There’re Always Paranoid Thoughts to Monopolize Me - Chapter 66.1

Dreaming of Whole Life (3.1)

It was in the third year after Qin Ke had accidentally married into the Huo family in place of Qin Yan, that she was pushed under a car by Qin Yan.

Her feet suffered a comminuted fracture, leaving no choice but amputation—when Huo Zhonglou received the news, he went completely mad.

Perhaps it was at that moment he realized that the biggest mistake he had made in his life due to his arrogance was that he had protected Qin Ke too well.

From their first encounter in high school, Huo Zhonglou had shielded Qin Ke from any unfavorable factors around her. He adored the girl’s purity and innocence, and then single-handedly sheltered her into someone who was ignorant of the ways of the world, unaware of people’s hearts, and oblivious to dangers.

That was why she couldn’t see through the true face of the Qin family, why they were able to seize the opportunity and push her into an abyss of no return.

And all of this stemmed from him.

It was he who had personally protected the girl, and it was also he who had personally ruined her.

The discovery of this truth finally became the last straw that broke Huo Zhonglou’s mental world.

——

When Qin Ke woke up in a numb, excruciating pain, she found that Huo Zhonglou seemed to have completely transformed into another person.

Or rather, he had gone completely insane.

——

Qin Ke was confined by Huo Zhonglou in the side building to the west of the main building in the Huo family’s old mansion.

The long corridor leading to the main building was sealed off, and the west side building became a forbidden area in the Huo family’s old mansion, where no guests were allowed to approach. Huo Zhonglou had cut off any possibility for Qin Ke, who lived inside, to come into contact with other strangers.

The Huo family’s servants were the only people Qin Ke could interact with besides Huo Zhonglou. Even they didn’t dare to speak to her or get close—with the precedent of a servant being expelled by Huo Zhonglou for saying a few extra words to Qin Ke, other servants would avoid her like the plague when they saw her, not even daring to make eye contact.

Qin Ke had always been afraid of Huo Zhonglou, and after this, she became even more desperate to avoid him. Coupled with losing both her feet and no longer being able to walk or dance, everything in her past life seemed to have lost its meaning.

Qin Ke fell into a dark despair and once had thoughts of seeking death, which she even attempted to carry out, but didn’t succeed.

——

A servant carelessly cleared away the tableware without noticing that a steak knife was missing from the set of cutlery. Everything would have gone unnoticed, but as the servant was pushing the cart with the kitchen waste and tableware towards the main building, he happened to brush past the Huo family’s butler, Huo Jingyan.

Huo Jingyan’s gaze casually swept over, but just before he looked away, he keenly noticed that a steak knife was missing from the set of cutlery.

He stopped the servant. After asking a couple of questions, Huo Jingyan quickly headed to the west side building.

Qin Ke, who was still mustering up courage in her room, was interrupted in her action. The steak knife, which had been wiped clean as a potential weapon, was also “confiscated” by Huo Jingyan.

Qin Ke was panic-stricken.

She knew that Huo Jingyan was Huo Zhonglou’s most trusted butler. If Huo Zhonglou found out about this, she could hardly imagine how furious he would be and what kind of punishment he would inflict on her.

However, Huo Jingyan didn’t say anything. He just took the steak knife and left.

Qin Ke waited anxiously for a long time, but only to find that the next day, Huo Jingyan brought two drawing boards and a bunch of paints and brushes.

He pushed Qin Ke’s wheelchair, taking her to the sunroom on the second floor.

“Starting today, I’ll teach you how to paint,” he said.

“Paint for 100 days, and I’ll return that thing to you.”

The man with gentle eyes and brows said this to the girl who was cowering in the wheelchair.

From the time she could remember, Qin Ke had never experienced the care of a father or brother in her life.

And all those warm feelings, she had drawn from one person.

A glimmer of light finally rekindled in the girl’s dim, despairing eyes.

——

Huo Zhonglou was the first to notice the change in her mood, though at that time he didn’t know the reason.

All he could see was that the girl, who had slowly lost her vitality and become like a doll, came back to life. She began to like the sunroom in the west side building, always hugging her drawing board and painting one picture after another there.

When holding a brush, the girl’s eyes were filled with light—just like when he first saw her in that small grove at the northwest corner of Qiande High School.

The flower that had been ravaged by the storm shed its crushed petals, and fresh, vibrant buds sprouted anew. As it shook off the morning dew, it was unaware that the lightning hidden above this bright, sunny sky was quietly approaching.

——

At the end of the 100-day agreement, Huo Zhonglou finally discovered that Huo Jingyan had been secretly teaching Qin Ke to paint.

When Huo Zhonglou, who had returned home on a whim, walked into the sunroom, he saw Huo Jingyan standing behind Qin Ke, slightly bent over, pointing at the drawing board and saying something.

The girl, who rarely showed any expression in front of him, had her brows and eyes slightly curved at that moment, her beautiful face beaming with a smile—an expression of gentleness that Huo Zhonglou hadn’t seen on her since the car accident.

And now, she was displaying it to another man.

Jealousy gnawed at Huo Zhonglou’s heart like a venomous snake. He allowed the floodgates in his heart to open fully, letting out the vicious beasts and demons together.

“What are you doing?” he heard himself ask in a gloomy voice as he walked over. At the far end of his vision, the girl, upon hearing his voice, instinctively turned back, her face drained of color in panic.

Huo Jingyan was clearly surprised as well.

“Young Master Zhonglou?” He straightened up and turned to look at Huo Zhonglou. After being stung by Huo Zhonglou’s grim gaze, he frowned, “Don’t misunderstand, I’m just teaching Miss Qin Ke oil painting.”

“Teaching oil painting? How do you teach?” Huo Zhonglou’s eyes were almost sinister, “Do you teach on the bed?”

“!”

The color drained from Qin Ke’s face. This enormous insult and false accusation made her want to stand up from her wheelchair without thinking—in her anger, she had clearly forgotten that she was no longer the able-bodied person she once was. Losing her strength, Qin Ke collapsed, falling directly onto the floor.

Even the nearby drawing board and paint palette were knocked over.

Huo Jingyan hurriedly crouched down to help her—and this action completely triggered Huo Zhonglou’s high-voltage line.

“Stay away from her!!”

The man’s thunderous voice startled both Huo Jingyan and Qin Ke.

Qin Ke had just raised her head, not yet reacting when she saw Huo Zhonglou stride over—her waist tightened as Huo Zhonglou directly lifted her onto his shoulder.

Suppressing the girl’s instinctive struggle, Huo Zhonglou walked out without looking back.

Naturally concerned about Huo Zhonglou in this mental state, Huo Jingyan raised his foot to follow, but was nailed to the spot by an incredibly cold glare from Huo Zhonglou, who had sensed his movement and turned back.

“I don’t mind having an audience.”

Huo Jingyan’s body stiffened.

And Huo Zhonglou had already left.

Qin Ke was carried back to the bedroom by him. Along the way, many servants watched in shock, but none dared to intervene. Qin Ke seemed to know what was about to happen. At first, she only suppressed her fear and begged Huo Zhonglou to let her go, but after experiencing more and more varied gazes from the servants, she finally couldn’t help but cry.

However, by this time, the emotion of rage had completely burned away Huo Zhonglou’s rationality. Even that cry that usually pained his heart the most failed to touch his frenzied mind.

He brought the struggling girl back to the bedroom, slammed the door shut, and threw her fiercely onto the bed.

During this struggle, the silk cloth tying up the girl’s long hair had fallen off at some point. Her waterfall-like black hair cascaded down her fair neck and beautifully shaped shoulders. She wore a long white dress, its skirt spread out on the deep blue bed.