The incident occurred shortly before the apocalypse.
Lu Shiyan, the son of Su Wan's father's business partner, had just transferred to the university where Su Wan was enrolled.
On the day of his enrollment, he immediately became the center of attention.
This naturally included Su Wan.
The eldest daughter of the Su family, always pampered and arrogant, had never failed to get what she wanted.
She thought Lu Shiyan would also fall for her.
Lu Shiyan rejected her, his eyes filled with undisguised disgust.
This enraged Su Wan.
What fueled her jealousy even more was that Lu Shiyan actually looked at the 'white lotus' female lead, who constantly opposed her, in a different light.
Jealousy and anger gnawed at Su Wan.
In the early stages of the apocalypse, when order was chaotic and the Lu family had lost power, Su Wan abducted Lu Shiyan when he was alone, imprisoning and torturing him.
She naively thought she could break his pride and make him submit.
Utterly foolish.
Thinking of what Su Wan had done to him… Su Wan's stomach churned.
Enough for him to grind her bones to dust a hundred times in the future.
The door was pushed fully open.
Light poured into the filthy place.
Su Wan stood at the doorway, wearing a white dress.
She had grabbed it casually from the walk-in closet, simply because it least resembled Su Wan's usual flamboyant style.
At this moment, the pure white contrasted sharply with the dirty bloodstains of the cell.
She was like an angel who had inadvertently stumbled into purgatory, her skirt brushing against the dark stains.
Lu Shiyan looked up, staring at her.
Though his body was weak, the storm in his eyes was enough to destroy everything.
His hatred was thick, and there was the madness of a beast pushed to its limits.
He looked at her as if she were a pile of disgusting garbage.
His gaze crawled over Su Wan's face, her neck, and stopped on her clean white dress.
The corners of his lips curled up very slowly, with mockery and cruelty.
Su Wan's heart clenched.
Fear poured down from her head, freezing her limbs.
Her teeth chattered subtly.
The instinct to retreat tugged at her nerves, screaming at her to flee.
She couldn't flee.
She forced herself to stand firm, digging her nails into her palms, using the pain to maintain clarity.
The air solidified.
The smell of blood, sweat, and despair mixed into a poison.
She saw the raw flesh on his wrists where the chains had chafed, the hideous whip marks beneath his shirt, and the crisscrossing bruises and cuts on his face.
All left by Su Wan.
Su Wan swallowed with difficulty.
She had to do something.
Break this silence.
"You…" She finally spoke, her voice dry and trembling, completely unlike Su Wan's usual demeanor.
With just one word, the mockery in Lu Shiyan's eyes deepened.
He seemed to be waiting, waiting for her to speak cruel and humiliating words as she usually did.
She shuffled a small step forward, her high heels making a grating sound on the floor.
The vigilance and killing intent in Lu Shiyan's eyes surged.
Su Wan immediately stopped.
She took something out of her pocket.
A small bottle of clean water and a small individually wrapped piece of bread.
She had grabbed them from the mini-fridge in the room when she returned to the bedroom.
She gently placed the water and bread on a relatively clean spot on the floor, not far from Lu Shiyan.
Then, she slowly took two steps back.
"…Eat something first," her voice still trembled, but she tried to steady it. "Drink some water."
After doing all this, she was almost exhausted.
Cold sweat soaked through the fabric on her back, her white dress clinging to her skin, icy cold.
Lu Shiyan looked at the water and bread on the ground, then slowly raised his head to look at Su Wan.
The brutality and hatred in his eyes had not diminished; instead, they were mixed with deep scrutiny and suspicion.
What new trick was she trying to play?
To tempt him with food and water?
Or had she added something new and tormenting to it?
He tugged at the corner of his mouth, letting out a faint, hoarse sneer.
"Get out."
One word, an ice blade poisoned, pierced Su Wan.
Su Wan swayed slightly.
It was expected.
She said nothing more, just stood where she was, watching him from a few steps away.
Her cheeks were pale, with only a trace of blood remaining on her lips.
She just stood there, wearing a white dress that was completely out of place, like an abrupt splash of brightness, so fragile that it seemed it could extinguish at any moment.
Time passed.
Only the suppressed breathing of the two people filled the cell.
Lu Shiyan didn't touch the food or water, his gaze always fixed on Su Wan, as if studying a strange prey.
Today, Su Wan was not right.
There was no arrogance of the past, no condescending charity.
In her eyes, there was fear, nervousness, and even… a hint of something he had never seen before, a cautious… weakness?
This realization made the brutality in Lu Shiyan's heart surge even more.
Weakness?
In front of him?
This woman who treated him as a plaything, tormenting him wantonly and trampling his dignity, was now showing such an expression in front of him.
"I know you hate me." She spoke again, her voice slightly steadier.
Lu Shiyan stared at her coldly.
"You are very weak now. Eat something first."
A flicker of sarcasm crossed Lu Shiyan's eyes.
Su Wan felt powerless.
The cruel curve of his lips widened slightly, and his voice, hoarse yet clear, said, "Is this… a new method of torture?"