This time, for sure, Yong Liwei couldn't feel Han Yizhou. He was not in a slumber where he could wake him up. He was not there, but at the same time, he could still feel him inside him. He really integrated with him.

"Huh?"

​​

Yong Liwei turned to where the soft voice came from and there he saw Lu Mengjie, coming out of the bathroom. "Mengjie…"

"You're awake!" She hurriedly rushed towards him, but when she came close, she paused upon noticing the tears on his face. "You're… crying?"

He slowly raised his hand to touch his cheeks. It was wet. Why was he even crying? He couldn't understand.

Lu Mengjie was about to reach out to touch his cheek but stopped when he grabbed her wrist.

He suddenly had a serious gaze on him and, for some reason, her body shivered upon remembering the night he went hysteric. Yong Liwei finally opened his mouth and said, "Did you wash your hands?"

Her brow twitched. This guy sure knew what to say just to irk her. "Of course I did!" She pulled her hand away from his grip. She took the roll of tissue from the nearby table and threw it at him. "There, wipe your own tears!"

"..." Yong Liwei stared at the roll of tissue for a while. "How long was I asleep?"

"You were unconscious for two days." She walked back towards him. She pressed a button on the bed's control panel to incline it. Seeing that he was not moving an inch to even wipe his tears, she took a small bottle of alcohol that was in the drawer beside his bed. She sprayed it on her palms. "There, I'm all clean, okay?"

This time, he became quiet as he only stared at her for a moment. "Why are you still here?"

"What do you mean?" she asked as she began wiping his cheeks, gently tapping the tissue on his cheeks. "I am your wife. Even if my husband has a devil sleeping inside him, it's my duty as your wife to stay by your side and keep your sanity in check."

No normal person would say such a thing, but for some reason, he couldn't help but feel relief inside him knowing that she wouldn't leave him after what she witnessed.

She paused and stared into his eyes. "I'd be lying to myself if I told you that I'm not afraid…"

"But you're being courageous right now."

"Because… you protected me."

He placed his hand on top of hers. She was looking at him straight in his eyes. She saw him for who he was and that alone was enough for Yong Liwei. He lowered her hand before releasing it. "If you want to leave, I won't stop you anymore... You can-"

She cut off his sentence by placing a finger on his lips. "Stop being unfair, Liwei. You can't say those words when you have already proven yourself to me. You were willing to sacrifice your life just to protect me. I am not blind." She pulled back her finger as her gaze softened. "Yong Liwei, if you say that you love me one more time, I'll forgive you."

Lu Mengjie was the only person who could distinguish between him and Han Yizhou ever since she found out about their situation. This has never failed to amaze Yong Liwei. "Mengjie…"

"Also, you are not allowed to escape me by using Han Yizhou. I shouldn't be forgiving you right now after what you did to me in the past, but… you must have your reason. You saved me when I was being chased by your men. You could have dragged me back to them, but instead, you helped me run away. Something changed your mind while we were in that cave, right? Also… when Si Guanlin tried to take advantage of me, you protected me. You could have let him do what he wanted but you protected me… You could have locked me in the prison but you brought me to your room."

Yong Liwei lowered his head as he continued to listen to what she was saying. Even if he wanted to escape, he wouldn't be able to do that anymore. He couldn't switch to Han Yizhou now that he was gone. It was his way of saying that he shouldn't escape her, and yet, he was such a hypocrite for cowering away from her after what happened.

She held his hand gently as she continued, "You don't have to tell me everything right now if you don't want to. Just know that I'm willing to listen to your side whenever you're ready. I shouldn't trust you and yet..."

"You're a fool," he continued as he let out a sigh. How could she trust him after what he did to her? How could she still stay by his side when she has already recalled the memories of her abduction. Even if he didn't have a part in it, he still used her as his pawn, he endangered her together with their son.

A soft chuckle was heard from her, snapping him out from his thoughts. "Yes, I may be a fool… but you love this foolish me."

He lifted his gaze to her, he had a helpless look in his eyes. She had already witnessed how dangerous he could be but why was she saying such words? Words that only made him fall deeper for her. "I'm giving you a chance to run away from me, Mengjie. If you waste this chance, I will never set you free anymore… You'll be doomed. You'll never be able to escape me."

"That's fine. I'm not even trying to escape from you, Yong Liwei." The side of her lips curled up as she flashed him a sweet smile. "I never imagined that being accursed could be this pleasant."

"..." He heaved out another sigh as he said, "you're crazy."

"Crazy for you, yes." She leaned down to his level. She was about to peck his lips but paused when a thought entered her mind. She covered the lower half of her face with her hand as she said, "as much as I want to kiss you right now, you should brush first."

"..." He looked at her in disbelief. Was this her payback for what he said earlier?