Qiao Yanze’s expression did not change. He stared at her sullenly without any emotions.
Only the deformed cigarette butt on his fingertip revealed his emotions.
After a while, he suddenly chuckled. “Do you want to know the results?”
Li Yinian looked at the ground and said in a mechanical and empty tone, “You’d better not get it tested… If someone finds out, it’ll cause another storm even if you don’t care… There’s no need for that, and it’s meaningless.”
“Meaningless?” Qiao Yanze’s tone was indescribable. “So, the fact that we were together back then doesn’t mean anything to you? I thought that if we weren’t related by blood, you wouldn’t feel ashamed.”
Li Yinian’s eyes turned hot. She bit her lip hard without retorting.
She suddenly realized that she didn’t know how to face this man. Every word of his was tugging at her fragile nerves, making her want to escape.
She thought that perhaps Qiao Yanze was right.
Too many sacrifices and forbearance had exhausted her strength. Perhaps she still cared about him, but she didn’t know how to love him anymore.
“Qiao Yanze,” she finally said in a low voice. “Our past… is not a disgrace to me. No matter what the outcome is, I’m grateful to you and even glad about it… If it weren’t for you, I would probably still be a canary in a cage, but…”
At this point, she bit her lip and tried to suppress the urge to cry as a lump formed in his throat.
However… fate played a huge trick on her.
Qiao Yanze looked at her quietly for a long time.
He suddenly walked towards her.
Li Yinian’s eyelashes fluttered, but she resisted the urge to escape. She stood stiffly in front of him and…
He reached out and pulled her into his arms.
This hug was tight enough, but it was also warm enough to not be romantic at all.
The bitterness in her heart almost drowned her. She closed her eyes and let the tears ravage her.
She was surprised that she hadn’t lost feelings completely yet. It turned out that she still felt indignant and reluctant, but…
But so what?
Perhaps only with such a purely comforting embrace could she indulge herself in relying on him.
Qiao Yanze placed his hand on her back but resisted the urge to caress her.
pAnDa (nov)e1 The man’s eyes were bloodshot. His breathing was heavy, but he tried his best to suppress it.
She almost burst into tears loudly but the wetness Qiao Yanze felt on his shoulders made him know that she was crying.
Qiao Yanze let go of her slightly and reached out to hold her face.
The woman turned her face away in a sorry state, as if she did not want him to see her being vulnerable. However, Qiao Yanze approached her and pressed his lips closer and closer to hers.
Her eyes widened, not knowing if she should push him away. Fortunately, he did not kiss her and instead, stopped by her lips.
However, this distance was ambiguous enough. The man stared at her with his dark eyes, breathing slowly and heavily on her face. The heat seemed to penetrate through her skin and burn her heart.
“Qiao…” She was about to say something when the man pressed a finger to her lips.
