040 - Disqualified

"Lu Yichen, you truly disappoint me..." Xia Yuwei's voice was barely more than a whisper, choked by the tears lodged in her throat.

"And do you still have the right to be disappointed in me? Do you?" He gazed at her reflection in the mirror, his hand tracing her cheek, as if questioning her, or perhaps himself.

Xia Yuwei, after I left your house, I called you desperately, dialing for three days straight, but your phone was always off.

How could you be so kind to me one moment, and then, in the blink of an eye, turn so cold, so utterly heartless? How could you so ruthlessly break my spirit?

Did you ever understand how I felt, did you ever try to?

Since you were so determined to leave me, so resolved to cast me aside, what right do you have now to be disappointed in me?

...

These words had been buried in his heart for two whole years, tormenting him every day with the urge to find her, to ask her what kind of agony would be enough to stifle the longing to see her...

Yet now, face to face, all his questions were swallowed back, left unsaid.

Xia Yuwei only shook her head, speechless, lowering her face into her hands.

"Don’t try to play the victim with me..." He reached out and lifted her head, forcing her to look at the two of them in the mirror.

He faced her reflection. Their movements were as harmoniously intimate as before—his arms naturally encircling her waist from behind, feeling the warmth of her breath—yet his words were cold, devoid of the old tenderness.

"Xia Yuwei, I will never let you go..." Because in this life, I never want to let you go.

"Yichen, when will you finally grow up?" His words chilled her heart, and even his familiar closeness now seemed a cruel mockery.

"Grow up? Are you calling me childish? That's right, I forgot—in front of you, I'll always be childish. What am I to do? A sentimental, self-righteous old woman, always thinking she can save the world, when in truth she's a siren who destroys others and still pretends innocence..."

"Enough!" Xia Yuwei interrupted him again, struggling in his arms. "If you have any resentment, take it out on me! Just don't hurt my friends. I beg you, please don't be so reckless!"

"Hurt her? I would never hurt her. I’ll only love her—love her to the point of utter despair. Starting now..." Watching the faint tremor that ran through her as he spoke, Lu Yichen seemed to savor his triumph. He curled his lips into a smile, released the struggling Xia Yuwei, and strode out of the washroom.

Was this really Lu Yichen? Was he truly the boy who once clung to her so tightly?

Xia Yuwei watched him leave, listened to the soft tinkling of the crystal curtain, and questioned her own heart.

How much must he hate her, to say such cruel words?