My Gloomy Stepsister Has Her Eyes on Me - Chapter 14

Sunlight streamed through the window, casting unique golden patches across the canvas and bathing the red-robed woman seated on the high platform in an ethereal glow.

“That’s Zhen Zhu, isn’t it?”

The soft voice from behind startled Zhen Min’er, who had been lost in her own world. Her lips, which had been pressed into a flat line, curved back into their natural shape as she replied quietly, “Yes, it’s my Elder Sister.”

“You really like your Elder Sister, don’t you?”

“Mm… I do. Even though she often… I know she’s always looking out for me.”

“Mm, that’s true. Your Elder Sister is tough on the outside but soft on the inside,” He Hanmeng agreed.

“…Yes… Yesterday, my Elder Sister locked me in the bathroom. I thought she’d keep me there all day, but she let me out so quickly,” Zhen Min’er said softly, her voice trembling slightly, as if afraid.

“Oh?” He Hanmeng chuckled. “Why do I get the feeling you want me to dislike your Elder Sister?”

Zhen Min’er’s tearful eyes narrowed as she met the woman’s gentle smile, then quickly returned to normal. “Why would Master think that of me? I would never—”

“Then I must be mistaken,” He Hanmeng shrugged, raising an eyebrow. “Continue painting.”

“Didn’t you say you wanted to win an international award as soon as possible?”

Without waiting for Zhen Min’er’s reply, she turned and walked out, waving her hand over her shoulder. “Call me when you’re almost done. I have other things to attend to.”

Zhen Min’er watched her go, frowning. She didn’t like this so-called mentor, but for her elder sister…

She could see her sister’s true nature. Her fingers tightened around the paintbrush as she filled in the red dress with color. She knew how wonderful her sister was…

Would she try to take my sister away?

If only the world were like a novel, Zhen Min’er thought absently, dabbing a red mole on the woman’s neck in the painting. If only Elder Sister were an omega from those ABO stories my classmates used to talk about.

Yesterday, when I couldn’t resist biting her neck, I must have completely injected her with my pheromones. She’d be nervous around anyone else now…

She can only be with me.

A blush crept across Zhen Min’er’s face, her dewy eyes gleaming with infatuation. She gently touched the vivid red mole on her painted sister’s neck again.

One dot.

Two dots.

Three dots…

It was like the delicate skin she had licked inch by inch the night before, until she finally snapped out of her trance.

Yet no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t erase the marks.

Instead, under her fingertips, they only grew more vibrant and decadent, like the crushed flesh of a ripe fruit, its sweetness intensified, its taste irresistible.

The lingering scent of her Elder Sister seemed to cling to her lips and teeth.

Elder Sister smells so good.

I really want to…

The crimson mark on the woman’s nape in the painting was so intense it nearly bled through the paper, dominating the entire canvas.

I should cover it up. The mark from last night couldn’t be erased, but this one should be possible. Zhen Min’er picked up her brush, lightly dabbing black paint over the red.

The crimson darkened to a deep, muted red.

Like a birthmark that could never be erased, it stained the paper, imbuing the painted figure with an indelible allure.

I don’t want to cover it up anymore.

Zhen Min’er released the clips holding the painting in place and replaced it with a fresh sheet of white paper.

That painting belonged only to her.

Just like her Elder Sister… belonged only to her.

Her Elder Sister was the best person in the world, incomparable to anyone else.

Her Elder Sister should be with her forever.

Zhen Min’er traced her fingertip across the painted woman’s profile, murmuring to herself, “After all, I belong to my Elder Sister.”

“Confess and be spared!”

“Resist and face the consequences!”

One, delicate and playful, stood to the left; the other, alluring and seductive, to the right.

They pressed the cold beauty in the middle for answers.

Zhen Zhu frowned, her aura imposing. “I’ve already told you everything.”

“I don’t know.”

“Someone kissed and bit your neck!”

“And you don’t know?!”

Lin Zhi gasped, shaking Ba Xueyue’s arm wildly. “Oh my god! Look at Miss Zhen!”

“Spouting such obvious lies!”

“Hold still, hold still!” Ba Xueyue pressed down on her notebook, wrenched free of Lin Zhi’s grip, and scribbled furiously, her eyes fixed on Zhen Zhu with feverish excitement. “Go on, go on.”

“When did you first notice something was wrong? Any discomfort in your body? When did your neck start to ache?”

As she spoke, she scribbled notes without waiting for Zhen Zhu’s answers, her fingers flying across the page, listing possibilities: “Maybe you encountered some kind of ghost or monster.”

“And because it fell in love with you, it secretly crept into your bed. Afraid of disturbing you, it drugged you, daring only to leave the faintest of marks.”

“Prove your existence.”

“Ah!” Ba Xueyue exclaimed, growing increasingly excited as she spoke, completely lost in her own world. “Thrilling!”

“Alright, alright, I’ve got the title for my next book!”

“My neck is so stiff.”

“That’s it! That’s the name!”

Ba Xueyue asked eagerly, “What do you think of the title?”

“???” Lin Zhi stared in disbelief. “Wait, Ba Xueyue, I asked you to help me interrogate Miss Zhen! How did you suddenly start brainstorming ideas?”

Zhen Zhu was speechless. If these two hadn’t been childhood neighbors, she would never have associated with these two crazy women. “Are you done? If you’re done, I’m leaving!”

“No way!” Ignoring the writing nonsense, Lin Zhi grabbed Zhen Zhu’s wrist. “You have to tell me what’s going on, or I won’t be able to sleep!”

“What’s that got to do with me?” Zhen Zhu scoffed. “I don’t know either!”

Losing her composure, she glared coldly at the long-unseen acquaintance. “You really need to control your gossipy nature! Maybe it was just a mosquito bite!”

“Tu, you’re interrupting my massage. Hmph.”

Ba Xueyue’s pen froze mid-stroke as she stared at Zhen Zhu in shock.

Lin Zhi released her hand, equally stunned.

“What’s with the staring?!” Zhen Zhu bristled under their gazes.

“Hmm, it seems our Little Pearl Zhen is back,” Lin Zhi mused, stroking her chin thoughtfully. “It’s been ages since you’ve spoken to us so freely and acted so… affectionate.”

“Who’s being affectionate?!” Zhen Zhu shot to her feet, stomping her foot and snapping, “I’ve never been the type to act affectionate!”

“Mm…” Ba Xueyue tapped her cheek with the tip of her pen. “The tsundere side is showing too.”

Zhen Zhu, still fuming, was about to retort when Lin Zhi cut in.

“Zhen Zhu, you’re acting surprisingly normal today. I’ve been meaning to ask—what’s been going on with you these past few years? It feels like you’ve been shutting us out.”

“It’s like your world has shrunk to just Jining Lan,” Lin Zhi continued, her tone returning to normal, her expression puzzled.

“When you called me out today, I immediately sensed something was off. In all these years, you’ve never reached out to us unless we came to you. This time, you reaching out to me… it feels like the Zhen Zhu we used to know.”

“She’s still a bit cold, but she feels more human now.”

“Yeah, just as proud and tsundere as when we were kids.”

“Who’s being proud and tsundere?!” Zhen Zhu instinctively bristled at the remark, but then she suddenly remembered…

A previously hazy memory.

Zhen Zhu sat back down, frowning as she looked at her two friends. “Actually… something strange has been happening to me lately.”

“What is it?” Lin Zhi asked.

“Well, I had this dream…”

Zhen Zhu wanted to tell them that their world was a novel, that the events of the past few weeks—

“Watch out!”

A woman’s voice rang out from beyond the transparent glass. Zhen Zhu looked up and saw a car speeding toward the window.

Simultaneously, a childish voice urgently warned, “Host! You can’t say it, Host!”

Her pupils constricted. Zhen Zhu clamped her mouth shut, stood up, grabbed the hands of her two friends who were still sitting obediently, waiting for her story, yanked them out of their seats, and ran backward—

Boom!

A deafening roar and the shattering of glass.

Darkness enveloped Zhen Zhu as she fainted.

“Thank goodness, thank goodness,” Lin Zhi said, patting her chest in relief. “We really owe it to Miss Zhen’s quick thinking.”

“Can you believe some idiot left the car without putting on the brakes? And it was still in gear!”

“If Miss Zhen hadn’t seen it…”

“We’d be more than just a little scraped up.”

“Thank you, Miss Zhen!” Lin Zhi finished bandaging the scrapes on her arm from the ground, her peach-blossom eyes sparkling as she patted her excellent friend beside her.

“It’s nothing,” Zhen Zhu said, pressing her lips together as she looked at the white bandages on their arms. If it weren’t for her, Lin Zhi and Ba Xueyue wouldn’t have gone through any of this.

It was all her fault, yet she hadn’t suffered a single scratch.

Host, I forgot to warn you: you can’t reveal plot details from the novel to others. Doing so would alter the main storyline. Only you have this cheat ability. If unrelated characters learn about it…

The world’s consciousness will eliminate those supporting characters and extras.

Oh, and Host, I just asked the Main God—the world’s consciousness here revolves around the Main Lead.

If the Main Lead isn’t happy, the future will become increasingly unstable and problematic. It seems, Host, that you were given this opportunity…

Precisely because the Main Lead’s Happiness Value has dropped!

We need to act quickly! Otherwise, the world’s consciousness will become even more unstable, and this world will become even stranger! Ahhh!

“What’s wrong, Xiao Zhu’er?” Lin Zhi asked, puzzled by Zhen Zhu’s sudden silence. “Are you still nervous?”

“Why would something so trivial make me nervous?” Zhen Zhu scoffed, rising to her feet. “The massage isn’t even finished, and it’s getting late. I’m leaving.”

“Eh?!” Lin Zhi stared in disbelief. “Wait! So who left that red mark on the back of your neck?!”

“Forget about your transformation for now—you need to tell me this first!”

“Otherwise, I’ll die with my eyes wide open!”

Zhen Zhu paused, nearly tripping, and glared back angrily. “Pah! I’m not telling you!”

Even if I don’t know myself, this dog friend can just die with her eyes wide open! I shouldn’t have worried about her in the first place!

Watching Zhen Zhu’s increasingly hurried steps, Lin Zhi glanced at Ba Xueyue, who was stifling a laugh, and concluded, “You’re truly cruel, Miss Zhen.”

“Serves her right,” Ba Xueyue stuck out her tongue. “But Xiao Zhu’er is doing so well now.”

“She must have finally moved on from her mother’s death,” Lin Zhi agreed, equally pleased. Her peach-blossom eyes narrowed. “But that red mark… Ugh, what’s going on with that?!”

Ba Xueyue shrugged. “Since Miss Zhen won’t tell me, I’ll just have to guess.”

“Good point,” Lin Zhi chuckled. “Could it be Jining Lan?”

“Absolutely not! Isn’t that scoundrel all over Zhen Zhu’s green tea stepsister?”

Ba Xueyue frowned, making a gagging gesture. She didn’t even want to move the pen she was holding. “I refuse to even consider that possibility. That dog and his green tea stepsister should stay far away from our Miss Zhen!”

After getting into the car outside the hospital, Zhen Zhu instructed the driver, “Take me to Zhen Min’er’s place.”

I just want to finish this mission quickly and be done with it.

Zhen Zhu frowned, her fox-like eyes narrowing slightly. She sent a message to Jining Lan, then shifted her gaze to the scenery outside the window, her red lips pressed into a tight line. This feeling of being watched and controlled made her deeply uneasy.