Chapter 37
Liking Me Makes You Feel Dumb?
All the time spent with Mo Nianchen taught Li Shengxia the skill of keeping on an unperturbed expression despite her heart being crushed into million pieces. This was perhaps the only way she could protect whatever was left of her dignity.
Digging out her heart and smashing it on the ground? Had he not already done that before?
She was not dumb enough to repeat the same mistake twice!
He frowned and narrowed his eyes immediately upon hearing her reply. “Liking me makes you feel dumb?” he enunciated each word slowly in a cold voice as if someone had touched his nerve.
“That’s right, it’s the dumbest thing to do!” she shouted through gritted teeth.
He stared at her indifferently before twitching his lips into a sarcastic smile. “You better not let me see you at your dumbest or I’ll definitely ridicule you mercilessly!”
“Don’t you worry because that day will never come!”
Hearing that sent a shudder through the man. He held her chin firmly to warn her, in a tone that sounded nonchalant, yet every word he spoke reeked of danger. “Even so, please watch your mouth and always remember that I didn’t buy you so you could infuriate me!”
A false front was better than the brutal truth!
Oh, right, how could she forget about that? She must be grossed out that he was holding her chin with his bleeding hand! Li Shengxia retrieved a handkerchief to bind up the wound on his right palm.
He allowed her to treat the wound without resisting. It was as if all the anger from before dissipated through this act of gentleness. The raging storm inside him gradually calmed down.
She had the power to reassure him within seconds. However, she was also the reason for the majority of his emotional outbursts.
He watched as the focused woman slowly removed the bloody bandage from his palm and replaced it with the clean handkerchief. That soft and gentle expression reminded him of that innocent girl from his memories.
Would she feel bad for him? Ha, of course not. He knew that she was only acting.
Although knowing full well that she would not develop tender feelings toward him, he still allowed himself to indulge in this beautiful illusion. Only when she was putting on this false display of affection would she not hate him…
He had never intended to say those words, but how did that happen? What bothered him the most was the fact that she still despised him!
A heavy silence fell upon the room. The fractured mirror broke their reflections into numerous little pieces, each one portraying the gentle woman tending to his wound. He had no idea why he was touched by this scene. The raging storm in his heart disappeared almost instantly because of her.
Right at this moment…
Someone opened the washroom door…
Yin Tangyi appeared behind the door.
Evidently, he did not expect to witness this, not to mention the fractured mirror. He froze at the sight laid in front of his eyes.
Li Shengxia paused her actions upon discovering the man. She instinctively let go of Mo Nianchen and stepped back to keep some distance between the two of them. “There,” she whispered.
Did the man sense the strange tension still lingering in the air? She felt extremely embarrassed to have been exposed by him over and over again.
She probably crushed Yi’s image of the perfect innocent girl completely.
He was the ideal man – dashingly handsome, wealthy background, sweet and gentle. Meeting him was the most wonderful thing that had ever happened to her. Unfortunately, she could not take advantage of this great luck.
“Miss Li, take a good look at yourself. You don’t deserve my darling son Tangyi!
“Take this money or your life would be destroyed completely!
“How dare you persuade my son to elope with you? I’ll cut off his source of money so you don’t get anything!
“What’s wrong? Can’t take it anymore?
“I told you that you would return! Nothing would go right for a poor couple. The two of you are nothing without money! This is your breakup fee. Take it and don’t ever appear in his life again. You don’t have the right to mess up his life!”
These words had once destroyed her, leaving cuts and bruises all over her heart. His mother, whom he respected so much, had said these things to her face. Perhaps he would never learn about this but it did not matter anymore.
He was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, not having to suffer any hardship since young. How could she possibly stand and look at him casting away a great future just because of her?
The man appeared comfortable going back to living his life as a young master. This was the life destined for him.
Li Shengxia shifted her glance away upon thinking of this. She reminded herself that she had made the right decision.
Mo Nianchen realized she let go of him when Yin Tangyin walked in. Her body tensed up and she deliberately tried to keep a safe distance. Immediately, he casually placed an arm around her and pulled her in closer.
An awkward tension filled the air as if each one of them was waiting for the others to break the silence.
Then, someone came running over. “Crown Prince, the charity auction is starting soon.” The person was startled to find Yin Tangyi. “Young Master Yin? I had no idea you were here.”
Mo Nianchen sized Yin Tangyi up and down silently, as if to declare his ownership over Li Shengxia, before walking out with the woman by his side…
The man who was left behind stood there in silence for a couple of seconds before walking toward the sink subconsciously. The fractured mirror spilt his reflection into half, as if trying to reflect something else as well. He smiled coldly while looking at his own reflection. A wave of intense pain suddenly filled his heart.
He still could not forget about her, despite having seen her true colors.
He remembered her nodding when he suggested eloping when his family objected to the relationship. She promised to follow him to the ends of the world.
However, she gave up in less than two months’ time.
“Yi, let’s go home. Your mother froze all your credit cards and coerced companies from hiring you. There’s no way you can hang on much longer,” she had said.
Unaware of her wavered loyalty, he even replied earnestly, “I can take on any hardship as long as I have you by my side.”
In spite of that, she shattered his heart mercilessly like a cruel executioner. “But I don’t want that. I’ve decided to take the money from your mother and break up with you.”
He questioned in disbelief, “Shengxia, you’re mad. What the hell are you saying?”
“I said I’ve chosen money over you…” she replied, her gaze averted.
I said I’ve chosen money over you…
This one phrase pestered him every night like an unavoidable nightmare!
How could he still have feelings for her after all that? Even he was ashamed of his unwillingness to move on after having been humiliated and betrayed! Feeling disgrace was better than not feeling anything!