Chapter 3: Accept My Fate

But our peaceful days didn’t last long…

Running into Zhang Hao again didn’t surprise me in the slightest. Once a man like him decided he wanted to find someone, he was like industrial-strength glue — there was no getting rid of him.

With a cigarette in one hand and the other braced against the door, he casually walked straight into my tiny apartment as if he owned the place.

His eyes swept over the traces of Xiao Jiu’s life scattered around the room: the matching cups, the pair of men’s slippers by the door, the apron hanging in the kitchen…

The corner of his mouth lifted.

“Xiao An. I’ve missed you.”

I pointed toward the door.

“Get out.”

Zhang Hao laughed.

“Still as hot-tempered as ever.”

He took another step toward me.

I immediately backed away.

We were so close that I felt sick—not because of the cigarette smoke, but because of the man himself.

Without hesitation, I sank my teeth into his hand and didn’t let go until blood welled up.

He merely glanced at the wound before smiling.

That smile sent a chill down my spine.

“Still feisty.”

I forced down the nausea rising in my stomach.

“I paid back every penny of the five hundred yuan from back then, with interest, a long time ago. I never missed a single payment for my mother’s medical expenses, either. So what the hell are you doing here?”

Zhang Hao’s expression immediately turned cold.

“If I didn’t come looking for you, my Xiao An might run away again.”

I felt nothing but disgust.

His arm was covered in a mess of tattoos—a black snake coiled around a thorny rose in vivid red.

He’d gotten that tattoo on my eighteenth birthday.

Every time I saw it, I felt sick.

Maybe the disgust on my face was too obvious, because he lowered his head and spoke in a soft voice that was somehow cold enough to freeze my blood.

“It’s Mom’s birthday next month. Remember to come home. Don’t make me wait too long.”

I stared at him coldly.

“I will never forgive you. Get out of my house.”

Zhang Hao was silent for a few seconds before he laughed.

“Xiao An. Wherever I am, that’s where your home is.”

I wanted nothing more than to hurl the chair straight at his face.

Unfortunately, before I could do anything, the suffocating atmosphere he’d created had already made it hard to breathe.

Click.

The sound of a key turning in the lock came from outside.

I turned toward the door almost instantly, like a drowning person spotting a lifeline.

The door opened.

Xiao Jiu stood there, holding a bag of my favorite roast duck.

He froze in the doorway, his clear eyes as innocent as ever.

Zhang Hao glanced at him, then at me.

The corner of his lips curled upward.

“I’ll wait for you.”

With that, he turned and walked away.

Only after the door closed did I finally let out a breath.

My legs went weak.

Xiao Jiu immediately came over.

“Sis?”

I didn’t say a word.

I simply rushed into his arms and held him tightly.

As if every extra second I spent holding him meant one more second of feeling safe.

Xiao Jiu froze, both hands hovering awkwardly in the air because he didn’t know where to put them.

“Sis… what’s wrong?”

I buried my face against his shoulder.

“Just hold me for a while. Tighter. Don’t let go.”

Hearing that, he obediently wrapped his arms around me.

The familiar, clean scent of his body slowly calmed my racing heart.

After a while, I finally lifted my head.

I looked at his unfairly handsome face, then at the bag of roast duck in his hand, and somehow my mood instantly improved.

I pointed toward the bathroom.

“Go take a shower.”

Xiao Jiu looked confused.

“Huh?”

I deliberately teased him.

“Look at you. You’re covered in dust. Go shower, then come out and eat.”

Xiao Jiu looked down at himself and finally noticed the construction-site dust covering his clothes.

His ears immediately turned red.

“Yes!”

Then he hugged the bag of roast duck and ran straight into the kitchen, as if he were afraid I’d get hungry.

I watched him go and couldn’t help laughing.

Most people came home from work thinking about resting.

This idiot’s first thought was always buying the food I liked.

Seriously…

He was hopelessly stupid.

Xiao Jiu didn’t ask me anything about Zhang Hao.

I didn’t say anything, and he didn’t press.

But the arms around me seemed to tighten just a little, as if he were afraid I’d disappear at any moment.

I lightly bit the back of his hand and deliberately joked, “Haven’t you eaten yet? You’re hugging me without even putting any strength into it.”

Xiao Jiu lowered his head and kissed my hair.

“Just don’t cry later.”

I leaned against him and closed my eyes.

But the old, painful memories still came rushing back…

Zhang Hao was my foster brother.

And he’d hated me for a very long time.

When I was little, I was always trying to win his approval.

All I got in return were cruel pranks.

He’d stuff cockroaches, dead mice, even snakes into my blankets.

He once locked me in a pitch-black basement and stood outside the door laughing.

“Why are you crying? Dad’s still down there with you.”

My father’s ashes were kept in that basement.

One time, I finally couldn’t take it anymore.

“Why do you always treat me like this?”

He squeezed my throat and answered coldly.

“Because people hated you from the moment you were born. Nobody likes you. Nobody’s going to help you, either. You’d better learn to accept your fate.”

For a while, bullying me was his favorite form of entertainment.

Every time he saw me frightened or crying, he looked almost delighted.

But eventually, I understood something.

Crying was useless.

Begging was useless.

So I started fighting back.

Even though every time I resisted, he’d beat me until my face was covered in bruises.

At least I stopped crying.

Once, he pressed the glowing end of a cigarette against the palm of my hand.

When he saw me gritting my teeth and enduring the pain, disappointment flashed across his face.

“Why aren’t you crying anymore? This is boring.”

His eyes darkened.

Cold and shadowy, like a snake silently watching its prey.

Then, after a moment, he suddenly smiled.

“Xiao An is all grown up.”

Back then, I didn’t understand what he meant.

All I knew was that after that day, his cruel pranks suddenly became much less frequent.

But the feeling of being watched never went away.

It was as if there were always a pair of unseen eyes following me, wherever I went.