Tainted Love

Chapter 3: Bloodstains

The three men, momentarily stunned, began inching toward Mu Xueran again.

"Take one more step, and I’ll die right in front of you!" she warned, pressing the bloodstained glass shard to her throat. The shard cut her delicate skin, leaving a visible line of blood.

Her earlier fragility was replaced by a cold resolve.

The men hesitated, their shocked eyes turning to Chu Lingfeng.

Chu Lingfeng stared coldly at Mu Xueran. Her dazed yet determined gaze was hauntingly familiar, giving him a sense of déjà vu. After a brief pause, he violently tossed the DV camera aside and spoke with irritation. “Get out, all of you!”

After a moment of stunned silence, the three men hurriedly nodded and scrambled out of the room.

“I don’t believe you’ll do it,” Chu Lingfeng said, taking slow, deliberate steps toward Mu Xueran. His dark, icy eyes bore into hers as he observed the blood trickling from her neck. “You’re bluffing. You don’t have the courage to die.”

Mu Xueran raised her head, her unwavering eyes meeting his frosty gaze. “If that’s what you think, then why did you send them away?”

The strikingly handsome man standing before her radiated a coldness that felt otherworldly. Stories of his cruelty were widely known, yet she had never imagined he would target her family. Destroying her family wasn’t enough for him—he now sought to humiliate her completely.

“Because I don’t want you to die,” Chu Lingfeng said with a chilling smile. “If you die, who will I torment? Who will repay Mu Tian’s debts?” His hand shot out, seizing her wrist with brutal strength.

The sharp pain from her hand forced her to loosen her grip on the glass shard, which fell to the ground and was crushed under his shoe.

“How much does my father owe you? Please, just let my mother go. I’ll work my whole life to pay you back if I have to,” she pleaded, her tone earnest yet unyielding. Her breathing grew heavy as the aphrodisiac’s effects mixed with her blood loss, causing her chest to rise and fall erratically.

“Money? Fine,” Chu Lingfeng replied mockingly. “Here’s your chance. If you can repay the $300 million your father owes me right now, I’ll release your mother. If not, you’ll pay with your body.”

“You…” Mu Xueran bit her lip. Her father’s company had collapsed overnight due to unforeseen troubles, leaving him and her brother to flee with the remaining funds. She and her mother, however, fell into the clutches of their largest creditor—Chu Lingfeng. She didn’t even have 300 yuan to her name, let alone $300 million.

“No money?” He sneered, his gaze running shamelessly over what little remained of her clothing. “Then behave yourself. Take off your clothes.”

“You’re threatening me?” Mu Xueran clutched her bloodied chest, glaring at Chu Lingfeng with a mixture of defiance and desperation. Her remaining dignity refused to comply.

Her frail body and flushed face, combined with the blood staining her delicate skin, only fueled Chu Lingfeng’s malicious intent. “If you won’t, I don’t mind doing it myself.”

He grabbed her weakened body and roughly tore away her blood-soaked bra, throwing it aside. She lacked the strength to resist his aggression.