Ten Rules to Bind Her Heart - Chapter 39
Shen Yu had long legs and an enormous stride. His military boots struck the gravel path, raising a grim wind.
Xia Zhiyao followed, panting. She had to jog merely to keep up with the black figure.
Downstairs, the modified black SUV’s engine growled.
Ken was already waiting. When he saw Shen Yu striding over with an icy face, he immediately opened the rear door.
Shen Yu bent into the vehicle. The forbidding cold around him seemed to lower the temperature inside.
Xia Zhiyao didn’t dare delay. She hurried around to the other side and clambered into the back seat.
The vehicle drove smoothly toward the white building.
The journey was silent.
Shen Yu leaned back with his eyes closed.
He said nothing and did not even look at her, but his invisible pressure filled the entire cabin.
Like a frightened quail, Xia Zhiyao shrank into the farthest corner, nearly pressing herself against the door. She did not dare make a sound.
He was angry.
She did not know the precise reason, but she could feel the silent fury within him.
Was it because she had not greeted him the instant he returned?
Or because she had worked for Dr. Anya without his permission?
The vehicle stopped.
Shen Yu entered the white building and headed straight for the stairs. Without turning, he tossed a cold order over his shoulder.
“Go to your room.”
Xia Zhiyao felt pardoned and terrified at the same time.
Head lowered, she fled back to her golden cage.
Only when the door closed did she feel she had regained the right to breathe.
The relief did not last.
Shen Yu never appeared that afternoon.
A servant brought lunch—three dishes and a soup, including steamed fish Xia Zhiyao liked.
She sat by the bay window with the bowl in her hands, watching distant guards patrol outside. Though she held a spoon, the food had no flavor.
That man had returned.
The days of facing judgment at any moment had begun again.
She forced herself to finish a bowl of rice.
She remembered Shen Yu’s rule: she was not allowed to lose weight, or she would be punished.
She had to preserve the perfection of this body. It was her only capital for staying alive.
The sun declined, and sunset dyed the room an ambiguous orange-red.
At last, the familiar steady footsteps sounded in the corridor, approaching her room one measured step at a time.
Xia Zhiyao’s heart leaped into her throat.
Click.
The lock turned.
The tall figure entered against the light.
Shen Yu had changed into a casual black shirt, with none of the gunpowder scent that clung to his tactical clothing.
Xia Zhiyao sprang from the bay window. Clutching her skirt in both hands, she looked anxiously toward the door.
“Mr… Mr. Shen…” she greeted timidly without daring to meet his eyes.
Shen Yu ignored her and sat in the armchair.
He stretched his long legs in a lazy posture that somehow suggested a predator preparing to strike.
He took out a cigar, clipped the end, and was about to light it. After a moment’s thought, he put it away again.
“Come here.”
Two simple words. An imperial decree that could not be resisted.
Xia Zhiyao trembled. Biting her lip, she shuffled forward until she stood two paces away.
Shen Yu raised his eyes and examined her.
The little thing wore a pale green cotton dress, her hair still pinned high with… a toothbrush.
Mm.
Apparently, the puppy preferred loose clothes to fitted ones.
“Have your injuries healed?” he asked abruptly. “Does your bottom no longer hurt?”
**
Xia Zhiyao nodded blankly. When she realized what she had done, she hurriedly shook her head in alarm.
She kept her head down, exposing the slender white curve of her nape. Her soft voice carried a plea.
Shen Yu chuckled, amusement entering his gaze.
“It seems you’re no longer in pain.”
He leaned forward and stared at her with oppressive intensity.
“You’re well enough to run off and work in the medical building. Climbing that high without worrying about falling to your death?”
“Apparently, I was too gentle.”
Xia Zhiyao stiffened, her eyes immediately reddening.
Shen Yu narrowed his eyes, his tone dangerous.
“While I was away, you had quite a good time on someone else’s territory.”
Jackal was a useful blade. Loyal, but a mindless brute.
In his eyes, women fell into only two categories: those he could sleep with and those who were dead.
Shen Yu had worried that while he was absent, the timid little thing would be frightened to death by Jackal’s murderous presence.
And so, for the first time in the Black Wolf leader’s life, he had accepted a losing deal.
He dumped the mess on his deputy and flew back overnight by helicopter.
Only to discover…
He had expected a puppy trembling in a corner, waiting for her master to rescue her.
Instead, he found her smiling with satisfaction at a pile of dead insects in Anya’s territory.
That focus. That ease. That vivid life she had never shown before him.
A nameless fire burned hotter in Shen Yu’s heart.
“That’s not true… Mr. Shen…”
Hearing the anger in his voice, Xia Zhiyao waved her hands frantically.
“I only… Dr. Anya said she needed someone to help organize her specimens… And she treated my injuries, so I wanted… I wanted to thank her…”
“Thank her?”
Shen Yu’s lips curved in open mockery.
“Oh? A grateful little puppy.”
“Fine.” Shen Yu nodded, paused, and continued. “Then I saved your life…”
“How do you plan to thank me?”
“Hm?”
The rising note was a dangerous temptation.
Xia Zhiyao’s mind emptied.
How could she thank him?
Money? He was rich enough to rival nations.
Her body? It already belonged to him.
She had nothing.
Before him, she was insignificant as dust.
But if she did not give an answer that satisfied him, she feared another beating awaited her tonight.
“I… I… I…”
She stammered, repeating the word until sweat beaded on her forehead. Her gaze darted around the room and suddenly landed on the magazines and books scattered across the table.
Inspiration flashed.
“Mr. Shen! I… I can organize the books in the first-floor library! I’m very good at classification. I’ll arrange them carefully for you…”
Shen Yu paused.
Organize the library?
That was the gift she had devised?
The little thing certainly knew how to act obedient.
Shen Yu almost laughed from irritation.
“Hah…”
Looking at the little thing before him, lashes trembling in fear yet entirely earnest about doing his housework, he let out a low laugh.
Malice gleamed in his eyes. His voice was deep and playful, carrying a danger that made her shudder.
“Fine.”
“But the library won’t be necessary.”
“Since you enjoy organizing so much, why don’t you go tidy up the basement instead…”
Xia Zhiyao shuddered, her eyes widening.
“And while you’re there, you can test…”
He laughed softly and finished with deliberate cruelty.
“Which things… work better?”**
