Transmigration; Married to My Ex-Fiancé's Uncle-Chapter 241; Kidnapping 14

Shuyin felt something warm flutter in her chest despite the chaos and complications surrounding them, despite the corpse on the floor and the cleanup team that would arrive soon, and all the questions still unanswered.

"He’s protective," she said carefully, choosing words that were accurate without revealing too much. "We were close once, in the past. He’s been worried about me for reasons I can’t fully explain at the moment. That’s all there is to it. Nothing romantic or inappropriate."

"That’s all," Lu Yuze echoed, clearly not believing her simplified explanation but perhaps choosing not to push further at this exact moment.

He crossed the room with deliberate steps, standing close enough that Shuyin had to tilt her head back to maintain eye contact, close enough that she could feel heat radiating from his body and smell whatever expensive cologne he wore.

"Let me be extremely clear about something," he said quietly, his voice dropping to something that carried warning and possession in equal measure. "I don’t care what you are or what abilities you possess. I don’t care what your complicated past contains or what secrets you’re keeping. But if there’s someone else, someone you have romantic feelings for, someone who has existing claims on your affection or loyalty, I need to know right now. Immediately. No evasions."

His eyes searched hers with uncomfortable intensity, looking for truth beneath whatever facade she was maintaining.

"Because contract or not, legal arrangement or not, you’re my wife. This extends beyond legal paperwork and business transactions. Feelings that make watching another man look at you like that extremely difficult to tolerate without violence."

Shuyin’s breath caught in her throat.

"You’re jealous," she said with something close to wonder, like she was discovering something unexpected and precious.

"Exceptionally jealous," Lu Yuze admitted without any hesitation or attempt to deny it. "Which is completely irrational and possessive and not appropriate for our supposed arrangement. But watching another man look at you with that kind of emotion, that kind of history and connection, made me want to do extremely violent things to remove him as a potential threat. So yes, I’m jealous in ways I probably don’t have any right to be."

He reached up slowly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear in a gesture that was surprisingly gentle despite the tension radiating through his entire frame.

"Tell me I don’t need to be jealous. Tell me that whatever he is to you, I don’t have competition for your attention or affection."

Shuyin covered his hand with hers where it still lingered near her face, holding it against her cheek with deliberate pressure.

"You don’t need to be jealous," she said with absolute firmness. "Long Chen is important to me, yes. He’s family in ways that matter deeply. But not romantically. Never like that. He’s someone part of my life who cares about my wellbeing and safety, nothing more and nothing less."

"And if he wants more?" Lu Yuze pressed, apparently unwilling to let this go without complete clarity.

"He doesn’t want more in that way," Shuyin assured him. "And even if he did, it wouldn’t matter or change anything. Because I’m married to you now. Because I’m actively choosing to build a life with you rather than running back to my past. Because when I think about who I want standing beside me while dealing with all of this chaos...." she gestured vaguely to encompass the corpse, the hospital, the complications, everything "....I want you there. Not him. Not anyone else. You."

Something shifted in Lu Yuze’s expression, the jealous tension easing fractionally and being replaced by something warmer and more satisfied.

"Good," he said quietly, the single word carrying weight. "Because you’re stuck with me now. Contract or not, legal arrangement or not, you’re mine and I’m not letting you go."

He leaned forward, pressing his forehead against hers briefly in a gesture of intimacy that felt more significant than it probably should.

"Though your family connections are clearly going to require extensive explanation at some point in the near future. Preferably before more mysterious relatives appear and make me seriously contemplate murder as a solution to jealousy." 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Shuyin laughed shakily, the sound coming out slightly hysterical. "I’ll work on providing explanations."

"Please do that," Lu Yuze said. "Now, Ah Ling should be arriving soon with the cleanup team. Try to look less like you just committed murder and more like a concerned stepmother waiting for routine medical clearance."

"I can manage that," Shuyin agreed.

"And Shuyin?"

"Yes?"

"Next time you need to have a private conversation with a devastatingly handsome man who clearly cares deeply about you, perhaps give me some advance warning. So I can prepare myself emotionally to not act like a jealous possessive fool."

"You’re not a fool," Shuyin said softly. "And honestly, I think your jealousy is actually kind of endearing."

Lu Yuze huffed out a laugh that sounded slightly pained. "Endearing. Yes. That’s exactly the image I was cultivating while contemplating how to make Long Chen permanently disappear without leaving evidence or creating international incidents."

But his hand stayed gentle against her cheek, his thumb brushing across her skin with careful tenderness.

And despite the corpse still cooling on the floor and the chaos still waiting to be managed and all the explanations she still owed, Shuyin felt something settle deep in her chest.

Lu Yuze cared.

Genuinely, possessively, jealously cared in ways that went beyond their contract.

Enough to be threatened by another man’s presence. Enough to demand reassurance. Enough to accept her despite everything she’d revealed and everything she was still hiding.

That was worth protecting with everything she had.

Worth fighting for against any threat.

Worth anything and everything.

Lu Yuze pulled her into his arms without warning, one hand coming up to cradle the back of her head while the other wrapped around her waist with possessive firmness that spoke of residual jealousy and need for physical confirmation that she was his. He held her against his chest tightly enough that Shuyin could feel his heartbeat through the expensive fabric of his shirt, steady and strong and reassuringly alive beneath her cheek.