Lu Mengjie became quiet. Was his other alter trying to warn her about the real monster inside him?

"So the man…" she paused from questioning him, she was reluctant to do so, and yet, her curiosity was at its peak. "The side who has been spending time with me is…"

"Han Yizhou," the man continued for her. "In fact, he is the real owner of this body." Yong Liwei, Han Yizhou's other identity, was created all because of the trauma he had been through from childhood. He was the alter that became the pillar for the original persona.

"So now I'm asking you, you said that you love him. Will you still love him despite having me inside him?"

She lowered her head, her expression hidden from him.

"Yizhou may love you back but I'm different. That's why he's pathetic. Worthless. He should have discarded all his feelings. It will only ruin him. Unlike Yizhou, I can kill you anytime I want." It was a warning. Another threat and this time, it was real. No, it has always been real since that night, Yong Liwei was serious.

Seconds ticked by. The man thought the girl standing in front was beginning to fear him. No one in their right minds would want to stay with a man who could kill them anytime. He was a twisted murderer who has already stained his hands with blood so many times.

Lu Mengjie finally raised her head, her face unreadable. There was neither fear nor scorn in her eyes. Instead of turning away to leave him just like what happened the other night, to his surprise, she began walking towards him.

"You said that you can kill me anytime you want but…" she paused and stood in front of him. She gazed down at him. "Can you really do that?"

Lines appeared between his graceful brows. "Are you challenging me right now?"

The side of her lips curled up to the point where her eyes smiled together. "I know for sure that… you won't do anything to hurt the person you are protecting. That's the purpose of why you were created, right? To protect Han Yizhou."

Yong Liwei narrowed his eyes and said nothing to confirm her words but… she was not entirely wrong about what she said. He was the alter, the barrier that was developed to protect the frail man inside.

"You can be as cruel as you want to everyone around you, Yong Liwei." She bent down a bit. "Loving you means… accepting all the good and bad in you."

His eyes went wide and for some reason, Lu Mengjie saw a tear escaping from his left eye, slowly flowing down against his cheek.

She stretched out her arm just so she could hold his cheek. With her thumb, she wiped the tear that formed on the side of his left eye. The man was startled by her touch which made him slap her hand away.

"Are you crazy?" He blurted out as he continued to look at her in disbelief.

She took a glance at her hand that had been slapped rudely by him. "I have always been a crazy person, Mr. Yong." She lowered her hand and landed her eyes back at him. "You may have given me a reason to hate you but… Yizhou has given me a reason to love him more."

"Are you really courting death right now?" The air in the room became heavy as he shot her with a deadly glare.

"No, I'm not courting death. I'm courting you."

"..."

"What I only want right now is… for you to not to push me away. You can drive others out but at least let me be the one person to remain by your side, the one person you can fully trust. You may have once broken my trust but it was Han Yizhou who mended it. He is not weak, Liwei. He is stronger than you are."

A faint chuckle escaped his lips, his eyes softened at her warm words that reached through his heart, spreading across his body. His pale ears turned red for some reason. He was blushing.

"Why are you suddenly saying your wedding vows here?" He stretched his arm and held her hand, bringing it to his lips, gently kissing the reddish part on where the slap was received earlier. "I'm sorry if he has harmed you…"

The man in front of her reverted to Han Yizhou.

Instead of replying to what he said, she leaned down and placed a soft kiss on his forehead. "I'm glad that we're able to clear things up…Liwei-" she paused, then corrected, "Yizhou."

"Are you sure about this?"

She pulled away and raised a brow, a small pout forming on her lips. "Do I look like I'm not? From here on , if that scumbag Yong Liwei comes out, I'll know how to handle him now."

"He's dangerous, Mengjie."

"And so? You won't allow him to hurt me, will you?"

"Of course not… it's just… I still can't believe that you still want to stay by my side after finding out the truth. You're a stubborn woman." He looked at her helplessly.

"I'll take that as a compliment." She chuckled. "If I can run after a man for more than 10 years, how much more to you?"

Han Yizhou furrowed his brows together when he remembered that she has been running after another man for so many years. Ah… there was still that other man.

"I'm always on my ears so don't keep things to yourself, okay? I want you to be honest to me…"

"What if I have another girl?"

"The other girl you can only have is our daughter. Also…" she paused and began pinching his cheek instead. "It will be your loss! Who the hell in this world will love a twisted man like you?"

"Ow! Ow! Ow!" He groaned in pain as she kept on squeezing his cheek, hard.

"You better think twice!" She finally released him.

He massaged his reddened cheek. He looked helpless. "Don't leave me, okay?"

Lu Mengjie stared at him for a few seconds. She knew what he meant. "Do you know why good people die fast?"

He paused, startled by her sudden question.

"In the garden, the beautiful flowers are always picked first. That's why."

The man was quiet for a while. She couldn't read his face. It was only when he held her hand and brought it to his lips that she was able to hear his thoughts. "If that's the case, then I will never allow anyone to pick you out from my garden. Never," he promised.

----------

AN:

Just in case some of the readers are confused, from now on, whenever Han Yizhou's other identity comes out, (the cold, cruel alter), I will address him as Yong Liwei.

Also, please give this book a review so that new readers will know what to expect. I will also be choosing new reviews to pin and highlight

Since I've noticed the drastic increase in rank, I decided to give a mass release despite not reaching our goal. My readers are working hard in voting so I'm going to reward you with a mass release!

Schedule of Mass Release: May 24, 2021