He Rou’s surroundings were pitch black, her hands numb, her body limp, unable to feel the temperature here, as if everything here was illusory.
She didn’t know where this was, nor did she even know what emotion to face this situation with.
She reached out but couldn’t grasp anything, tried to stand but didn’t have the strength to do so.
“Xiao Rou, what are you trying?”
A gentle and elegant voice came from behind her, and her groping hand was caught by the person behind.
“Xiao Rou, thinking about other things again? Haha… I told you clearly, when you’re by my side, you’re not allowed to think about anything in your mind. So… you must accept punishment.”
He Rou wanted to speak, but for some reason, her voice couldn’t make any sound.
Slowly, her right ring finger and index finger were held.
And at that moment, the darkness in front of He Rou disappeared.
In its place was an extremely simple room, all white around, the walls covered with traces of blood spatter, the furniture sparse—a bed, a chair, a titanium alloy dog bowl.
Before she could recognize the situation, a sharp pain suddenly shot through her right hand.
“Mmph!”
He Rou quickly turned her head and saw that the person behind her was bending her fingers back, joint by joint.
The middle finger, first knuckle from the top…
“Crack——”
“Ah!!!”
Second knuckle…
“Crack——”
“Aaaaah!!! No… stop, it hurts so much, don’t do this, it hurts so much, please, don’t, it really hurts, it really hurts, mm, waaah…”
Tears and snot streamed down her face, disgusting and pathetic.
And the person behind, seeing He Rou like this, laughed, as if this was exactly what she wanted.
“Xiao Rou… why are you crying? You said you would do anything for me, that you would accept however I treat you. Your atonement has only just begun. Your body is mine, your feelings are mine, and your thoughts must be entirely mine. You must replace my mother, do everything for me—my desires, my love, everything I want to do to you, you must bear it all.”
After she finished speaking, she first used her lips to wipe away He Rou’s tears.
Once her face was clean, the punishment of bending fingers began again.
Third knuckle…
“Bang——”
A loud explosion in her head.
He Rou, lying in bed, woke up.
Her body was drenched in sweat, her eyes wide open, the lingering echo of the tinnitus that had roused her still ringing.
‘A dream… I’ve really developed psychological issues from all this.’
After calming herself a little, she turned her head to look at the girl holding her.
Her appearance was no different from the one who had tormented her in the dream.
“Xiao Yun… it’s already morning. Let go of me.”
He Rou felt terrible.
After all, it was exhausting to simultaneously serve as a caretaker, maid, life manager, body pillow, and chew toy for a dog.
The weather today wasn’t good—gloomy, especially with the nearly blackout curtains, making it hard to grasp the concept of time in this room.
As for why He Rou could accurately tell the time even while being held tightly, it was because her job was to care for Luo Yun, who had lost the use of her legs, like a precisely running nanny robot.
Counting the time before Luo Yun’s disability, she had been doing this job for seven full years.
He Rou didn’t know how she had survived these seven years—the scars on her body, large and small, the humiliation she had endured mentally, all still vivid.
Social status, relationships, money, wealth—none of that was something she needed to consider.
Her sole purpose for living now was to take care of the person beside her.
This was her job, and even more, her mission.
Some time passed, but He Rou still didn’t feel any movement from the person beside her.
Just as she was about to try breaking free on her own, a voice filled with self-loathing and a hint of pitifulness came from above her head.
“Let me hold you a little longer… okay?”
“You’ve been holding me all night. It’s time to let go. If you want to recover sooner and become like a normal person, you need to follow the rehabilitation training schedule strictly.”
With that, He Rou curled up and tried to break free from Luo Yun’s octopus-like grip.
But just as her head broke free from the chest, all the strength in Luo Yun’s body seemed to deflate like a leaking balloon.
“Rehabilitation training… rehabilitation training… rehabilitation training… Is this the new excuse you’ve come up with to leave me!”
Luo Yun’s whole body trembled uncontrollably, tears streaming from the corners of her eyes against her will.
Especially her slender hands, which, afraid of loss, left red marks on He Rou’s body, now groping aimlessly.
‘Here we go again…’
He Rou looked at this scene, feeling somewhat repulsed.
‘Forget it, this is just my fate.’
So she reached out her own hands and, in a way that defied their roles, pulled Luo Yun into her embrace.
“Okay, I’m not going anywhere. I’ll do as Xiao Yun says now. Don’t act like this anymore, or I’ll be sad too.”
This sudden move seemed very effective.
Luo Yun, who had been trembling and frantic just moments ago, suddenly curled up in her arms like a docile kitten.
…
Time passed minute by minute. Peaceful moments always went by quickly.
That seemingly docile kitten was surely thinking something else in her heart.
‘Xiao Rou… you’re feeling pretty good now, aren’t you? Just like how we used to be. Back then, everything about you was under my control—your body, your emotions, all had to follow my thoughts. I was your one and only. But now, hah… why? Why am I the only one so unlucky? Everyone who loved me is dead, and the person I love… is the one I hated the most. Now I’m like a dog, begging for your forgiveness… Thinking back, you must have felt the same way then.’
He Rou remained silent. Indeed, Auntie had traded her life for He Rou’s.
She needed Luo Yun’s forgiveness, and at the same time, she was forgiving herself for being powerless back then.
“Xiao Yun… the doctor said your legs will get better. So don’t think about all that nonsense anymore. Just live well, and also…”
He Rou paused, then raised her hand to wipe Luo Yun’s tears.
“I have never blamed Xiao Yun, you know?”
Luo Yun’s eyes widened as she stared blankly at her.
Over so many years, He Rou had long grown accustomed to Luo Yun’s mood swings.
It was precisely because of this long endurance that she was the only one who could properly care for Luo Yun, who had lost the use of her legs.
Then she got out of bed and began preparing everything for the day.
Luo Yun’s breakfast, preparations needed for rehabilitation training, clothes to change into, and so on.
Losing her legs had caused Luo Yun’s emotions to become extremely volatile, so taking care of her was always He Rou’s sole responsibility.
Only at fixed times would some people come to maintain this suburban villa.
After preparing everything, He Rou poured herself a glass of water.
She looked at the water, feeling that something was off with her today, but didn’t think much of it.
She reached out and picked it up.
Just as her lips were about to touch the rim, for some reason, the hand holding the glass suddenly began to shake violently.
She looked at her uncontrollable hand, then at the scars on her arm that would never heal, feeling at a loss.
Physically, there was no problem… and mentally, she had clearly let it go.
‘It’s happening again?’
‘I’m so tired…’
After complaining to herself, He Rou collapsed to the floor without any warning.
There was nothing wrong with her body.
She was just too tired.
Perhaps the only truly carefree time in her life had been from birth until she first met Luo Yun.
After that, everything had been filled with scheming, suspicion, pain, torment, and the relationship between master and slave had left her physically and mentally exhausted.
The word “Atonement” was deeply engraved in her heart.
She had always thought, ever since before, that her own life had ended in that great fire, and the person living now was nothing more than a slave for atonement. Only by atoning could she deserve to live.
But it was also because of atonement that she was so exhausted.
She had slept a full eight hours, hadn’t been beaten in a long time, could eat her fill every day, and everything… everything seemed to be slowly getting better…
She lay on the floor, squinting at the ceiling.
Everything around her drifted with her consciousness.
In her eyes, this villa now flowed like water currents, and she herself was like a huge leaf lying in the middle of the stream, drifting with the flow.
Slowly… slowly… she seemed to return to the past, to the time when she was most carefree, to the side of her parents, to the starting point of this story.
The great fire on Luo Yun’s fourteenth birthday.
That fire had burned the red thread that had tied them together since childhood.
If hardship was the silk that mended this red thread, then He Rou had only mended it up to Luo Yun’s wrist, while Luo Yun had wrapped that red thread around He Rou’s entire body like a python, tightly binding her, and finally tying a death knot around her neck.