The Lost Lamb's Trap - Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Stars

The moment Duan Jiayang saw Lin Ke in the back seat, she froze. Her cheeks felt hot. Lin Ke pushed the car door open to get out. Duan Jiayang, with her thick skin, scoffed coldly. After a few seconds of panic, she calmly got in the car and turned it around. Lin Wan turned her head and scolded Lin Ke, but Lin Ke didn’t listen to her. She stubbornly pushed the car door open. Lin Wan’s face was livid.

Duan Jiayang saw this and felt a sense of satisfaction. She honked the horn twice.

Lin Wan pushed the car door open and pulled Lin Ke. Lin Ke’s face showed an expression of displeasure and annoyance. She pushed her away, her eyes fixed on Duan Jiayang’s direction.

Look, just look.

Duan Jiayang admitted that she was extremely malicious. She didn’t want to be with Lin Ke, but she liked watching Lin Ke be rebellious because of her, and arguing with her mom because of her.

Back then, Lin Wan seduced that fat old man in her family. The two of them were in cahoots, constantly challenging her mom’s limits. Later, after her mom passed away, the outside world said her mom was the loser, trampled under Lin Wan’s arrogant feet.

Now, the tables had turned. Her daughter had fallen in love with her and was lusting after her love. How was this not a form of revenge?

After leaving the residential area, Duan Jiayang looked in the rearview mirror. Lin Wan was standing in front of Lin Ke, saying something to her. Lin Ke walked around her and continued forward. Duan Jiayang drove away, not knowing if Lin Ke chased after her. She hoped Lin Wan would chase after her, and the mother and daughter would have a huge fight and become completely estranged.

She drove all the way back. She didn’t know if it was a side effect of being overly angry before or if it was over-excitement, but her head felt dizzy.

The housekeeper saw that she was in a better mood after going out and came over. “Sir is coming back for dinner tonight. If you’re not too hungry, I can bring it up to you after he’s eaten?”

“Thank you, Uncle.” Duan Jiayang went upstairs. Halfway there, she went to the fridge and got a bottle of yogurt to drink. She sat on the swing chair on the balcony and swayed gently.

The sunset was very red tonight. She sat on the swing chair and admired it.

Her phone chimed. It was an unfamiliar number. It must have been Lin Ke. She didn’t answer and let it hang up automatically. A few minutes later, a video call rang on WeChat. The two letters “LK” were flashing on the screen.

LK: “Are you feeling unwell?”

After they became friends, Lin Ke would send her messages from time to time. Duan Jiayang replied very little. At first, she wanted to hold back and not reply, but Lin Ke was very good at being roundabout. She would talk about work and not feelings.

Duan Jiayang’s fingers hovered over the keyboard. She typed two words and stopped. She knew she wasn’t capable of playing with Lin Ke, but that didn’t stop her from rejecting Lin Ke and finding the pleasure of revenge in it.

LK: “You said you were being wanton with me today.”

LK: “I want to be wanton with you too.”

“Did you come looking for me just now because you wanted to be wanton with me?”

“Little lamb?”

“Duan Mei Mei?”

A few messages came in. Duan Jiayang almost didn’t recognize the characters for “wanton” anymore. “Beast.”

Lin Ke seemed to have found an outlet and was desperately crossing boundaries. Two days ago, after they became friends, they only talked about work for a few words. Now, the screen was full of ambiguity and provocation.

Duan Jiayang lay on the chair, her thoughts a mess.

Wanton, wanton.

She used to love being wanton with her. At that time, they became adults. It was forbidden and scary, but after tasting a little bit of sweetness and pleasure, they always longed for the endless pleasure of intimacy. During that hot summer, they were always exploring secrets everywhere.

As she swayed, she narrowed her eyes, casually scrolled through the messages, and replied: [Don’t bother me. I’m watching the sunset.]

“LK”: “I saved today’s sunset for you.”

[Picture]

Lin Ke sent three pictures. She had taken a picture of the red sunset from under a tree, looking up at the sky. The afterglow scattered through the gaps in the leaves. The roses on the balcony swayed in the evening breeze. The glow in the sky gradually changed from a bright orange-yellow to a soft pink.

The wind brought a rich fragrance. Duan Jiayang finished looking and put her phone aside. She got up and put on her slippers. Sure enough, Lin Ke’s car was parked outside. Lin Ke was standing downstairs with her phone, taking pictures of the white fence outside her house.

Had this woman finished arguing with her mom? Was she still coming to find her? Did she think this was enough to be wanton with her?

Duan Jiayang stood with her hands on her hips, watching. She sent another message, telling her that her dad would be home soon. Lin Ke didn’t move a single step. She stood boldly downstairs at her house.

Did she want to climb the wall to her room tonight?

In the past, one of them would climb the bed and the other would climb the wall. After they were discovered, everyone would curse them, saying they weren’t normal.

Duan Jiayang closed the balcony door and went straight back to her room.

Downstairs, Duan Litian had already returned. He was on the phone with someone on the sofa, his words full of fake politeness. His cheeks trembled. Duan Litian saw her coming down and immediately hung up the phone. He glanced at her and asked, “Where are you going?”

“To eat. I’m hungry.”

She was hungry, but her head was spinning.

“What did you mean by calling me and asking me to promote Lin Ke last time?” her dad asked.

“Just what I said. I don’t want to be with her anymore.”

Duan Litian said, “Then I’ll move you upstairs.”

Duan Jiayang frowned. She would rather stay in her original department. Being with her dad, she would have nightmares about him calling her an idiot.

Duan Litian called her a few more times, but Duan Jiayang ignored him. She didn’t want to get into a fight with him. It was the end of the month, and Duan Litian controlled her finances. If they fought, she wouldn’t have any money to spend.

Duan Litian had been a CEO for decades. He was a hothead with a big ego. He raised his voice and reprimanded, “Duan Jiayang, are you deaf? I’ve been calling you for a long time. What’s going on with you and Lan Yao?”

“Nothing. We’re not a good match.” Duan Jiayang guessed that Duan Litian had just been on the phone with Lan Yao’s dad.

“What do you mean, not a good match?” Duan Litian pressed. He didn’t hear Duan Jiayang’s answer and frowned. “I’m talking to you nicely. Don’t you understand? I’ve noticed that ever since Lin Ke came back, you’ve really become too arrogant. You’re doing whatever you want.”

Duan Jiayang was stunned. Was that true? Had she become too arrogant?

Thinking about it carefully, it made sense. Lin Ke wasn’t fighting with her for the family fortune, and she kept saying that everything she did was for her. Even if Duan Jiayang didn’t want to be with Lin Ke, with Lin Ke’s current income, she could indeed support her.

Duan Litian sensed that his daughter was having some crooked thoughts. With her bizarre thinking, she was definitely not thinking of anything good. He said, “If your brain doesn’t work, don’t use it!”

Duan Jiayang turned her head and said, “Why not? I’ve thought it through. Since you won’t give me the family fortune, I might as well let her support me while I’m still young. Let her ruin me. Anyway… I don’t have any integrity. She wants to be wanton with me too.”

Duan Litian stood up, his face ashen. He pointed at her nose, wanting to hit her. Duan Jiayang became more and more addicted to talking. “Really, I’ve really thought about it. She’s successful now, and you can’t fire her. If I can’t live on my own, I’ll become her concubine. It can be a way out for me. Anyway, I’m stupid and I have no integrity.”

During this, she glanced at Duan Litian. She suspected her dad wanted to kill her.

Duan Jiayang was quite afraid of pain. She closed her mouth appropriately, took a tomato from the fridge, washed it, and ate it directly. The kitchen at home still had some warm porridge. It smelled like seafood. It was fresh, but she didn’t have much of an appetite.

The chef came over to get a bowl and served her some porridge. She whispered, “Jiayang, don’t always argue with Mr. He’s a hothead sometimes, but he still cares about you. You’re his only child now. If you talk to him nicely, won’t everything in this house be yours?”

Duan Litian was furious. He looked at her with contempt, as if he was looking at an idiot. Duan Jiayang took a big bite of the tomato. Her mouth was full of juice. Duan Jiayang didn’t argue or fight with him. She just bit the tomato fiercely. She was subtly implying that she would drink his bl00d and eat his flesh in the future.

Duan Jiayang hummed a song. She went upstairs and checked the balcony again. The car was gone. She guessed she had left. She turned on the projector and watched the old show My Own Swordsman. After ten minutes, she felt that something was wrong. She felt stuffy. She went to the fridge again and got a pineapple and some strawberries. She ate and watched. Suddenly, her chest felt tight and something was surging up. She rubbed her chest, ran into the bathroom, and threw up everything she had just eaten. After throwing up, she threw up sour water.

Duan Jiayang leaned against the wall and flushed the filth away. She stood up and took a moment to compose herself. She went to rinse her mouth. Her chest felt stuffy, and her stomach hurt so much that she couldn’t stand up straight. She covered her stomach with one hand and took out her phone with the other to look up the symptoms. The results said she either had stomach cancer or something related to valvular heart disease and heart failure.

Every single one looked like a terminal illness.

The symptoms were a bit severe. Duan Jiayang also panicked. She took out her phone to call an ambulance. Another message came in on her phone.

“Are you feeling better?”

Duan Jiayang was very curious. How did she know she wasn’t feeling well? She couldn’t help but suspect. Was she monitoring her? Last time, she specifically came to stay at her house for a night…

Duan Jiayang dry-heaved again. The sharp pains made her unable to hold on. She replied with a voice message: “Mind your own business. Are you monitoring me?”

Lin Ke replied quickly with a voice message that had a hint of threat. “If you don’t come down, I’m coming into your house.”

Duan Jiayang replied with a voice message: “You… I’ll be right out…” When she was about to let go of her finger, she paused and added, she couldn’t let her dad find out. She had just said those things. If her dad saw her, he would definitely think she was going to be a concubine and climb a bed.

Duan Jiayang changed her clothes and went downstairs. Duan Litian wasn’t downstairs. Lin Ke’s car was discreetly parked under a plane tree. She got out and supported Duan Jiayang. Duan Jiayang took a step back. She had no energy left, but she was still asking a series of questions. “Why are you still waiting here for me? How did you know I was sick?”

Lin Ke opened the car door and said without hesitation, “Normally when I look for you, I say one thing, and you curse me ten times. Today, I sent you a message, and you didn’t curse me at all. You must be sick. You looked pale at the company.”

“…”

She was speechless. She didn’t know whether to curse Lin Ke for being so observant or to say she deserved to be cursed. Duan Jiayang looked at the time. It was already 9:30. “You’re sick, squatting downstairs for so long.”

“I was planning to leave tomorrow morning. If you’re running around, you’re probably fine.”

Lin Ke helped her into the car. Duan Jiayang covered her stomach, her face sweating. Lin Ke got back into the driver’s seat and started the car. She asked, “Where does it hurt? Did you eat anything?”

Duan Jiayang thought about the food she had eaten in the past two days. She shook her head. Lin Ke said coldly, “I saw you weren’t feeling well yesterday. You should eat out less. Lan Yao gives you hot food one moment and cold food the next. You probably have acute gastroenteritis.”

The way she said it, it sounded like Lan Yao had poisoned her.

Duan Jiayang said gloomily, “It has nothing to do with food. It’s obvious that you made me angry.”

The car was driving fast. They encountered a few red lights. Lin Ke gripped the steering wheel, gritting her teeth. Her fingers were pressed hard against the steering wheel. She looked very impatient. But when she looked back, her eyes would soften.

In the past, her expressions would change without transition. This time, Duan Jiayang clearly saw the transition. Her eyebrows were furrowed, and there was worry on her face.

When they arrived at the hospital, Lin Ke registered her for the emergency room. She ran up and down. The results came out quickly. It was just as she said, acute gastroenteritis.

Duan Jiayang was also startled. She thought she was just feeling stuffy, a little uncomfortable, and had a cold. She would just take a packet of cold medicine if she felt unwell.

The nurse came over to give her an IV. Duan Jiayang asked, “I don’t have diarrhea.”

“Who said you can only have gastroenteritis if you have diarrhea? You’ve already thrown up, haven’t you? Stop taking random medicine in the future. How can you keep taking cold medicine?”

“Avoid raw and cold food. Don’t eat randomly.”

Lin Ke came back with the medicine. She stood next to her. When the nurse left, Lin Ke sat down and held a bottle of warm water. She said gently, “Drink some water.”

Duan Jiayang closed her eyes and shook her head. She put her hand on her lower abdomen. It was still cramping.

Lin Ke put the water bottle on her stomach. Her eyes were fixed on her lips. Duan Jiayang turned her head. “What?”

“Dead skin,” Lin Ke said.

Duan Jiayang was dehydrated, and there was dead skin on her lips. She turned her head so Lin Ke couldn’t see. She licked it with her tongue, but it didn’t come off. Lin Ke put her phone in selfie mode and took a picture of her shoulder. She turned around to tear it off in the selfie. The bottle on her stomach was about to roll off. Lin Ke held the bottle and said, “Don’t move. I’ll do it for you.”

Duan Jiayang’s hand was hooked up to the IV, so she couldn’t push her away. She could only let her warm palm touch her lips. Lin Ke lightly pulled twice and said gently, “Then I won’t be mean to you or make you angry anymore. I’ll just coax you.”

What was she talking about? Duan Jiayang’s ears felt hot. Her eyelids fluttered. Was that how it was going to be? How would they get along? They had always been struggling and entangled. When she retreated, Lin Ke would advance. If Duan Jiayang gave her a slap, Lin Ke could push her onto the bed and spank her until her butt was swollen.

Because they had never gotten along well, she was instinctively scared and repulsed.

Duan Jiayang took a deep breath and leaned her back against the chair. “It’s not necessarily because of you.”

Lin Ke gently rubbed her stomach. “Mm, it must be because Lan Yao took you out to eat randomly. You should go out with her less in the future.”