Chapter 4

Chapter 4

I knew he was scared. I had risked my life to save him, and that was a burden he couldn’t carry.

But could a playboy like him really be afraid of trampling on someone’s sincere feelings?

Or perhaps it wasn’t fear at all. Maybe it was because Lin Ge was injured, and he wanted to give himself one last, wholehearted chance with her.

Whatever the reason, my withdrawal process was interrupted just as I was on the verge of success.

I spent the next three months living in a state of constant trepidation, always worried that the heavy stone hanging over me would finally drop.

And then, it did.

I woke up abruptly after having that dream once again.

I curled up on the bed, my hands shaking as I lit a cigarette.

The smoke drifted around me, carrying that familiar scent from the dream, but the ache in my chest only grew more uncontrollable.

That was when Jiang Dong’s call came in, like a lifeline being tossed to a drowning person.

His voice, deep and tinged with a hint of grievance, caught me off guard:

“Everyone’s left the bar… Xixi, why haven’t you come to take me home yet?”

That voice was exactly the same as the one in my dream.

My eyes welled up instantly. Fighting back a sob, I asked him in a thin voice where he was.

Instead of an answer, a burst of wild laughter erupted from the receiver. Many people were laughing.

The previous deep, aggrieved tone vanished without a trace. Jiang Dong was laughing so hard he could barely catch his breath.

“Are you fucking stupid? I’m playing Truth or Dare!”

It felt like a bucket of cold water had been dumped over me.

The wall of sorrow was breached, and the suffocating pressure on my chest suddenly eased.

After three months, the “withdrawal aid” was starting to work again.

Testing the waters, I let out a choked sob. “You can call me whatever you want, as long as you come home with me.”

The roar of laughter grew louder. Jiang Dong couldn’t hide the smugness in his voice. “Can’t you hear? I’m playing a fucking game. Don’t be so relentless.”

Sure enough, the feeling of suffocation grew even weaker.

I stood up and stubbed out the cigarette.

“Tell me where you are, Gu Ye. Let me see you one more time.”

The other end of the line went dead silent.

A moment later…

“Damn it, who the hell is Gu Ye?”

Following Jiang Dong’s roar, I heard frantic whispering on the other end.

“Holy crap, isn’t she Brother Dong’s lapdog? Why is she calling out another man’s name?”

“Brother Dong, what’s going on? She probably only agreed to pick you up because she thought you were that Gu Ye guy, right? This round should count as a loss for you!”

Having lost face, Jiang Dong hissed through gritted teeth, “Don’t think you can fool me by making up some random person. I’m giving you an out here, and I’m sending you the address. If you aren’t here in half an hour, don’t ever mention getting back together again.”

I quickly drove out toward the address Jiang Dong sent.

Although the suffocation wasn’t as intense as it had been at the start, the weight on my chest still made me extremely uncomfortable.

I knew that Jiang Dong would make me pay double for the pride he had just lost.

The more out of line he acted, the better it would be for my withdrawal. Perhaps this humiliation would be the final, potent dose of medicine I needed.

If it failed, it would mean that Jiang Dong, as my “withdrawal aid,” had already developed a drug resistance.

In that case, I would need to switch medications.