But later, he realized that everything had just been his self-comfort, his self-delusion. Ling Chuxia had married him not because she liked him, but because of her elder sister.
At that time, he had gone without sleep for over a week, finishing all his work ahead of time to make space for their honeymoon, choosing the most romantic place, the homeland of lavender, Provence in France.
The house he rented was in a small town, and as soon as he opened the door, he could see the sea of lavender flowers and be enveloped in their faint fragrance. Holding her, he felt that there was nothing more beautiful in the world than this moment.
Everything changed that day. While Chuxia was bathing, he, feeling utterly bored in the room, decided to tidy up the trinkets she had bought— a miscellaneous heap of them. After sorting them out, he was about to put them into her suitcase when...he inadvertently discovered her diary.
He had always known Chuxia had a habit of keeping a diary, and he had seen her writing in it a few times, but he respected her privacy. Even though he wanted to read it, he had never crossed that line. However, that day, holding the diary, his heart began to stir.
He and Chuxia had been married for some time now, yet it seemed that Chuxia wasn’t very passionate towards him and even resisted intimacy with him. He couldn’t understand where the problem lay, yet he truly wanted to know what Chuxia was really thinking.
In his heart, he told himself, "Just a little peek, just a little peek, just to know a little bit," and then he opened Chuxia’s diary. At that moment, he did not realize that what he was opening was not a sweet piece of candy, but rather...Pandora’s box.
Had he known it would be , would he have chosen not to open the diary back then, even if it meant deceiving himself for a lifetime?
Then, he came to know everything.
He learned that Ling Chuxia had married him not because she loved him, but because of her elder sister, who wanted to keep the position of Young Madam for herself.
He had always known she was a free spirit who loved wandering and exploring, which was why he had insisted on moving out right after their marriage, so she wouldn’t be controlled by his mother anymore.
But for her elder sister, she was willing to follow Mrs. Shi’s orders and turn herself into a complete puppet, thus trampling on his feelings for her elder sister’s sake.
Had there been no love, he wouldn’t have been hurt. But he loved her so, how could she be so cruel? To ignore his confessions and stay by his side just for her elder sister.
After reading that diary, he suffered sleepless nights, unable to sleep at all, becoming irritable, impatient, and uncontrollably angry with Ling Chuxia, shouting and hurling cold words at her, and then, she became even quieter, more accommodating, more humble.
This was not what he wanted, but he couldn’t control it, just as he couldn’t control Chuxia’s heart and make her love him.
He suffered from insomnia for a long time, eventually developing a chronic headache. Whenever he felt annoyed or depressed, his head would hurt terribly, as if he was going to die.
Ling Chuxia cried for a long time, cried until she was nearly depleted, with Shi Che’s harsh words lingering in her mind, stabbing her heart word by word. She shook her head vigorously, trying to forget, yet unable to. Clenching her teeth, she struggled to get up, ran quickly out of the bedroom, out of the villa.
(Today’s update is complete~~~ The truth is revealed haha~~~ I feel both Young Master Shi and Little Xiaxia are so pitiful, boo hoo hoo~~ Little Xiaxia ran away, but where to?)