I want to leave here, now, immediately.
Because of a single sentence, Du Ruoxin was taken to a private farm.
It was March, past the Awakening of Insects, when all things revived and the earth returned to spring. The surroundings were filled with blooming scenery.
By the pond, next to the stream, a fishing rod was placed before Du Ruoxin.
The float bobbed, but she didn't reel in the line.
Lying under a sun lounger, hands pillowing her head, her right leg crossed over her left, she stared blankly at the blue sky with the vacant eyes of a dead fish.
Rapeseed flowers, peach blossoms, pear blossoms, cherry blossoms…
Various floral scents drifted into her senses from time to time, but Du Ruoxin had no inclination to appreciate the beautiful scenery.
It was too quiet.
So quiet it made her heart pound.
From their meeting until now, Cristino had not asked her a single question.
He hadn't asked why she left, why she was hiding from him, nor had he asked how she had been these past few years, whether she was happy or not.
He had only said he was "engaged."
Half a month after she left, he got engaged to a woman.
He also said that because he didn't like children, his fiancée had aborted several times for him.
Du Ruoxin listened, her face turning pale, her pores standing on end.
[Cristino, your fiancée was carrying your child! How could you be so cruel as to deprive her of her right to be a mother, to deprive the child of the right to be born, just because you didn't like it?]
[Just a single "dislike"...]
Du Ruoxin felt a profound sadness, not just a chilling emptiness in her heart, but a bone-chilling cold that coursed through her entire body.
Even though it was a bright, sunny day, she always felt as if she were in a dark, damp hell.
Her hands trembled.
Goosebumps rose all over her skin.
Even standing in the scorching sun couldn't dispel the icy chill in her heart.
It was just like Rong Jingyang, who didn't like children, didn't like Doudou...
Men, after all, were heartless and selfish creatures!
Compared to Cristino's cold indifference, should she be grateful that Rong Jingyang hadn't forced her to abort?
At least he had allowed Doudou to come into the world and provide her with the warmest companionship.
"Cristino, want to have grilled fish tonight?" a man asked.
Cristino turned his head to look at Du Ruoxin. His gentle, jade-like appearance was that of a refined gentleman, making one feel completely at ease.
"Xin'er, do you want grilled fish?" he asked.
Du Ruoxin's thoughts were drifting. "Huh? What did you say?"
Cristino smiled and repeated, "What do you want to eat tonight?"
"Anything is fine," Du Ruoxin said faintly. "You decide."
Her mind was buzzing, how could she possibly think about what to eat? Sigh!
Seeing the sun beginning to set and the weather gradually cooling, the man picked up his bucket and stood up. "I'll go get it. I'll call you when it's ready."
Du Ruoxin wanted to leave with him, but Cristino didn't move, so she lay back down on the chair.
In the quiet and picturesque countryside, the calls of birds and insects could occasionally be heard. It was a serene, poetic scene, yet Du Ruoxin felt an inexplicable sense of unease.
He didn't ask.
He remained silent about how she had been for the past three years.
It was too abnormal.
Du Ruoxin couldn't fathom what Cristino was thinking, but since they had met, the truth had to be revealed; it couldn't be hidden forever.
It was better to tell him herself than to have him find out through others.
Taking a deep breath, Du Ruoxin gathered her courage and walked up to the man. "Brother."
Cristino opened his eyes, his deep blue irises filled with infinite doting. "I thought you wouldn't call me."
Du Ruoxin immediately smiled like a blooming flower. "How could I not? You're my own brother, we're related by blood!"
She deliberately emphasized the words "own brother" and "blood relation."
Du Ruoxin's English name was Roe D. Rothschild, and she was Cristino's half-sister.
Before she was ten, she had always believed her father was a soldier who had heroically sacrificed his life.
It wasn't until her mother was diagnosed with kidney failure and couldn't be treated that she learned she was an illegitimate child, and her biological father was the head of the Rothschild family.
Her mother's dying wish was for her to acknowledge her lineage.
After burying her beloved mother, Du Ruoxin boarded a flight to Europe.
The process of acknowledging her family was without any obstacles. She smoothly gained a father, a stepmother, and three brothers who doted on her immensely.
But this affection was suffocating.
Especially her eldest brother, Cristino. At some point, his love for her began to change.
It was filled with possessiveness, with assertion, with... unease.
They say entering a noble household is like entering a deep sea. The reason Du Ruoxin escaped without a word was half because of her stepmother and the other half because of Cristino.
She didn't want her respected elder brother to sink deeper, nor did she want to ruin his life due to a mistake.
When they first reunited, he said he was engaged.
Du Ruoxin was overjoyed. Had her elder brother finally moved on from this twisted relationship?
But his words, "I don't like children, and I made my sister-in-law abort several times," instantly plunged Du Ruoxin back into despair.
It was terrifying. This wasn't moving on; it was escalating!
She cared about societal norms, so he got engaged.
She and he could never have children in the future, so he indirectly told her he disliked children.
Du Ruoxin felt like crying.
If crying could solve problems, she could cry an entire Pacific Ocean, believe it or not.
"Hmm?" Cristino was displeased with Du Ruoxin's emphasis and frowned. He pulled her closer. "Xin'er, three years have passed, and you haven't changed at all."
Du Ruoxin was prepared. She spun around, maintaining a two-step distance from him. "Brother, um, hehe." She forced a smile. "There's something I want to tell you."
Rather than have him find out, it was better to confess herself and maintain control of the situation.
Du Ruoxin firmly believed that her elder brother's silence and lack of inquiry all this time was because he was waiting for her to speak first.
Cristino: "Speak, I'm listening."
Du Ruoxin swallowed and observed the man's reaction with her apricot-shaped eyes. "I'm married, and I have a lovely daughter."