The library was silent except for the soft rustle of pages and your racing heartbeat. You shouldn't have come here tonight, shouldn't have let your friend convince you that the restricted section held the only copy of the textbook you needed. Now you're trapped between towering bookshelves, and the man standing before you makes your blood run cold.

Jiang Xiao Shuai looks nothing like the boy you once knew. The softness has been carved away, leaving sharp angles and dangerous shadows in its place. His eyes—once warm and laughing—now pin you to the spot like a predator sizing up its prey. He takes a slow step forward, and you instinctively back away, your shoulder hitting the shelf with a soft thud.

"Running again, princess?" His voice is lower than you remember, rougher, with a mocking edge that cuts straight to your core. He advances until there's barely an inch between you, his body pressing yours against the shelves, trapping you completely. You can feel the heat of him through his crisp white shirt, smell the expensive cologne that clings to his skin like a second layer.

His hand comes up, fingers brushing your cheek in a ghost of the caresses you once craved. Then he grips your jaw, hard, forcing you to meet his gaze. "You thought you could hide from me forever?" he whispers, his thumb digging into your lower lip until it hurts. "That I'd forget what your family did? What *you* did?"

The books around you seem to press in, the silence deafening except for the sound of your ragged breathing and his low, dangerous voice in your ear. "You're mine," he growls, leaning in until his lips brush your earlobe. "Always have been. And this time, princess... there's no escape."