re having a birthday banquet in three days. The elders are all returning to the country. Just show up and behave; it’s not a big deal.”
“I’m not celebrating my birthday.”
Pei Mingcheng glanced at Wen Yan, his meaning obvious. He said coldly, “You can run, but he can’t.”
The standoff lasted for several minutes.
Pei Zhouye’s breathing was shaky. He spoke almost through gritted teeth: “Fine.”
Wen Yan was confined to a room in the Pei house for two days.
On the third day, Pei Zhouye entered the room.
Wen Yan didn’t speak. A half-length of chain was still attached to his ankle.
Pei Zhouye knelt down. Wen Yan instinctively pulled his leg back to hide, his knee hitting Pei Zhouye’s collarbone. The man let out a muffled groan of pain, but his palm still firmly encircled Wen Yan’s ankle.
“Get out.”
Wen Yan finally deigned to speak.
Pei Zhouye’s fingers rubbed against that slender ankle. The fair skin there had already been chafed red by the shackle.
“Did you not hear me? Get out!” Wen Yan hadn’t been able to eat for the past two days and had no strength to struggle. “I have nothing to do with you anymore. Don’t touch me! If you move again, I’ll…”
“I’m sorry.”
The apology was very soft and muffled. Wen Yan stopped struggling and looked down at him.
Pei Zhouye looked up to gaze at him, his dark eyes calm. He repeated, “I’m sorry.”
His peach blossom eyes could look deeply affectionate even when staring at a dog; those beautiful eyes were the best at deceiving.
Wen Yan stared at him coldly.
“Sorry for what?”
Pei Zhouye looked away, lowering his head. He took a key from his pocket and carefully unlocked the shackle.
His voice was low. “For not protecting you well. For letting you be locked up here.”
Wen Yan let out a sharp, angry laugh. “Locked up is locked up, regardless of the location. Is there any difference from what you did?”
Pei Zhouye stood up again, taking Wen Yan’s wrist, intending to use his fingerprint to unlock the bracelet.
He hesitated inexplicably for a moment, then lowered Wen Yan’s wrist again. It seemed he didn’t intend to take off the bracelet.
“Take it off,” Wen Yan said impatiently. “You promised me that once the four months were up, you would never bother me again…”
Before he could finish, a restrained kiss was pressed against his lips, followed by a forceful embrace.
The forced obedience he had just faked was replaced by a ruthless intensity.
Wen Yan leaned back sharply to break free. Even though the back of his head hit the wall, he didn’t care about the pain. His chest heaved violently, and a sickly red flush rose to his pale face.
“Wen Yan, can’t we just have a normal relationship?”
Pei Zhouye pinched Wen Yan’s chin. As if he had exhausted the last of his patience, he issued an arrogant judgment.
“If you think before was being ‘kept,’ can’t we just date properly from now on? I’ll give you the money, and you can ‘keep’ me back if you want.”
Shameless. Utterly thick-skinned.
Wen Yan enunciated each word, answering Pei Zhouye with total seriousness:
“Date… my… ass!”
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