Chapter – 39
Guan Ruirui’s Nightmare
The Guan Residence.
Ever since that night when Guan Baocheng had gone berserk, smashing antiques in his own home worth a total of approximately 200 million yen, he had come to his senses completely broken, both physically and mentally.
Furthermore, because Jiang Yucheng had publicly declared at the banquet that “the Jiang and Guan families have no further relationship,” several companies that had been doing business with the Jiang family had successively terminated their contracts with the Guan Corporation over the past two days.
Guan Baocheng fell ill and took to his bed.
Bai Shuqin had collapsed even earlier, falling ill the night they returned home from the banquet.
With two adults in the household simultaneously bedridden, Guan Qishen had no choice but to temporarily take over the company’s operations, his days a frantic whirlwind. But then yesterday, shortly after leaving the office, he was involved in a traffic accident, fracturing his arm.
Even more wretched than the plight of these three was Guan Ruirui.
For two days, she had been trapped in the same recurring nightmare.
A dark, overcast sky.
The rooftop of a school building, desolate like ruins.
A girl, her lower body stained with blood, gazed at her with eyes full of despair and supplication.
The last image burned into her mind was the rooftop’s iron door she had frantically slammed shut.
She could still hear the girl’s mournful, sorrowful voice echoing in her ears.
“Help me… please, help me…”
The voice seemed to be whispered right beside her.
Guan Ruirui’s eyes snapped open with a start.
And then she saw that girl, her lower body soaked in blood, sitting right beside her bed.
Her eyes were filled with bloody tears, staring fixedly at her…
“Ahhhhhh!!!”
Guan Ruirui’s scream echoed through the Guan family villa in the dead of night.
Soon, the door opened, and Bai Shuqin, pushing through her own illness, rushed in.
“Ruirui… Ruirui, what’s wrong? Did you have a bad dream?”
Guan Ruirui threw herself into her mother’s embrace, sobbing uncontrollably.
Bai Shuqin comforted her daughter, her voice filled with tenderness.
“Ruirui, don’t be afraid. Tell Mommy. You had a dream?”
Guan Ruirui nodded through her tears.
Bai Shuqin gently pushed her away from the embrace and asked softly,
“Then, was it… me in your dream?”
The moment Guan Ruirui looked up, Bai Shuqin’s figure transformed—into the girl with blood streaming from her eyes and a deathly pale face.
“Ahhhhh!!!”
Another scream reverberated through the mansion.
Guan Baocheng hurried in next, but as Guan Ruirui wept and tried to explain, his form too morphed into that girl.
Guan Ruirui felt like she was going mad.
A dream within a dream, recurring for two days straight.
Her spirit was completely shattered, unable to distinguish between reality and the nightmare.
Finally, even when awake and seeing Bai Shuqin, she would instinctively grab something and throw it at her.
Too terrified to stay in the house any longer, Guan Ruirui hastily changed clothes and fled the villa.
She didn’t notice.
Behind her, the villa was shrouded in dark clouds; even though the midsummer sun shone brilliantly, not a single ray of light penetrated the Guan residence.
Furthermore, she didn’t notice the shadowy black aura clinging to her back, spreading a trail of dark miasma everywhere she walked.
…
Meanwhile, elsewhere.
Pei Yuancheng, having been coldly dismissed by Jiang Xuxu, returned home with a dark expression.
Just as he stepped out of his car, a figure suddenly lunged at him.
Eyes bloodshot and red, dark bags hanging low, complexion sallow and wan—a visage like a vengeful ghost.
For a moment, Pei Yuancheng truly wondered if he was seeing a waking nightmare and instinctively pushed the person away.
But then he heard a familiar, distressed voice.
“Brother Pei!”
Upon closer look, it was Guan Ruirui.
She looked utterly wretched, as if she hadn’t slept for two or three days, with no trace left of the former little princess of the Guan family.
Pei Yuancheng couldn’t help but frown.
“You… how did you end up like this?”
Guan Ruirui was exhausted, both mentally and physically. Hearing his words, she immediately started sobbing again and threw herself against his chest.
“Brother Pei, I’ve been having nothing but nightmares for two days straight… I can’t take it anymore, wuwu…”
Pei Yuancheng looked down at her with annoyance.
Before reuniting with Jiang Xuxu, he had believed he had made the best choice.
But now, seeing Xuxu again, he acutely felt that Guan Ruirui didn’t surpass her in any aspect.
Appearance, personality, or even the sole advantage of family background.
Pei Yuancheng thought.
—Perhaps it was time to completely cut ties with Guan Ruirui.
Initially, he had believed that if he simply showed Jiang Xuxu how significant his presence was, she would quickly become his girlfriend.
But her attitude today made him realize that notion was nothing but wishful thinking.
Words alone weren’t enough.
He needed to prove it with action.
The first step of that—was breaking things off with Ruirui.
Even though she desperately poured out her nightmare woes, her words were disjointed and made no sense to Pei Yuancheng.
Only the impression of a “spoiled, overindulged young lady” grew stronger.
Ultimately, he steeled his heart and pushed her away.
“Ruirui, stop crying. Get in the car first. Let’s talk somewhere else.”
It was too conspicuous in front of the villa.
Since he had decided to break up, he had no intention of letting her inside, nor did he want rumors about their relationship.
Guan Ruirui was solely preoccupied with her nightmares and didn’t notice Pei Yuancheng’s distant attitude, obediently getting into the car.
Yet she still clung to his arm, desperately holding on.
Pei Yuancheng felt disgusted inwardly but also a slight pang of guilt.
How heartbroken would this girl, who had eyes only for him, be if he dumped her?
But there was no other way.
He hardened his resolve, determined to at least make the breakup neat and proper.
“Ruirui, actually, even if you hadn’t come, I was planning to go see you.”
Guan Ruirui lifted her face with its panda-like dark circles.
“Brother Pei… you really were thinking of me after all.”
Pei Yuancheng looked at those dark circles under her eyes and couldn’t help but turn his face away. He cleared his throat and tried to extract his arm from her grasp.
“I have something to say.”
Neither of them noticed.
The black aura emanating from Guan Ruirui’s body had coiled around Pei Yuancheng’s arm the moment she clung to him.
Even after letting go, that thread-like black aura remained entangled.
Guan Ruirui finally sensed his unusual demeanor.
She asked anxiously.
“Brother Pei… what do you want to say?”
Pei Yuancheng let out a deep sigh and declared.
“Ruirui… we’re not right for each other.”
No sooner had the words fallen.
The driver in the front seat suddenly let out a scream.
The two instinctively looked forward—only to see an oncoming vehicle heading straight for them.
“CRASH!!”
The two cars collided violently.
The deafening sound instantly echoed throughout the street.
