Shen Liubai turned and glanced at Lin Zhuyin. Lin Zhuyin's heart skipped a beat, and she quickly explained, "I... I came to return your clothes."
After saying that, Lin Zhuyin's face grew even redder. Who returns clothes by falling asleep on someone's sofa?
Shen Liubai didn't say anything, merely responded indifferently, "Have you eaten? I accidentally made a little extra. Let's eat together."
"No, I've already eaten..."
Before she could finish, her stomach growled loudly, showing no regard for her embarrassment.
Lin Zhuyin was so awkward she didn't know what to do. Shen Liubai, however, had already set out bowls and chopsticks for the two of them, his gaze fixed on her with profound depth.
Lin Zhuyin hesitated for a moment before walking over. She still had some things she wanted to ask Shen Liubai.
Shen Liubai claimed he made extra, but he had actually prepared all of Lin Zhuyin's favorite dishes. After many years of marriage, they understood each other's tastes quite well.
Lin Zhuyin ate the meal Shen Liubai had personally cooked with a complex mix of emotions, her heart aching more and more. Especially when she thought about him marrying another woman and having children, she couldn't swallow another bite.
She placed her chopsticks on the table and looked at Shen Liubai sternly, "I heard you're marrying Gao Ruolan."
Shen Liubai glanced at her indifferently, his expression unreadable. "You care about my affairs?"
"I..."
Lin Zhuyin clenched her fists, her heart wrestling with itself. "Is it because Gao Ruolan is pregnant?"
Shen Liubai ate his meal slowly, showing no particular interest in the marriage, nor any excitement or joy.
"I suppose so."
This vague answer caused Lin Zhuyin's brows to furrow, and her face became unusually unpleasant. "What do you mean, 'I suppose so'?"
Shen Liubai calmly put down his chopsticks. "What is it you want to say?"
Lin Zhuyin twisted her fingers, a torrent of words dammed up in her chest, unsure how to begin.
"Then... do you like Gao Ruolan?"
Shen Liubai remained silent, his deep eyes fixed on her.
"Do you know what kind of person she is?"
Lin Zhuyin dared not ask Shen Liubai if, aside from that night on the eighth, he had any other encounters with Gao Ruolan. If he had, then the child in Gao Ruolan's womb might be Shen Liubai's.
But if he hadn't, then the child was definitely not Shen Liubai's, and Gao Ruolan was intentionally deceiving him into marriage, which would only hurt Shen Liubai in the end.
"Does this have anything to do with Miss Lin?"
Shen Liubai didn't answer any of Lin Zhuyin's questions; instead, he kept questioning her. Hearing him address her so distantly and coldly as "Miss Lin," her heart ached as if it were being torn apart.
She lowered her gaze, no longer looking at Shen Liubai. Yes, they were divorced. Whatever Shen Liubai did had nothing to do with her.
If it weren't for what happened on the eighth of last month, and if she hadn't accidentally become pregnant, she wouldn't be here.
"I'm sorry, it was none of my business. Um... please, enjoy your meal. I'll be going now."
She slowly stood up and walked step by step towards the living room door. Shen Liubai's dark eyes watched her retreating back, his expression grim and displeased.
As Lin Zhuyin was about to step out, he couldn't help but call out to her, "Lin Zhuyin..."
Lin Zhuyin had been waiting for Shen Liubai to speak, so when she heard him call her name, her nose stung, and her eyes instantly welled up.
She knew clearly that if she left like this today, it would be completely over between her and Shen Liubai.
That's why she had been praying in her heart for him to call her back.
And he... never disappointed her.
They had only been divorced for a little over three months, yet she felt as if they had been separated for three hundred years.
She loved him!
She didn't want to leave him!
Without time to think further, she turned and rushed towards Shen Liubai in a few large strides.
As she ran towards him, Shen Liubai instinctively opened his arms and pulled Lin Zhuyin into a tight embrace.
Lin Zhuyin cried uncontrollably, feeling that she had failed Shen Liubai, was unworthy of him, but also unwilling to give him up to someone else.
"Xiaobai... Xiaobai..."
She kept calling Shen Liubai's name, her tears soaking his shirt.
Shen Liubai held her trembling body, his chest feeling both sore and bitter, a surging warmth gathering within.
"I'm here... I'm here..."
She called him again and again, and he responded each time.
"I'm sorry... I'm truly sorry..."
Shen Liubai's eyes also reddened. Hearing Lin Zhuyin's apology, he gently pushed her away. "Why apologize?"
"So many..."
"Speak slowly, I'm listening."
Lin Zhuyin sniffled. "I shouldn't have lied to you, shouldn't have listened to others and done things that hurt... your father. And... knowing you were already with Gao Ruolan, I still rushed over to hug you,呜呜..."
Shen Liubai was most afraid of Lin Zhuyin's tears. When she cried, his heart softened.
"When I asked you before if you had ever loved me, you said you never loved me. Now, I only ask you one thing: for you, was I always just a tool for your revenge, or..."
Lin Zhuyin immediately shook her head, tears streaming down her face. "No, I love you. I truly love you. When we divorced, I lied and said I didn't love you because I didn't know what to do."
Her tear-filled eyes gazed deeply at the man before her, her voice thick with sobs but filled with earnestness. "I admit that when I first approached you, I had revenge as my motive, but as I got to know you, I don't know when it started, but I fell in love with you."
Hearing these words firsthand, Shen Liubai's eyes gradually turned red. "How do I know that what you're saying now isn't another lie?"
Lin Zhuyin lowered her head sadly. Thinking this might be her last chance, she tightly grasped Shen Liubai's hand. "I don't know what I can say for you to believe that I love you, but I want to tell you something."
She placed Shen Liubai's hand on her lower abdomen. "Here... there's your child."
Upon hearing this, Shen Liubai's eyes widened, and he looked at her in disbelief, his voice trembling. "You... what did you say?"
"On the eighth of last month, you called the wrong number, and I picked you up from the bar, and then... we slept together. Of course, if..."
Before she could finish, her heart began to ache. "If you've already fallen in love with Gao Ruolan, then pretend I never came tonight, and never said these things to you..."
"If that's the case, what do you plan to do? Get rid of our child?"
Listening to Shen Liubai's cold voice, Lin Zhuyin couldn't help but cry. "What else can I do? We can't let our baby be your illegitimate child, I don't want that..."
Shen Liubai fiercely pulled her into his embrace. "You wish! You are never allowed to leave me in this lifetime!"