[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-qt-i-hijacked-a-harem-system-and-now-i-m-ruining":3,"chapter-qt-i-hijacked-a-harem-system-and-now-i-m-ruining-qt-i-hijacked-a-harem-system-and-now-i-m-ruining-chapter-148":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","QT: I hijacked a harem system and now I'm ruining every plot(GL)",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1854986,2462,"Chapter 148: I love you","qt-i-hijacked-a-harem-system-and-now-i-m-ruining-chapter-148",148,"\u003Cp>Chapter 148 – Daphne POV\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I just hold her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just arms.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And silence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And the weight of her shaking against my chest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Estela told me everything—about Antonia, about the orphanage, about the truth she never asked for but got anyway.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It’s heartbreaking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her voice cracked halfway through. Her eyes didn’t water—they poured. Like her body had been holding in a storm and finally let it break.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I don’t think there’s anything I can say to make it better. And I’m not foolish enough to try.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some pain isn’t meant to be reasoned with. Some grief just needs to exist—to scream, to sob, to stain the air.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So I hold her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She’s curled into me on the bed, her face tucked into the hollow of my throat, fingers clutching the front of my shirt like she’s afraid I’ll vanish too.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I won’t.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I stroke her back in slow, steady circles. Whisper nothing. Just let her fall apart, piece by piece, knowing I’ll be here when she’s ready to gather herself again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her voice comes out eventually, hoarse and small.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It’s all gone. Everything I thought I knew. Everything I thought I loved. It was all a lie.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I press my lips to her temple. \"You weren’t a lie.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She doesn’t respond.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just presses closer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And I let her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because sometimes, love isn’t grand gestures or promises.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sometimes love is just staying.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Being the body someone collapses into.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Being the silence that doesn’t ask for more.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>--\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I bring her a glass of water, quietly, and help her sit up just enough to take a sip. Her hands are trembling, but she manages.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then I pull her into my arms again as we lie back down together, her head resting on my chest, the silence wrapping around us like a blanket.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"For years, all I’ve wanted was revenge on the Castellanos,\" she whispers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"For what they did to Antonia and my home.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I don’t respond.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I don’t think she needs me to.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She’s not asking for answers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She’s bleeding truth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And I’m just here to hold the wound closed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I don’t know what to feel,\" she continues, her voice soft but frayed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I also feel very dumb, because... obviously they were raising us to kill. I mean—why did I think it was okay?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I rub slow circles on her back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You trusted them,\" I say gently.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"They raised you. That’s not stupidity, Estela. They were your family.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I know,\" she says, sighing. \"I just...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She trails off, but I don’t push.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I was fifteen when it all went up in flames,\" she says.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"One of the older girls grabbed me and told me to leave. She shoved seven little girls into my arms and told me to run.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My chest tightens.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I was heartbroken,\" she breathes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It was all I ever knew. I didn’t even cry until days later. I was too angry. Too confused. That rage—that was what kept me alive.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I press my lips to the crown of her head. Her hair still smells like rosewater and salt. Still feels like home.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She shifts in my arms, just slightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I came to this town to find the people who took it all away. I told myself I’d learn who they were. I told myself I’d get justice... or vengeance, if I couldn’t have the first.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I listen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I worked small jobs, mostly street gigs—this city doesn’t care how old you are if you look like you belong somewhere. I blended in. Found work. Got access. And one day, I saw it.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her voice goes quiet, almost reverent. Almost like the moment still glows in her memory.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The Castellano logo. That snake. I recognized it right away. I felt it in my bones.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I close my eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"In the ruins of the orphanage, the only thing left that wasn’t turned to ash was a metal lighter. It had the same logo etched into it, the snake.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I hold her tighter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I hold her tighter, feeling every word she says like it’s echoing through my bones.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"In the church...\" she murmurs, \"I was so consumed with anger—and with opportunity. When I saw you sitting there, alone... all I saw was that you were a Castellano. And that meant my chance for revenge.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A slow exhale escapes me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"A very dumb move,\" I say, my voice dry but laced with affection. \"Because not only would you have died after killing me, they would’ve gone after your sisters too—once they figured out your identity.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She laughs softly, the sound rough but real. \"I never said it was a smart idea.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"No,\" I agree, brushing my thumb along her shoulder. \"But it was bold.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She lifts her head just enough to meet my gaze, and I can see a flicker of guilt still buried behind the softness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It’s not all bad,\" I say, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It brought you into my life.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her eyes soften.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yeah,\" she says quietly, \"it’s like... after meeting you, my monotone world was suddenly filled with color.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My breath hitches.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Ohhh,\" I say, teasing, \"tell me more.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She laughs, that real kind of laugh—the one that makes her nose crinkle and her lips tug crooked. Then she pinches my side.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I flinch. \"Violence? In this sacred moment?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I was just a ball of rage,\" she continues, ignoring my mock indignation. \"Rage, and responsibility, and exhaustion. Before you, I don’t remember the last time I laughed. I didn’t even have friends—I was just... existing.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I watch her as she speaks, memorizing the way her lips form every word like they matter. Because they do.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It’s like... my life was waiting for you to start. And for some odd reason, I feel like I know you—while I simultaneously don’t. And sometimes, with you, I get this sense of déjà vu.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She turns to face me more fully, her expression open, soft, vulnerable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Maybe you’re right,\" she says. \"Maybe we were lovers in a past life.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And just like that—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My heart stutters. Then sprints.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thud-thud-thud-thud.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She blinks. \"Why is your heart beating so fast?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I swallow, lips twitching into a grin. \"Because you just said you loved me.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She scoffs. \"I did not.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Pretty sure you did,\" I say, leaning in. \"You just used a lot of extra words.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She rolls her eyes. \"You are so annoying.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"And I love you too,\" I murmur, before pressing a kiss to her jaw. Then her cheek. Then the other one. Then her forehead. Then her nose. Then her eyelid.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She’s giggling now, a full-bodied laugh that shakes her shoulders, her hands trying and failing to push me away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Daphne—stop!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"No.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I keep kissing every inch of her face until she’s breathless and glowing, a warm mess in my arms.\u003C\u002Fp>",1130,"2026-06-09T07:29:29.584Z",1,"novelbin.me","ac8c69f0b29d11dbe93be489ce966c0b336f0288af1504abd6bb67babce4de76","qt-i-hijacked-a-harem-system-and-now-i-m-ruining-chapter-149","qt-i-hijacked-a-harem-system-and-now-i-m-ruining-chapter-147",399,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fqt-i-hijacked-a-harem-system-and-now-i-m-ruining-cover.jpg"]