Love in the Midst of Mistaken Identities

“Did you ever love me?” She asked pitifully, her transparent tears rolling down one after another.

“Love? Are you even deserving of love? I’m telling you now, I, Chu Lui, will love Xia Yixuan; I will love Li Manni, but I would never love you, Xia Ruoxin.”

“Chu Lui, don’t leave, I’m begging you. Don’t marry her, okay? Please...” She hugged his leg, but he kicked her away.

She cowered a little, but she left the Chu villa without turning back in the end. It would soon be another woman’s new house, and it would have a new owner. She didn’t have anything, but he still wanted her to be a beggar even when she had lost everything.

Actually, that wasn’t it. He just wanted her back to beg him, and then he would let her go. He would let her go for real.

“Little brother...” The little girl’s hand reached out and tugged tightly on his shirt. “Are you leaving?”

He liked her cute face. He placed his hand around her neck, where the amulet he had just put on her was. He said, “Wait for me. I will definitely be back.” So he went back.

Yes, he went back, but he found the wrong person and loved the wrong person. He married the right one but hated the wrong one.

He put his hand on his eyes. Just the slightest light made his eyes throb painfully. He sat up, his eyes bloodshot. Four years ago, was that really him?

Was he really that cruel and inhumane?

He looked at his hands, the hands that had broken and harmed his little bride whom he had chosen. He ruined her, but in the end, he found that the one he ruined was actually himself.

He sat up and took out his cigarette, smoking non-stop. Perhaps he had too much on his mind so he had forgotten hunger. The house in front of him looked cold everywhere. This was the place he had lived in for so long. There were no laughter, no smiles, and none of his heart.

He wasn’t the only one having trouble sleeping. There was someone else, too. Li Manni couldn’t take it in the end and sat up; she then got out of the bed and walked out of the room.

Chu Lui put down the cigarette in his hand when he heard the door knock. He stood up and opened the door. He didn’t need to guess to know who it was. Apart from him, there was only one other person in this house.

A pair of arms hugged him from behind.

“Lui, I’m afraid on my own, and I can’t sleep. Sleep with me?”

Li Manni bit her lip and pressed her cheek closely to Chu Lui’s back. Chu Lui’s body stiffened, but he didn’t push her away. She was the wife he had chosen. Everything was his fault, not hers.

“Okay?” He took Li Manni’s hand, and putting the other arm over her shoulders, he led her into the master bedroom. They lied down on the bed where Chu Lui held Li Manni stiffly in his arms. He allowed himself to force his eyes to keep the sight of the woman in his arms out.

“Lui, do you still love me?” Li Manni suddenly placed her hand on his chest. She could hear his strong heartbeats by her ear. Did he love her? Why was she starting to feel it less and less?

She waited for his answer, but his eyes remained closed. After a period of time, when she was about to give up, Chu Lui opened his black eyes, which were filled with complexity.

“Manni, we’re already married.”

He had taken everything from a woman: her identity, her status, her reputation—and gave it all to her. Wasn’t she satisfied? Was it not enough?

Li Manni clutched Chu Lui’s shirt tightly again without pressing further. Yes, they were already married. Even if problems appeared, they were already husband and wife for four years.

Late at night, the two of them were close together, but their hearts had drifted apart without their knowledge. A woman had come between them, but what they didn’t know was that it wasn’t just a woman, but a man as well.

...

Du Jingtang walked in and placed both his palms on the table with a look of displeasure. Even his tone was extremely fierce. “Cousin, why do you want to look for her? She’s been missing for four years. No matter if she’s dead or alive, your revenge should have ended. Can’t you just give her a peaceful life and just pretend she’s dead?”

Du Jingtang’s said urgently. He didn’t understand why Chu Lui wanted someone to look into Xia Ruoxin. Hadn’t he hated her enough already?

“You see me as the kind of person who is not satisfied after four years of hatred?” Chu Lui flung the pen in his hand aside and asked him. Was he really so cruel and heartless in his eyes?

“Yes, that’s who you are. There’s nothing you can’t do. You even got a man to do your woman just to create a chance for your lover to enter the Chu family ‘honorably’. You’re looking for her now just so you can apologize? I don’t believe you for a second.”

Du Jingtang said without mincing his words. He knew what his cousin was like. He was utterly heartless and cold-blooded and would never change his mind on anything he had decided. Just like four years ago, he did everything people could imagine... and everything they couldn’t think of.

Just like when he hated someone, he would torment them without mercy or stopping, just like that woman. There was nothing else he couldn’t do.

“What if I say I really wanted to apologize to her?” Chu Lui’s eyes darkened and glinted with pain that was indiscernible. Was he really so untrustworthy?

Or was the things he did in the past too wicked that now, no one would be willing to believe him?

“You won’t.” Du Jingtang shook his head and said with resolution. He meant it when he said he would not.

“Is that so?” The corners of Chu Lui’s lips curved upwards, and he returned his focus back to the documents in front of him. Du Jingtang straightened his body and couldn’t hold himself back from speaking again. “Cousin, everything she owed you, she had already paid back four years ago. Just let her off the hook. She’s really pitiful. Can’t you just have some compassion, please?” Sorrow started leaking through his words as he said them. He had seen that woman in despair before. He wasn’t able to help her four years ago, but four years later, he would do everything he could to make Chu Lui change his mind.

“Don’t worry. I won’t do anything to her. I just have something I need to return her.” Chu Lui didn’t raise his head. His dry voice revealed a hint of tiredness, but no one noticed... for he was too good at pretending.