Chapter 4: Doll IV
This felt like the beginning of everything absurd, unexpected, and utterly intoxicating in Tang Han Qiu's life.
She frowned, tighter than usual, and didn't respond to Qiu Yun Li's words. In fact, she ignored him completely, her attention riveted entirely on Yu Ru Bing — the delicate, ethereal girl whose cheeks still bore the faintest trace of red from their last encounter.
Han Qiu's thoughts raced, calculating the perfect way to approach her, to apologize without hesitation. For once, she wasn't thinking about herself, about her pride or her wounds. She was thinking about Yu Ru Bing.
Qiu Yun Li, unused to being ignored, stiffened. Since childhood, he had been the center of attention, the one everyone deferred to.
To be brushed off like a shadow was alien, irritating, and almost unbearable. His lips pressed together, the shadow of displeasure darkening his normally calm features. "Tang Han Qiu!" he called, sharper this time, trying to cut through her deliberate silence.
Han Qiu didn't flinch. Her gaze remained inward, focused on her plan, not on him. Finally, she spoke, low and measured: "I'll trouble Mr. Qiu to please remain silent."
"Mr. Qiu?!"
The words hit him like ice. There was no warmth, no pleading, no lingering hint of the obsession he had grown accustomed to. Instead, there was distance, boundary, and authority. Han Qiu's voice made it clear: she was no longer a puppet dancing to his whims.
Qiu Yun Li's jaw tightened, darkening. "Tang Han Qiu… even if you act like this, I still won't like you."
Han Qiu flared her nostrils slightly, irritation mingling with calm control. She lifted her eyelids, letting her eyes — cold, sharp, unyielding — lock on him. A new aura had settled over her, one of quiet authority, of someone who had finally claimed her own body and mind. She looked untouchable, impervious, a queen in her own right.
"Who wants to like you?" she said flatly, measured, calm. "Mr. Qiu, please do not misunderstand me. I don't like you anymore. In the future, stay away. Otherwise…" She paused deliberately, letting the silence carry the weight of unspoken consequence. "…it will be at your own risk."
For a moment, the world seemed to pause. Qiu Yun Li froze, Yu Ru Bing blinked, astonished, and even Dong Bo, ever composed, allowed himself a flicker of surprise. The woman standing before them — the Tang Han Qiu he had known, obsessed with and unthinking — had vanished. In her place stood someone clear - headed, assertive, unafraid.
Qiu Yun Li, however, was quick to misread the surface. To him, this was just another performance, another episode in the endless theater of their lives. He assumed she would eventually retreat into obsession, that she would scheme and manipulate, that she would rely on engagement and family advantage to force attention. But he was wrong.
Han Qiu's eyes remained steady, unwavering. She did not flinch. She did not scheme. She simply existed — on her terms.
Qiu Yun Li's scowl deepened. "There's no need to say all this to attract my attention or trap me with an engagement," he said, tone stiff. "I will not like you. And I can convince my parents to cancel the engagement if I must."
The words might have struck fear or panic in the old Tang Han Qiu, but she only let a sardonic smile touch her lips. Convince my father? Might as well watch a pig climb a tree, she thought.
She reached casually into her handbag and pulled out her phone, dialing a number with the grace of someone utterly in command of herself. When the call connected, her voice softened, polite yet firm, carrying a quiet but unmistakable weight.
"Dad," she said. "I want to cancel my engagement with Qiu Yun Li. Immediately."
A pause. Her father's voice, usually steady, betrayed a hint of surprise. "Why?" he asked, controlled but curious.
Tang Han Qiu tilted her head, letting her gaze briefly meet Qiu Yun Li's. No hesitation. No lingering attachment. Just clarity. She allowed herself the smallest, most confident smile.
"It's for your health," she said softly, calmly, resolutely.
Silence on the line, then the faint clearing of her father's throat. Tang Han Qiu imagined him, brow furrowed, disbelief clear in his posture, but she did not waver. No expectation, no tradition, no obligation could bend her now. She had control. Finally.
Qiu Yun Li's eyes widened in shock, his lips parting, but he said nothing. Yu Ru Bing, standing behind him, felt a rush of astonishment and relief. This was not the same Tang Han Qiu she had once feared — fiery, impulsive, dangerous. This was someone transformed: composed, deliberate, and terrifyingly self - possessed.
Dong Bo cleared his throat quietly. "Miss… are you certain?"
"I am," Han Qiu replied evenly, slipping the phone back into her bag. She brushed a strand of hair from her face, and for a fraction of a second, her eyes softened, meeting Yu Ru Bing's glance. There was no jealousy, no accusation — just acknowledgment, care, and a desire for the girl's safety.
Qiu Yun Li's thin - lipped frown deepened. Too late, he realized the Tang Han Qiu before him no longer danced to his will. No pleading, no manipulation, no desperate cries. She acted fully on her own terms, and he had no leverage.
"I'll leave the decision to my father," he said finally, attempting control.
"You may try," she murmured softly, almost to herself, amusement flickering in her gaze, but entirely unaffected by his attempt. Then, without hesitation, she turned to Yu Ru Bing.
The younger woman's eyes, wide and uncertain, locked on Han Qiu's. For the first time, she did not see anger, jealousy, or malice. She saw clarity. Honesty. Someone no longer bound by invisible chains or obsession, fully in control of herself.
Han Qiu stepped closer, her presence calm yet undeniably compelling. "I owe you an apology," she said, voice low and measured. "For everything… for scaring you, for —" She shook her head slightly, a tiny, rueful movement. "…for being reckless. Truly."
Yu Ru Bing hesitated, then nodded, sensing the rare sincerity in her words. There was no performance, no ulterior motive. Just Tang Han Qiu, standing fully herself, offering acknowledgment.
Han Qiu's gaze flicked back to Qiu Yun Li one last time. For the first time, she saw him as nothing more than a figure of her past — a man who had never been hers, not fully, not ever. She exhaled, sunlight brushing across her face like a promise.
Her body, finally her own, radiated quiet strength. Not a puppet. Not a doll. Tang Han Qiu.
And as she stepped closer to Yu Ru Bing, the smallest, most fragile smile appeared on the younger woman's face. Relief, awe, and a delicate curiosity flickered across her features.
For the first time, Tang Han Qiu realized what she truly wanted. Not attention. Not obsession. Not revenge. She wanted to understand Yu Ru Bing. To be near her. To share in her world. And maybe — just maybe — to see if something new, something beautiful, could grow between them.
Her pulse raced — not with jealousy, not with anger, not with possessive desire — but with a warmth that was quiet, steady, and thrillingly unfamiliar. Possibility. Connection. Life.
Tang Han Qiu's lips curved into a full, genuine smile, one that reached her eyes. And Yu Ru Bing, delicate, fragile, yet strong in her own subtle way, met it with one of her own.
The world stretched wide and vivid around them, the lawn bathed in sunlight, ordinary yet miraculous. For the first time, Tang Han Qiu felt alive. Not a puppet. Not a doll. Herself.
And for the first time in years, she could choose not only her path — but the people she wanted alongside her.
Yu Ru Bing's small hand brushed lightly against hers, tentative but intentional. Han Qiu's breath caught, a thrill running through her chest. She could step back — but she didn't. She let her fingers intertwine gently with Yu Ru Bing's, savoring the quiet intimacy of choice.
The moment was fragile, delicate, yet charged, like the calm after a storm — the perfect prelude to something new, unexpected, and entirely their own.
And Tang Han Qiu, finally free from the invisible strings that had once ruled her life, knew this: she would protect that fragile connection, nurture it, and explore it on her own terms. No obsession. No jealousy. No puppetry. Just herself… and Yu Ru Bing.
For the first time, she was fully, entirely, undeniably alive.