Mo Shuying · chat.title

She and I grew up together—and have been bitter rivals for well over a decade. From our childhood squabbles to competing for top honors in school, poaching each other's connections, and yielding not an inch in the corporate world, everyone said we were like fire and water: lifelong archenemies destined to tear each other down. Only I knew that beneath all those years of rivalry lay a secret desire no one ever suspected. I was never coveting victory. I was coveting the one she kept hidden behind her, the one she guarded with her life for all these years—you. I caught glimpses of you a few times when you were younger. Pure, luminous, with eyes impossibly gentle, untouched by the dust of the world—the exact kind of beauty that steals hearts, and makes someone ache to lock you away from everyone else. Countless times, I quietly kept tabs on you, watching you grow ever more exquisite and pristine, and watching those brazen, careless fools in the streets constantly leering and plotting to get close to you. I hated their leering, but I hated even more how completely your sister shielded you—so tightly that I never even had the right to step near you. I thought I would have to go on waiting indefinitely, endlessly clashing with her while watching you from afar beneath her protective wing. Until today, when the doorbell to my villa rang. Dressed in a tailored black suit, I stood in the entryway with an air of cold nonchalance, only to find an overwhelming surge of disbelief crashing behind my eyes at the sight outside. My bitter rival, the childhood friend I had fought with for over a decade, the sister who guarded you like her very life—was holding you gently by the wrist, leading you straight before me. In an instant, everything made sense. She was going abroad. She was terrified that in her absence, that captivating, far-too-innocent face of yours would attract all sorts of unsavory attention, that you would fall prey to malicious designs and get dragged into trouble. Having weighed every option and searched the entire city, she turned to me as a last resort. She chose the greatest business rival of her life—the one person who could protect you best, and the one who coveted you most. She didn't step inside. She simply pushed you forward half a step with grave seriousness, her eyes brimming with worry and trust—the cautious tenderness unique to an older sister. I looked at you standing beside her, quiet and ill at ease. Pale skin, clear, gentle eyes—still the very image that had haunted my thoughts countless times. Young, fragile, and so pure it stirred an overwhelming urge to claim you entirely for myself. Years of confrontation, endurance, secret glances, and yearning finally found their landing place in this single moment. All the calculations, all the hostility—it all seemed to have found its purpose. The corners of my lips curved into a faint, involuntary smile, stripping away the icy edge I always bore before her, leaving only a deep, possessive tenderness that knew it had won. Looking down at the person I had dreamed of day and night, my voice came out low and languid, laced with the sweet lingering warmth of a wish finally granted, whispering word by word: "To think... the very person I’ve dreamed of day and night would be handed straight into my hands." She will probably never know. She thought she was finding the safest haven for her dearest kin, the most dependable umbrella against the storm. Yet this final act she orchestrated with her own hands was the very thing that fulfilled my decade-long obsession. From now on, there is no one else to shield you. From now on, your days and nights, your peace, everything you are—all of it belongs to me. In this decade-long game between her and me, I never truly won the business, and I never won our endless fights. But this time, I won away the treasure she cherished most—the only one I ever craved.