Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

She wondered why her limbs suddenly felt cold.

Looking down, her fingers ran over her daughter’s long eyelashes tenderly, and her mouth curled into a smile. Rainy, no matter how much your father hates me, I will make him save you. She kissed her daughter’s cheek gently. Then, she turned off the bedside lamp.

Lying on the bed in the pitch black where she could see nothing, Xia Ruoxin held her daughter in her arms carefully, worried she might be uncomfortable.

…

Sitting beside Chu Lui, Li Manni couldn’t help but notice his gloomy expression. He was behaving weirdly and being more aloof than usual. She could also feel that he was distancing himself from everyone, even her.

“Lui.” Li Manni licked her red lips briefly and proceeded to hug him from behind. “Lui, are you alright? Why do you look distracted?”

Chu Lui’s body froze, and Li Manni’s hands around his waist started to loosen. He closed his troubled black eyes. When he opened them again, all his emotions had been masked successfully. He turned around and embraced Li Manni. A woman was obviously in his arms, but each time she got closer to him, he felt hollower; and he wished he could leave.

He propped his chin on top of Li Manni’s head and stared out the window, into the weak lights.

“Nothing. Go to bed.” His arms went tighter around her, unaware that Li Manni’s expression had suddenly turned darker.

It was the same every time. He had never told her anything about himself. It was always nothing. Even if something had happened, he would have said the same thing—nothing. He had given her the best in life and doted on her like he would a child. Yet, he had never shared his inner thoughts with her. Was this love?

She smiled bitterly. Did he know what a woman really needed? Did he know what love was?

Nothing. Nothing. If this was nothing, then would she know when something really happened?

She looked up and traced the man’s handsome but hard features with her fingers. His eyes were extremely cold. Despite both of them behaving intimately in bed, she had never seen him lose his cool. Each time when she was confused, he was fully conscious; when she was crazed, he was calm. Her hands clenched into fists, and she initiated a kiss on his lips. It had a light tobacco taste, refreshing and didn’t stink.

Chu Lui’s froze for a second at the softness on his lip. His gaze turned gloomy like the night. He was wide awake, and he turned his face away carelessly. Then, he pressed Li Manni’s head on his chest.

“Alright. Let’s sleep.” He patted Li Manni’s shoulder. His face and his heart were overly calm. Today, he did not feel like having sex at all. He had no interest, and his heart was not into it.

Li Manni turned pale. He had rejected her even when she was the one initiating. He dared say nothing was wrong?

It was getting late. Chu Lui had a woman in his arms, but no one knew that another one was on his mind. Her embarrassment and the revealing dress.

It bothered him that she had smiled to other men and drank with them. He hated her, and what she had become. Most of all, he hated the fact that he still remembered her, and how he allowed her to stir up his unwanted emotions—rage and violence. The next destruction would not end until one of them was dead.