The engagement was with the younger brother, but I've fallen for the older brother.

He Sichen pinched her chin, his thumb wedged into the hollow of her jawbone, forcing her to tilt her head back.

"Look at me."

Si Yimian was forced to meet his gaze.

Two pools of stagnant water lay beneath those eyes, and something was pushing upwards from beneath the surface, causing the edges of the pupils to tremble.

"Look at me and say it again."

Si Yimian didn't avoid his gaze, her voice rising from the depths of the water.

"I said, it's over, I'm tired of it."

After saying that, she immediately looked away.

He Sichen's fingers froze on her chin for a moment, then he released them.

A silence lingered between the two for about half a minute.

He suddenly chuckled.

"Si Yimian".

When he called her by her full name, he pronounced each word very clearly.

"You provoked me first."

"You seduced me, dragging someone who had lived a simple and abstinent life for thirty years into this absurd and rotten path."

"Are you tired of telling me this now?"

His breath brushed against her earlobe, his low voice filled with suppressed emotion.

"I thought you'd at least manage to pull off a decent ending when it comes to manipulating people's hearts."

"In the end, you started strong but finished weak."

"The beginning was so beautiful, but the ending was so sloppy."

"Do you think you deserved that royal flush you played at the start?"

Si Yimian pressed her lower back into the depths of the sofa, bent her knees, and pushed herself back with her hands on the cushions.

"Who's playing you...?"

"you."

He Sichen interrupted her.

"From beginning to end, it's all about you."

"You lured me, tempted me, dragged me from the shore into the water, and then you got out, leaving me to struggle alone in the water."

"You started playing games the day you moved into the apartment across the hall. You planned out exactly how you would win me over step by step."

"You're always in front of me, so much so that I can't see anyone else anymore."

"Your only miscalculation was that you didn't expect me to take it seriously."

Si Yimian raised her eyes and finally looked him in the eye. A glint of tears flashed in her pupils, but she forced them back.

"He Sichen, what I fear is foreign lands."

"It's because I lack confidence in myself, and I lack confidence in long-distance relationships."

What is the concept of a long-distance relationship? It's being separated by a twelve-hour time difference.

"When I want to act cute, you're sleeping; when you want to talk, I'm in class."

"When I'm sick, you're not there for me; when I cry, you can't even hand me a tissue."

"I don't feel secure in this relationship."

"I'm afraid of drowning in an uncertain relationship."

After saying the last sentence, she realized she couldn't breathe, and her nasal cavity felt sore as if someone had squeezed lemon juice into it.

He Sichen frowned slightly upon hearing this.

"How do you know being with me is like drowning?"

"You sentenced me without even trying?"

"You're clearly someone who can overcome any obstacle, so why can't you even take the first step with me?"

"Because you'll make me addicted."

Si Yimian spoke these words very quickly, as if she was afraid she wouldn't dare to speak if she was too slow.

Since things had come to this point, she simply spilled everything.

"If you touch me, I want more; if you're nice to me, I want everything."

"He Sichen, you're letting me try? And what happens after I try?"

"You are the eldest son of the He family and the heir to the Yu'an Group. From childhood to adulthood, all variables have been within your control."

"As for me? I'm studying in Boston for two years, and nobody knows what might happen in those two years."

"And you..."

She pursed her lips and paused.

"You're quite addicted to that kind of thing."

"How will you solve this problem, given that it's 11,000 kilometers apart?"

"You have plenty of people around you. What if one day you find long-distance relationships too troublesome and want to find someone else? What am I then?"

"The one who was substituted?"

After hearing this, He Sichen lowered his eyebrows slightly, amused by her absurd remarks.

"Change the player?"

He singled out those two words, as if he were talking about something incomprehensible.

"Si Yimian, if I could just make do, would I really want to be alone for thirty years?"

"I'm not short of people around me, but this door of mine has only been opened once in thirty years. Don't you know who it was opened to?"

"After you left, I lost my appetite. What other desires do you think I could possibly have?"

Si Yimian opened her lips, then closed them, but not a single word came out.

He Sichen continued, "I have no interest in procreation with anyone other than you."

"I don't have physiological reactions every time I meet someone. I used to think I was frigid."

"You ask me how to solve it?"

He suddenly lowered his head, his nose almost touching hers.

"My solution is to fly 11,000 kilometers to find you. Is that enough?"

Si Yimian's breath hitched. She turned her head away, avoiding his downcast gaze.

But the tips of her ears were already bright red.

Si Yimian: "..."

"Is that expression of yours pity for me or doubt?"

Si Yimian: "I'm digesting it."

He Sichen looked at her, and the dark fire in his eyes suddenly subsided for a moment.

"If you see me as an addiction, then I am."

His voice suddenly lowered, carrying a fierce, self-destructive tone, and landed above her ear, making her tremble.

"At worst, I'll drown with you."

Si Yimian's gaze snapped back from the side, her pupils dilating slightly.

She wanted to say something to smooth things over, but she couldn't utter a single word.

He Sichen suddenly straightened up and stepped back half a step from her.

He stood up straight, raised his hand, and unbuttoned his suit jacket.

His suit jacket was open, revealing a smoky gray shirt underneath.

He deftly slung his suit jacket off his shoulders and tossed it onto the single sofa beside him, his eyes never leaving her face the entire time.

Then he raised his right hand, hooked his index finger around the tie knot, and pulled it down.

His dark blue silk tie slipped off his collar, and he pulled it out and slowly wrapped it around his left palm.

"You used to say you wanted me, this hypocrite, to kneel down and be your dog."

As he spoke, he unbuttoned the top button of his shirt with one hand.

The collarbone was loose, and the shadow of the collarbone extended down into the depths of the shirt.

"I've taken the exam."

Si Yimian's mind went blank for a moment: "What certificate?"

"I'm a legal pet, please take me back."

Before she could even react to the answer, he had already knelt down.

The right knee of the suit trousers touches the ground first, followed by the left knee.

He knelt on the floor between her legs, but his upper body remained straight, his shoulders upright, and his chin slightly raised, his gaze meeting hers at almost the same level.

Even though he was kneeling, it was as if she was surrounded by him.

He Sichen extended his right hand, the other end of his tie hanging in mid-air, directly in the direction of her fingers.

"Does this look like a dog enough?"

Si Yimian took a deep breath, realizing she needed to reassess the man's mental state.

"He Sichen, do you know what you're doing right now?"

"Very clear."

His left hand, wrapped in a tie, rested on the edge of the sofa cushion, and he leaned forward slightly, casting her entirely into his shadow.

She was truly impressed that someone could exude such presence even while kneeling.

"But I won't give it away for nothing."

He grasped her wrist, which was hanging by her side, with his right hand, tucked the other end of his tie into her palm, closed her fingers, and squeezed it tightly.

Immediately afterwards, his right hand slid down to below her knees, his fingertips pushing upwards through the thin fabric of her skirt.

"I can make you cry even if I kneel down."