Border Prisoner: The Mad Boss Seduces Her Every Night

The light shone down from the chandeliers on the warehouse ceiling, casting a dim, yellowish glow with the rusty color characteristic of old sheet metal.

The two were very close; she could see the curve of his eyelashes and smell his familiar, cool scent.

It felt exactly the same as when he appeared as Master Jia, but it was Xu Yuanjia's face.

The Black Hawk mask lay on the ground, its metal edges reflecting the light.

Shi Luyu's fingers were still suspended in mid-air before slowly lowering them to her sides.

Her expression was as calm as a still lake.

This is unlike any of my previous emotions—

She screamed when Jia Ye choked her and pushed her into the water, trembled when he locked her in a cage, and shook when she questioned him with a gun on the lotus platform of the Blackwater Temple.

I've cried, pleaded, and cursed.

But this time, she didn't tremble, didn't scream, and didn't shed tears.

"That night in my bathroom," she began, her voice neither loud nor soft. "You barged in wearing a mask. You forced me into the bathtub and forced me... to do that kind of thing. In desperation, I bit your hand."

She paused, looked at his arm, and slowly recalled the clues that had long been obvious.

"Later, you came to pick me up as Jiajia's brother, and you had the same teeth marks on your arm. You can switch between the two identities at any time and freely."

Xu Yuanjia sat in a folding chair, looking up at her. His fingers rested on his knees, his knuckles slightly curled.

He did not deny it.

"In the abandoned theater," Shi Luyu continued, "I pointed a gun at you and demanded you take off your mask. Xu Jia rushed in and took me away. Then you appeared in the courtyard with that mask."

"That person was someone you hired to act," she said, looking at him. "He was acting the whole time."

Xu Yuanjia's lips twitched slightly, as if in a smile, frank and approving. "Anything else?"

"The Buddhist temple halfway up the mountain—you almost killed me." Shi Luyu's voice softened slightly, but it was filled with a heavy pain that made it hard for her to breathe.

"But not long after, you reappeared as my childhood friend, saying you were Jiajia, the brother I grew up with. You changed his name and surname, and stole all my memories."

Xu Yuanjia raised an eyebrow slightly, his voice a little hoarse, as if he hadn't spoken for a while, his throat dry: "Steal?"

"Steal." Shi Luyu repeated the word, emphasizing it clearly. "You stole everything: his childhood, his identity, the way he taught me to use a camera, and the things he said to me."

"You did it so well because you spent a long time observing him, right? You watched him from the shadows, imitated him, and thought you could replace him."

Xu Yuanjia did not answer, but his silence was the answer.

She took half a step back, creating some distance. "What is your purpose in doing this?"

Xu Yuanjia finally moved, standing up from his chair and leaning slightly forward, like a beast just getting out of its den: "Purpose?"

"My dear, have you forgotten? Rainy Night Mountain Temple, you were the one who barged into my world first."

He looked into her eyes, his gaze deep. "It was you who mistook me, who had just killed someone, for your 'Brother Jiajia' on the tree-lined path."

"It's because you, my dear, appeared in my world so innocently and naively without my permission. What I see is mine." He smiled at the end, his eyes filled with a hint of danger.

Shi Luyu looked at him and suddenly felt that this person was a stranger.

That face was still the same face, the curve of her eyebrows and eyes, the height of her nose, the thinness of her lips, exactly the same as the face she saw every day.

But the tenderness and sincerity she thought she possessed were peeled away layer by layer, revealing the emptiness beneath.

"Who do you think tacitly approved of Xu Jia, that good-for-nothing, telling you the truth?" The corners of his mouth slowly curved into a smile, that usual lazy smile reappearing. "Brother doesn't want to continue playing the boring childhood sweetheart game anymore."

He took half a step forward.

"I want to stay obediently by my side. By Xu Yuanjia's side."

He lowered his voice.

"Doing this before would have been dangerous for you. Now, no one can stop me."

Shi Luyu watched his footsteps slowly approaching, and saw the arrogant and self-righteous look on his face, as if he were announcing a predetermined fact.

Her heart trembled.

But her surface remained completely still.

"Xu Yuanjia." She called him by his full name. Those two words, uttered from her lips, were like a nail driven into his heart, crisp and decisive. "I'm asking you."

She looked up and met his gaze.

"Did you plan from the very beginning to use your status, money, and power to deceive and manipulate me at will?"

She paused for a moment. "Please answer me."

Xu Yuanjia's smile slowly faded.

His lips were flattened, and the curve of his eyes was smoothed out. His whole face looked like a painting that had been wiped clean, revealing the colorless underpainting.

He looked at her, something churning in his eyes, but he didn't look away.

"...Yes," he said.

The word fell into the air like a stone hitting a deep well.

Something within his chest was crumbling when he uttered that single syllable of self-affirmation.

"Okay." She nodded. "Then I'll play this game with you and have fun."

"Now, we can stop."

She turned around and walked towards the warehouse door without hesitation. "Please return my parents to me unharmed. I believe that the noble Master Jia would not harm them."

Before her hand even touched the doorknob, her wrist was grabbed from behind.

His fingers gripped her wrist, not too hard, but the sense of control reminded her of many nights when her wrists were held down.

His voice came from behind her, languidly: "Why are you in such a hurry to leave, sweetie? The childhood sweetheart game is over, now it's your turn to play the role of Mrs. Xu—"

Shi Luyu abruptly pulled her hand back: "Did I ever give you a chance to tell me everything?!"

She turned around and slapped him across the face.

That sound was particularly crisp in the empty warehouse.

His face was slapped slightly to the side, but he didn't flinch or cover his face.

He slowly turned back, a red mark on the corner of his mouth, and a barely perceptible curve at the corner of his eye.

Shi Luyu stood there, her breathing heavier than before, her tone sharp:

"From day one. You wore masks, changed names, made up stories. Every time you had a chance to stop and tell me the truth. You didn't."

"You let an imposter play Jia Ye for you, and had Zhou Ji and Chai Ye handle things for you in public, making everyone treat me like a toy you've kept in a cage to play with."

She bravely approached him again: "All the tenderness and care you gave me were stolen from Xu Jia! Even the way you were nice to me was stolen."

Her voice began to tremble slightly, but she held it back. "Thank you for helping me so much. But thinking about it carefully, all the misfortunes I've encountered are because of you."

"I was choked and forced into the bathtub by you, threatened with dogs by you, thrown into a cage to face wild animals by you, and locked in a secret room to be toyed with by you! Because Jia Ye is you. It's you from beginning to end."

Her words resonated deeply:

"Once it starts with deception, all the warmth, all the affection, all the bittersweet experiences—all become meaningless."

"Between you and me, it's all a false illusion."

"What you give me only makes me feel disgusted." Her voice finally trembled, but her eyes never softened for a second.

Xu Yuanjia stood there, the red mark from her slap still visible on his cheek. He looked at her, remained silent for a moment, then slowly nudged his cheek, a gentle smile curving his lips.

That smile was exactly the same as his confident demeanor, but this time, the hidden emotions were different.

He took a cigarette out of his pocket, put it in his mouth, but didn't light it.

"So this is how strong the baby is when he's angry." His voice was a little hoarse.

"I should have confessed sooner."