At three years old, my brain was flooded with a wave of memories. My overbearing older brother, Leo, was one of the female protagonist’s simps. Ever since he met her, he’d completely neglected me, his little sister. After the nanny locked me in the dark closet for the nineteenth time, I squeezed through a doggy door and crawled to my next-door neighbor’s house. I deliberately showed him the bruises on my wrist, looking pitifully up at him. “Damien, my brother doesn’t want me anymore. Can you take me in?” My neighbor coughed, then the next day, he went to a parent-teacher conference. I narrowed my eyes, thinking, Now, my brother won’t be beyond saving. Because Damien, the villain, was a professional dog trainer, specializing in simps! 1 To avoid the future where my brother would empty his pockets for the female lead and drag me into a cramped, cheap apartment, I, with my limited three-year-old intellect, attempted a series of efforts. These included, but were not limited to, wailing uncontrollably when the female lead called him late at night, claiming she was scared alone, trying to keep him home. When the female lead had her period and stomach cramps, I deliberately spit up milk to make him change my clothes. When the female lead had her graduation performance, I practiced singing “My Brother is the Best” to move him… But I forgot. My family had nannies, while the female lead was an orphan. My brother just dumped me on the nanny to pacify me. Watching him become more and more utterly brainwashed, I made a solemn decision: I needed a new brother. So I chose the little brother from the mansion next door. He was a villain, and my brother’s sworn enemy. He would trip up the female lead’s simps. Cunning and devious. Just like a dog trainer! And he even had a Border Collie. Once, my brother bought fruit for the female lead and forgot me at the grocery store. Damien happened to be there. I pulled an apple from a nearby shelf and offered it to his Border Collie. In return, his dog carried me home. I wanted him to punish my brother. Yesterday was my third birthday. The nanny had specially dressed me in a princess dress, waiting for my brother to come home. But he went to watch a movie with the female lead instead. The nanny tried to comfort me, saying that once Olivia became my sister-in-law, I’d have two people to dote on me. But I knew she wouldn’t become my sister-in-law. The female lead was destined for the male lead! So, I decided to run away! To put some pressure on my simp brother. After nightfall, I successfully dodged the nanny, who was engrossed in a phone call in the bathroom, and squeezed through a dog hole in the garden wall. I clutched my little blanket, walking barefoot towards the neighboring mansion. Twenty minutes later, I stood at Damien’s doorstep. This mansion was even bigger than ours, but the lights were dim, giving it a cold, stark appearance. I took a deep breath, spread my little blanket on the front steps, and curled up to lie down. Just as I was about to drift off to sleep, I suddenly heard a dog barking and footsteps from inside. The door opened, and a slipper nearly hit my face. “What the?!” Damien’s voice cut off abruptly. I rubbed my eyes and sat up, meeting a pair of startled eyes. In the moonlight, his tall figure loomed over me. He was wearing a bathrobe, its collar slightly open, revealing his sculpted collarbones. “What are you doing here?” Damien asked, frowning. Before I could answer, a black and white blur shot out from beside his legs, leaping enthusiastically towards me. Pudding’s wet nose sniffed my face, his tail wagging so hard it looked like it might fly off. “Pudding!” Damien barked. “She’s not a kitten; you can’t keep her!” Pudding whimpered pitifully, but stubbornly rested his front paws on my shoulder, starting to lick my face clean. I giggled, seizing the opportunity to scramble up, directly hugging Damien’s leg. “Brother, carry me!” He stiffened, as if a pause button had been pressed. Pudding, seizing his chance, grabbed my collar with his teeth and started dragging me inside. “Hey! Stupid dog! Stop it!” Damien tried to intervene, but Pudding had already successfully dragged me into the entryway. I took the chance to release my collar, scrambling onto Damien’s body with both hands and feet. “Get down,” he said coldly. I shook my head, burying my face in his neck. “Autumn’s cold…” 2 Damien’s body stiffened even further, but he didn’t try to pull me off. Pudding excitedly circled him, occasionally nudging my feet with his head, as if saying, “Look at me! Look at me!” “Does Leo know you’re here?” he asked. I pouted, tears instantly welling up. “Brother doesn’t want Autumn anymore…” My sleeve slid down, inadvertently revealing the bruise on my wrist. Damien’s gaze immediately sharpened. He grabbed my wrist. “What is this?” I timidly shrank my neck. “Autumn hurts… Brother got angry…” In truth, I had gotten that bruise myself, crawling under a table to retrieve a ball. My brother had been furious when he returned, blaming the nanny for not watching me. The nanny had been neglectful; she was busy watching short videos. Damien’s face was terrifyingly grim. “Leo did this?” I didn’t answer. I just lowered my head, acting out the picture of utter grievance. Damien took a deep breath, seemingly trying to suppress his anger. Just then, Pudding came running, carrying his food bowl, placing it in front of me, then looking at Damien with expectant eyes. Damien looked at his dog, exasperated. “It’s 2 AM.” Pudding stubbornly stood still. I rubbed my stomach. “Autumn’s hungry.” Pudding immediately grabbed a piece of kibble, spit it by our feet, and wagged his tail even more enthusiastically. Damien rubbed his temples. “I’ll go warm some milk for you.” He pointed a warning finger at Pudding. “Don’t hide her in your dog bed.” Pudding tilted his head, wearing an innocent expression that clearly said, I have no idea what you’re talking about. Ten minutes later, Damien returned to the living room with two bowls of milk. Pudding immediately perked up, his tail thumping a cheerful rhythm on the floor. “Sit,” Damien commanded. Pudding instantly sat ramrod straight, front paws together, like a well-trained soldier. I blinked, then mimicked him, giving a tiny “Woof!” and sitting up straight. Damien’s hand froze mid-air, milk nearly spilling. “What are you doing?” “Eating etiquette, of course.” I tilted my head, mimicking Pudding’s expectant expression. “At home, Aunt Lisa always taught me this.” Damien’s brows furrowed. “She made you bark like a dog?” I nodded, recalling. “She said it was noble etiquette. One time, I didn’t bark, and she told my brother I was eating with my hands.” As I said this, I suddenly became sad. My brother had been so angry that day. At dinner, he deliberately put down his chopsticks, then grabbed a chicken leg and fed it to me with his oily hands. “My Autumn can eat however she wants.” My brother was kind to me, but he never had time to get me a new nanny. Only because Olivia said I was attached to this nanny, and I’d be shy with a new one. And later, he became busier and busier, never eating with me again. Damien placed the milk in front of Pudding and me, his face still grim. “That nanny is still working at your house?” “Mhm,” I sipped my milk. “Aunt Lisa also taught me how a pony drinks water. Do you want to see, brother?” His thumb gently traced the bruise on my wrist, his voice barely audible. “Leo, that bastard…” I finished my milk, then hesitated, raising my face. “Brother, my brother doesn’t want me anymore. Can you take me in? I eat very little.” In my dreams, Damien also had a little sister, but she was born with a congenital heart condition and later died prematurely due to neglect. He never had the chance to dote on her. After that, his parents divorced. Coincidentally, my parents also divorced. Theirs was a business marriage; after the divorce, neither wanted children, and they both went off to find true love. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been left with my brother. 3 Damien’s brows knitted together. He looked down at me, clinging tightly to his leg, then at Pudding, who was excitedly circling. A vein throbbed faintly on his temple. “I’m usually very busy,” he rubbed his forehead. “I don’t have time to look after a child.” I immediately held up three tiny fingers. “Autumn will be very good! She can eat by herself, sleep by herself, and play by herself!” Pudding seemed to understand our conversation. He suddenly trotted into the living room, grunting as he dragged his massive dog bed to my feet, then let out a proud “Woof!” his tail wagging like a propeller. Damien looked at him expressionlessly. “She’s not a kitten. She can’t sleep with you. You’ll crush her.” Pudding whimpered defiantly, nudging my hand with his wet nose, as if to say, No, I won’t. Finally, Damien let out a long sigh. “…If you don’t cause trouble, I can reluctantly keep you for a few days.” “Thank you, brother, thank you, Pudding~” I hugged Pudding and gave him a big kiss. Pudding was even more excited than me, grabbing my little blanket and running all over the house, until Damien’s gaze froze him in place. “Sleep.” Damien picked me up by the back of my nightgown, like a kitten, and carried me into the guest room. I obediently burrowed into the covers, watching him turn off the light and leave. The moment the door closed, the room plunged into darkness. The wall clock ticked, and outside the window, tree shadows swayed, casting monstrous shapes on the wall. I clutched the blanket tightly, finally unable to resist climbing out of bed. At the end of the hallway, a sliver of light peeked out from under Damien’s bedroom door. I gently pushed it open, seeing Damien leaning against the headboard, reading documents. The bedside lamp cast a warm shadow on his chiseled profile. Pudding immediately spotted me, wagging his tail happily as he ran over. “What now?” he asked without looking up. I fidgeted with the corner of the blanket, whispering, “…Autumn’s scared of the dark.” Damien finally looked up, seeing me trembling in the doorway. His expression softened slightly in the lamplight, but his tone was still firm. “Three years old and still scared of the dark?” “Aunt Lisa said if I don’t sleep, monsters will come and snatch me away at night!” I said, terrified. Damien stared at me for a full ten seconds, then frustratingly closed his file. “Come here.” My eyes lit up, and I scurried over, hugging my blanket. Pudding was even faster, already jumping onto the bed and claiming the best spot. “Not here.” Damien pointed to the long sofa in the corner. “You sleep there.” I obediently climbed onto the sofa, wrapping myself in the blanket like a silkworm cocoon. Pudding whimpered in dissatisfaction, but still jumped off the bed and lay on the carpet beside me, guarding me. Damien turned off the main light, leaving only a small nightlight on. I wanted to put some pressure on my brother, to make him care about me again. But I didn’t expect that after a whole day of running away, he hadn't even realized I was gone! He had gone on a business trip with Olivia. Damien sent someone to check, and Aunt Lisa, upon realizing I was missing, didn't tell my brother first. Instead, she panicked about being held responsible and fled! “Excellent,” Damien scoffed, looking utterly villainous like a character from a cartoon. “Is Sterling Group currently negotiating the Eastside real estate project?” Assistant Ben pushed up his glasses. “Signing tomorrow.” “By midnight tonight, I want that project to belong to the Reed family,” Damien said, throwing the broken pen into the trash. “I’ll pay double the penalty fee.” I was mentally counting on my fingers how much double would be when he suddenly picked me up and placed me on his desk. 4 His hands braced on either side of me, his eyes dangerously narrowed. “Little one, does your brother usually treat you like this?” Pudding eagerly pawed at the desk, barking. I seized the opportunity to use his paw as a handrail. “Brother is just… busy?” In truth, before he met Olivia, he used to take me to Disneyland and ride the Ferris wheel with me. On my second birthday, he even dressed up as a cartoon character to celebrate with me. Damien’s expression grew even more frightening. Three days later, a new card suddenly appeared in my small backpack. Damien was braiding my hair, his skills admittedly not the best, and casually said, “Leo’s lost a third project. The profits from it are in here.” “Wow!” I held up the shiny bank card. “How many cheese sticks can I buy?!” His hand froze. “…That’s the main point?” “Otherwise?” I tilted my head, looking at him. “Then… can I buy a Peppa Pig watch?” Damien choked. “At market price, you could buy the cheese stick factory directly and eat them for the rest of your life!” My mouth dropped open into an ‘O’! This was a dream come true! Damien wasn’t a big villain at all! He was Santa Claus! “Keep it safe.” Damien tucked the card back into my dinosaur-print backpack. “This is yours…” “My dowry!” I interjected, having just learned the phrase from a TV show. “Can I buy Pudding some chew toys?” Damien’s lips twitched. “…Suit yourself.” I suddenly pounced on him, giving him a big kiss. Damien instantly froze. He didn’t even react to me pulling his six-figure tie crooked. “Damien is the best brother!” I hung around his neck, swaying. “Better than my own brother!” The tips of his ears visibly reddened. He stiffly peeled me off, but then reached out and ruffled my hair. I spent three days playing wildly with Pudding at home, almost forgetting about kindergarten. It wasn’t until Damien came home from work and saw the neighbor picking up their son that he realized I had been skipping school for several days. He planned to take me to kindergarten. But I didn’t want to go. Early in the morning, Damien’s voice drifted from outside my bed. “Autumn, come out!” I burrowed further under the bed. From this angle, I could see his shiny leather shoes pacing irritably by the bed, having already turned seventeen times. “If you don’t come out in three minutes, today’s cheese sticks are canceled.” I covered my mouth. Despicable! Threatening a three-year-old with snacks! Pudding’s tail swept across my face. He tilted his head, his black, grape-like eyes conveying, “I told you hiding here was useless.” “Five, four, three…” As I scrambled out on all fours, I met Damien’s eyes as he knelt down. He was wearing a black shirt today, collar slightly open, looking exactly like the big bad wolf from a cartoon who eats children. “Reason,” he said, picking me up by the back of my pajamas. “Why aren’t you going to kindergarten?” I dangled in mid-air, kicking my legs. “…Tummy ache.” “Liar.” Damien narrowed his eyes. “Yesterday, you said you loved the plush bunny at kindergarten the most.” I pouted, and my nose suddenly stung. That plush bunny, named Snowball, had been cut to shreds by Ms. Harris, just because I said it was my only friend. Damien’s expression suddenly changed. He placed me on the bed, kneeling on one knee to meet my gaze. “Did someone bully you?” Pudding seized the chance to crawl out, his wet nose nudging my palm.
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