chapter 2
At that moment, the door was suddenly knocked.
I opened the door, it was Jasper.
At eighteen, his sharp features still carried a hint of boyish innocence. His outstretched arm, lean yet strong, pressed against the door, stopping me from closing it.
He said, "The weather forecast says there will be thunder tonight."
In his youth, he was used to treating me as a sedative. His eyes held little fear, but rather a sense of longing.
He asked, "Can you keep me company today too?"
I looked at him quietly for a long time, then finally sighed and said, "Jasper, you're already eighteen. You shouldn't be afraid of thunder anymore."
"Vivian!" he abruptly interrupted me, anger rising in his eyes as he barged into my room. "What do you mean? Why are you meeting another man? Don't you want me anymore? You're my sister."
As he spoke, he had already pinned me against the wall, burying his face skillfully in the crook of my neck.
The word "sister" was bitten out heavily by him, filled with grievance and unwillingness.
I suddenly found it laughable.
I thought, "If he truly had any sincerity, he wouldn't have made me wait so many years in my past life without ever hearing him mention marriage."
I broke free, my expression cold. "I will always see you as my younger brother. Even if I get married, you will still be my brother."
He looked at me in disbelief, then stormed out angrily and embarrassed.
Early the next morning, as dawn broke, I got dressed and prepared to go on a blind date, only to suddenly see a dark figure curled up in front of my door.
Jasper looked up at me like a stray dog, his eyes filled with gloom.
He stood up and approached me, resting his chin tenderly on my shoulder, murmuring, "Please don't go on the blind date, okay?"
He dragged out the last syllable, as if he were whining.
I said, "No."
I didn't want to say more to him and turned to leave.
He knocked over the vase at the door, the crisp sound echoing sharply in the empty villa.
I instinctively turned back, only to see him standing amidst the shards as if he felt no pain, tightly clutching a broken piece of porcelain in his hand. Blood dripped from the back of his hand onto the ground, glaringly red.
His eyes reddened, and he let out a painful groan, staring straight at me. "I'm hurt."
Maybe he was waiting for me, as usual, to feel sorry and anxiously tend to his wound, just to please him.
But now, I had no desire to care about him anymore. I turned away coldly and said, "I'll get the maid to help you with it."
"Stop!" He finally dropped the pretense, strode forward, grabbed my wrist tightly, and pulled me into his arms.
His chest was scorching, pressed against my back.
He said, "Vivian, are you trying to get rid of me now? Weren't you the one chasing after me to please me before?"
"What, have you found a new man? Don't want me anymore?"
I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and tried to break free. "Jasper, stop it. I was good to you because I saw you as a brother!"
He let out a cold laugh, his eyes dark and menacing. "What brother? Vivian, what kind of sister are you to me? Your mom will never marry my dad in this lifetime, so stop dreaming."
"You're going on a blind date, right? Then I will too. There are plenty of women like your mom trying to climb into our family, one less won't matter!"
His voice grew louder and almost out of control.
I suddenly laughed, forcefully shook off his hand, and said indifferently, "Suit yourself."
Then, I left without looking back.
That night when I got home, I could hear fierce arguing coming from the living room from afar.
Pushing the door open, I saw Jasper leaning lazily against the wall, watching Archer scold him, "Where did you bring that woman from? And you dare bring her home? Who gave you the nerve!"
Jasper caught sight of me from the corner of his eye and casually curled his lips. "Vivian has started going on blind dates, how can I not be anxious? I need to find a girlfriend too."
Archer's face turned red with anger. Luna quietly approached me and whispered, "Jasper brought several strange women home, and Archer kicked them all out. Archer almost beat Jasper up."
I walked past expressionlessly, pretending I saw nothing.
Archer saw me, his expression softened a bit, and he asked, "Vivian, you're back? How was the blind date today?"
I smiled slightly, "Not bad, we get along quite well. This weekend, we planned to go to an art exhibition together; we have similar interests."
Hearing this, Jasper's face instantly darkened.