Reborn: The Return of the Villainous Mr. Liu

Mui's back banged against the wall as Yuze forced her into the corner. It was an unused room, different from the previous green rooms which Yuze chose for his 'talk.'

"So you decided to betray me."

Mui looked up as she helplessly tried to reel in her chaotic breaths.

"I didn't betray you. I just used my own designs, that's all-"

He grabbed her jaw, digging his fingers into her cheek.

"And that is what I call betrayal," his no-nonsense, cold voice echoed.

"I had the perfect plan and the perfect outcome but you backed off at the last moment, which is why people are flocking over to Wang Ningli. Wang Xia is biting the dust. Whose fault is that?"

She stared at him, her eyes turning misty.

"What…do you mean that she is biting the best? Everybody appreciated my clothes too…!"

"But could you win over your sister?"

She bit her lip hard.

"Not only that, you couldn't do even the simple thing of ruining her designs."

"I-I did!"

"Then did the new clothes come out of magic?" He gave a hard smile.

Mui gasped with the increasing pain in her jaw and a tear trickling out of her left eye.

"She should have fallen into despair, yet she was prepared. She was prepared with a model even though her own ditched her at the last moment. She was prepared with backup clothes which you had no idea about. So I really wonder what is so good about your brain? So close…I was so close!"

Yuze couldn't help but exclaim his burst of frustration as he harshly shook her off.

"We wouldn't have been in this position if you would have used your brain and not rebelled. But suddenly, today was the day you thought to soar with your wings when all you had to do was just follow my command without question!"

Mui trembled, his piercing voice speeding up her heartbeats.

"Even if…e-even if we had went with your clothes, we still wouldn't have b-been able to match sis," her voice broke.

Yuze stared at her. "Say that again."

"Sis…" she clenched her fists, "Sis's designs were better than mine. It was better than yours too. Your original plan still would have failed. It doesn't matter what Wang Xia wore!"

"You…The nerve of you to raise your voice against me."

Her expression paled, seeing his hand raised to slap her. She shut her eyes instinctively when a voice simultaneously resounded from the back.

"Better lower that hand, Mr. Kang. Hitting a woman doesn't suit your 'gentle' demeanor~"

Yuze turned, his gaze meeting Alix's. She was lazily leaning against the closed door, with her brow arched in amusement.

"It's so refreshing to see you finally drop your facade," she smiled. "It was time and I was getting bored anyway."

He didn't respond.

Mui's eyes widened, horrified.

"W-What are you doing here!"

"For starters, I saved your cheek from getting printed by the mark of his palm. So how about a thank you first?" She then clicked her tongue. "Younger siblings. Always lack good manners."

She froze.

Alix stood before Yuze, facing him with her ever all-mighty countenance and folded her arms.

"You should have some sportsmanship, Mr. Kang. It doesn't suit you to take this loss to your ego. I mean I am THAT amazing so who is to blame?" She sighed. "At times, I am afraid of my own ingenuity and talent. But alas, you are not interested in basking me with compliments. You are thinking about how did I know to find you here and so now you are questioning yourself as to how much do I actually know?"

Yuze exhaled a silent breath and smiled.

"I don't know what you are talking about, Alix. But I understand your misunderstanding. I wasn't going to hit Mui. But yes I admit I was indeed a bit frustrated so things got a little heated, that's all."

"Oh frustrated is a very small word, Mr. Kang," she chuckled. "You are already bursting with lava. After all, you lost your golden chance to make me bow towards you."

"Excuse me?"

"Can you drop the act already? It is making me puke."

"I don't know who has said what to you about me-"

"Nobody has to say anything to me. Do I look like an idiot for not figuring it out by myself?"

"Figure out what?"

A further tinge of iciness stretched her already cold smile. "That you actually never gave up on Ren Alix."

Alix casually walked back and made herself comfortable on the couch. She stretched her legs and folded her arms as if she was looking down on her subjects like a queen.

"That is one good innocent expression. Is that how you fooled everybody into thinking that you had moved on from your breakup with me?"

Yuze stared at her, eventually letting out a chuckle.

"I don't understand in which tangent your thoughts are going but why would you mention our breakup right now? It has nothing to do with the situation."

"Oh, it has everything to do with the situation. I mean your partner proved it right away. Just look at Mui's expression~"

Yuze threw a silent but sharp gaze at her, making her slightly jump. But her disbelief was too late to take it back.

Alix shook her head. "See, that's why she is such a terrible villain. But you," she tilted her head with a smile, "are not. You are exactly like me."

"Huh?"

Alix chuckled. "In the sense that I might have done what you did if I had to stop the love of my life from leaving me. He wants to move on? Well, how about I make him go so crazy, helpless and crippled that he won't have any other option left but to rely on me?"

Her eyes twinkled with delight. "That's what you did to my body, right? The medicine - or should I say poison that you fed me through Mui was something that slowly chips away at your sanity. Sanity AND my cognitive decision making ability, right?"