C9 Part3

Happy Halloween! ~

This chapter is for winkie , thank you very much for your kofi!

Jian Yi An murmured in anguish, sitting, leaning against the bedroom door. In her hand, she held that wind chime that her husband had given her, staring dazedly at it and occasionally shaking it.

She listened to that clear and crisp bell sound, yet what she heard seemed to be the sound of her heart breaking, ding ling…ding ling…

“Mu Yu, what do you need in order for you to believe me?” She asked, depressed.

What did she need to do in order for him to believe that she wasn’t pretending, what should she do for him to be able to understand her sincere heart?

After handling the crisis of the factory in Tainan catching fire, she handed in her letter of resignation to Xia Yu Mo and he also generously approved it immediately. But this expression of goodwill wasn’t able to be exchanged for Ke Mu Yu’s favor at all. He still suspected her. Unable to confirm whether she was acting again, he cautiously guarded his heart, not allowing her to willfully intrude. He didn’t treat her with cruel words, and also came home every day and ate the delicious food that she specially cooked for him. She and him were like an ordinary pair of husband and wife, just more silent, more estranged, and he also no longer touched her.

Sometimes, she could perceive his eyes on her, filled with painful desire. Sometimes, when he thought she didn’t notice, that pair of dark eyes would continuously follow her, clinging and unwilling to let go.

Just like how she wanted him, she knew he also wanted her, but every time she took the initiative and tried to get close to him, he would apathetically push her away. Again and again, she unceasingly tried, yet he still persistently resisted. It was as if the two of them were playing hide-and-seek, forever unable to find the other person.

She was tired, really very tired, so tired…

“What should I do?” She bit her lip hard, biting as she feebly sobbed yet pearly tears still clustered and fell. She hugged her knees, burying her face full of tears deep into them.

Ding ling…ding ling…

Ke Mu Yu stood outside the door, tilting his ear and listening attentively. She was playing with that wind chime that he had given her again. These days, she always shut herself in her room, idly shaking that wind chime. The bell sounds were mournful, melancholically twisting his heart. He loathed hearing the sound of that chime, yet he was also like a fool, lingering outside the door to her room every night, trying to hear the tiniest movement in the room.

He knew she was crying, knew she was very broken-hearted. He also knew that so long as he said he forgave her, he could turn her grief into happiness.

But he couldn’t do it.

Because he blamed her, hated her, because she once coldly rejected his call, because he couldn’t figure out if she still longed for Xia Yu Mo up to now.

Because he was jealous, his whole heart wavered for her, yet he was also angry at himself for being so restless.

He wanted to punish her, yet precisely when he tortured her, he also couldn’t help but worry. She wallowed in pain inside, and he himself similarly also suffered on the other side of the door.

It was really enough!

Ke Mu Yu suddenly felt annoyed, pacing back and forth inside the house.

He’d always thought he was domesticating that rose, could it be that he was actually the one being domesticated?

The thorns on her had pricked and hurt him, shouldn’t he punish her a little? Why did he have to feel like he’d done something heinous and really wanted to ruthlessly flog himself?

“Ke Mu Yu, you’ve really gone crazy!” He gloomily muttered, his forehead tightly knit. Suddenly, his phone rang. He accepted the call. “Who is it?”

“Mr. Ke, I’m a reporter for a weekly publication.”

“Reporter?” His tone was cold. It was late at night and the reporter was bothering others with a phone call, Ke Mu Yu wasn’t in the mood to deal with it. “Is something the matter?”

“It’s like this, we received a piece of interesting information on our side, we want to seek your confirmation…” The reporter reported the details of the lead story that was about to be published in two days.

Ke Mu Yu quietly listened with a heavy expression. It was a little unexpected, yet it was also not too unexpected. “Who gave you this information?”

“Sorry, from the position of the ethics of our profession, I can’t divulge the information source.”

He sneered. “It doesn’t matter, even if you won’t tell, I can still guess it.”

“In that case, Mr. Ke doesn’t deny this information?” The reporter inquired.

“Even if I deny it, will you consequently not publish this report?” He asked back.

“Hehe.” The reporter forced a laugh.

Ke Mu Yu gave it some thought, the corner of his mouth hooked up tauntingly. “Fine, you guys report it!”

After hanging up, he blankly stood in place for a while, then went to the kitchen and warmed a cup of milk. Carrying it to his wife’s room, he lightly knocked on her door. “Yi An, open the door, I have something to say to you.”

A string of chaotic bell sounds rang from inside the room, then Jian Yi An hesitantly opened the door. “What’s…the matter?” The eyes that she looked at him with were bright one moment and dark the next, flickering with hope and expectation.

She shouldn’t be thinking that he came to express goodwill, right?

Ke Mu Yu looked stern. “These two days, stay at home, you’re not allowed to go out.”

She was stunned. “Why?”

“You’re just not allowed to go out.” The expression in his eyes was sharp. “Can you do it?”

The light in her eyes dulled. “You wouldn’t be thinking of imprisoning me at home, right?”

“Of course not!” Did she think she was acting in ‘Rose n’ Siren Eyes 1 玫瑰瞳铃眼: 1999 Taiwanese drama ‘ right now? Thinking he was inflicting domestic violence on her? Ke Mu Yu unhappily pursed his lips. “Something happened, if you don’t want to be harassed by reporters, then properly stay at home.”

“Reporters?” She was stunned. “What exactly is it?”

“You don’t need to know.” He wouldn’t say.

“Mu Yu…”

“In short, for your own good, you can’t walk out the door for these two days.”

“I know.” She despondently muttered. He glanced at her and saw her wan complexion. Her cheeks seemed to have thinned a little again, his chest heavily twisted.

“You’re…still not sleeping?”

“What?” She blinked, suddenly looking at him. Hurry and go to sleep! Don’t you know you look very miserable?

He really wanted to yell at her like this, and wanted to sternly reprimand her. Don’t think that if she pretended to be pitiful, he would be softhearted, he won’t be, definitely won’t…

“Give this to you.” He crudely stuffed the milk in his hand to her.

“Ah?” She foolishly took it. “Did you specially warm this for me?”

He nearly choked. “How is that possible?” He glared at her in annoyance.

“This is left over from what I just drank, it’s a waste to throw it out. I’m giving it to you, quickly drink it, and sleep earlier! Got it?”

After speaking, he speedily turned around and went back to his study, no longer sparing her another glance as if he really loathed her.

But Jian Yi An knew, her husband didn’t loathe her at all. If he really hated her, he wouldn’t give her this cup of milk.

This cup of milk, he definitely deliberately warmed it for her to drink, definitely…

She held the mug, pressing the body of the mug to her cheek, sorrowfully receiving that faint warmth, it was like her husband was gently stroking her.

Ding ling… ding ling…

The wind chime swayed and sounded in the quiet night. Was it the mischievous little cat bullying the rose or the rose that intentionally teased the little cat?

Perhaps, no one could say for sure!

She didn’t listen to him. Two days later, some gossipy weekly articles came hot off the press. Jian Yi An saw the related report on TV and suddenly realized. So her husband didn’t allow her to leave home to protect her. She hesitated for a long time, and in the end, she still decided to go to her husband’s company to face reality together with him.

But just as she walked through the door, there was a group of reporters that were waiting downstairs. Upon seeing the female lead of the gossip news appear, their eyes lit up one after another. Investigative reporters rapidly took out their microphones, photojournalists also raised their cameras, trying to get a good angle.

“Mrs. Ke, is the matter that the weekly magazine reported true?”

Jian Yi An, surrounded and encircled by the reporters, was very much like a little rabbit that was about to be hunted, but she didn’t reveal any sign of being startled at all. She only kept her pair of clear eyes open, quietly inspecting her surroundings.

“You and Mr. Ke actually have a contract marriage, you guys didn’t marry because of love, yes?” A reporter asked, getting right to the point.

“So have you guys been pretending in front of the public all along? Clearly you guys didn’t like each other yet you’ve been pretending to be loving husband and wife all along, are all those things that were said during magazine and TV interviews also fake? Are they all lies to deceive everyone?” The tone that this female reporter asked with was quite sharp.

Jian Yi An casted her a glance and discovered she was rather young and her appearance dainty. Perhaps she was a child whose dreams had vanished? Really sorry that the two of them had destroyed the fairytale marriage in her heart.

“Mrs. Ke, the report from the weekly magazine said you only agreed to marry Mr. Ke because you needed money, why did you need money at that time? Is your marriage a transaction? How much money did Mr. Ke gave you?”

The questions became more and more incisive, and less and less polite. Jian Yi An nearly had a misconception, feeling like she was a poor official at some parliament receiving questioning from representatives of the people.

She pondered whether she should respond to the reporters’ interrogation. She couldn’t be sure how her husband had originally wanted to deal with this matter, calmly confess or refuse to admit even when faced with death? Would he say this was slander? Or threaten to sue the weekly?

No matter what countermeasure he had in mind, she just wanted to know, why didn’t he let her face it together with him? Because he didn’t believe her? He wouldn’t suspect that all this was what she’d secretly done?

[1] 玫瑰瞳铃眼: Rose n’ Siren Eyes, 1999 Taiwanese drama