Atlas Studios

  Atlas Studios

  She took a deep breath in. She thought she would hate the two of them for life, like how Chu Lui had hated her so four years ago. Right now, she realized that she felt nothing at all. She just wanted to be a stranger to them, strangers that would never meet, talk, or even recognize each other.

  Her daughter was doing fine, and so was she. The Xia Ruoxin in the past was gone, along with all that hatred.

  She took the clothes in her hand and walked towards the counter. She was busy, and she still needed to get groceries; otherwise, Gao Yi would go hungry. That man couldn’t stand hunger and would drive back home to ask her for food.

  She had just taken a step when a figure stepped in front of her, blocking her path and her vision.

  “Ruoxin, is that you? Is that really you?” Surprise and agitation were apparent in his voice. Xia Ruoxin raised her head. Chu Lui’s face filled her entire vision.

  “I’m sorry, I still have something else to do. Excuse me.” She said, unperturbed. She could clearly feel a hatred-filled glare from the woman nearby, other than Chu Lui’s gaze.

  Chu Lui pursed his lips, trying to search for something—anything—in her eyes: her love, her hatred. He realized he was wrong. She couldn’t find anything in her eyes, and her face was passive as well, without any signs of the past love or hatred.

  “Excuse me, sir, please move. I need to pass through,” Xia Ruoxin said yet again. They had no business with each other anymore, so he shouldn’t block her way.

  Chu Lui did not speak again, and he slowly let go of her wrist and then moved out of the way. His gaze never left her, and his eyes followed her closely. It was just a few months since they saw each other, but her hair had become shorter, and she seemed to have gained some weight. It seemed like she was doing well recently, but he wasn’t. He continued to watch her and forgot all about Li Manni’s existence.

  “Lui, the clothes here don’t look very nice. Let’s take a look at other shops, shall we?” Li Manni walked over in a hurry and tugged his arm carefully, her eyes filled with chaos and fear.

  Why did they meet her here? Was the child not dead yet? Why was she here, without any signs of insanity? She should have gone crazy, become stupid, or was supposed to be dead.

  How was she perfectly fine?

  What worried her more was not Xia Ruoxin’s change…… but Chu Lui’s attitude. He actually said her name and even looked at her full of anticipation.

  “Lui, let’s go to another shop.” She smiled unnaturally, but Chu Lui had not heard anything she said. Perhaps it was more apt to say that, at this moment—in his eyes, his heart and his soul, there existed only a woman called Xia Ruoxin and nothing else.

  He felt guilty for so long, had thought for a long time, and regretted for a long time. There were so many things he wanted to say to her, but he found that he was speechless standing in front of her. His eloquence, his negotiation skills—everything came to a blank.

  Xia Ruoxin paid the cashier, took her items, and prepared to continue with her shopping. She turned around and fluttered her eyelashes, revealing a faint sadness behind her eyes. She could not deny that her heart was still hurting. Her past, the past that shattered her heart into pieces, could not be forgotten and healed so easily. Some wounds still ached faintly. She could ignore them, but she couldn’t ignore herself.

  Everything was in the past now. She was doing fine now, really fine.

  She took a deep breath in awkwardly and walked forward. As long as she stayed far away from his world, she would be happy. She finally understood that it was misfortune falling in love with that man. She had used four years to walk out of it and paid her arm as the price. She would not love again.

  Chu Lui watched as Xia Ruoxin stepped away from him with a dark face. Suddenly, he tore Li Manni’s had away and jogged over.

  He grabbed Xia Ruoxin’s wrist without explanation tightly as if he feared she would disappear once again.

  “I have something to say.” He ignored Xia Ruoxin’s protests and led her down the stairs, leaving Li Manni alone to face everything on her own…… including the crowd’s weird looks and shameful pointing fingers.

  No matter what the situation was, for a man to leave his own wife and leave with another woman was an insult to the wife. Li Manni lowered her head with extremely red eyes. She followed them down the stairs, her heart sinking into a cold and dark world.

  Was the thing that she was most worried and scared going to happen? Was she about to lose the relationship she had carefully protected and achieved by all means?

  Chu Lui gripped Xia Ruoxin’s wrist tightly. She wrinkled her brows at him. “Chu Lui, let me go. We have nothing to do with each other anymore.” Yet, Chu Lui still maintained a firm hold on her.

  “Nothing to do with each other? Don’t forget that we’re husband and wife, Xia Ruoxin,” Chu Lui said, his chest heaving up and down. He was trying his best to control his voice.

  “Husband and wife?” He dared to say this. She shook off his hand. “Chu Lui, don’t forget that you’re already married to a wife called Li Manni, not Xia Ruoxin. Xia Ruoxin no longer has anything to do with you Chus.”


  Chu Lui’s face paled at her words. Indeed, that was the truth he could never change.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” Chu Lui placed his hand on his neck and yanked off the amulet hanging there, a red mark forming from the force.

  “Tell you what?” Xia Ruoxin held her wrist gently. She wasn’t sure if it would leave a mark, and she didn’t want to let Gao Yi know of what had happened to her today. Moreover, what kind of person she had met.

  Chu Lui extended his hand and opened it, revealing a small amulet in his palm. It was the amulet that Xia Yixuan had worn around her neck for over twenty years. It was made of wood and was of high workmanship, but now, the edges were rounded. It held the temperature of the man now, just like before.

  All this was supposed to belong to Xia Ruoxin.

  Her encounter, her memories, and the promise he gave her.