“What?! Everyone Except Me Is a Villain (GL) - Chapter 2

The villa was vast and eerily quiet. As footsteps echoed through the hall, the motion-sensor lights flicked on one by one. Their lantern-shaped covers cast long, trembling shadows on the walls like something out of a horror film. The interior décor followed an old-fashioned style: priceless antiques were placed everywhere, whispering of the family’s long-standing heritage and wealth.

Jin Buning quickly averted her gaze, afraid that if she looked too long at anything, she might trigger some unseen trap and end her 138th life prematurely.

“We’re here,” Liu’s emotionless voice broke the silence.

Jin Buning nodded and raised her eyes toward the heavy wooden doors ahead the entrance to the study. It was on the top floor, accessible only by a private elevator. In the Zhen household, being summoned here was no small matter.

She wondered if this was because she’d pushed Xu Yixin away earlier. Maybe Yixin had gone to complain, stirring up trouble that brought her here now.

“I’ve brought her, Miss,” Liu announced, knocking on the door with practiced rhythm. Oddly enough, amid that monotone voice, Jin Buning thought she heard a hint of warmth barely perceptible, but there.

“Let her in.”

A woman’s voice drifted through the speaker beside the door. The lock clicked open. As Liu stepped aside, Jin Buning was about to enter when a cold, rigid hand suddenly grabbed her wrist.

The chill made her think of a corpse. She flinched, looking up into Liu’s pale face. The hallway lights had gone dim, leaving the woman’s features half-illuminated and ghostly white. Jin Buning tried to pull free but found herself helpless against the older woman’s strength.

“Mind your words,” Liu said softly.

Jin Buning nodded stiffly. Only then did the hand release her, leaving behind a deep red mark on her skin a wordless warning. Not that she needed one. She’d never intended to provoke that woman anyway.

Taking a deep breath, Jin Buning pushed open the door.

Warm, golden light filled the study, focused like a halo on the woman in the center of the room. She sat in a sleek wheelchair, a pair of rimless glasses perched on her delicate nose. Her beauty was serene, the kind that could soothe anyone at first glance like the glow of moonlight over calm water. But those who knew her recognized the danger behind that tranquility.

Pei Fuliu, current matriarch of the Zhen family. The woman no one in Paradise City dared to cross.

And the one Jin Buning feared most.

“Sit.”

Pei Fuliu’s voice was gentle, her hand gesturing toward the sofa. That soft tone carried the kind of power that could make even defiance sound like obedience.

“I’ve been sitting all day, so I’ll just stand,” Jin Buning said quickly. Even from a seated position, Pei Fuliu exuded an invisible pressure. Standing at least made it a little easier to breathe.

Pei Fuliu said nothing, only closed the book in her hand and smiled faintly. “You’re too far away. I can’t hear you.”

That was a lie, of course, but Jin Buning still stepped closer. Standing over someone in a wheelchair felt disrespectful, so she crouched down to eye level. The instant she did, she realized she had walked straight into the lion’s den.

Pei Fuliu reached out and brushed her hair aside.

The touch was light almost tender but Jin Buning’s bl00d ran cold. Memories flashed in her mind: another life, another ending. She’d once tried to kill Pei Fuliu, thinking her a helpless invalid. The result? Pei Fuliu had calmly taken a knife from her custom-built wheelchair, where blades were hidden within its frame and skinned her alive piece by piece.

“Yixin told me you wanted to stay,” Pei Fuliu said, her fingers still combing through Jin Buning’s hair as if petting a kitten.

That familiar name made Jin Buning’s heart sink. Of course Xu Yixin would’ve said something. Her “best friend” had long since earned free access to the Zhen estate, just like the other villains disguised as allies. They all played nice with each other, while she the fake daughter, was the outsider.

“So, what do you want, Ningning?”

The question came out soft, coaxing. There was a dangerous rhythm to it, like a spell urging her to confess her truest desires.

Jin Buning nearly did. For a moment, she thought Pei Fuliu’s voice carried some kind of enchantment. After all, if she could travel between worlds, why couldn’t others wield strange powers too?

But she bit back the impulse. “My name is Jin Buning now,” she said firmly. “Not Zhen Ning.”

She couldn’t afford to accept any of their offers. Joining hands with one villain meant opposing the others and dying sooner rather than later.

Pei Fuliu’s eyes flickered with faint amusement, as though surprised by the defiance.

“I appreciate the offer, Aunt Pei,” Jin Buning continued. “But I’d rather live on my own strength.”

Pei Fuliu listened without interruption, her patience unnerving.

After ten long minutes, the door opened again. Liu Ma entered silently, holding a tray. “Miss, it’s time for your medicine.”

The tray was neatly arranged ten, maybe twelve kinds of pills.

Jin Buning bowed her head. “Thank you, Aunt Pei. I’ll be going now.”

Pei Fuliu didn’t stop her. The door shut automatically behind her, sealing off the heavy atmosphere inside.

“Miss, your medicine,” Liu reminded gently.

Pei Fuliu’s eyes lingered on the door before turning back, her smile fading. “You mean well,” she murmured.

Liu kept her head lowered, expression unreadable.

“But once someone bears the Zhen name,” Pei Fuliu said, voice cool and sharp, “they never leave unscathed.”

She reached out a hand. Liu immediately placed the tray before her. Pei Fuliu glanced at the pills, pressed a switch on her wheelchair, and a hidden compartment opened. Without hesitation, she dumped the medicine inside. The pills clattered into the darkness below. She took a sip of water, as though she’d swallowed them all.

Liu remained silent. The study looked warm and elegant, yet the air was suffocatingly heavy.

Meanwhile, Jin Buning, unaware of what had just occurred, was pacing restlessly. Three villains had already made their moves tonight how long until the remaining two appeared?

If she really was that valuable, why did she keep dying so easily?

Her thoughts tangled as she returned to her room. She opened the door cautiously, half-expecting a body on the floor, another sign of her cursed fate.

But everything was quiet. Nothing seemed amiss. Just as she began to relax, the curtain at her balcony fluttered unnaturally. The fabric bulged in a way that looked too human.

She grabbed the telescopic baton hidden in the corner and crept closer, her heartbeat steady. After so many deaths, fear had dulled to something mechanical.

Step by step, she yanked the curtain open Nothing. Just the night breeze.

Still, her instincts screamed that something was off. Then she saw it: a drone hovering midair. When it detected her, it drifted toward the opposite balcony where a vague figure stood watching her.

Professor Zheng Si, her next-door neighbor. And one of the remaining villains.

Jin Buning sighed.
So much for peace tonight.

She’d thought maybe this time, one of them would skip the theatrics and just appear in her room with a knife.

Apparently, that surprise was still on its way.