The day was unusually free of thunder and rain, the sky clear and bright.
Yet in Gong Hengye’s dream, dark clouds still loomed heavily.
Thunder and lightning crackled incessantly, and torrential rain poured down relentlessly.
He couldn’t remember how long it had been since he last had this dream.
In the dream, he was running, and beside him was a little girl.
It was his younger sister, Gong Yan.
He could hear his own ragged breaths and pounding heart, along with Gong Yan’s soft, trembling voice, filled with utter terror. “Brother, will we… will we die…”
The boy’s voice was unusually hoarse. “No, we won’t die. If we just run faster, we can definitely make it out.”
“I… I can’t run anymore… Brother, wuwuwu…”
“Come on, climb onto my back. I’ll carry you.”
Gong Yan climbed onto his back.
He carried her as he continued to run, his legs numb and senseless, moving forward purely on instinct.
With every step, mud splashed up, soaking his pants.
The pouring rain drenched them completely, making it almost impossible to keep their eyes open.
He could only rely on instinct, stumbling forward in a daze.
Though he called it running, it was more like trudging forward step by step with great difficulty.
He had never realized how vast this villa was—so vast that escaping it felt impossibly hard.
Gong Yan’s crying grew louder as she clung tightly to his neck. “I’m scared, Brother. I don’t want to die…”
The boy gritted his teeth. “Yanyan, trust me. I will definitely get you out.”
But soon, his stiff, numb legs gave way, and he crashed heavily to the ground.
Gong Yan tumbled off his back.
Panicked, he crawled over, trying to pull her up. “Yanyan, get up, hurry. We have to keep running…”
Gong Yan shook her head, sobbing. “My leg hurts, Brother. I think it’s broken…”
Then, a cold, mocking female voice pierced through the icy rain, seeping into their ears. “Oh, I found you.”
The rainwater turned red, pooling into a small, bloody stream that flowed slowly toward an unknown destination.
The boy was tied to a tree in the garden, his eyes vacant, watching as the woman plunged a knife into the girl’s body again and again.
The girl’s cries of “Brother” faded, and her screams of “Brother” fell silent.
That voice calling “Brother” was something he would never hear again.
After what felt like an eternity, the woman finally stopped. Her face and clothes were smeared with blood as she turned to him, clutching the knife. Her teeth gleamed white as she smiled and said, “Ah Ye, Mother did all this for you…”
At that very moment, a bolt of lightning struck, hitting the woman squarely on the head. Her expression twisted into a snarl as she stretched out a hand toward him, her eyes wide. “Save…”
Gong Hengye jolted awake.
Terror still lingered deep in his eyes, as if he were still trapped in the dream. His breaths came in ragged gasps, his heart pounding like thunder.
In the dream, the knife had plunged into his heart, over and over, leaving it bloody and torn, the pain so intense it felt like it would split apart. His breathing grew increasingly labored.
He raised a hand, pressing it hard against his chest, which throbbed with excruciating pain. For a moment, he felt as if he might die from the agony, his heart convulsing uncontrollably. Then, a girl’s soft, gentle voice reached his ears, drowning out the thunder.
“Uncle?”
The voice seemed to overlap with the childish one from his dream, leaving Gong Hengye momentarily disoriented.
He turned his head and saw Wen Yue kneeling by his bedside.She opened her bright eyes, looking at him with particular concern, “Uncle, did you have a nightmare?”
The pain in Gong Hengye’s heart was still raging. His lips moved, but he couldn’t speak.
Wen Yue frowned, her fingertips landing on his forehead, gently wiping away the cold sweat.
In truth, she was well aware that his mood hadn’t been good all night.
That’s why earlier in the car, even though he had teased her again, she hadn’t pressed him for answers.
After returning, she noticed he had taken two pills before bed. She was very familiar with that bottle—it was sleeping pills.
She used to rely on sleeping pills every day to sleep.
She just hadn’t expected that even after taking them, Gong Hengye would still sleep so restlessly.
Her fingers were cold, but sometimes, this kind of cold could be calming.
Gong Hengye closed his eyes, feeling her cold, soft fingertips glide from his forehead to his cheek.
She pressed her palm against his face, comforting him, “It’s okay, I’m here with you. Don’t be afraid.”
As if coaxing a child.
Gong Hengye’s throat tightened, and the pain in his heart slowly eased. He raised his hand, grasping the hand she had pressed against his face. “Come up.”
“Huh?”
Wen Yue was taken aback. “Up… up where?”
Gong Hengye tilted his head, his gaze calm as he looked at her. “Didn’t you say you’d stay with me?”
Wen Yue blinked stiffly. “Ah…”
Gong Hengye: “Then come up.”
Wen Yue pursed her lips, feeling flustered. “Isn’t that… not very appropriate?”
She had only held hands and hugged during her three-year relationship with Gong Chen. She really wasn’t prepared to share a bed with Gong Hengye yet.
Gong Hengye fell silent for a moment before asking her, “Really don’t want to?”
Wen Yue bit her lower lip.
He stared intently at her, his gaze restrained yet direct, his voice still hoarse as he continued asking, “Do you want to or not?”
The meaning of those three words shifted in that moment.
It seemed he wasn’t just asking if she wanted to lie beside him—it carried another, more specific implication.
If it were before, Wen Yue would have agreed without hesitation.
After all, wasn’t that her goal?
But now, she hesitated.
She withdrew her hand from his face, propping her chin on her palm as she looked at him uncertainly.
He didn’t press her, quietly meeting her gaze, waiting for her to think it through.
After a long while, Wen Yue finally asked, “Uncle, who is Yanyan?”
She didn’t really want to pry into his privacy, but she couldn’t help but feel a little curious.
He had been calling out “Yanyan” in his nightmare earlier, his tone complex—filled with heartache and fear—which made her feel strange.
What if he had another white moonlight?
Based on the novels she had read, usually the male lead’s ultimate white moonlight would be the female lead.
They meet as children, then separate, forget, and finally find each other again.
Could such a cliché, melodramatic plot also be happening to him?
But she hadn’t expected that after she asked, Gong Hengye’s expression, which had just calmed down, tensed up again.
That name seemed like a forbidden subject.
He clenched his teeth, his jaw tightening, the lines of his profile turning cold and terrifying.
Wen Yue’s gaze flickered, her heart racing.
Instinctively, she let go of her chin and leaned back slightly. “If you don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine. I didn’t mean anything by it…”
Her evasive demeanor made it seem as if he were about to hit her.
But Gong Hengye was in no mood to laugh at her. The corners of his lips tightened, and the bloody red from his dream began to torment his nerves once more.
Wen Yue grew even more anxious. She had a feeling she had asked something she shouldn’t have.This so-called ‘Yanyan’ must truly be the untouchable existence in his memories.
She was somewhat flustered: “Actually…”
Gong Hengye: “She was my sister.”
Wen Yue froze, taking several seconds to regain her composure. “Sister?”
Gong Hengye turned to lie flat on his back, closing his eyes. “Mm, sister.”
His tone was even, his voice hoarse. “Yanyan, Gong Yan, my sister.”
“…Oh.”
Now Wen Yue felt thoroughly embarrassed. She said remorsefully, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…”
“She’s dead.”
Gong Hengye interrupted her, as if he hadn’t been listening to her at all but was lost in his own memories, slowly recounting, each word soft and hoarse, yet calm. “She was killed by my mother.”
Wen Yue held her ‘breath,’ overwhelmed by shock and disbelief.
She looked at him. The dim light in the bedroom cast his face in shadow, making him appear cold and detached.
After a moment of tension, he returned to his usual impassive state, as if speaking of someone else’s affairs. “Actually, my father isn’t Gong Yuanren. He’s Gong Yuanren’s twin brother.”
Wen Yue was even more astonished.
The Gong family patriarch had a twin brother?
What kind of wealthy family secret was this? She had no idea.
But what Gong Hengye said next made Wen Yue’s heart race even more. He said, “My mother is my father’s… first cousin.”
Their relationship, of course, was unacceptable to the family, so his father eloped with his mother.
After that, the Gong family disowned his parents and forbade anyone from mentioning them again.
“Then… then why did your mother…”
Wen Yue didn’t know how to ask that question, but Gong Hengye understood her meaning.
With his eyes closed, his emotions were so calm that even his eyelashes didn’t tremble. “She said it was for my own good. She said she was afraid I would end up like them, walking down that…”
He finally paused, and Wen Yue held her ‘breath’ tightly, suppressing her emotions to the extreme.
Then, she heard him slowly say, “The path of ethical transgression.”
Wen Yue closed her eyes, a terrifying sense of ‘suffocation’ spreading over her.
How could a mother kill her own daughter for such a reason?
Gong Hengye said, “Actually, during those years after eloping, their lives were difficult. My mother’s mental state had already deteriorated when she gave birth to Yanyan.”
“She mistook Yanyan for my cousin and killed her in front of me.”
He breathed shallowly, appearing calm, yet he instinctively pressed a hand to his chest and added a few words, “Dismembered her, chopped her into mincemeat.”
Wen Yue couldn’t describe her feelings.
This should be a horrifying story.
But looking at Gong Hengye’s calm demeanor, Wen Yue only felt heartache.
Although he hadn’t shared many details, Wen Yue didn’t dare to dwell on them. Even the slightest thought felt like a heart-wrenching pain.
If she, an outsider, felt this way, what about him?
How old was he back then, witnessing his mother so cruelly kill his own sister, all while claiming it was for his sake?
She finally understood why Gong Chen’s mere mention of it had nearly caused the usually composed Gong Hengye to lose control.
How many times had he ‘recounted’ this, how many times had he dreamed of it, to be able to speak these words so ‘calmly’ in front of her today?
But he could remain calm; she couldn’t.
She felt so distressed, so distressed she wanted to cry.
He suddenly opened his eyes and turned his head to look at her again.In the darkness, his eyes seemed to carry the weight of night, yet his voice remained gentle. “Do you feel sorry for me?”
As if the story he had just told truly belonged to someone else.
She sniffled and nodded.
Though she didn’t know if he needed her sympathy.
But she did feel sorry for him—there was no denying it.
He fell silent for a moment before suddenly asking, “Why aren’t you afraid anymore?”
Wen Yue’s voice was muffled, carrying a clear sob. “Afraid of what?”
Gong Hengye sighed, turning to his side and propping his head on his elbow. Softly, he said, “Before, when I did nothing and said nothing, you still thought I was fierce and were afraid of me. Now that you know all this, you should be even more afraid of me.”
Wen Yue blinked, her lips trembling slightly. “I’m not… I just didn’t understand, so I misunderstood.”
She hadn’t understood him, only seeing his unapproachable demeanor and assuming he was fierce, too afraid to get close.
Looking back now, she had judged him too quickly.
But Gong Hengye said, “I told you all this not to make you feel sorry for me.”
Wen Yue frowned. “What?”
Gong Hengye continued, “Remember what I said earlier about genetics?”
Wen Yue nodded.
It was what her mother—no, Wen Xi’s mother—had said about her.
Gong Hengye: “So now you should understand. As I said, my genes aren’t great—or rather, they’re quite poor. I was born from an incestuous relationship, and my mother had a mental illness. It’s very likely…”
Wen Yue froze, then quickly covered his mouth with her hand, her voice trembling. “That won’t happen.”
She blinked as she looked at him, her tone subdued. “Uncle, don’t curse yourself like that.”
Gong Hengye watched her quietly for a few seconds before gently taking her hand away from his lips. “It’s not a curse—it’s the truth.”
And he hadn’t intended to reveal his scars to make her pity him. He simply felt she deserved to know.
Some things couldn’t be hidden.
They had to be faced with honesty.
“Uncle…”
Wen Yue was flustered, desperate to say something, but he smiled lightly, his tone relaxed. “My genes carry the potential for mental illness or deformity. So, my children would be the same.”
“Then we just won’t have children, won’t that solve it?”
Wen Yue blurted it out without thinking.
As soon as the words left her mouth, both of them froze.
Gong Hengye looked at her with a complicated expression, while Wen Yue belatedly realized the absurdity of what she had said.
He was talking about his children—why had she said “we”?
Ahhhhhhh—
Wen Yue wished she could vanish on the spot, but Gong Hengye was still holding her hand.
She could only stiffen, her mind scrambling to salvage the situation. “I—I meant that you and your wife could choose not to have children…”
Gong Hengye narrowed his eyes, his expression growing even more complicated. He let out a soft “Oh” and asked, “Wife?”
Wen Yue: “…”
Well, the more she tried to explain, the worse it got.
She clamped her mouth shut, but her cheeks puffed out habitually, betraying her frustration and annoyance.
Gong Hengye’s other hand reached out, his finger lightly poking her cheek as if popping a bubble. “Our Yueyue isn’t just a little pervert—she’s also a little greedy ghost.”
Wen Yue had been drowning in embarrassment, but his words left her stunned.
She didn’t even catch what he said afterward.
All she heard was his phrase, “Our Yueyue.”
This was the first time he had called her Yueyue.
And he had added “our”—an intimate, possessive adjective that felt exceptionally affectionate.As if they had truly become “us.”
Wen Yue’s ears buzzed with a pounding rhythm, her initial awkwardness suddenly shifting into a deeper sense of embarrassment—one tinged more with shyness.
She mumbled softly before finally letting out a small huff, “You were the one who brought up children first. Weren’t you hinting at me?”
Unexpectedly, this time Gong Hengye didn’t argue or tease her. Instead, he chuckled softly and replied, “Mm,” his voice low and gentle. “So, our Yueyue can think further ahead, and be a little more ambitious.”
Since he had already admitted his feelings for her, he wouldn’t resist them.
He also knew well that his genes weren’t suited for marriage or having children. His tone grew calm as he gazed deeply at her. “And you have plenty of time to think it through clearly.”
Before she could be revived, she had all the time she needed to consider it carefully.
If she was willing, he could give her everything she desired.
If she wasn’t, he would still arrange everything for her, ensuring the rest of her life wouldn’t be filled with the same hardships as before.
Wen Yue’s eyes flickered, as if she wanted to say something, but Gong Hengye didn’t let her speak. He gently pressed his fingertip to her lips, stopping her.
Whatever decision she might make now, in his eyes, would be too rushed.
He wanted her to think it through clearly, to avoid ending up like his mother—filled with regret for the rest of her life.
He spoke again, his voice low. “But before you make up your mind, Yueyue, you have to stay with me.”
It didn’t need to be overly intimate—just as she had been before.
Like tonight, when he woke from a nightmare, she could gently touch his face and soothe him.
That would be enough.