Chapter 159

Chapter 159

“I’m leaving!” Ning Xi waved without looking back.

Fu Zhi watched her retreating figure. This time, that sense of losing control was even stronger.

It was as if something was faintly warning him: if Ning Xi came back tonight, he might truly lose her forever.

Unease crept into Fu Zhi’s voice. “Ning Xi! Wait a second! There’s something else I need to tell you…”

Ning Xi only ran faster.

Fu Zhi wanted to chase after her, but as he reached the corner, he caught a flash of crimson out of the corner of his eye.

He looked over and found that it was Shen Yibai.

And, shockingly, Shen Yibai was smoking.

Fu Zhi’s steps halted on instinct.

“Are you insane? Your bod-” He cut himself off halfway, then glared at Shen Yibai. “When did you learn to smoke? That damned girl Ning Xi hates the smell of cigarettes more than anything.”

Shen Yibai flicked the ash from his cigarette and looked in the direction Ning Xi had left, though his words were directed at Fu Zhi. “Don’t chase her. She doesn’t like you.”

In their last life and in this one, Ning Xi would never like Fu Zhi.

The secret Fu Zhi had hidden in his heart for years was suddenly exposed-and by his own cousin, Ning Xi’s fiancé in name. For a split second, Fu Zhi’s expression changed.

But this time, he did not deny it. He even shot back, “Oh, so you know that too? The person she doesn’t like is you.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, both of them fell silent.

Shen Yibai was quiet for a long time. It was only when the cigarette butt burned his fingers that he swiftly crushed it out.

Then he spoke, his voice rough and hoarse, each word distinct. “She doesn’t like me, and she doesn’t like you either.”

At that moment, it was as if every sound in the world had gone still.

Fu Zhi still refused to give up. “Fine. Even if Ning Xi doesn’t like me, I can at least stay by her side, can’t I? What right do you have to cling to the engagement after falling for someone else, while I can’t stay by her side as a suitor or a friend?

“Back then, I was obviously closer to Ning Xi! I was the one who liked Ning Xi first! Your fiancée was supposed to be Ning Mingyue, so why did it end up being my Ning Xi instead? There are so many people in this world-why did you have to choose Ning Xi?!

“Why do you get to be engaged to Ning Xi? Why does Xie Lanchen get to get close to Ning Xi? Why am I the only one who can’t, when I liked her before anyone else did?!”

By the end, Fu Zhi was practically roaring.

All these years, the only person he had ever liked was Ning Xi.

And yet the one who had taken her from him was Shen Yibai, someone he also cherished.

If Shen Yibai had been a stranger, or even just a friend, Fu Zhi could have openly competed with him for Ning Xi.

But goddamn it, Shen Yibai just had to be his cousin.

Goddamn it, Shen Yibai just had to get engaged to Ning Xi after my aunt died.

Goddamn it, Shen Yibai just had to need the support of a Ning Family marriage contract to secure his position as heir to the Shen Family.

How was he supposed to fight for her? How was he supposed to take her back?

Fu Zhi had had enough. He truly had enough.

He would rather not have been born a Fu at all than spend all these years hiding in a dark corner, swallowing every last emotion alone.

“Because I love her. I can’t live without her,” Shen Yibai said very, very softly.

His voice scattered into the wind like a wisp of smoke.

Not like. Love.

Not for a few years. For decades.

They met at five, became engaged at eleven, fell in love at twenty-one, married at twenty-five, and parted by death at thirty-nine.

They had known each other for thirty-four years, and for thirty-four years, she had lived in his heart.

“What bullshit love! If you really loved her, how could you let go?!” Fu Zhi cursed.

If Ning Xi were his fiancée, he would probably rather die than let her go.

“The reason… don’t you already know it?” Shen Yibai gave a faint smile.