Three days later, An Nuan woke up.
During those three days, Ye Qingcheng had never appeared.
When she opened her eyes, she saw Shen Xizhou. He was no longer as handsome and radiant as he used to be. His face was covered in stubble, and he looked incredibly dejected.
Was it for her?
She was touched.
But then, the slowly rising spark within her was ruthlessly extinguished by herself. She closed her eyes again, wishing that everything she had just seen was a hallucination and not real.
She would rather Shen Xizhou continue to hurt her heartlessly, so that she could give up completely. Her heart would not rekindle.
But her wrist was tightly held, and the force was undeniable.
Opening her eyes, she met Shen Xizhou's bloodshot gaze again.
"An Nuan, you're disappointed to see me waking up instead of Ye Qingcheng, aren't you?"
"Do you think Ye Qingcheng is your salvation?"
Disappointment? Salvation? Ye Qingcheng?
So, in his eyes, in his heart, this was what he thought of her.
Heh, no need to explain. It was better this way, letting him continue to misunderstand. At least, she wouldn't be tormented by him. Perhaps, this was liberation.
"Yes, I am very disappointed. I thought I would see Ye Qingcheng when I woke up. After all, Ye Qingcheng is very gentle. He believes what I say, and he has given me an unprecedented feeling. I feel very safe when he is by my side," An Nuan replied expressionlessly.
Safe? He was very good.
Shen Xizhou's grip tightened, his eyes filled with venom. Even though he tried his best to hide his earlier loss, the tightly clenched hand betrayed him completely.
His hand gripped An Nuan's wrist even tighter.
With eyes full of anger and disgust, he said, "An Nuan, are you so shameless? Are you in such a hurry to find a man? Didn't you say before that you would never love anyone else in this life besides me?"
"Your change of heart is really fast, so fast that I can barely keep up."
"Do you think Ye Qingcheng is your final choice?"
An Nuan had just woken up, and her head was still groggy. She wanted to break free from Shen Xizhou's hand, but found that she couldn't, no matter how hard she tried.
Facing Shen Xizhou's endless entanglement and torment, An Nuan said softly, "Shen Xizhou, we are already divorced, and you have Xu Ruowei. Please, can you let me go?"
"You said I should live in hell, live in the mud." An Nuan took a deep breath and said firmly, "Okay, I promise you, I will do it."
"I will no longer have any connection with Ye Qingcheng. Are you at ease with this answer?"
"Can you stop pestering me?"
Thinking that all the hardships she was currently experiencing were bestowed upon her by the man in front of her, a self-mocking smile curved her lips. She said coldly, "Mr. Shen, what do you think of my proposal?"
"Or, I'll go find Xu Ruowei and have her watch you, have her..."
"An Nuan, shut up." Shen Xizhou retorted in exasperation.
An Nuan was tired, truly tired. She didn't know what Shen Xizhou wanted, what he wanted her to do, or how she should act to satisfy him.
She had said and done everything she could. What else did he want her to do?
Did he want her life? She had said that he could take her life anytime, but he didn't want it.
She had been obedient.
"Shen Xizhou, for the sake of the fact that I saved you back then, you said you would grant me one condition, any condition. So, can you let me go, and we never see each other again in this lifetime?" An Nuan's voice was filled with deep helplessness.
She hadn't intended to bring this up, but the current situation forced her hand.
Shen Xizhou looked at An Nuan and said sarcastically, "For saving you?" He snorted, "An Nuan, do you know? It wasn't you who saved me, but Xu Ruowei. She risked her life to save me, and you claimed the credit for the life-saving grace."
"Moreover, I investigated and found out that you designed all of this. You pushed me into the water. It was Xu Ruowei who pulled me out. Because she fainted herself, she was taken away by the Xu family, and then you stepped forward to say that you saved me. An Nuan, you are truly disgusting. Your scheming is truly nauseating to the extreme."
"You were so young back then, how could you have so many calculations? You are truly terrifying," Shen Xizhou said coldly, his gaze towards An Nuan filled with utter contempt.
An Nuan let out a scoff.
So, even in matters like this, Xu Ruowei could twist the truth. With money, one could indeed do whatever they wanted.
Explain? No, she wouldn't explain. Shen Xizhou had already said that he had investigated thoroughly and that everything was her doing. So, what was there for her to explain? Would he believe her if she explained? No, he wouldn't.
"Oh, so you know. I thought you didn't know and were still in the dark, so I was thinking of using this matter to threaten you. It seems I miscalculated this time," An Nuan said calmly, as if she hadn't considered whether her words would provoke him.
Perhaps, she was deliberately provoking him.
Shen Xizhou hadn't expected her to admit it so calmly, to admit to the matter. He thought she would kneel and explain to him.
"An Nuan, you admitted it. Aren't you going to explain?"
"An Nuan, these years, having snatched away the happiness that originally belonged to Xu Ruowei, don't you feel any guilt?"
Shen Xizhou's voice was extremely cold, his eyes filled with bloodshot rage. All the pity had vanished completely at this moment.
"An Nuan, Ruowei has been speaking up for you, constantly thinking of helping us get back together. But what about you? Not only are you not grateful to her, but you push all the blame onto her."
"An Nuan, if you hurt Ruowei again, I will surely make you regret being alive."
An Nuan lowered her head and snorted. Looking at the man in front of her, who was reprimanding her for another woman, she suddenly felt a sense of desolation.
Heh, she had known long ago that anything she said to Shen Xizhou, he wouldn't believe.
In fact, from the moment Xu Ruowei approached Shen Xizhou, she should have known that she would try every means to snatch Shen Xizhou away.
Now that Shen Xizhou completely believed Xu Ruowei's words, why should she bother explaining?
Why waste her breath?
Shen Xizhou, who was it that once swore to me: This life, I will only dote on you, only love you.
Those words felt like they were spoken yesterday. Our sweetness felt like it happened yesterday. But now, your words make me feel as if those doting, loving words never happened, that it was all a dream? Now the dream is over.
When the dream ended, all the beauty shattered with it.