CHAPTER 147: CHAPTER 147; IF YOU INSIST...

When the last door shut, Yueyao lifted her face fully to meet his gaze. Her lips curved, not into a smile, but into something sharper, "Now it’s only us in here, what do you think?"

Her voice was steady, unyielding, and for the first time, Jin Shuren realized the woman who had once clung to him like a fragile shadow was gone. What remained was something far more dangerous, someone who would not beg, but claim.

And she had chosen to claim him.

"Do you know who I am?" He curiously queried eying her.

"You are Jin Shuren, my husband, who else can you be? Are you doubting me?" She warmly eyed him as her hands sneaked around his body.

Jin Shuren’s gaze deepened, searching her face for any trace of hesitation, of the fragile woman he had once known. But what stared back at him was certainty that was so unyielding, consuming, and dangerously serene.

Her hands tightened around his waist, and the warmth of her touch was no longer timid, it was claiming. "You think I don’t know you?" Yueyao’s lips curved faintly. "Even if I lost every memory of the world, my body would still remember you. My soul has nowhere else to belong."

For a man who had built empires on control, the words should have unsettled him. Instead, something darker stirred within his chest, a resonance that both thrilled and unnerved him.

"Yueyao," he said slowly, voice low as if testing her resolve, "do you understand what it means... to be mine? Truly mine?"

Her eyes flickered, not with fear, but with something sharper, devotion laced with an edge that bordered on obsession. She leaned closer, her breath ghosting against his jaw. "I already am. I always was. The only difference is..." She tilted her head, smiling faintly. "Now I’ll never let you go, after all, we are a married couple.."

The air between them thickened, heavy with something the room itself seemed to hold its breath for.

Outside the chamber, the guards shifted uneasily at the silence, sensing the shift in the air, but none dared intrude.

Inside, Jin Shuren let his hand slide from the back of her head to her chin, tilting her face upward until her gleaming eyes locked with his. For a moment, neither spoke and they just gazed into each other’s eyes.

Then, with a quiet laugh that sounded almost like surrender, he murmured, "Very well, Yueyao. If this is who you have become... then I would have to surrender..."

Her smile deepened, no longer fragile but sharp as a blade, as she whispered, "I have only you..." She whispered as her lips moved from his neck upward to his chin.

Her lips brushed against his chin, soft at first, then lingering with a warmth that threatened to burn through the last of his restraint.

Jin Shuren’s jaw tensed, his breath growing shallow as if one more heartbeat would tip them both into a place they could not return from.

But before that moment arrived, Yueyao drew back, slowly, and reluctantly while her lips curving into a faint, knowing smile. Her fingers slipped from his collar, her gaze still locked on him with a dangerous tenderness.

He exhaled, a sound half a growl and half relief, before gathering her closer against his chest.

One hand smoothed over her hair, coaxing, steadying, as though cradling something far more fragile than she allowed herself to be.

One of the maids walked in with a bowl of warm porridge.

"Who told you to get in! Don’t you have manners? And why did you hire such a beautiful young girl, aren’t I enough?" Her voice immediately turned icy as she picked up a pillow and roughly hauled it at her.

The maid froze in the doorway, porridge trembling in her hands. The pillow struck her shoulder with a dull thud, nearly knocking the bowl from her grasp.

"Forgive me, my lady!" the maid stammered, lowering her head so quickly her forehead nearly brushed the tray. Her knuckles whitened around the porcelain bowl. "It was the physician who instructed me... I only wished to serve." Her voice cracked, trembling on the edge of tears.

"Bring it here and leave."

Jin Shuren extended his hand, steady and commanding. The girl stepped forward, placed the bowl into his palm with shaking fingers, then scrambled out in a flurry of fear. The door shut with a muted thud, leaving only silence behind.

"You need to eat something light. You’ve only just woken up," he murmured, his tone gentler now, coaxing her as if she were something breakable.

But Yueyao’s gaze lingered on the closed door, her jaw tight. "She was beautiful," she said flatly, suspicion dripping from every syllable. "Do you surround yourself with them on purpose? Or am I just another face in your collection?"

Jin Shuren set the porridge aside untouched, his eyes locking on hers. "You truly think so little of me?" His voice carried no anger, only a dark, aching weight.

Her lips curved into a bitter smile. "A man like you... always surrounded, always worshipped. Tell me, Jin Shuren, why should I believe I’m any different than the other women?"

He leaned forward, catching her chin between his fingers, forcing her to meet his gaze. "Because," he said, low and deliberate, "the moment you opened your eyes, I forgot the rest of the world existed."

Her breath hitched, the ice in her eyes wavering, but pride kept her from softening. She turned her face away, though not far enough to escape his touch.

"Eat," he urged, lifting the spoon as though he would feed her himself. "If you fall, Yueyao, I fall with you. Do you still not understand?"

Her lashes lowered, shadowing the storm in her eyes. For a long moment, she didn’t move, didn’t breathe, only stared at the steaming bowl between them as if it were an insult instead of care.

Then, slowly, she opened her mouth, not in surrender, but in challenge.

"If you insist," she murmured.