Qiao Chuchu wearily closed her eyes, her mind filled with a single thought.
【I absolutely cannot let this crazy person fall in love.】

Pei Buxian's tears fell in large droplets, his voice breaking as he said, “I won’t fall in love.”
Qiao Chuchu: “? What did you say?”
Pei Buxian released her, his eyes red and the tip of his nose slightly flushed, looking like a pitiful little deer.
He seemed like he wanted to say something, but he said nothing, dejectedly pushing her away. “Go ahead, I don’t want to see you right now, but you can’t leave this house.”
He dejectedly stood up, drew the curtains, and laid down on the bed, brooding in a way that resembled waiting for death.

Qiao Chuchu quietly watched him for a moment, then picked up the two photos on the floor. She walked into the hallway and compared the photo of herself with the West Highland Terrier.
In the photo, she was sitting on the sofa, tilting her head and smiling at the camera.
The West Highland Terrier mirrored her pose, also tilting its head at the camera.

Had Pei Buxian intentionally hidden her photo, or had he simply neglected to replace the original one?
Qiao Chuchu quietly opened Pei Buxian’s door and took the photo frame off the cabinet by the door.
She quickly opened it.
It was still two photos.
One was of the West Highland Terrier with Pei Buxian.
The other was of her and Pei Buxian.
The angles of both photos were identical.
Clearly, the photo of the West Highland Terrier had been deliberately placed to cover hers.

Qiao Chuchu absentmindedly flipped the photo over, noticing the neat handwriting of Pei Buxian on the back.
“I tried to love you the way you love me, but I couldn’t. I struggled in my heart for a long time, and when I looked back, I realized I had lost you, and you had lost me.”
“So I carefully weighed who’s more at a loss between us. Is it you, losing us seven wealthy brothers, or me, losing you? After considering, I think I’m the one who lost more.”
“Because I lost the sister who would dash into the men’s restroom with a stick to protect me.”

She was stunned, picking up the other photo of herself alone. There were also words on the back.
“My little fairy will never come back.”

Qiao Chuchu’s nose tingled, and she leaned against the wall, covering her face as she quietly sobbed.
After her adoptive mother passed away, they went through a long period of darkness.
Her mother’s inheritance had been taken away by her so-called grandparents.
The most ridiculous part was that her mother’s parents never loved her.
While her mother was alive, she had severed ties with them, built her own life from scratch, and even married a man who was willing to adopt her. She had no family—no father, no mother.

They all carried the surname Pei, her mother’s surname.
Even though her mother worked so hard to live and cut ties with her past, it didn’t stop her brothers and parents from taking everything after her death.
Because the law didn’t recognize the severed relationship.

Her mother’s family used every dirty trick to take all the property. At the same time, to shut people’s mouths, they arranged the best schools for the seven of them. Aside from that, they provided no support for their living conditions.
But she wasn’t included in that.
Because she was an adopted daughter, they didn’t want to take on the responsibility of caring for her.

It was only when her eldest brother made a scene that she got to study and attend an international academy with them.
Those days were the darkest days of her life.
They carried the prestigious surname, yet they were bullied by other members of the Pei family.
Every day after school, when they siblings gathered together, they would see new scars on each other, or brown stains from pranks on their pants.

If not for the eight of them, if not for them leaning on each other, she might have gone mad.
Pei Buxian, during his adolescence, was small and fragile, often being trapped in the boys' restroom, his pants pulled down. He tried to resist, but it was no use.
One day, she overheard this happening, and with a baseball bat, she rushed into the boys' restroom.
She ignored the boys who were using the bathroom, jumped up, and hit the bully with the bat, then grabbed Pei Buxian’s hand and led him away.
That day, Pei Buxian looked at her as if he had seen a deity.

Of course, her actions also attracted the bullies.
The next day, she was cornered in the storage room, her clothes ripped and pictures taken by a group of boys.
The seven brothers arrived at the scene and saw her, her clothes torn.
Soon after, one by one, members of the Pei family died mysteriously.
Within a year, the only heirs of the Pei family’s fortune were the eight of them.

Since then, no one dared to bully them. She stood at the center, with no adults around her, only her brothers.
Her brothers, who felt she had lost both parents, doted on her and indulged her, agreeing to whatever unreasonable demands she made, fearing they didn’t love her enough.
She was very happy.

Two years later, she became bound to the system, and under the system’s control, she personally destroyed their once-strong bond.
The system said each of her brothers felt hate for her.
A special kind of hate.
She knew because she also hated herself, hated being controlled by the system, and gradually becoming more skilled at it, shamelessly accepting it.

Qiao Chuchu looked at the photo of the West Highland Terrier: 【Pei Che was right, this is the only chance to repair our relationship.】
Pei Buxian opened his eyes from the bed.
【I have to find the West Highland Terrier!】
Pei Buxian: “?!”

He rushed out of the room and looked around, hearing the roar of an engine from outside.
Pei Buxian ran to the window and saw Qiao Chuchu riding a motorcycle, speeding away without a glance back.
He panicked: “I told her she couldn’t go outside! How could she leave?! And her hand is still injured!”

Pei Che quickly dressed and rushed to the underground garage to follow.
Meanwhile, Xia Xue Chun, flustered, was frantically searching the house for the dog: “Why is this house so big?! This is so annoying! Why is everything such a hassle for me?”

Her phone suddenly rang.
Irritated, she answered: “Hello? Mom?”
Her mother sounded cheerful: “Xue Chun, I just got home. I heard from Aunt Wang that she found a good job for you. Aunt Zhao just picked up a little dog on the roadside. She said it was going to be eaten, but she told me to eat it and get some nourishment. When you get home, we’ll celebrate. After all, there’s been so much going on lately; we need to wash off the bad luck.”

Xia Xue Chun couldn’t be bothered: “Fine, whatever, I’ll eat it, but—”
A dog?

Xia Xue Chun quickly asked: “Mom, does the dog have a photo?”
Her mother thought for a moment: “It’s probably a little white dog, very fluffy, looks like it came from a good family. It’s full of meat.”
Xia Xue Chun’s face changed. “Have Aunt Zhao send me a picture!”

Soon, the photo arrived.
The West Highland Terrier, once pure white, was now dirty and pitiful, sitting by the roadside with a cheap rope around its neck.
Xia Xue Chun was ecstatic: “Mom, don’t let them eat it! Tell Aunt Zhao this is the employer’s dog. I lost it!”
Her mother was shocked: “Oh, I’ll tell her, but Aunt Zhao is already preparing to kill it. Not sure if she’s done yet.”

Xia Xue Chun immediately hung up and rushed out.
Qiao Chuchu was speeding past the neighbor’s house on her motorcycle.
Lou Ting Si and Lou Yue Jue were standing at the door, directing movers.
Lou Yue Jue pointed at Qiao Chuchu’s back: “Dad, is that Qiao Chuchu?”
Lou Ting Si’s eyes lit up, and he quickly grabbed Lou Yue Jue: “It’s her. That motorcycle is hers. Follow her!”