Dead silence.
The air seemed to be sucked out in an instant, leaving only Su Wan's own rapid and broken breathing echoing in the huge room. The palm that hit the tablet made her palm numb and shattered the last bit of her remaining rationality. The anger burned fiercely in her chest, burning away the fear, leaving only the determination to burn her boats.
Her red eyes stared at Helian Cheng, like two jumping, destructive flames. The broken screen was like her shaky situation at the moment, with cracks spreading and shocking.
Helian Cheng did not move at all.
He did not even blink because of the crisp sound and the flying small fragments. He just stood there quietly, his tall figure casting a heavy shadow in the city light and shadow coming through the floor-to-ceiling window, completely covering Su Wan. There was no expression on that face that was as perfect as a god. No surprise, no anger, not even a trace of displeasure at being disturbed.
There was only a bottomless calm. Like the dead sea before a storm.
This extreme calm was more frightening than any rage. After Su Wan's heart beat wildly, it suddenly sank into an icy cave. She realized belatedly what she had just done - she had personally broken the docile shell of "Mrs. He" and challenged the absolute authority of the owner of this cage.
Helian Cheng slowly lowered his eyes, his gaze fell on her hands that were trembling slightly due to the force, and then, very slowly, moved to her pale face covered with tears and anger. His eyes were like a cold probe, scanning her collapse, her resistance, and the shaky stubbornness deep in her eyes.
Time froze in the silent confrontation. Every second was like being tortured on the tip of a knife.
Finally, Helian Cheng moved.
He leaned forward slightly, his movements were elegant and slow, with the calmness of a cat examining its prey under its claws. The hand with distinct joints that had just forcibly covered her design draft was raised again, but the target was not her, but the tablet with a broken screen and a black screen.
His fingertips gently brushed the hideous cracks on the screen, with an almost morbid concentration and pity. Then, he easily took the tablet from Su Wan's stiff hands, as if it was just an insignificant toy.
"It seems," he said, his voice was low and smooth, without any emotion, but like a cold venomous snake wrapped around Su Wan's neck, "my Mrs. He has a bad temper."
His slender fingers casually pressed the side of the tablet, and the screen lit up faintly, reflecting the afterimage of the forcibly modified "Liuguang Island" design draft under the spider-web-like cracks. He lowered his eyes and looked at the broken picture with a dark look.
"Design?" He gently repeated the accusation that Su Wan had just roared, and the corners of his lips slowly raised a very shallow and cold arc, with a hint of playful mockery, "Su Wan, did you make a mistake?"
He raised his eyes and locked his gaze on her again. His eyes were like real ice, instantly freezing all of Su Wan's blood.
"From the moment you put on this ring," he swept his eyes across the heavy pigeon egg on her ring finger. His voice was not loud, but every word was like an ice cone, piercing Su Wan's eardrum and heart. "Everything about you, including your inspiration, your lines, your so-called 'design'... belongs only to me."
He paused, admiring the light in Su Wan's eyes that instantly shattered because of this sentence and the huge despair that rose.
"It's my stuff, how to put it, how to define it," he tilted his head slightly, his eyes were absolutely and unquestionably in control, "Naturally, I have the final say."
"Bang!"
A muffled sound.
The tablet computer, which was worth a lot of money and carried Su Wan's countless efforts and great humiliation at the moment, was thrown on the thick carpet by Helian Cheng like trash. The screen was completely extinguished, just like the faint flame of hope that had just ignited in Su Wan's heart, which was ruthlessly and completely extinguished.
Su Wan's body shook violently, as if all the bones had been taken away, and her face was as pale as paper. The flame of anger was extinguished, leaving only cold ashes and endless despair. She looked at him, at this handsome man like a devil, and for the first time she realized so clearly the horror of her situation - she not only lost her physical freedom, but also her soul was branded by him. Her talent, her dream, and the value of her existence became toys that he could knead at will.
A huge sense of powerlessness and overwhelming coldness swept over her, making her tremble uncontrollably and her teeth chattering.
Helian Cheng seemed very satisfied with her reaction at the moment. He took a step forward and completely closed the distance between them. The cold and refreshing fragrance on his body mixed with the strong masculine scent formed an invisible net that trapped Su Wan tightly.
He stretched out his hand, and his cold fingertips, with a creepy tenderness, gently wiped away the hot tears left in the corners of her eyes. His movements were very slow, and the touch of his fingertips was like the scales of a venomous snake sliding across the skin.
"This is right." His low voice sounded above her head, with an almost bewitching magnetism, but it was so cold that there was no trace of temperature, "Know your position, Mrs. He."
His fingers slowly slid down her wet cheek, and finally stopped on her fragile and trembling collarbone, gently stroking the delicate skin there. The cold touch made Su Wan's hair stand on end, and a huge fear seized her. She subconsciously wanted to retreat, but the cold desk behind her blocked all her retreat.
Helian Cheng's other hand was firmly supported on the edge of the desk on both sides of her body, completely imprisoning her in the narrow space between his body and the cold solid wood. He leaned over slightly, his warm breath brushed across her forehead, and his deep eyes were like a bottomless abyss, tightly locking her panicked pupils.
"Remember this feeling." His voice was very low, with a cruel tenderness, "Remember the price of your resistance."
His eyes lingered on her broken expression, and finally fixed on her lips that were trembling slightly due to fear and despair. He lowered his head, and his thin lips did not fall on her lips, but with a sense of almost obscenity, he gently imprinted on the corners of her wet eyes and kissed away the newly flowing, hot tears.
Cold lips, hot tears.
This strange touch made Su Wan stiffen instantly, and even the trembling stopped, leaving only the heart beating wildly in the chest, almost bursting out.
Helian Cheng stepped back slightly and stared closely at her distraught face, which was completely wet with tears. In his bottomless eyes, there seemed to be something extremely dark surging, which eventually settled into an almost satisfied appreciation.
He stretched out his fingers and used his knuckles to scrape her wet cheek very slowly with a numbing intimacy.
Then, his low voice, with a hoarse, almost sigh-like pleasure, clearly broke Su Wan's last bit of luck:
"But did I say..." His fingertips stayed on her slightly open, bloodless lips, his eyes dangerous and focused, "You look beautiful when you cry."
This sentence was like the last straw, completely crushing Su Wan's shaky mental dam. The huge humiliation, fear and a disgusting feeling of being treated as a toy and watched at will surged up, breaking all her strength. She could no longer control herself, her body trembled violently, and the hot tears flowed out like beads that had broken off the string, slid down her pale cheeks wildly, and hit Helian Cheng's fingers that were resting on her lips.
She cried silently, her shoulders shook violently, like a delicate doll that was completely destroyed and lost its soul, and could only let her tears vent her inner collapse.
Helian Cheng did not stop her, nor did he comfort her.
He just stood there quietly, his tall figure like an insurmountable iceberg, trapping her in a desperate place. He narrowed his eyes slightly, almost concentrating on appreciating her collapse, her tears, and her posture of being completely shattered under his control. In those deep eyes, her embarrassed figure was reflected, as if appreciating a piece of art that was finally tamed and in line with his heart.
He slowly raised the finger stained with her tears, put it in front of his eyes, and twisted the slightly wet touch with his fingertips, his eyes dark and unclear.
Just then——
A sudden and regular knock on the door broke the suffocating silence and silent crying in the room.
"Sir." Chen Mo's flat voice came through the heavy door, as clear as a set program, "There is something to report to you."
Helian Cheng's eyebrows moved slightly, and his eyes remained on Su Wan's tearful face, as if he was evaluating a work that was interrupted. After a few seconds, he slowly stood up, and the suffocating pressure that enveloped Su Wan slightly dissipated.
He took a last look at Su Wan, who was limp in front of the desk and only had the strength to cry silently, and his eyes returned to their usual unfathomable look.
"Come in." He turned around and walked to the center of the room, and there was no emotion in his voice.
The door was gently pushed open. Chen Mo walked in, his eyes quickly swept across the tablet with a broken screen on the carpet, and then swept across Su Wan, who looked miserable and still sobbing silently in front of the desk, without any extra expression on his face, as if everything in front of him had nothing to do with him. He walked straight to Helian Cheng, bowed slightly, and spoke in a low voice, but in this dead silent room, every word was clearly heard by Su Wan.
"Sir, Miss Lin Xiao just tried to call the police, accusing you of illegally detaining Miss Su. The call has been intercepted by the monitoring system. The police... our people have already informed in advance, and they will not accept it for the time being." Chen Mo's tone was calm, just stating an established fact, "In addition, Miss Lin seems to have contacted several media friends to try to expose the news, and the source of the news has been controlled by us."
Su Wan's crying stopped instantly.
She raised her head suddenly, with tears still on her face, and her eyes widened because of shock and deeper fear. Xiaoxiao! She actually called the police! And contacted the media! Oh my God... She will be... by Helian Cheng!
The huge panic was like a cold giant hand clenching her heart, making her almost unable to breathe. She looked at Helian Cheng's tall and indifferent back in horror, as if she saw the terrible consequences that Lin Xiao was about to face.
Helian Cheng turned his back to her and listened to Chen Mo's report without any expression. He was silent for a few seconds, and that short silence sounded like a verdict before being tortured to Su Wan.
Finally, he turned around slowly.
His cold eyes were like two real swords, piercing Su Wan, who was limp beside the desk, her face bloodless, and her eyes filled with endless fear. There was no anger in his eyes, only a kind of all-seeing, cold understanding and a trace of... control over everything.
He took long steps, one step at a time, with invisible heavy pressure, and walked towards her again. The footsteps hit the expensive carpet and Su Wan's nerves on the verge of collapse.
He stopped in front of her, leaned over slightly, and the shadow swallowed her completely again. His fingers pinched her small chin with irresistible force, forcing her to raise her head and face the bottomless cold pool in his eyes.
"It seems," Helian Cheng's voice was as low as a whisper from hell, with a hint of cold sarcasm, "your friend, like you... is not very smart."
He pressed hard with his fingertips, leaving a clear mark on her cold jaw skin.
"Su Wan," he stared at her pupils that kept shrinking due to fear, and clearly announced a deeper confinement word by word, "you don't seem to understand what the price of the game is."
He let go of her chin, his eyes swept across her tear-stained cheeks, and finally fell on the heavy diamond ring.
"Since you still care about others..." He stood up, his tone restored to the calmness of controlling everything, but it was more desperate than any threat, "Starting tomorrow, your studio project will be suspended. All external contacts will be cut off."
He tilted his head slightly and gave an order to Chen Mo, who was standing beside him like a shadow. His voice was not loud, but it was enough to make Su Wan feel like she was falling into an ice cave:
"Chen Mo, give Miss Lin a 'gift'. Let her know what it costs to disturb Mrs. He's peace."