“Uh… the clean clothes should be in the storage room.” Khanyi knew he had too many clothes, and a new maid might really not be able to distinguish how those towering wardrobes were categorized. If she had to check each wardrobe, it would probably take over an hour. “Or… I’ll help you look for them.”
“Then… thank you, Miss Gianna.”
“But, you have to take them to him.” Khanyi murmured as a supplement.
“Of course.” The tall brown-haired maid smiled cheerfully, seemingly unaware that this would be a dangerous task.
“Clean clothes…” Khanyi squatted down and opened the bottom cabinet. She remembered that the usual clothes were kept in this area. After searching for a long time, she couldn’t find what he wanted but instead came across some other garments. She simply rummaged through all the cabinets below but still didn’t find them. She began to expand her search, looking through the middle cabinets…
“Ross, your movements are really slow; I can’t wait any longer…” His slightly hoarse voice suddenly rang out above her head. Khanyi felt her head buzz, as if it were about to explode. She cautiously turned her head and saw him standing at the door. He hadn’t expected that the girl kneeling on the storage room floor, amidst a pile of clothes, was not the tall, beautiful, brown-haired Ross, but her.
He was also somewhat confused, standing at the door looking at her. She seemed to have heard something she shouldn’t have, like a rat trying to scurry away, clutching a pile of clothes and wanting to slip past him. However, she accidentally tripped over a pile of long boots, almost falling to the floor. She struggled to steady herself, picked up another pile of clothes from the ground, and squeezed past him. He glanced at the mess she had made in the storage room and then looked at her panicked retreating figure. She had clearly forgotten one thing: these clothes were originally meant for him.
This afternoon, her reaction in the storage room made him want to laugh. He exerted a lot of effort to suppress the smile on his face, but he had already laughed out loud several times in his heart. At midnight, during this special moment, he quietly walked down the stairs into the basement corridor.
To be honest, he was a bit jealous of that guy Philip. Why could his Eastern companion smile brightly while linking arms with him, while she always seemed like a prisoner, pushed along by him? Even though he had never compromised with anyone, no one had ever been named on his list. Despite her righteous refusal, before leaving tonight, he still wanted to see her one more time. He repeated the familiar lock-opening motion, gently turning the key, only to be surprised to find that the room door was not locked. He gently pushed open the iron door, and a smile immediately froze on his face.
Because she was sitting upright on the bed, her pair of pitch-black eyes staring at him in the dark.
It must have been his footsteps that weren’t light enough, waking her up. For a moment, he thought this, just as he was about to confidently speak, using the words he had prepared in advance to gloss over this sudden intrusion.
But she spoke first, cold and unfeeling, shattering his self-deceptive fantasies. This time her tone was somewhat agitated, “You don’t need to do this! No need to pretend! Even if you let that Jewish girl go, give her money to go home, I wouldn’t think of you as a philanthropist; you also don’t need to spend ten hours every night like a truck driver, shuttling between that city and this house; even less do you need to take me to listen to ‘Nessun dorma’ from ‘Turandot’ just because I’ve read Puccini’s script. You will never truly understand the meaning of that play…”
He pointed at her, his fingertip trembling slightly, and in two steps, reached the side of the bed, sternly shouting, “Enough! Stupid woman, are you looking for death?!” Without waiting for her to retort, the black figure lunged at her like a wolf pouncing on its prey, agilely and accurately pinning her down on the bed, his hands gripping her slender neck.
His hands tightened around her throat; her neck bones looked so fragile as if they would snap with a twist. Ignoring her pained expression, he gradually increased the pressure as if everything had fallen into a strange loop. He treated her well, but she not only didn’t appreciate it but also tried to provoke him. He abused her, and her silent resistance further enraged him, forcing him to torment her even more… He had been trying to change all of this, but she always led him to jump into the loop. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t escape.
She closed her eyes, tears streaming down her face. The grip on her throat made it hard for her to breathe. She had mentally prepared herself to face his brutality, but just when it was about to come, she still couldn’t help but shrink back, shivering in fear. Just like last night, after returning from the concert, she had deliberately provoked him. Just as he was about to conquer her, she had begged for mercy.
Suddenly, the hand gripping her throat loosened. His fingertips brushed against the warm tears on her cheek, then slowly slid down her tender face, gliding over her soft lips, caressing her jaw and neck. He left her, quietly exiting her room. Everything was so silent, as if he had never been there. The iron door to the basement was slightly ajar, and a sliver of warm yellow light seeped in from outside.
