Chapter 12 The True Breakup Reason
Pei Yuchuan's eyes surged with desire. His lips landed on the back of my neck.
But he could truly hold back.
He had been the same in Australia.
This time was no different.
In the end he carried me to the bed, tucked the blanket around me, and nothing happened.
Sleepiness washed over me. I fell asleep quickly.
In a daze I heard the sound of running water from the bathroom, mixed with faint low breathing.
The price of a hangover was a pounding headache when I woke.
A glass of water sat on the bedside table. The honey water inside was already empty after I drank it half awake.
Pei Yuchuan had slept in the living room the whole night.
I vaguely remembered the events of last night. I braced myself and explained to him.
"Last night... I was drunk. Many things were not my true intentions."
He lowered his gaze to me and showed me the bite mark on his shoulder blade. "This one too?"
The evidence was clear. It was hard to deny.
I hesitated a moment and said hoarsely, "I don't remember..."
Before I could finish he cut me off. "Wen You, is it so hard to admit you love me?"
He rose suddenly. His tall figure enveloped me.
I stepped back again and again until my back hit the cabinet. There was nowhere left to go.
His finger touched my bitten lip.
He pulled my clothes aside to show me the clear red marks and teeth prints on my neck.
"Wen You, how long are you going to keep lying?"
He pressed forward step by step without retreating.
Anger rose in me too. I closed my eyes, steeled my heart, and spoke the words inside.
"Do you want to live the days in that rental apartment from three years ago again?"
He frowned slightly and asked back, "Why do you think I would not like it?"
But I couldn't imagine how a noble young master could enjoy a life that had fallen into the mud?
Although he never complained, I could tell he was not used to clothes that cost only a hundred yuan and could not adapt to the crowded subway.
His peers trained in the company and learned to take over the family business while he squeezed into a tiny rental with me.
When I was seven months pregnant he accidentally lost his cochlear implant.
It turned out the model was too expensive so he chose a substitute. The quality was poor and he could not hear people clearly.
Once while buying groceries a few little boys surrounded him and mocked him for being deaf.
In that moment I saw him standing there awkwardly.
He had been raised in luxury since childhood. When had he ever faced such ridicule?
That was the first time I realized our firm decision to be together might have been a mistake.
Not long after, Pei Yuchuan's mother Madam Gu contacted me.
She told me a true wealthy-family love story.
The story was simple.
A rich heir fell in love with an ordinary girl and was willing to be cast out of the family to stay with her.
After the girl gave birth the two were still loving at first.
But going from luxury to frugality was hard. The rich heir could not accept the gap in reality.
In their poor life their love wore away completely.
The man wanted to return to his family but the business had been inherited by his younger brother. He could only stand aside.
So he resented her for ruining his career and she hated him for betraying their feelings.
The youthful vow of eternal love had turned into mutual disgust.
At the time Madam Gu sat across from me and asked one question.
"Wen You, do you want to end up like this with Pei Yuchuan too?"
I shook my head.
I did not.
She said that if I broke up with Pei Yuchuan he could return to the Pei family.
The Pei family would not allow their bloodline to flow outside. I was to hand the child to them and she would raise her well.
Past memories flooded over me. I told Pei Yuchuan in a trembling voice.
"But I do not like it."
"I do not like you wearing ill-fitting clothes and feeling uncomfortable all over from allergies."
"I do not like you squeezing into the subway sweating and feeling lost."
"I do not like you using a cheap cochlear implant and being laughed at as a deaf person."
"Pei Yuchuan, it hurts me. I do not want you living that kind of life anymore. I do not want you to regret it later."
He stared at me for a long time and spoke hoarsely.
"So this is the real reason for the breakup, right?"
I closed my eyes. "Yes."
He gripped my shoulders. "But Wen You, I am a person, a living person, not a kitten or puppy you raised. Why could you not discuss it with me before you decided?"
"That short-sleeved shirt was a gift from you. I liked it very much. The subway does not mean traffic jams. It actually saves time. As for the cheap cochlear implant it was only temporary. I could earn money to buy a good one."
"Why do you think I would regret it? Why do you not believe in me?"
He looked at me. His eyes were red with pain.
"These three years have been truly hard for me. Every day I missed the days in that rental apartment."
"I knew you worked in Xicheng and rented in an old neighborhood in the city center. Your job was busy and you often worked late into the night."
"Before Gu Yan went home I already knew her. At that time she was not my sister yet but your best friend."
"That day when I said long time no see it was all fake. Over these three years I traveled back and forth between Xicheng and Shanghai countless times just to steal a glance at you."
His black eyes dimmed with pain. His voice trembled.
"But I resent it too. You were the one who said we would be together and you were the one who abandoned the child and left me. Why did you not treat me like a person?"
This was the second time I saw him cry.
I had always believed my decision back then was correct, but his bright surface hid a heart full of holes.
Pei Yuchuan's phone rang at that moment.
He pressed it twice but the call kept coming.
He had no choice but to answer. Then his expression changed slowly.
I heard the nanny tell him that Pei Xi had gone missing.