It was the third year of my brother’s cruel obsession with the scholarship girl. And her brother had finally come for him. The man who stepped out of the sleek black luxury sedan was young, with a cold, chiseled face. The live comments scrolling across my vision went wild. 【OMG, RODRIGO… WE’VE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU.】 【You finally made it. Back with a vengeance.】 【These two psycho siblings are about to get what they deserve.】 【I’ve hated them for so long.】 【And so begins the epic revenge arc for our main characters.】 The comments were a victory parade. But as I looked at the man in the severe black suit standing before me, my own expression was… unnatural. Because my brother, Leo, learned his brand of coercive love from me. And three years ago, I was the one who had held this man captive. 1 I never thought I would see Rodrigo Vincent again. I certainly never imagined he was Iris Vincent’s brother. Three years ago, at the university’s opening ceremony, my brother saw student representative Iris Vincent and fell for her, hard. He became completely obsessed. But Iris didn’t like him at all. My brother, Leo, was used to getting his way. He was arrogant, reckless, and spoiled. When Iris rejected him, he used the fact that she was a poor orphan with no one to protect her to force her into a relationship. Of course, I tried to stop his tyrannical behavior. But Leo shut me down with a single sentence. “Phoebe, your little affair with that scholarship kid back in the day was the talk of the town, remember?” He sneered. “You bought him a car, a condo, threw money at him, and even hired guards to make sure he couldn’t escape.” “Mom, Dad, Grandpa, Grandma… they all tried to talk you out of it, but no one could control you.” He muttered under his breath, “I learned everything from you.” 2 As he spoke, something shifted. This was the same Leo who never shed a tear or begged for mercy, even when our father beat him as a child. But now, his eyes were suddenly red. “I’ll listen to you on anything else,” he said, his voice thick with emotion. “But not this, Phoebe. I’m really in love with her.” His hair was a stylish, chaotic mess, but the look on his face was one of rare, desperate sincerity. I looked at him and saw a ghost of myself. I, too, had once pursued a hopeless love for a man, so desperately that I resorted to every possible means to keep him. And in the end, I still couldn’t make him stay. He still escaped. Seeing the raw vulnerability on my brother’s face, I turned away. “You can keep her with you,” I said, my back to him. “But you are not to harm her in any other way. If you do, I’ll cut off every single one of your cards.” 3 What happened with Rodrigo Vincent all those years ago had indeed been a massive, ugly scandal. So ugly that to this day, no one dared to even mention his name in my presence. So, at this moment, watching him step out of a black Bugatti, I felt a surreal sense of dislocation, as if I were looking across a chasm of time. He wore a severe black suit, an expensive steel watch gleaming on his wrist. His assistant walked beside him, bowing slightly, guiding his path. He seemed taller, I thought. When I held him captive, it was right after our high school graduation. He was only eighteen then. Poor, thin, always in the same faded, threadbare button-down. He always kept his face turned away from me, a mask of cold indifference. He could go an entire day without meeting my eyes once. 4 “This is Ms. Phoebe Chen,” his assistant said, introducing me. The man’s eyelids fluttered, and he finally deigned to look at me. The instant my gaze met Rodrigo Vincent’s dark, fathomless eyes, a stream of white text scrolled rapidly across my vision— 【FUCK YES! I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS MOMENT.】 【The male lead is finally back.】 【And this time he’s not the beautiful, tragic boy he used to be. He’s a god-tier powerhouse.】 【No more humiliation, no more suffering. From now on, it’s all ruthless, satisfying revenge.】 【These two psycho siblings are the first pieces of cannon fodder he’s going to crush.】 【He’ll stomp them into the ground and rescue his sister. It’ll be easier than squashing two ants.】 【They bullied his sister for years.】 【I can’t WAIT to see them groveling.】 【Go get ‘em, Rodrigo. Make them pay.】 5 I stared at the intensely charged words scrolling past. …Male lead? Was that Rodrigo? For a moment, I wasn’t even surprised. His qualifications were perfect for any protagonist: an impeccably handsome face, a brilliant mind, a stoic and reserved personality. Even his difficult, impoverished background fit the trope. “Ms. Chen?” the assistant prompted again. I snapped back to the present, met with Rodrigo’s cold, impatient glare. I suppressed the turmoil inside me, looked him in the eye, and spoke with calm sincerity. “I will have Iris sent back to you tonight.” 6 His assistant, probably expecting a fight, seemed prepared with a list of arguments and conditions. My straightforward statement left him speechless. His words died in his throat. He glanced at me, bewildered, then instinctively turned to Rodrigo, who hadn't said a word. Time had certainly left its mark on Rodrigo Vincent. Dressed in black, his expression was unreadable, but every subtle movement radiated a powerful, mature masculinity. He was no longer the thin, trapped boy I had once kept locked away. “And what about the years of harm Leo inflicted on my sister?” Rodrigo finally spoke. His voice was low, with a magnetic timbre. “How do we settle that?” “However you see fit,” I replied instantly. “The Chen family will not protect him.” With that, I picked up my bag and started to leave. “I’ll have Iris returned to you on time tonight.” But his next words stopped me in my tracks. His voice echoed softly in the cavernous lobby. “And you?” he asked. “How do we settle the score for what you did to me?” 7 I never thought Rodrigo would bring it up so openly. It had been nearly five years. Seeing him again tonight, his eyes were full of nothing but coldness and the distance of a stranger. I had almost convinced myself he’d forgotten me. After all, he had despised me so much. After all, he had escaped from me in such a state of desperation. That had to have been the most humiliating period of his life. And yet, he was the one bringing it up. The glass window reflected the sharp, icy silhouette of the man behind me. He was leaning back in his chair, one leg crossed over the other. He wasn’t looking at me, but his words, spoken in a slow, deliberate drawl, had frozen me in place. The live comments probably didn’t know about my history with Rodrigo—that part of the story that deviated from the main plot. So, after he spoke, the screen was flooded with question marks. 【Who is she?】 【What did Rodrigo just say? Did I mishear…?】 【WTF did this cannon fodder bitch do to him?】 【It must have been bad if it needs a reckoning…】 【Cannon fodder needs to learn its place.】 【Wait… I don’t even remember this chick’s name. How is she connected to the male lead?】 8 “Settle it however you want,” I said, turning my head slightly to face him. I had taken advantage of his weakness back then. So now, if he wanted to make me pay, it was only right that I accept it. Besides, the comments made it perfectly clear. He was the hero, back for his revenge. I was just the cannon fodder he was meant to crush. I had no power to fight him. So I stood there, waiting for his retribution. But after I spoke, a frown creased his brow. For the first time, Rodrigo truly looked at me. In the dark pools of his eyes, I saw the reflection of my own impassive profile. “What does that mean?” he asked, the question almost reflexive. “It means that no matter how you decide to settle this, I will cooperate.” I paused, then added, “But please, leave the rest of my family out of it. Just my brother.” My expression faltered for a second. “Back then, everyone tried to stop me. It was my own stubbornness that made me keep you.” A sudden, cold smile touched Rodrigo’s lips. “Phoebe,” he asked, his voice dripping with ice, “what makes you think you’re in any position to negotiate with me?” He was right. I had no position, no leverage. I gave him one last, calm look, then turned to leave again. From behind me, Rodrigo called my name again, his voice sharp, trying to force me to stop. But I didn’t pause this time. As I pressed the down button for the elevator, I thought I saw a flicker of movement in the lobby behind me. Rodrigo Vincent, surging to his feet. 9 I didn’t hesitate. I got in my car and drove straight out of the city, toward the suburbs. Leo was dangerously attached to Iris. He kept her hidden away, guarded her like a hawk. He’d never even introduced her to his closest friends or family. He was terrified she’d run away. He had multiple safe houses, all for her. But no matter how cunning he was, he was still my little brother. I knew all of his hiding spots. That was why I could so confidently promise Rodrigo I’d have Iris back to him tonight. Because I knew that Leo was out of town for the next two days for a competition he couldn’t miss. And Iris wasn’t with him. 10 As I approached the cozy-looking villa in the suburbs, I paused, struck by the garden. The entire yard was filled with flowers. A stone path, illuminated by ground lights, led to the front door. I used my key to unlock the double bolts. Iris, sitting on the living room sofa, turned her head at the sound. Her expression was cool, but I saw a flash of surprise and eager hope in her eyes. The moment she saw it was me, that hope vanished, replaced by a chilling disappointment. Before I could get a better look, she had already turned her head away. I closed the door and got straight to the point. “Pack your important things. You’re leaving with me.” Iris looked at me, confused. “…What are you talking about?” 11 “Your brother is back,” I told her. “He’s here to take you home.” Leo had tormented her for three years. Even the live comments knew she was desperate to escape his grasp. But at my words, Iris’s brow furrowed. There was no joy on her face, only confusion and distress. I heard her whisper, “Why so soon…” I didn’t catch the rest of it. When I leaned in to ask, she hugged her knees and turned away. “He locked all my documents in his safe.” Her posture was defensive. “I don’t know the combination.” She wouldn’t even say his name. “I might know Leo’s password.” But my words didn’t bring her any relief. Instead, the last bit of color drained from her face. “Come on,” I said. “Let’s go upstairs and try.” 12 We stood in front of the safe in the second-floor study. I typed in the date Leo and Iris first met. The safe beeped, signaling an error. I looked back at the silent Iris. “Your birthday?” She bit her lip, frowning, before slowly reciting the numbers. I typed them in one by one. After the sixth digit, there was a soft click. The safe door swung open. It was such a simple password. I looked at Iris, puzzled. “Have you never tried?” I gestured to the safe, which was sitting in plain sight. But there was no surprise on her face. She just lowered her gaze and changed the subject. “Why the rush? Aren’t you afraid of what he’ll do when he comes back and finds me gone?” I pulled her documents out of the safe. “Let’s go,” I said. “His rage is better than his death.” 13 I drove away from the villa with Iris in the back seat. As we were leaving, she stood in the yard for a long time, looking back at the house. “He tormented you for so long. Why would you be reluctant to leave?” I asked her. My question seemed to startle her. Her expression immediately became guarded. She quickly got into the car. A moment later, her muffled voice came from the back. “I’m not.” I watched her in the rearview mirror. Her departure felt both decisive and strangely hesitant. She’d even brought her phone. The screen kept lighting up with an endless stream of messages and notifications. She stared at it, her eyes fixed, but never picked it up. Instead, her fingers gently caressed the thin band of the watch on her wrist. When I stopped the car in front of the downtown skyscraper that now bore the Vincent family name, I turned around and apologized to her sincerely. “I’m sorry,” I said. “For everything my brother did to you these past years.” 14 The moment the words left my mouth, the live comments appeared. 【LMAO, the cannon fodder bitch is apologizing now?】 【Where was she when her psycho brother was torturing Iris for the past two years? Playing dead?】 【She knows the reckoning is here. Now she’s scared.】 【Serves her right.】 【But begging won’t save you, Phoebe.】 【You and your brother are both going down.】 The comments scrolled past, a chorus of gleeful anticipation. Remembering what triggered their appearance, my heart skipped a beat. I instinctively looked out the car window. And there he was. Standing under a streetlamp in front of the building. Rodrigo Vincent. Dressed only in a black shirt, leaning against the lamppost, his gaze fixed on us. He stood in the shadows, his expression obscured, but his stare felt tangible, pinning me in place. There was nothing more to say to Iris. “Your brother is over there, waiting for you,” I urged. Iris got out. The moment her door clicked shut, I drove away, leaving the glittering city block behind me. 15 About ten minutes later, my assistant called, his voice frantic. “I think Leo found out. He didn't even finish his competition. He's on his way back tonight. We can’t stop him. No one dares to try.” I glanced at the back seat, at the phone and watch lying there. The phone had been buzzing with messages and calls the entire ride. Its battery finally died, the screen going dark. “Let him come back,” I sighed. “Just stay with him. I’ll meet him at the airport when he lands.” At five o’clock that morning, I met a storm-faced Leo at the arrivals gate. His eyes were bloodshot. The first words out of his mouth were an accusation. “You sent her away?” “You need to understand, Leo. Iris is not your property.” I tried to reason with him. But he was too far gone, lashing out, looking for any way to hurt me back. “Property?” His eyes were wild. “Then what about you?” he roared. “When you locked that scholarship kid up, cut him off from the world, made him disappear from everyone's lives? Why the hell didn’t you know that he wasn’t your property?”
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