Her life, in exchange for Xiaocong’s ordinary one, was worth it.
She slightly lowered her eyes, and spoke calmly, "If you’re angry, just kill me. I don’t want to enter your world, no matter how you threaten, I won’t step into it."
Being able to accept his identity so quickly was already her limit.
But to be with him peacefully, knowing his identity—that, she couldn’t do!
For whatever reason, she just couldn’t be with him...
Rong Shaoze slowly lifted his hand to caress her face, his palm was very cold, touching her warm skin, making her body shiver involuntarily.
He brushed aside her hair on both sides, cupped her face in his hands, and forced her to meet his gaze.
His dark eyes stared at her deeply, like a pool so deep that one couldn’t see the bottom.
"Xinlan, actually accepting my world isn’t that difficult," he said softly, not becoming as angry as she had imagined.
Lin Xinlan opened her mouth, her tone also softened, "But I just can’t accept it."
"It’s okay, I said we’ll take it slowly, one day you’ll accept it." He had a deep understanding of how strong people’s adaptability could be.
With his knowledge of her, he knew she could accept it.
She was a strong woman, a very different woman, he was confident she could accept his world, could adapt to everything.
Lin Xinlan shook her head firmly, "No, I will never accept it in my whole life!"
If it were just herself, perhaps she might.
But she wasn’t alone!
Her life, had long since been not just for herself.
Rong Shaoze’s lips pursed into a line, his eyes turned increasingly dark.
Her firm answer, he had no idea how much it hurt him.
His heart ached dully, he wanted to force her to accept everything about him right away, but he couldn’t.
If he didn’t want to lose her completely, he had to take it slowly.
He couldn’t pressure her, couldn’t force her.
She was a stubborn woman, so proud and lofty, the more he forced her, the more she would resist.
Too much rigidity would break.
He didn’t want to lose her completely!
"Fine, I won’t force you to accept my world." But it was only a temporary reprieve.
A flicker of surprise crossed Lin Xinlan’s eyes, "Really? Since you won’t force me, can you let me go then?"
She seized the opportunity to make a request.
"I won’t let you go," he refused her without a second thought, "I only said I won’t force you to accept my world, but I didn’t say I would let you go."
"If I don’t accept you, why keep me by your side?" Lin Xinlan asked, somewhat angrily.
Her reaction wounded Rong Shaoze’s heart.
It turned out she had always been thinking of escaping him.
Even if their relationship had eased a bit, even if she began to care for and pay attention to him, she still wanted to escape him.
This realization made his chest feel tight, and breathing difficult.
"Xinlan, if you didn’t know my identity, would you still think of escaping me?" His mouth moved faster than his brain, and he couldn’t help but blurt out the question.
Lin Xinlan was taken aback, she met his gaze, unsure of how to answer.
In truth, she had always thought about escaping him.
Even though she had begun to care about him recently, she still wanted to escape him...
"Now that I already know your identity, there aren’t so many what-ifs," she replied to him coolly.
Rong Shaoze tightened his grip on her hand, lowering his gaze to hide the dimness in his eyes.