Shi Liang still said nothing. After a long while, he shook his head. “Will you really change everything? You won’t change. In the past, I repeatedly asked you to pay attention to your family, but you always turned a deaf ear. I cannot accept my partner putting his career above his family.
“I am your partner, and this is your home, a warm home, not just a place you only remember to visit when it’s time to sleep.”
Sensing an opening, Qi Wei said, “I will definitely do it this time. I had my reasons before, Brother. I want to be with you forever, and I want everyone who sees us together to say we’re a perfect match, rather than that I’m not good enough for you. Working hard was always so I could keep up with you.”
Shi Liang fell silent.
There was simply no way to break up with him.
Struggling further, Shi Liang replied, “I told you before that I don’t need you to do that. What you need to do is stay by my side and love me well.”
Pausing for a moment, Shi Liang suddenly thought of the catalyst for their breakup, that secretary. “As soon as your company started to pick up, you got a female secretary and claimed she was a relative. Who would believe that? You said you didn’t like men, yet now you find a female secretary. Who doesn’t know what you’re trying to do? You haven’t even handled the issue with the female secretary properly, and you have the nerve to talk about forgiveness?”
Qi Wei said in agony, “I told you, she is a relative.” Shi Liang choked. After a dozen seconds, as if having made up his mind, Qi Wei gently patted Shi Liang’s back. “If you mind that much, can I transfer her away from this position? I really have nothing going on with her. What else do you want? Just name it, and I’ll agree to all of it.”
Qi Wei treated him with an indulgence that seemed to have no bottom line, as if he could accept anything Shi Liang did, leaving Shi Liang completely at a loss.
Shi Liang rubbed his head in frustration. None of these were the main points; right now, he just wanted to find some random excuse to leave.
Yet a single sentence from Qi Wei blocked every path he had.
Kissing him, Qi Wei’s gaze was filled with clinging attachment and love.
He expressed his devotion: “As long as Brother can stay by my side, I am willing to do any dirty work. If you like this company, it’s all yours. But if you want to leave me and be with someone else, you know I can’t bear to hurt Brother, so I’ll just kill that person. Sound good, Brother?”
Shi Liang didn’t think Qi Wei would actually do something like that; he just loved him and didn’t want him to leave.
With that, Qi Wei kissed him again, a deeply affectionate kiss.
Ah! He truly had no defense against good-looking people.
Qi Wei was indeed a calamity!
It was just that his personality was a bit hard to fathom and difficult to accept.
Therefore, he shouldn’t give him any hope. Shoving Qi Wei away, he said, “Don’t you understand? You’ve done too many things that disappointed me. By now, I don’t love you anymore, not anymore, understand? Right now, anything you do is useless.”
Qi Wei grabbed his hand tightly, his expression ferocious, his tone carrying an uncontrollable surge of emotion: “Are you being so heartless because you’ve fallen for someone else? Is it that Li Yanxiang? You two chat on the phone every other day. Is he coming back, so you want to clear the space for him?”
Shi Liang was utterly infuriated. Clearly, this man was the one who maintained inappropriate boundaries with the opposite sex, clearly he was the one who neglected his home, and clearly he was the one who exhausted his love. Yet now, he was trying to pin the blame of infidelity on him and shift all the fault away from himself.
Without a second thought, Shi Liang slapped Qi Wei right across the face, sending Qi Wei’s head snapping to the side.
The sound of the slap was loud and reverberated through the room. Time seemed to freeze. A moment later, Qi Wei raised his head, his eyes filled with unspeakable disbelief and hurt.
“You hit me for his sake?”
His eye rims turned red, glistening with unshed tears. Before Shi Liang could tell whether it was actual tears or just the gloss in Qi Wei’s eyes, the world turned upside down.
He was pinned firmly onto the bed by Qi Wei. By the time Shi Liang reacted, his shirt had already been ripped apart.
Damn it, using force again? Is this some kind of special quirk of the author’s? Why design a male lead who loves doing this kind of thing?
Shi Liang was pinned down helplessly; the disparity in strength rendered his struggles completely futile, even giving off the impression of a reluctant welcome.
Qi Wei forcibly took him.
After the overwhelming pleasure passed, Shi Liang was drenched in sweat, looking as though he had been hauled straight out of the water.
Qi Wei, on the other hand, was overflowing with tenderness and consideration, a complete contrast to his demeanor just moments before.
Are you a chameleon? You change so fast.
Remaining inside him, Qi Wei kissed Shi Liang’s spine, lingering affectionately around his neck before finally biting down on it.
With their bodies pressed close and fully bared to one another, the intense vulnerability made it easier for Qi Wei to speak of things he otherwise would have found hard to bring up: “I really like the Brilliant Stars gift. It’s just that in this relationship, I was always taking, and apart from the cheapest companionship, I never gave you anything. That’s why I felt conflicted and tormented when I saw that gift. All those negative emotions were due to my own incompetence, not because of you.”
It was pretty much what he had guessed. Shi Liang nodded knowingly.
Seeing that Shi Liang’s resistance was no longer as fierce, Qi Wei hugged him from behind, murmuring sweet nothings into his ear.
In the novel, Qi Wei was exceptionally attentive to that secretary. Was it really just relative-like care? He had been very curious when reading the book, and now that the person involved was right beside him, he couldn’t help asking out loud:
“It’s true that you were extremely cold to me these past few years, and it’s true you found that pretty secretary. Setting aside whether you loved me or not and whether you should have subjected me to cold violence, do you dare say you had no other thoughts regarding that secretary?”
Qi Wei hugged Shi Liang tightly, kissing the shell of his ear.
“I just wanted to be with you faster, you see? So I wanted to get my company on track quickly, which is why I focused entirely on work. As for that secretary, I really don’t have any feelings for her. Besides, I handle most of my work with another assistant, and the few times I dealt with her just happened to be when you saw it. I promise you, tomorrow as soon as I get to work, I’ll transfer her to another department far, far away. I belong exclusively to you.”
Shi Liang softened just a fraction, but then suddenly realized something was wrong: How did Qi Wei know that Li Yanxiang was about to return to the country?
He was wiretapping his phone?!
His scalp instantly went numb, his hands and feet growing cold as he trembled uncontrollably.
If true, this guy was way too psycho.
In the end, Shi Liang couldn’t hold back. He turned over to face Qi Wei and cupped Qi Wei’s face in both hands.
Shi Liang delivered a sudden, gentle blow that melted Qi Wei’s heart and left him momentarily at a loss, staring with wide, starry eyes.
“How did you know Li Yanxiang is coming back soon?” Qi Wei paused, pushed Shi Liang away, rubbed his nose, and said guiltily, “I heard it when you were on the phone with him that day.”
Shi Liang’s gaze lingered on Qi Wei’s face for a long time, so long that Qi Wei felt almost as though Shi Liang was seeing right through him, before Shi Liang finally looked away.
Just as Qi Wei was celebrating his successful bluff, Shi Liang turned serious. He had caught every single flash of panic and guilt on Qi Wei’s face; naturally, he could tell Qi Wei was lying.
He was indeed wiretapping his phone.
This person was far too dangerous. He needed to handle the breakup properly.
“Actually, I think mutual affection is what matters, because love is useless, and loving deeply is useless too, only loving each other works. Don’t you think?”
Qi Wei didn’t move a muscle, his entire body tensing up. The room was so quiet that a pin drop could be heard.
Remembering Qi Wei’s madness just moments before, Shi Liang felt a shudder of fear. He consoled him, saying, “Even if we can’t be lovers, we can still be friends. That way we can still care for and comfort each other!”
Qi Wei twitched the corner of his mouth. Under the moonlight, his smile looked eerie and dangerous.
Who the hell wants to be friends with you? I’m not someone who needs friends.
Anyone else can be my friend, but you, Shi Liang, cannot.
Because the moment you get close, I can’t help wanting to possess you! How could I ever settle for being just a friend?
Besides, if you get a boyfriend in the future, you’d definitely keep your distance from me as your ex-boyfriend, or even cut ties completely.
In your heart, I would no longer be that one and only. This was something Qi Wei could never accept.
A discounted relationship wasn’t worth much either way.
What I wanted was the person who saw me working through hunger, pulling strings everywhere to find a nanny whose cooking suited my palate, just so I would eat a few more bites.
What I wanted was the person who held me tightly when my father passed away, telling me he would never leave and would always be my safe haven.
What I wanted was your hazy eyes in bed, your private teasing, and you holding me while calling my name at the peak of passion.
The word friend was far too light to bear such intense affection.
No matter what method it took, I would never let you leave me.
“You were the one who came to provoke me in the first place. Without my permission, don’t even think about leaving me,” Qi Wei said. “For the past ten years, I’ve worked from dawn till dusk, day and night, neglecting sleep and food, fighting and striving just so I could stand proudly in front of you.
“Now that I’ve achieved all of this, just as I’m finally able to stand before you without feeling so inferior, you tell me to give up? How can you expect me to accept such a cruel reality? How could you do this to me?”
Shi Liang looked at Qi Wei with a complex expression, forcing out a very awkward smile.
Qi Wei looked back at him, pressing a kiss to his forehead.
Internally, Shi Liang was screaming to the heavens: He really didn’t want a boyfriend like this!
“You were always working overtime, saying it was for our future, but I couldn’t even see you. I couldn’t touch you every day, and I couldn’t see a shred of hope ahead. Where was I supposed to find the confidence to dream about a future?”
“It’s one thing that you never came home, but you also kept a pretty female secretary by your side. My feelings for you had already been worn down to nothing during those cold nights spent waiting for you. Now you tell me you did all this for our future? Forgive me, but I can’t accept that.”
Shi Liang had no idea why he was so immersed while saying these lines. Was it sympathy for the original host? Of course, part of it might be because his acting skills were simply too good.
Qi Wei’s heart sank lower and lower, feeling as though he had been tossed into an ice-cold abyss, numbing and freezing enough to suffocate a person.
Suddenly, Qi Wei felt a wave of fear. He hugged Shi Liang tightly, terrified that Shi Liang truly had no place left for him in his heart.
He was terrified that no matter what he did, Shi Liang would never like him or accept him again.
He was terrified that even if he forcefully kept his body, Shi Liang’s heart would never linger for him again.
The strength with which he held Shi Liang grew stronger and stronger, as if he were trying to talk Shi Liang into staying, or perhaps just comforting himself.
“People online say that the person who makes your heart race won’t just make it race once. I know you must be very disappointed in me right now, but from now on I will treat you extremely well. I will make you fall in love with me all over again, yes, fall in love with me again, and stay with me forever. We will never separate.”
Shi Liang could feel the arms holding him trembling.
Shi Liang spoke up: “Who can predict the future? Perhaps I won’t love you anymore, and I’ll meet someone I love and settle down. Or maybe I’ll keep loving you, but I’ll lock that feeling deep inside my heart where it has nothing to do with you anymore. After all, who could accept someone who sexually assaulted them? Tomorrow I’ll leave, and consider this house as a parting gift.”
Shi Liang was being completely honest, though that honesty was somewhat cruel to Qi Wei.
Qi Wei froze completely, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.
Shi Liang urged him, calling out, “Qi Wei?”
Qi Wei felt as though his heart was being shredded by knives. His hands clenched and relaxed, relaxed and clenched, his breathing growing erratic and then steady in sync with his movements.
Finally, Qi Wei let out a long sigh. “Okay.”
Shi Liang’s eyes lit up in disbelief. According to the plot, being placed under house arrest was supposed to be the normal trajectory. If Qi Wei was actually willing to let him go, that would be wonderful.
The river of time could wash away any deeply etched people and events; Qi Wei would eventually forget him, it was just a matter of time.
And he wouldn’t need to worry either. After all, the Shi Liang in the novel was genuinely wealthy; he could slowly spend the money and enjoy the game of life. He would wait for Qi Wei to forget, and then return to real society with his ten billion US dollars to keep living the carefree life.
Agreeing so easily made Shi Liang somewhat doubtful, so he confirmed once more: “You agree to let me leave tomorrow?”
Looking at Shi Liang, his expression of delight, and the words he spoke, it was like an ice blade stabbing straight into his heart, causing searing pain and endless bleeding.
Yet he smiled. He knew his smile must look hideous, but Shi Liang had told him before that he liked seeing Qi Wei smile, saying his smile looked very nice.
“Yes, I will let you go tomorrow!” Every single word was articulated with absolute clarity. Though this sentence sounded like a normal conversation, it tore Qi Wei to shreds.
Qi Wei had a decent moral character. Since he said he would let him go, even if he was unwilling tomorrow, he would still release him.
Once the knot in his heart dissolved, Shi Liang rolled over, got out of bed to rinse off in the bathroom, and then lay down to sleep.
When Qi Wei came out of the bathroom, Shi Liang was already fast asleep.
Looking at Shi Liang’s profile and listening to his even breathing, Qi Wei traced Shi Liang’s contours piece by piece with his eyes.
After a long while, Qi Wei took a pill from one bottle and swallowed it, then took another pill from a different bottle and placed it into a small incense burner, from which a faint fragrance began to drift.
Qi Wei’s eyes darkened, filled with possessiveness and aggression, as he murmured, “Brother, this time you can never leave me again.”