"I also once thought that we were in mutual love."
Shi Che’s hands slowly stripped away Shen Qian’s grasp, and he stumbled backward uncontrollably, taking two steps before finally leaning against the wall to steady himself.
"But all along, it was just me deluding myself."
Hearing Shi Che’s words, Shen Qian was even more puzzled. He stared at Shi Che, his handsome face extremely serious, "Che, speak clearly—what exactly happened between you and Xiaxia?"
What exactly happened...it was all because he opened Pandora’s box.
Shi Che’s body slid down the wall weakly until he was sitting on the floor, his dark pupils unfocused, gazing emptily at a spot as he spoke with a dry voice, word by word.
He didn’t say much, just a few sparse sentences, but it was enough to make Shen Qian fall utterly silent, unable to utter another word.
He had always thought the pair, who seemed sweetly in love, were actually distant and disunited. He never imagined that the proud Shi Che would endure his deeply loved woman, staying by his side with an ulterior motive for three years.
"Che..." Shen Qian felt as if something was stuck in his throat, unable to speak.
"In fact, I have resigned myself to it, I really have. Even if Ling Chuxia never loves me for her whole life, I don’t care anymore. But why did she give me hope? Why did she cry for me? Why did she take me back to school? Why was she so anxious about the necklace I gave her? Why...did she smile at me? Why...give me hope, then drive me to despair?"
Shi Che’s hands couldn’t help but cover his face, yet tears still seeped through the gaps in his fingers, drop by drop.
A man’s tears are precious, better to bleed than to weep—the saying goes, especially in the case of Shi Che, who, since childhood, no matter how serious the situation, had always been calm and composed. A man like that was now in tears.
Shen Qian stood frozen, unable to move.
After a long while, he finally found his voice again, "So...Che, will you give up?"
If he could, he would have given up three years ago when he saw Ling Chuxia’s diary. If he could, he would have given up during the three years facing Ling Chuxia’s indifference. If he could, he would have given up the moment he knew Ling Chuxia had deliberately conceived his child.
It was because he knew that no matter what Ling Chuxia did to him, he would forgive her in the end, accept her, so he had no ground to be angry or enraged.
He just couldn’t bear it—why he had to love Ling Chuxia so much, why Ling Chuxia couldn’t love him.
Shen Qian waited a long time for Shi Che’s answer but also knew that this answer needed no reply.
If deep love could be discarded, then it wouldn’t be deep love. He just needed time.
Shen Qian closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and upon opening them, he slowly turned away and left the room, closing the door behind him.
Since Ji Xinxin was filming out of town and couldn’t rush back, the divorce agreement was presented to Ling Chuxia by a lawyer commissioned by her.
"Miss Ling, this is the preliminary draft of the divorce agreement. Take a look, and if there are any issues, please point them out and I will make the necessary changes."
As the lawyer spoke, he handed the divorce agreement to Ling Chuxia.