Qiao Chuchu felt suffocated and quickly turned her head away.

Pei Yuan and the others walked past her one by one.

Pei Youchuan blocked her path and teased her, “Say goodbye to brother, little Eight~”

She immediately rolled her eyes at him.

Pei Youchuan grabbed her face and, with a fake smile, said, “Say goodbye to brother!”

Qiao Chuchu mumbled, “... Good riddance.”

Pei Youchuan let go of her face, satisfied, and walked away.

Qiao Chuchu rubbed her sore face.
【Has Pei Youchuan reached the rebellious phase again, playing tricks on me?】

Pei Youchuan waved at her with a smile and turned to leave, disappearing from her sight.

Only Pei Che remained in the living room.

The noise from before had died down, and now everything felt unnervingly quiet.

She felt her social anxiety creeping up again.

Among her brothers, Pei Che was the most taciturn.

Back then, she never felt awkward when she was with her second brother.

But now, because of all the foolish things she had done, she felt the air was heavy with tension being with a quiet person like him.

Qiao Chuchu looked at the empty courtyard and awkwardly spoke, “Uh… Second brother.”

Pei Che was absorbed in his phone, ignoring her completely.

She scratched her head, “I think you don’t want to be with me either. About the meeting earlier… I think we should rethink things. I’ll just leave now.”

【After all, there’s no place left for me in this home.】

Pei Che paused as his thumb scrolled on the phone. “Stop.”

Qiao Chuchu froze, confused, and turned back.

Pei Che was sitting on the sofa, his long legs crossed, his eyes dark like an unfathomable abyss. “Go back to your room.”

Qiao Chuchu was surprised, awkwardly laughing. “Uh… There’s no need, second brother. I know you all don’t like me, and I know I’ve done a lot of wrong things. I think we should keep a certain distance—”

“Go. Back. To. Your. Room.” Pei Che put down his phone and ordered her directly.

Qiao Chuchu frowned, feeling something wasn’t right.

Pei Che’s gaze on her was dangerous.

But she still tried to reason, “Second brother, I know I scared you all earlier. I can assure you I won’t cause trouble again! I really don’t feel at home here anymore. I don’t want to stay, it feels strange living with you all, it might even invade your privacy.”

Pei Che’s expression darkened instantly.

Qiao Chuchu quickly surrendered. “I’ll go upstairs now.”

Pei Che put his phone away and expressionlessly followed behind her.

Qiao Chuchu glanced back at him, a chill running down her spine, and quickened her pace.

Pei Che walked calmly behind her.

Excluding his cold, handsome face, his movements made him seem like a creepy ghost.

Qiao Chuchu’s palms were sweating, not knowing what he intended to do.

She almost tripped on the stairs, nearly falling, and fearfully turned back to look at him.

The living room light spilled faintly into the corridor, and Pei Che stood at the edge of the light and shadow, looking up at her.

Her fear intensified, and she stumbled into her room, quickly locking the door without hesitation!

Pei Che, hands in his pockets, with a distinct wrist scar from cutting himself, which was hidden by his pocket, climbed the stairs leisurely.

Qiao Chuchu listened to his footsteps, her palms slick with cold sweat.

She was afraid of second brother.

Pei Che was the epitome of a male lead.

Cold, few words, with perfect proportions.

He was the kind of man who could be described as beautiful. He had a soft, delicate face with narrow, cat-like eyes and pale skin, making the tear mole under his eye very prominent. His lips were sculpted, with the corners slightly curving upward.

He had this smile, yet when he wasn’t smiling, it made people feel eerie.

His actions were always meticulous, ruthless, and efficient.

But she always felt that beneath Pei Che’s calmness lay a deep, obsessive madness.

Pei Che had once been a cardiothoracic surgeon, highly skilled in his work, but for some unknown reason, he had stopped performing surgeries in the past two years and moved into medical investments.

The reason she found Pei Che scary was that, before their falling out, she had once asked him why he chose to become a doctor.

At that time, Pei Che was still a teenager, and he looked at her with a very calm gaze.

— “I like the heart because it controls a person’s life and death. I can watch a heart struggle to beat in order to survive. I can help it, or I can destroy it.”

Though he said that, Pei Che had never failed. He stood his ground, made a name for himself, and became the elite doctor that family members scrambled to hire.

Even after all these years, she still remembered the chills that ran down her spine when she heard that answer.

Suddenly, the doorknob to her room twisted halfway.

Qiao Chuchu looked terrified at the door.

The man outside tried turning the knob twice but couldn’t open it.

Qiao Chuchu felt like she couldn’t breathe, biting her lip and remaining silent.

Soon, the noise outside stopped.

She let out a sigh of relief.

But then, the sound of keys clinking echoed outside.

The lock turned.

With a loud "click," the door was unlocked.

The door slowly creaked open.

Qiao Chuchu took a few steps back in terror!

Pei Che walked in with his usual calm expression. “Did you forget that your door can’t be locked from the inside?”

As he spoke, he calmly put his keys away.

Qiao Chuchu noticed something.

Pei Che’s car keys… were attached to her room’s key.

It had been seven years.

Her room's key had always been with his car keys.

【…How did I forget? My brothers have only one step left to fully darken. They’ve already become invisible, sickly yanderes.】

Qiao Chuchu’s palms were sweating as she lowered her head. “Uh… I guess I forgot.”

She forced a casual smile and looked around her room. “Nothing’s changed in here.”

The room was filled with things she left behind seven years ago.

She ran her fingers across the desk, and a thick layer of dust was left behind.

The dust almost covered her fingerprints.

It wasn’t hard to guess; after she was driven out, no one had come to clean this room, no one had cared for it.

She awkwardly wiped away the dust. “This room hasn’t been cleaned, it’s not suitable for living. I think it would be better for me to stay elsewhere, after all, it’s been so many years.”

Pei Che let out a cold laugh. “No.”

Qiao Chuchu expected this and continued to plead, “There’s no reason not to. I won’t try to kill myself again, I won’t cause trouble again, I—”

Pei Che’s voice grew colder. “Qiao Chuchu, don’t overstep.”

Qiao Chuchu was stunned. “What?”

Just as she turned around, the lights in the room suddenly went out.

Qiao Chuchu reached for her phone, but then she remembered she had left it in the living room.

The door was blocked by Pei Che.

The light from outside the door shone in, a faint glow, but it was hard to see clearly.

She could only see Pei Che’s dark eyes reflecting the fragmented light, like a network of blazing flames engulfing her.

She felt suffocated, trapped within it.

Pei Che stood in the shadows, half of his cold, sculpted face illuminated by the harsh light, completely emotionless.

“Why do you come and go as you please?”

Pei Che’s voice was like a sharp bone-saw, calmly scraping against every inch of her body.

“You think you can treat this house however you want?”