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22. Echo

The next day, Chen Shu Yin woke up feeling dizzy and bloated, crawling out of her blanket.

The southern region had entered the humid “Returning Spring” season. Despite being covered with a thin silk quilt, the fabric felt damp and cool against her skin.

She rubbed her sore neck, as if a firestone was burning behind her, turned to her side, and felt the dampness of her sweat.

As her vision gradually cleared, she blinked a few times and found herself staring at Pei Yu, who was leaning against the headboard, scrolling through his phone.

Sensing her movement, he shifted his arm, which had been resting behind her neck, bringing it closer to her as he leaned in slightly. “Awake?”

Chen Shu Yin froze for a moment. Her eyes darted around the room before she instinctively stretched out her arms and tried to roll away in complete silence, attempting to sneak off his bed unnoticed.

But with her head resting on the crook of his arm, he effortlessly reeled her back in—like a fish caught in a net.

Pei Yu put down his phone, wrapped an arm around her shoulders, and smirked like a rogue who had successfully gotten his way. “Trying to run after doing something bad?”

Chen Shu Yin steeled herself and sat up, taking a deep breath.

She didn’t deny it immediately. Instead, she needed to carefully recall what exactly had happened last night.

She had been drinking Pei Yu’s prized liquor. Halfway through, he snatched it away, she spilled some on his leg, and then…

Chen Shu Yin rarely drank, and when she did, she usually locked herself in her room. Once the allergic reaction hit, she would pass out, wake up the next morning, and pretend nothing had happened.

Last night was the only time she had ever let herself drink so recklessly in front of someone else.

Accepting the reality but remaining skeptical about the missing parts, she insisted, “I have decent alcohol tolerance. Don’t try to frame me.”

Pei Yu’s eyes gleamed with confidence. “Turn around.”

Anticipating her response, he said smugly, “I knew you’d say that. That’s why I saved evidence.”

He still couldn’t make large movements due to his back injury, so instead of lunging at her like a hungry wolf, he simply lay there and unbuttoned his loose Cuban-collar pajamas. The snap buttons made a crisp popping sound, revealing a trail of distinct bite marks stretching from his neck down to his abdomen.

With each breath, his chest and stomach rose and fell, making the small indentations—some still slightly flushed with fresh red traces—more pronounced.

The bruises didn’t just soften his usual roguish demeanor; they even added a touch of fragile beauty.

During her university internship, Chen Shu Yin had gone undercover with her mentor to investigate certain businesses that operated under the guise of legitimacy but secretly engaged in illicit activities. She had posed as a customer and seen plenty of men who tore off their shirts to show off their muscles.

Their actions were exactly like Pei Yu’s—except those men were too blatant, wearing their intentions on their faces. Pei Yu, on the other hand, had an unintentional allure in his movements.

If she weren’t so upright, morally resolute, and devoted to justice, she might actually suspect that Pei Yu was seducing her.

After all, he seemed to be half-dressed in front of her every other day.

“I bit you?” Chen Shu Yin gritted her teeth, unfazed, and pulled up her phone’s payment screen. “Medical fees. Scan it yourself.”

Pei Yu looked like he was about to explode. His deep voice trembled slightly. “We’re legally married. If I take your money, what kind of man would that make me?”

Chen Shu Yin grabbed a blanket and tossed it over him, swallowing hard. “Then can you stop flaunting this in broad daylight? We’re both adults. It happened, so what? Why show me my own ‘battle scars’?”

“Who said we slept together?” Pei Yu easily hooked an arm around her waist and pulled her back into his embrace, trapping her. His voice was suddenly laced with understanding. “Oh, I see. You’ve been eyeing my body for a long time, haven’t you?”

“No wonder you were so—” He deliberately dragged out his words. “So… eager last night, pulling at my clothes and biting me like that.”

Chen Shu Yin hadn’t expected him to still have so much strength despite his injured back. “I was drunk! How would I know what happened?”

She threw his own logic back at him. “For all I know, you could’ve been the one pressing my head down, making me bite you.”

Pei Yu tapped his chin, but disagreed. “Sorry, but your husband isn’t into that kind of aggressive, coercive play.”

He pulled up a video on his phone and, despite her struggling, shoved the screen in front of her. “We did the opposite.”

The video, taken from a high angle, showed Chen Shu Yin sitting on his lap, mumbling nonsense. Her long eyelashes fluttered several times before her hand snaked under his shirt without warning.

Her fingers fumbled around aimlessly, and whatever she found made her smile sweetly before she turned and bit his collarbone.

Pei Yu looked helpless in the video as he grabbed her by the nape to pull her away, but instead of resisting, she simply slid to the floor, gripping the wheel of his wheelchair.

Then, as if she were pulling a rickshaw, she exerted all her strength and hoisted him up at a 45-degree angle, dragging him across the room.

“Chen Shu Yin! From now on, we’re both quitting alcohol!” Pei Yu’s head lolled backward in frustration as he shouted at her to stop.

But Chen Shu Yin ignored him, dragging him all the way to his bedroom. With a final thud, his wheelchair landed back on the floor.

She turned around, knelt on one knee, and patted her back. “We’ve arrived.”

…

By the time Chen Shu Yin had watched this much, she didn’t want to see any more.

Years of struggle and pride she had maintained in front of Pei Yu—all obliterated by a single drunken night.

Her lips turned pale from biting down too hard as she reached out to snatch his phone.

Pei Yu, switching hands back and forth, refused to let her take it.

“When you carried me, I thought you were sober,” he said, still pressing down on her. He heard her soft, slightly breathless pants as she wrestled with him.

“But even when you were unconscious, you still remembered that I was injured.”

“You always have a strong sense of responsibility.” His tone softened. “It made me realize—no matter how much you claim to hate me, we could still make this work.”

Chen Shu Yin kept struggling for his phone, and Pei Yu finally stopped dodging, handing it over.

The video had stabilized again, showing her straddling him, pulling open his shirt, and biting her way down his torso like she was devouring a feast.

Chen Shu Yin froze.

A minute later, she heard the steady breathing sounds of herself falling asleep on his chest.

Pei Yu propped himself up with an elbow, the smirk on his face never fading.

“Don’t you dare leak this,” Chen Shu Yin warned, covering his mouth with her hand. She thought for a long time before finally threatening, “Otherwise, I’ll sell all the dirt I have on you to the paparazzi.”

Pei Yu raised an eyebrow, completely unfazed. “Did you forget?”

Even with all the scandals in the world, he could simply flash their official marriage certificate.

“People would just think we’re a bickering couple.”

Chen Shu Yin glared at him, yanking away the last bit of blanket covering him.

Then, as if mirroring the video, she straddled him, grabbed his collar, and tightened it around his throat.

“You’re at my mercy now,” she declared. “I say one, you wouldn’t dare say two.”

Pei Yu spread his arms out, laughing freely.

He raised his hands in surrender, grinning. “I wouldn’t dare.”

For some reason, it felt like he was enjoying this.