The Overnight Chosen Wife: darling, kiss me deeper

This went on for hours.

"What do you want?" He placed the umpteenth food tray on the table and asked helplessly.

"Let me go."

It was the same words she had said for hours.

"No, Xia. Anything but this."

"Then leave me alone." She retorted.

"I’ll forcefully feed you instead." He threatened as his patience was wearing thin.

She scoffed and looked away. "If you think this will make me submit to you, in your freaking dreams!"

"Don’t be stupid, Xia Luna! Haven’t you had enough already?!" Jiang Xingyu roared. It was the first time he had ever raised his voice at her.

He took a deep breath when he realized what he had just done and took her hand. "I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to shout at you."

Xia Luna retracted her hand and pulled away from him, going as far as the chain could allow. "I don’t know you anymore, Jiang Xingyu."

"And do I know you? You put on an act in front of me. Otherwise, are you going to claim that you transformed from an adorable little damsel to a carefree crossdresser within one year? If not, what are you trying to hide?"

"That’s none of your business." She snapped.

"It’s in every way, my business." He was tired of pleading with her. "Feigning nonchalance will not get you out of here. You can keep the pretense as much as you want!" He stormed out of the room.

Xia Luna shrugged and lay back on the bed. The chain was long enough to let her sleep, but it was still uncomfortable. She ignored it and tried to sleep. She curled up in bed as her shoulders shook slightly. She tried not to be scared.

Despite her stubbornness and strength, Xia Luna had one weakness that could break her apart. She was afraid of being trapped.

When she was little, her stepmother would often tie her using ropes or chains and lock her up in the storeroom as punishment. By the time her father found out what her stepmother had been doing, it was too late. It had already affected her mental health.

She had been trying to overcome this fear, yet this was precisely what Jiang Xingyu did in the name of love or whatever reason he had. He had trapped her.

...

Xia Luna tried to lull herself to sleep. No matter what that man did, she would not relent.

When she was a kid, her stepmother had tortured her in many ways leaving a psychological scar on her. What further harm could Jiang Xingyu possibly do to her? No one could hold a candle to that woman in torturing. Reminiscing those days made her grit her teeth in hatred and disgust.

Although that was what she thought, being locked up was not the only problem. After just a few hours, she was famished. This morning she had been too rushed to eat breakfast, and because she had rushed here, she didn’t have time to eat lunch either.

Her stomach hurt from all the hunger pangs. If she kept this up, she might have gastritis. She was already starting to feel slight tremors in her body.

Just as she considered calling Jiang Xingyu back, the door opened, and a maid walked in with a tray of food.

"Madam, sir asked me to bring this. I warmed it up for you."

Xia Luna was too hungry and exhausted to keep resisting. So she accepted the food. "Thank you. Also, call me Luna next time."

"Sir ordered us to call you madam." The maid trembled and answered meekly.

Xia Luna was displeased. Madam? What madam? She was not married to him, and she wouldn’t be. She was not even close to being his girlfriend. Why would he ask his servants to address her as the mistress of the house? Whatever. It was just a word. It wasn’t like it would do anything to decrease her lifespan.

After filling her stomach, it was much easier to sleep this time. She didn’t even care that she was in Jiang Xingyu’s bed or that her ankle was chained. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

Just as she drifted off to sleep, she heard the door open, followed by soft but firm footsteps that she recognized all too well.

She stiffened and pretended to be asleep.

Soon, the space beside her sank, and she knew he had laid down next to her. There was no movement for a while, and she assumed that he must be asleep.

Just when she was about to let out a sigh of relief, she felt him wrap a hand around her and bring her into his embrace.

She pretended to be in sleep contrast to the turmoil within her. She waited for what he would do next, but there were no movements again. He only held her in his arms and fell into a peaceful sleep.

If he had not forced her here in such a rude manner, this would have been one of those sweet memorable moments.

"Jiang Xingyu, I need to use the bathroom." She said after a while.

Jiang Xingyu was fast asleep, but when he heard her voicing her discomfort, he woke up immediately. He opened a safe where he retrieved the key and unlocked her chain, letting her go to the bathroom.

He was still paranoid, but he couldn’t possibly guard her even when she went to the bathroom, could he? Well, he could if it wouldn’t be absurd and outright stupid. He could only eagerly wait for her to come back.

...

After easing her discomfort, Xia Luna looked around.

Aside from the tiny window in the shower compartment, there was a larger frosted window near the bathtub. She looked around and saw a pair of scissors on the toiletry rack. Her eyes landed on the neatly folded towels on the next shelf.

Actually, if she really wanted to seize this chance to escape, it was easy as pie. Was Jiang Xingyu testing her? He did know that she didn’t care, didn’t he?

She robotically walked over to the rack and picked the pair of scissors. It was sharp and... it could help her in two different ways.

Either cut the towels and use them to make a rope to climb out of the window, or stab the man and teach him a lesson before leaving. Or both.

However, thinking of something, she put the scissors back.

She went back onto the bed and naturally lay back in his arms.

Jiang Xingyu let out an audible sigh. After letting her go on her own, he remembered the large window. When she didn’t come out after a few minutes, he had almost believed that she climbed out. Then she surprised him by coming back and even snuggling in his arms. He kissed her head and hugged her closer.

It was only the next morning that he jolted, remembering that he had forgotten to put the chain back on her. As expected, she was no longer in the room.

"Damn it!" He cursed. He had been careless with her yet again.

He grabbed the nearest jeans he could get and swiftly wore it, grabbed his phone, and was about to make an order when the door opened and in she waltzed.

"You..."

Xia Luna walked in with a sweet smile. "I brought you breakfast."

Jiang Xingyu looked at her in a mashup of happiness and disbelief. "You only went to make me breakfast?" Not only did she not flee, but she also brought breakfast for him!

"Wash up and eat." She smiled yet again and placed the tray on the nightstand. "I didn’t cook anything; it was the maids who prepared it. I was done eating, and you had not yet left the room, so I brought it up for you."

"Oh." Jiang Xingyu was still overjoyed that she cared about him.

He washed up at record speed and started eating.

He kept stealing glances at her. To be exact, he was blatantly staring. Xia Luna chuckled and questioned. "Why do you keep looking at me?"

"You didn’t leave." Jiang Xingyu was still in disbelief. She had such a heaven-sent chance. If she wanted to leave, not even his bodyguards could stop her. He could guess as much because for someone to disappear for more than a year completely, she had to be a skilled trickster.

When she saw that he was done with his breakfast, she looked into his eyes and said in a solemn voice, "Jiang Xingyu, we need to talk. You are childish and absolutely annoying. You know that, right? I was willing to give you... to give us a chance, but then you ignored me. Why are you clinging to me now?"

"Wait, what? When did you do anything aside from run away from me, Xia? The last time I thought we would talk, but you must be addicted to running away. The moment I let my guard down, you slipped away without giving me a chance to speak with you."