Owned by Mr. Lan

Chapter 8

Xiao Zhan

I hear the echo of the library doors slam and I rip my gaze from my book.

“Jesus,” Jiang Cheng jumps, startled by the noise.

“Right? Who enters a library like that?” his girlfriend, Ziyi, leans her elbows on the counter and watches the person in question.

I turn my head and my eyes widen when I see Yibo coming straight toward me. Rage doesn’t even begin to describe the look on his face. His chin is tilted down and his dark eyes are pools of toxic poison as he stares me down.

“What’s wrong?” Sehun, my friend since freshmen year, places his arm on my chair, which makes it appear that his arm is wrapped around me.

Yibo’s eyes slide to Sehun and I watch the murderous veil drape
across his face. I don’t know what gets into me but I run without looking at any of my friends. I hurry through the library, dodging people in the aisle grazing the bookshelves.

“Sorry, I’m sorry,” I say after running into someone, knocking the books right out of their arms. I stumble, righting myself before I crash into a bookshelf.

“What the hell?” Another person says as I duck right before bowling over another guy.

I don’t say anything. I’m too worried about Yibo finding me. I look over my shoulder and don’t see him but people are giving me odd stares.

When I get to the staircase, I hurry down where most people don’t go because it’s darker and the books are older and less interesting.

“Excuse me. Excuse me, sorry.” I wiggle my way through a couple. The guy had her back against the wall, his hand above her head, leaning down and trying to charm the pants off her.

When I get to the basement, a sea of books becomes the only thing I see. The lights flicker. The smell of musty old books assaults my senses. I hurry down the main aisle, finding an empty row.

I dip to the right, pressing my back against the shelf and take a deep breath. It’s hot. Sweat sheens my forehead. I sidestep to the left, sinking further into the darkness of the aisle, so he can’t find me.

Placing my hand against my chest, I try to settle the rapid thud of my heart thumping against my breastbone. My chest heaves from running, and the more I try to calm down, the more dust tickles my nose. A burning begins but I try to hold the sneeze in. My eyes water. I cover my face with my arm and muffle the sneeze the best I can.

Then listen for any sign that Yibo is here and if he heard me.

Silence.

I let out slow breath, feeling ridiculous for running away from him. I should have confronted Yibo, but if there’s one thing I know about him, it’s that he is possessive. He has taken this agreement seriously, to the extreme.

“Bless you, Bunny.”

A scream catches in my throat when one hand comes from behind me, through the shelf, and wraps around my mouth. I try to pull away from him, even with my hands against his but he’s too strong. Books upon books clatter to the floor at my feet as he drags me to the end of the row.

When we are there, he lets my mouth go for less than a second and I take that second to try to run. He grabs my shoulder and pushes me against the shelf.

His eyes get lost in the shadows surrounding us and he stays quiet. Only our raping breaths make any sound. Yibo leans forward, one hand gripping the middle shelf and his right hand grabbing the shelf on the other side of me. Yibo has me caged in.