It was a comfort to her heart in the silent night.

  Qin Shu nestled quietly in his embrace. The intimacy of the warmth and the refreshing scent that belonged only to him calmed her heart.

  She could hear his strong heartbeats. Her heartbeat resonated with each of his beating hearts.

  But when the Little Munchkin appeared in her mind, her calm heart began to storm again. She couldn’t help trembling.

  His hand never stopped stroking her cramp legs, hoping to ease her pain as he continued to hug her.

  The two wooden plates still occupied Qin Shu’s mind, but his gentleness dragged her into confusion. She couldn’t understand his action for being so gentle and good to her when his love for the Little Munchkin, who was Ling Bao, was so deep.

  Just because she looked like Ling Bao?

  “Babe, have you been having cramps often this entire month?”


  Hearing his doting and intimate nickname for her immediately sparked her thoughts of Ling Bao. Was there a relation between Bao and Babe?

  He had been calling her Babe from the day she went to Bright Garden with him. Calling her Babe seemed so natural for him as if he was so used to calling that nickname.

  She never told Fu Tingyu her nickname was Babe since she was young, and he never asked.

  Was Babe also his nickname for Ling Bao?

  These truths continuously played in her heart.

  Fu Tingyu thought she was still upset with her and refused to talk to her when she kept silent.

  “Babe, it’s my fault for not being there by your side when you were in pain.” Guilt engulfed his voice.

  But Qin Shu did not respond to his words. As if she neither heard him nor felt the pain from the cramp of her legs.

  The pain from her legs slowly decreased after his continuous massaging for some time.

  Even though Fu Tingyu felt that the muscles on her legs relaxed, he still asked with concern, “Are you feeling better?”


  She heard his concerned question from above her head. The large hand massaging her leg moved upward and wrapped gently around her waistline.

  She unconsciously nodded in response to his question, but her body was rigid, and her hand gripped the blanket tightly.

  He no longer felt the need to hide and could openly hold her in his embrace now that she knew he found her and had been lingering around her. He rested his chin above her head as he carefully cuddled her, stroking her silky-smooth hair. The fragrance from her hair worked like a miracle in calming his heart as he slowly inhaled the scent when he caressed her hair.

  They could feel each other’s uncontrollable heartbeats and uneven breathing rhythms in the silence of the room. Neither of them said anything, fearing that they would break the moment of warmth enveloping them.

  After a long moment of silence, his husky voice broke the silence, “Babe, I’m sorry.”


  He was sorry for forcing Qin Shu to be with him, for hiding the truth from her, and for causing her so much suffering.

  Qin Shu shuddered at his apology. Her body involuntarily tensed. She couldn’t help wondering the reason behind his apology. Did he apologize for lying to her? Or because he took her as a substitute for his old lover?

  The thought was still lingering in her head when she sensed the raging hormone in him from his body scent. His figure loomed above her. He cautiously caressed her, enveloping her with the warmth of his sensual touch.

  His longing for her was deeply embedded in his heart, ran through his every vein, and integrated with every bone in his body.

  Hungry for more, he kissed her on her cheek, “Babe, I missed you.”


  Her tensed nerves relaxed when he kissed her but immediately stiffened again when he told her he missed her.

  “I found the wooden plates you kept in the hidden drawer in the study. Had you always…,” Qin Shu pursed her lips and continued, “Been in love with Ling Bao?”


  Worries and reluctance engulfed her heart after blurting out the question she had been dying, yet reluctant to ask. She knew the answer in her heart, but she wanted to hear it from Fu Tingyu.

  Her question startled him. Her question seemed to answer the mystery behind her sudden decision to run away from home.

  “The wooden plates were from during the time I was in Mountain Qi. I secretly brought it with me when I left the mountain. They belonged to Ling Bao. She accidentally broke the string of the wooden plate. So, I picked them up and kept them with me.”


  Although Qin Shu appeared calm, waves of emotions were raging in her heart, as if the tsunami of her emotion could drag her deep into the darkness of the ocean.

  “I’ve always loved her all these years.”


  His whisper was calm and soft, like music to her ears.

  But these words were like blades piercing through her heart, slicing her broken heart into pieces. She trembled as if she was trapped in the Arctic, surrounded by the blinding whiteness and freezing icebergs.

  She had always known of his existence from the first day he broke into her apartment. Her martial art level had reached the platinum level. She could sense even the softest sound around her.

  His martial art level was only at the bronze level. He couldn’t control his breathing and the lightness of his footsteps yet.

  She noticed that the person who offered her food in the Bothala Castle had been doing that deliberately. When he entered her apartment on the first night, she knew it was his arrangement.

  She thought she was ready for his confession and that she could take it. She had overestimated her acceptance level.

  Her hand reached out to his chest to push him away, but he forcefully wrapped his hand around her shoulder, keeping her in his embrace, refusing her attempt to put a gap between them.

  The pain and grievance she had been pushing deep into the bottom of her heart for the past month surfaced and exploded with boiling rage, “Fu Tingyu, let me go! If you’ve always loved her, why do you keep me by your side? Just because I look like a spitting image of hers?”


  He locked her in his embrace with his big palm pressed to the small of her back, trying to soothe emotional outburst, “Babe, listen to me. Please, let me explain.”


  “Fu Tingyu, you’re an a**hole.” Overcame by the piercing pain from the open wound of her bleeding heart, none of his words got through the wall built from the broken heart.

  His explanation sounded like just another excuse and another lie to her.

  “Babe, I’m sorry. Listen to what I have to say.” Fu Tingyu was overwhelmed with guilt and unbearable heartache at her loss of control over her emotion.

  “Fu Tingyu, you’re an a**hole. Why did you treat me so well if she is the one you hold dear in your heart? Why don’t you stay away from me? I hate you.” She weakly hissed, venting all the pain and grievance she had been keeping in her heart. Enduring them inside her had been a nightmare; they were upsetting as much as they were agonizing.

  “Babe, you’re Ling Bao.” He reluctantly said in agony.

  Silence filled the room after the shocking statement from Fu Tingyu.

  Qin Shu was dumbfounded, unable to respond to his sudden, shocking statement.

  His words repeated echoed in her head, “You’re Ling Bao, you’re Ling Bao, you’re Ling Bao…”