Chapter 12 The Truth I Buried
Desire burned in Pei Yuchuan’s eyes as his lips grazed the nape of my neck.
But he held back.
He always had.
Even in Australia, he’d been the same—patient, restrained.
This time was no different.
In the end, he simply carried me to bed, tucked the blanket around me, and left the room.
Nothing happened.
Sleep pulled me under fast.
In the haze, I heard the shower running, water hissing, and beneath it, the low, ragged sound of his breathing.
The hangover hit hard the next morning—my head throbbed like someone was hammering the inside of my skull.
A glass of honey water sat on the nightstand, now empty after he’d coaxed it into me.
Pei Yuchuan had slept on the living-room sofa all night.
Fragments of the night came back. I steeled myself and tried to explain.
“Last night… I was drunk. A lot of it wasn’t… me.”
He lowered his gaze, then turned, pulling his shirt aside to show the bite marks on his shoulder blade.
“This wasn’t you either?”
The proof was right there. No room for excuses.
I swallowed. “I don’t remember—”
He cut me off before I could finish.
“Wen You, is it really that hard to admit you love me?”
He stood suddenly, his shadow falling over me.
I backed up until the kitchen counter pressed into my spine.
There was nowhere left to go.
His fingertip brushed his split lip.
Then he tugged his collar down, revealing the red marks and teeth prints scattered across his neck.
“Wen You, how long are you going to keep lying to yourself?”
He didn’t let up.
Not even an inch.
Something snapped in me. I shut my eyes and let the words spill.
“Do you want to live like we did in that rental three years ago all over again?”
His brow creased.
“Why do you assume I hated it?”
How could a pampered heir ever be happy wallowing in the mud?
He never complained, but I knew.
I knew he couldn’t stand cheap clothes that made his skin itch.
I knew the crowded subway left him lost and sweating.
While his peers climbed corporate ladders and prepared to inherit empires, he was stuck with me in a cramped apartment.
When I was seven months pregnant, he lost his Cochlear Implant.
The original had been too expensive to replace right away.
He bought a cheaper version.
The sound quality was terrible—he could barely make out voices.
One day, while grocery shopping, a group of kids circled him and laughed, calling him deaf.
I watched him freeze in the middle of the street, face burning.
He’d grown up surrounded by luxury.
He’d never been mocked like that before.
That was the first time I realized forcing us together might have been a mistake.
Not long after, Lady Gu found me.
She told me a real Wealthy Family love story.
Rich boy falls for ordinary girl.
Gets disowned to stay with her.
They have a child.
At first, they’re still in love.
But luxury to poverty is a one-way fall.
The boy can’t adjust.
Love erodes under daily hardship.
He wants back into the family, but the inheritance has already gone to his brother.
He’s left with nothing.
He blames her for ruining his future.
She hates him for abandoning their dream.
The forever-love of youth ends in disgust.
Lady Gu sat across from me and asked softly,
“Little You, do you want to end up there with Pei Yuchuan too?”
I shook my head.
I didn’t.
She said if I ended things with Pei Yuchuan, he could return to the Pei family.
The bloodline couldn’t stay outside.
If I gave them the child, she would raise her well.
The memories crashed over me.
I looked at him, voice shaking.
“But I didn’t like it.”
“I didn’t like seeing you in ill-fitting clothes, breaking out in rashes.”
“I didn’t like watching you crammed on the subway, drenched in sweat and miserable.”
“I didn’t like you struggling with a cheap Cochlear Implant while people called you deaf.”
“Pei Yuchuan, it killed me. I didn’t want you living like that. I didn’t want you to wake up one day and regret everything.”
He stared at me for a long time.
Then, hoarse:
“So that was the real reason for the Breakup.”
I closed my eyes.
“Yes.”
He gripped my shoulders.
“But Wen You, I’m a person. A living, breathing person—not some pet you decide for.”
“That short-sleeve you gave me? I loved it.”
“The subway was faster than sitting in traffic.”
“The cheap implant was temporary. I could have earned the money for a better one.”
“Why did you assume I’d regret it?”
“Why didn’t you ever believe in me?”
His eyes were bloodshot.
“These three years have been hell. I missed that tiny apartment every single day.”
“I knew you were working in Xi City, renting in that old downtown neighborhood, working late almost every night.”
“I knew about Gu Yan long before she came home. Back then she wasn’t my sister—she was just your best friend.”
“That ‘long time no see’ was a lie. I’ve been traveling between Xi City and Shanghai for three years, just to catch a glimpse of you.”
His voice cracked.
“But I resent you too.”
“You’re the one who wanted us together.”
“You’re the one who walked away and left our child.”
“Why did you never treat me like a person?”
It was only the second time I’d ever seen him cry.
I’d always thought I’d done the right thing.
But beneath his polished surface was a heart full of scars.
His phone rang then.
He silenced it twice.
It kept ringing.
He finally answered.
His face changed as he listened.
The nanny’s voice carried across the line.
Pei Xi was missing.