Gu Heng’s eyes were red with grievance, his voice sour and trembling as he said, “Yu Lizhu said you look like the type who’d fall for a gentle, soft-spoken Omega woman. If… if I hadn’t met you first, Shihuan, would you have liked that kind of woman?”
Zuo Shihuan froze, and actually started thinking about it.
The moment Gu Heng saw that, jealousy surged inside him toward that completely imaginary Omega woman.
He cried out, wounded and indignant, “Shihuan, how could you not choose me right away!”
His voice was so loud and tragic that Zuo Shihuan’s ears rang.
That snapped him out of his thoughts instantly.
Seeing Gu Heng on the verge of tears, Zuo Shihuan’s heart somehow softened, though something felt off about this situation.
Wasn’t it Gu Heng who’d asked him the question first? Naturally, it made him think about it. If he hadn’t met Gu Heng, would he have fallen for that kind of gentle Omega woman?
But because he’d thought about it in front of Gu Heng, somehow it turned into his fault.
Zuo Shihuan tried to explain, “Wait, Gu Heng, you asked me. I had to think before I could give you an answer.”
Gu Heng still wasn’t satisfied. His lips trembled as he bit them, thick lashes quivering, his eyes watery with pitiful sorrow as he clutched Zuo Shihuan’s hands tightly, drawing warmth to soothe his cold, wounded heart.
“Shihuan, I want you to choose me first, and only me.”
Faced with that heartbreakingly fragile expression, Zuo Shihuan’s heart completely melted. Forget logic, he turned into a lovestruck fool, instantly softening his tone to comfort him.
“I choose you. I only choose you.”
But that wasn’t enough for Gu Heng.
Just remembering that moment of hesitation on Zuo Shihuan’s face made his chest tighten with annoyance. It was all Yu Lizhu’s fault, what a ridiculous question to plant in his head!
He knew he was being irrational, yet he couldn’t stop himself from being jealous.
He could already imagine walking down the street someday, seeing some gentle, wifely Omega woman, and having to stay on high alert, afraid that Zuo Shihuan’s gaze might drift toward her.
He wanted Zuo Shihuan to always choose him, no matter what. To have eyes only for him…
But… but just now, Zuo Shihuan had hesitated!
Didn’t that mean Yu Lizhu’s guess had been right?!
Zuo Shihuan thought Gu Heng would be appeased, but instead he seemed inexplicably crestfallen, slumped and listless. Zuo Shihuan was baffled.
Was there something wrong with his answer?
It shouldn’t be.
Gu Heng wanted him to choose him, and he had. In both words and reality, he’d chosen Gu Heng. So what on earth was there to be sad about?
In his straightforward, utterly oblivious way, Zuo Shihuan couldn’t understand, but that didn’t stop him from feeling worried. He instinctively reached out to soothe him.
“What’s wrong?” Zuo Shihuan took Gu Heng’s hand, his light brown eyes full of warmth and concern.
And just like that, Gu Heng’s emotional defenses crumbled.
He had only meant to act a little spoiled to grab Zuo Shihuan’s attention, but now that he had it, his eyes unexpectedly grew hot and red.
Through Zuo Shihuan’s gaze, he seemed to see his younger self, pretending to fall, scraping his knee, trying to look pitiful, only to be met with indifference, with the cold swing of his mother’s skirt as she turned and walked away.
He’d brushed off the dirt himself, pretending it didn’t hurt, ready to stand up on his own, and then suddenly, a hand had reached out to him.
As if across years and time itself, that hand had grasped his, pulled him up, not caring about the dust on his clothes, eyes full of worry and warmth.
And suddenly, Gu Heng smiled.
He could have stayed cold and self-sufficient forever, until Zuo Shihuan appeared and quietly broke open the frozen walls around his heart. After that, there was no going back to that lonely road.
“Of course it’s because of you, Shihuan.” Gu Heng’s dark eyes curved with mischief as he suddenly leaned in and stole a quick kiss from Zuo Shihuan’s lips.
Zuo Shihuan froze at the surprise kiss, but didn’t scold him. By now, he was used to Gu Heng’s sneak attacks.
Still, he couldn’t understand the accusation.
Frowning slightly, he asked, “What did I do now?”
Gu Heng looked at him tenderly, smiling as he said, “Who told you to be thinking about other women in front of me? Shihuan, you should be thinking about me all the time.”
Zuo Shihuan’s face flushed; the words were so cheesy his teeth ached. He stammered back, “I, I wasn’t thinking about anyone else! You were the one who asked me. It’s normal to imagine if I hadn’t met you.”
Gu Heng, refusing to be reasonable, huffed, “That’s still not okay. The only person you should be thinking about is me. I’m your most beloved boyfriend.”
Zuo Shihuan’s face turned even redder. His teeth clenched from the sweetness. “R-right, you’re my boyfriend.”
Gu Heng narrowed his dark eyes but didn’t press him on the missing words. Instead, he asked, “Then what if, what if back then, you’d met me and someone else at the same time?”
“Someone else?”
“Mm. Say, one of those gentle Omega women Yu Lizhu mentioned.” Gu Heng’s tone was strained, his jealousy practically overflowing.
At that, Zuo Shihuan finally understood, his eyes curving with laughter.
So that’s what this was all about, Gu Heng was jealous at the mere idea that he might like someone else. Even a completely imaginary person.
This clingy, prideful Gu Heng… was honestly adorable.
Like a mischievous housecat, one day it catches the faint scent of another cat on its owner and immediately panics, fur bristling with jealousy.
Even without seeing a single stray hair, it’s already meowing in outrage, circling its owner’s feet, rubbing and clinging for attention nonstop.
It really made him want to bully him a little.
Zuo Shihuan secretly curved his lips, his warm light-brown eyes glancing at Gu Heng, who had suddenly become tense and serious, it really seemed like Gu Heng cared a lot about this kind of thing.
He propped his hand against his lower lip, pretending to think for a moment before smiling:
“What if… I said I don’t know?”
Gu Heng panicked instantly. “Shihuan, how could you not know?”
Zuo Shihuan spread his hands and smiled with his eyes. “But it’s not like I’ve actually met you and someone else at the same time, so how could I compare?”
Gu Heng immediately puffed up in frustration, his eyes dark and wounded as he glared at the smiling Zuo Shihuan, and what was worse, that smile even had dimples.
How could he not know?
Zuo Shihuan clearly knew what answer he wanted, the only answer, and yet he had to tease him like this.
Watching Gu Heng’s cheeks puff up and those resentful little eyes staring straight at him, Zuo Shihuan couldn’t help feeling a little guilty.
He rubbed his nose and finally couldn’t hold back a laugh. “Alright, alright, it’s you. Only you, Gu Heng. No matter how many multiple-choice questions you give me, I’ll always pick just you. Satisfied now?”
Gu Heng’s lips curved upward, then quickly pressed back down. “Really?”
“Of course it’s true.”
Zuo Shihuan really couldn’t with him, normally Gu Heng was so full of confidence, but when it came to this, he had to ask again and again.
Even if he asked a hundred or ten thousand times, Zuo Shihuan’s answer wouldn’t change.
From the moment he saw Gu Heng, his world had already shifted, there was no room left for anyone else.
Lowering his warm, nostalgic gaze, Zuo Shihuan pinched Gu Heng’s cheek, then cupped it instead, leaned in, and kissed him lightly on the side of his face. Then, near his ear, he laughed softly: “There’s never been a second choice besides you, Gu Heng. From the first moment I saw you, everyone else faded away, only you remained, and you’ll always be the only one.”
“If you ask what I’d do if I met someone else first… I’ve met countless people in my life, but never felt anything like what I felt when I met you. I think… it must have been love at first sight.”
“Now are you satisfied, Gu Heng?”
Zuo Shihuan lowered his hand and leaned back a little to see how Gu Heng would react.
But when he looked, Gu Heng was frozen stiff, eyes wide in shock, staring blankly like his brain had short-circuited.
Zuo Shihuan couldn’t help laughing helplessly.
Right now, Gu Heng’s head was filled with those words, love at first sight, repeating over and over: Zuo Shihuan fell in love with him at first sight, couldn’t see anyone else but him…
He kept silently confirming it, making sure he hadn’t misheard.
An overwhelming joy and happiness burst in Gu Heng’s chest, blooming like brilliant fireworks exploding in the night sky.
Before he knew it, he started giggling out loud, silly, delighted laughter, his dark eyes shining with joy until they curved into slits, sparkling like a river of starlight.
“Shihuan, you said you fell in love with me at first sight.”
“Mm, I said that.”
Zuo Shihuan smiled helplessly, resting his chin on one hand, wondering how long Gu Heng was going to keep laughing. Didn’t his cheeks hurt?
Gu Heng only grew more spirited, his gaze bright and intense, completely lost in the sweet scene of Zuo Shihuan’s love-at-first-sight confession.
But he hadn’t forgotten who started this in the first place.
Picking up the communicator that had been tossed aside at some point, Gu Heng lifted his chin proudly. “Did you hear that? Zuo Shihuan definitely chose me!”
Yu Lizhu: “……”
For some reason, she felt unconvinced.
Gu Heng’s nose nearly pointed to the sky as he continued showing off: “Shihuan even said he fell in love with me at first sight! Did your Ji Shenwen ever fall in love with you at first sight? He probably just hides from you, Yu Lizhu.”
Yu Lizhu’s face darkened instantly. She gritted her teeth. “My relationship with Ji Shenwen is great! If you hadn’t interfered, we’d already be together!”
Gu Heng laughed arrogantly. “So what? As far as I know, Ji Shenwen was annoyed by how clingy you were at first. He didn’t even like you then, and he definitely didn’t fall in love with you at first sight.”
Love at first sight, love at first sight, so what if Zuo Shihuan had fallen for him at first sight? What’s so great about that!
Yu Lizhu’s eyes reddened with anger. She pounded her chest and snapped, “So what if it wasn’t love at first sight? Ji Shenwen still liked me enough to help me block that spiked drink from my friend, maybe he did like me back then! Maybe it’s because of you, that awful friend, that he never dared show it! I’ll bet Ji Shenwen likes my kind of Omega! Can you swear that if he hadn’t met you, Zuo Shihuan would’ve liked your kind of Beta?!”
Gu Heng bared his teeth. “So what?! No matter what, Zuo Shihuan still chose me! I’m the one he fell in love with at first sight!”
Yu Lizhu slammed the wall, jumped up onto the toilet lid, planted her hands on her hips, and shouted furiously: “If I hadn’t taken Zuo Shihuan to Ji Shenwen’s bar that night, who knows if you two would’ve even met! If I’d taken him to another bar instead, there might’ve been some gentle, water-soft Omega woman there, and then who knows who Zuo Shihuan would’ve fallen for at first sight!”
Gu Heng’s chest rose and fell with fury.
Yu Lizhu’s sharp tongue had stabbed right into the insecurity he’d been trying not to think about.
If Zuo Shihuan had never met him, if someone else had gotten to him first, captured his heart before Gu Heng ever appeared…
Gu Heng’s eyes went red as he slowly turned toward Zuo Shihuan, huffing out through his nose. “Shihuan, you wouldn’t, right? No matter who you met first, the person you’d end up loving would still be me.”
On the other end, Yu Lizhu sneered, “Of course he would! Who’d want a mean, hard-headed Beta like you?”
Caught between them, Zuo Shihuan looked completely lost, like a kindergarten teacher surrounded by two squabbling toddlers, forced to play the role of the unfairly accused judge.
But how was he supposed to give an answer to something that hadn’t even happened?
Gu Heng looked anxious. “Shihuan, hurry up and say it.”
Yu Lizhu snorted. “If Zuo Shihuan had never met you, then of course he wouldn’t like you. What’s there to even say?”
Of course Gu Heng understood that.
But that didn’t mean he could stand hearing Yu Lizhu say it out loud, stabbing right into his heart like that, voicing the possibility that if he hadn’t met Zuo Shihuan, then the person Shihuan liked might not have been him.
Just the thought of someone else standing at Zuo Shihuan’s side, even as a fleeting, imagined possibility, made Gu Heng feel as if his heart were being ripped apart.
Especially when Yu Lizhu mentioned taking Zuo Shihuan to another bar, letting him meet someone else…
Gu Heng’s face darkened, his tone cold and resentful. “If that day ever comes, I’ll break you and Ji Shenwen apart. I’ll make sure you can never be together.”
And it was true, if he hadn’t fallen in love with Zuo Shihuan, a Federation citizen, and chosen to stay quietly within the Federation for him, he never would’ve tolerated Ji Shenwen’s relationship with Yu Lizhu.
Back when Ji Shenwen first started showing interest in Yu Lizhu, Gu Heng had already planned to send him back to the Empire.
As his subordinate, how could Ji Shenwen neglect his duties and mission just to flirt around with a Federation Omega woman? It was completely improper.
Yu Lizhu’s face went pale. Her hands clenched tightly.
She really, truly hated this friend of Ji Shenwen’s, this domineering, cold-blooded b*stard. So selfish. And yet she knew Gu Heng absolutely would follow through on his threat to break her and Ji Shenwen apart.
He’d almost succeeded once before.
It had driven Ji Shenwen to avoid her completely, not replying to messages, staying out of sight, as if trying to disappear to the ends of the earth.
But now, if Gu Heng thought he could tear them apart again, he was dreaming.
Yu Lizhu’s expression steadied, and a cold smile crept across her lips. Then she took a breath, gathered her emotions, and shouted into the communicator in a mock-crying voice: “Zuo Shihuan! Come take care of your boyfriend!”
Gu Heng’s dark, arrogant expression vanished in an instant. He panicked, raising his voice sharply: “Why are you calling Shihuan? What does he have to do with what’s between us?”
“What’s going on?” Zuo Shihuan leaned in to ask, still trying to make sure the two childish troublemakers didn’t actually fight.
The moment Yu Lizhu heard his voice nearby, she perked up even more, her tone dripping with tearful accusation: “Shihuan… you heard that, right? Gu Heng threatened me! He said he’s going to break me and Ji Shenwen up, look how awful he is!”
Gu Heng immediately tried to explain, flustered. “I didn’t! If she hadn’t provoked me first, I never would’ve said that!”
Yu Lizhu covered her face, fake-crying. “Wuwuwu… but Shihuan, he did say it! He even said Ji Shenwen’s not allowed to be with me!”
Gu Heng crossed his arms, turning away in a huff. “I have no interest in breaking them up. Believe it or not, Shihuan!”
Inside, he was cursing Yu Lizhu for being a tattletale.
He really could never get along with her!
On the other end, Yu Lizhu dropped her act, her apricot eyes flashing sharply.
You want to fight with me?
You think you can break me and Ji Shenwen up? Keep dreaming.
Meanwhile, Zuo Shihuan’s temples were pounding from all the noise. He rubbed at his brow.
Maybe he shouldn’t have let Gu Heng and Yu Lizhu talk on the communicator in the first place. Their temperaments just clashed, every time they met, it was like flint striking steel, sparking into another fight.
Zuo Shihuan sighed deeply in exasperation. He had to admit, Gu Heng had been harsh first when he mentioned breaking them up, and Yu Lizhu, as the friend who’d been dragged into this whole mess because of his own escaped-marriage situation, was now stuck at the Zuo residence and couldn’t even leave.
He should at least try to consider Yu Lizhu’s feelings a little.
As for Gu Heng, since he was closer to him, he could always explain things later and comfort him.
Zuo Shihuan reached out, lightly touching Gu Heng’s arm. “Gu Heng, don’t argue with Yu Lizhu anymore. Just… let it go, alright?”
But before he could even finish the sentence,
Gu Heng’s eyes went red, filled with grievance. His voice cracked as he said, “Shihuan, you’re taking her side. Why should I let it go? She’s the one who started it! She’s the one who said she’d take you to meet other people!”
Zuo Shihuan tried to explain, “I’m not taking Yu Lizhu’s side, but didn’t you just say you’d try to get along with her?”
Gu Heng burst out angrily, “She’s the one who didn’t want to get along first!”
Zuo Shihuan felt a headache coming on. Weren’t they just getting along fine a little while ago? How had it escalated so fast?
He sighed. “There’s really no need to fight over something this small. Sure, Yu Lizhu was a bit wrong too, but…”
“But what?”
“Just because she’s an Omega, I’m supposed to give in?”
Gu Heng turned his head away, eyes rimmed red, letting out a bitter laugh. “Right, Yu Lizhu’s your friend. But… am I not the one you love most? Why won’t you stand on my side, Shihuan?”
Each word trembled like a wounded accusation, making Zuo Shihuan instinctively step back, his heart twisting in pain.
He couldn’t bring himself to say those words anymore, to ask Gu Heng to just yield to Yu Lizhu.
He was completely torn, not knowing what to do.
In the end, he could only stay silent, not taking anyone’s side.
Zuo Shihuan no longer wanted to mediate whatever they were fighting about. Frowning, he moved a little farther away, unwilling to listen to their bickering any longer.
At least they were on opposite ends of a call, they couldn’t actually start hitting each other.
Seeing that Zuo Shihuan had gone quiet and sat far away,
Gu Heng’s dark eyes dimmed with a trace of gloom. He pursed his lips stubbornly and turned away, at least Zuo Shihuan hadn’t outright taken Yu Lizhu’s side.
Yu Lizhu would never be able to take him down.
Except for Zuo Shihuan, his only weakness, Gu Heng wasn’t afraid of anyone.
Only, right now, he didn’t feel happy at all.
And he no longer had the heart to keep arguing with Yu Lizhu.
Right now, all he wanted was to hang up the call as soon as possible.
But before that, there was something he needed to tell Yu Lizhu.
What had originally been meant as a kind reminder, well, not anymore.
Gu Heng’s expression turned cold. “Yu Lizhu, there’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you for a while.”
Yu Lizhu grew wary. “What is it?”
Gu Heng’s tone was icy. “You know Ji Shenwen and I are on the same side, right?”
Yu Lizhu’s brows furrowed slightly. She tried to figure out what Gu Heng was planning and replied cautiously, “So what if you are? Whatever’s between us shouldn’t involve Ji Shenwen.”
“Don’t worry, I’m not that petty.” Gu Heng gave a cold snort, then continued, “Since you know Ji Shenwen and I work together, then you should also realize that I was present at the engagement banquet yesterday.”
Yu Lizhu tightened her grip on the communicator, pupils trembling as a sense of unease crept up her chest. She bit her lip. “So… what are you trying to say?”
“Do I really have to spell it out for you?”
“My appearance at the engagement banquet means that Ji Shenwen might have appeared there with me as well.”
Yu Lizhu’s face went pale. She murmured, “…What did you say? Gu Heng, you’re lying to me, aren’t you? Trying to get back at me for arguing with you just now.”
Gu Heng’s tone stayed even. “I have no reason to lie about something like that. I was planning to tell you earlier anyway.”
Yu Lizhu’s fingers turned white from how tightly she gripped the communicator. She clung to a desperate bit of denial. “Why would Ji Shenwen go with you to the banquet? You said might have, didn’t you? That just means maybe…”
Gu Heng mercilessly cut her off. “Unfortunately, before I left the banquet with Zuo Shihuan, I saw Ji Shenwen there. It looked like he was watching you.”
Yu Lizhu froze completely, let out a few dry laughs, and clenched her palms. “…I see. He came. Ji Shenwen really came. Then why… why didn’t he tell me…”
Suddenly, her pupils dilated, something occurred to her.
Since yesterday, none of her messages to Ji Shenwen had been answered.
She hadn’t thought much of it before.
Because of his work, Ji Shenwen often couldn’t reply immediately, but whenever he was free, he would always respond to her messages right away, even call her.
It was entirely possible that yesterday he had really been at the banquet, watching her, watching her in a wedding dress, thinking about how she’d lied to him…
A wave of panic surged through Yu Lizhu, so strong it felt like she was losing Ji Shenwen. Her lips went bloodless, her voice weak and trembling.
“I see… all right, I understand. I think I’ll hang up now. Tell Zuo Shihuan for me, I’m just going to…”
Her vision blurred with tears before she could finish, and her throat closed up so she couldn’t speak anymore.
After a while, Yu Lizhu wiped at her tears in a daze, sniffling and trying to hold back her sobs. “Right… if I don’t go out soon, I’ll be discovered… I can’t let them find out. That’s it then.”
Then came the sound of the call disconnecting.
Gu Heng fell silent for a long while before he realized what had just happened. Turning to Zuo Shihuan, he handed over the communicator and said, “I think I messed up. Yu Lizhu really cried.”
Zuo Shihuan was startled. “What happened?”
He’d only left the two of them alone for a short time, how had things escalated like this?
Gu Heng pouted. “It’s not my fault. I just told her Ji Shenwen might’ve been at the banquet and seen her. She probably can’t handle the truth right now.”
Zuo Shihuan’s eyes flickered with understanding. He quickly took the communicator and called Yu Lizhu’s number, twice.
No answer.
Messages went unread.
It seemed Yu Lizhu wanted to be alone, not disturbed by anyone.
But as Zuo Shihuan stared at her number on the screen, his light brown eyes filled with worry. He just couldn’t feel at ease, not when Yu Lizhu was trapped alone in the Zuo residence.
At that thought, his anxiety grew.
He turned a cold gaze toward the culprit responsible for all this and handed the communicator back to Gu Heng. “You caused this mess, so you’re going to fix it.”
Gu Heng knew he was in the wrong.
He hadn’t meant to make Yu Lizhu cry. What was the point of making an Omega cry anyway? And really, it wasn’t even his fault. It wasn’t as if he’d intended for Ji Shenwen to see her.
What could he do? It had already happened.
But since Yu Lizhu was Zuo Shihuan’s friend, he couldn’t just stay out of it either.
Gu Heng took the communicator but didn’t dial yet. He lifted his gaze to Zuo Shihuan and said, “If she’s that upset, I’ll just go to Ji Shenwen myself and explain. Get them back together. The engagement banquet’s already ruined, there’s nothing left tying you and Yu Lizhu together anyway.”
“I didn’t tell you one thing in advance, and that’s my fault.” Zuo Shihuan’s gaze darkened as he looked at Gu Heng.
“What… thing?” Gu Heng asked, already getting a bad feeling.
“Because of our runaway marriage, my father, Zuo Zoujian, was furious. He took Yu Lizhu, who’s close to me, back to the Zuo estate. So all those calls earlier? She was secretly using them to contact me and update me on what’s happening there.”
Zuo Shihuan’s face was heavy with guilt as he went on, “That’s why I wanted you and Yu Lizhu to get along, to be kind to each other. Because she got dragged into this because of us. She can’t leave the estate now, and she can’t just go meet Ji Shenwen to talk things through like you said.”
Gu Heng was struck speechless.
He hadn’t expected that even under those circumstances, Yu Lizhu could still argue with him so sharply. He had underestimated her.
Zuo Shihuan’s hands clenched tightly, his expression heavy. “I know neither of you are truly in the wrong, though both made mistakes. Out of selfishness, I wanted you to give way to Yu Lizhu, Gu Heng, but I never stopped to think about your feelings, nor did I explain everything beforehand…”
Gu Heng interrupted, saying, “I understand. Since that’s the case, Zuo Shihuan, whatever you decide to do, I’ll support you completely. But…”
He lifted his deep, shadowed black eyes to meet Zuo Shihuan’s gaze, speaking through gritted teeth, his voice low and steady. “You can tell me you’re going back to the Zuo family for Yu Lizhu’s sake, but even if you go back, it can only be temporary. If… you abandon me, then even if I have to smash every window of the Zuo estate, I’ll do whatever it takes to take you away.”
Back to the Empire.
So that you can never return again, never again abandon him for anyone else.
Zuo Shihuan’s eyes flickered, but he shook his head and said, “I’ve already discussed it with Yu Lizhu. For now, I won’t go back. If I return now, everything we’ve worked for will be for nothing. My father, Zuo Zoujian, will have me under constant surveillance and control, and I’ll never get another chance to see you, Gu Heng.”
When he said Gu Heng’s name, there was such raw, sincere longing in his eyes that it made Gu Heng’s chest tighten. His hands unconsciously curled into fists; his heart, already moved, surrendered completely.
“I don’t want this either. Yu Lizhu doesn’t want this. She’s already trapped in the Zuo estate. If I’m caught and taken back too, my father will hold another engagement banquet, and maybe even force us to marry on the spot.”
Zuo Shihuan let out a self-mocking laugh and raised his eyes to Gu Heng. “I was never the Zuo family’s proud Alpha heir. At best, I’m just a pawn my father uses in his power struggle. But even so, I want to fight for something of my own.”
“I talked it through with Yu Lizhu. We’ll wait a few more days, just a few, and see how things go for her at the Zuo estate. We’ll drag things out until Father can’t stand the pressure of losing an Alpha successor anymore, until he has no choice but to negotiate, and agrees to let Yu Lizhu go.”
“But that also means…”
Zuo Shihuan looked at Gu Heng with pain and guilt in his eyes. He reached out and grasped Gu Heng’s tense, veined hand. “It means I’ll have to leave you for a while.”
Hearing that, even though he had mentally prepared himself for it, Gu Heng’s pupils still shrank sharply. His ears rang; his chest throbbed with agitation. He couldn’t bear to hear Zuo Shihuan utter even half a word about leaving him.
“I know, Gu Heng, you’ve been looking forward to living together with me. I promise you, once I’ve handled everything with the Zuo family and Yu Lizhu, I’ll come to see you right away. We can still contact each other through the communicator. I don’t want to leave you either. But my father has something to hold over me. This time it’s Yu Lizhu, but next time, it could be anyone I’ve ever been involved with.”
“That’s why I can’t accept being manipulated by my father, Zuo Zoujian, can’t let him threaten me with the people around me, including you, Gu Heng.”
“Can you accept that?”
Zuo Shihuan’s worried voice came again, asking if he could accept their separation, how was Gu Heng supposed to answer that?
“I can accept it.”
The words came through clenched teeth. In Gu Heng’s deep, storm-dark eyes, a fierce fire burned as he bared a sharp, defiant smile.
“But I have one condition.”
“What condition?”
Gu Heng’s gaze sharpened; a mischievous grin tugged at his lips. “Shihuan, leave a window open in your room for me. The Zuo family can imprison others, but they can’t imprison me.”
If they thought they could stop him from seeing Zuo Shihuan…
Even his own father would have to think again!
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