Inside the room, a profound quiet finally settled over the space.
Huo Xiangbei buried his face in the crook of Shen Qianqian’s neck, drawing deep, ragged breaths. His scorching exhalations washed over her sensitive skin in rhythmic waves, sending a trail of lingering tingles down her spine.
After a long moment, he lifted his head to look at the woman beneath him, a look of deep heartache washing over his features.
The ordeal had taken a heavy toll on her. Her eyes were rimmed with red, residual teardrops still clinging to her lashes, and her sweat-slicked face was streaked with tears—looking thoroughly disheveled, yet heartbreakingly fragile.
He raised a hand, his calloused fingertips gently wiping away the dampness from her cheeks with movements that were clumsy, yet unimaginably tender.
“Shen Qianqian, do you still want to leave?”
His voice was hoarse, dragged up from the depths of his throat as if forced out against his will, every single word carrying a tremor of repressed desperation.
And right at that moment, his inner voice slipped past his defenses and crashed headfirst into her mind:
[Wife, please don’t go. Please?] [I can give you anything… money, rations, my very body… my life, take it all!]
Shen Qianqian’s chest heaved violently. Her head was still spinning, completely dazed from the storm of passion.
She widened her eyes, staring up at him in utter disbelief.
What did he just say? Still want to leave? Didn’t she just tell him she wasn’t leaving? Did he not hear her? Or did he… simply not believe it?
When Huo Xiangbei received no response, the faint glimmer of hope in his eyes dimmed a fraction, and his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down.
His inner voice flared up again, carrying an even deeper insecurity and a near-groveling plea:
[Is she still going to leave?] [I tried so hard… Old Zhao said that if your wife isn’t obedient, you just have to “wear her down in bed”…] [Judging from her reaction just now, she actually enjoyed it quite a bit… Did I guess wrong?] [Or is it… that her heart still belongs to that pretty-boy?] [Then what am I supposed to do…]
Shen Qianqian: “…………”
Case closed. She could genuinely hear his inner thoughts. And this man… what on earth was rattling around inside his head?!
“Wear her down in bed”? Which irresponsible bastard gave him such a useless, garbage piece of advice?!
A wave of exasperation washed over her, mingled with amusement, but underneath it all was a surging rush of tenderness and aching sweetness.
What a absolute fool.
Outwardly, he asked “Do you still want to leave?” with the cold, unyielding air of if you dare walk out that door, I’ll fight you to the death. Inwardly, however, he was pitifully begging, even sliding down a spiral of self-doubt with a humility that tugged relentlessly at her heartstrings.
Slowly, she raised her limp, still-trembling arms and wrapped them around his neck.
Huo Xiangbei froze completely.
His pupils dilated a fraction, as if that simple gesture had petrified him on the spot.
His inner voice instantly exploded: [Wife hugged me!!!] [My wife actually took the initiative to hug me?!] [Am I dreaming right now?!] [Her hands are so soft… she smells so good…] [No, I have to stay calm, I have to be dignified, I can’t let her know how worked up I am…] [But what am I supposed to do when I’m this happy…] [Could it be… has she changed her mind?]
Listening to the frantic, howling celebration echoing inside his head, Shen Qianqian nearly laughed out loud.
On the surface, however, she maintained her cool, indifferent composure, her brows even knitting together in a faint, habitual frown.
If she couldn’t hear his thoughts, who would ever guess that this man was practically doing backflips of joy on the inside?
Tightening her grip, she buried her face deeper into his sweat-dampened neck. Her voice was muffled, carrying a quiet, unprecedented seriousness and rock-solid resolve:
“Xiangbei, I’m not leaving.” “I’m going to stay here and live a proper life with you.”
As the words left her lips, the man holding her stiffened all over once more, his breathing arresting entirely for a single beat.
She pressed on, her voice turning slightly thick and choked with emotion, delicate and soft, yet carrying a message of crystal clarity:
“Before, I was just too selfish and stupid. I listened to Xu Yanqing’s poisonous lies.” “Now I see him for what he is—he’s a hypocritical scumbag who was just using me from the very beginning.” “Xiangbei, please believe me, okay?”
She lifted her chin, looking up at him with red-rimmed eyes, her gaze as clear and pure as spring water, devoid of a single speck of doubt.
Huo Xiangbei stared at her in a daze, as if trying to sift through her eyes to find the truth behind her words.
And his inner voice had already plunged into complete, chaotic disarray:
[She’s being serious… the way she’s looking at me is completely different…] [She’s never looked at me like that before…] [Xu Yanqing is a hypocritical scumbag? She sees right through him?] [She actually sees it?!] [Am I dreaming… let me pinch myself… ouch, that hurts! It’s real!] [What if… what if she changes her mind again tomorrow…] [No, she won’t. Qianqian never lies… she said she’s not leaving, so she’s definitely not leaving!] [Wuwuwu… my wife finally wants me after all…]
Listening to the whirlwind of joy, terror, and anxious attachment rolling through his mind, Shen Qianqian felt a sharp pinch at the bridge of her nose, her tears threatening to spill all over again.
This man—armored in solid steel on the outside, yet turned into a puddle of absolute mush on the inside.
She reached up, gently tracing his hard, chiseled jawline with her fingertips, and spoke every single word with deliberate weight:
“Huo Xiangbei, you listen to me carefully.” “I, Shen Qianqian, am spending this lifetime with you and you alone.” “No parting. No abandoning.” “Even in life and death, we stay together.”
She uttered those last four words with an extra layer of gravity.
They were the promise she had failed to voice in her past life, the vow she had screamed out after his departing soul to no avail. In this lifetime, she was going to say it right to his face, crystal clear for him to hear.
Huo Xiangbei’s breathing turned violently heavy. His eyes rimmed red as his throat bobbed up and down repeatedly, yet not a single word managed to escape his lips.
Instead, he abruptly tightened his grip, pulling her fiercely into his chest with a strength that felt as though he wanted to knead her straight into his flesh and blood.
Resting his chin against the crown of her head, his broad chest rose and fell in heavy, ragged swells.
And his inner voice went completely still.
It grew so quiet that only a single thought remained, echoing back and forth like a sacred, devout prayer:
[Even in life and death, we stay together.] [My wife said: Even in life and death, we stay together…]
“Alright, Qianqian. I believe you!”
His voice was cracked and rough, his scalding breath brushing against her hair, every single syllable stamping itself into her soul like a branding iron.
His arms tightened around her once more, as if only by holding her with that fierce, desperate strength could he anchor this overwhelming, hard-won miracle.