What can she do with a locked phone?
Lu Huai’an paused in the bathroom.
After drying the water stains off his hands, he walked to the bed, took the girl’s phone, unlocked it with his fingerprint, and handed it back to her.
Lin Chu was sowhat speechless; he could recite the password several tis with the effort he used, "It’s just six digits, can’t you tell ?"
Lu Huai’an’s steps didn’t pause, and he answered blandly, "No."
Well, if he can’t, he can’t; Lin Chu wasn’t in the habit of prying into others’ privacy.
During the call with Lin Zongjun, she still acted as if nothing had happened, with her usual mix of coquettishness and complaints.
Her doting father certainly didn’t bla her for breaking her promise or standing him up, always thinking her voice sounded off because of a cold, repeatedly encouraging her not to fear suffering and to obediently take her dicine.
Lin Chu’s acting wasn’t flawless; if she stood before her father and spoke, he’d see through her imdiately.
Because it wasn’t face-to-face and the call wasn’t long, she managed to bluff her way through.
The phone screen dimd, and the man in the bathroom hadn’t co out yet.
Lin Chu leaned against the headboard, mindlessly entering passwords on the phone.
Lu Huai’an would never use his own birthday as a password; the most likely option was Song Jingyuan’s birthday, but that wasn’t right.
Lin Chu had also tried the electronic lock code for the apartnt door, but it still didn’t work.
She paused and entered a familiar six-digit number.
Unlocked successfully.
Just as Lu Huai’an ca out of the bathroom, she looked up, and their eyes t.
The first to speak was Lu Huai’an, "I told you to change clothes, sitting still—do you want to undress you?"
Lin Chu handed the phone back to him, crawled out from under the covers, and began changing clothes, "Not telling the password—is it because your phone has secrets I shouldn’t see?"
Her tone was casual, not jealous like a young girl’s sulk.
A woman who had discussed divorce with Lu Huai’an an hour ago had no reason to be jealous.
Lu Huai’an didn’t intend to avoid the question, leaning against the bathroom door as Lin Chu removed her clothes, revealing deep and shallow marks on her skin.
Even though it wasn’t the first ti he’d seen them, his heart still ached.
Last night...
The beast trapped within him awakened by her casual words, overwhelming his rationality.
[Let’s just carry on, I won’t ask anything of you anymore.]
It felt like a curse, an eternal cycle, as if only hearing her cry beneath him could suppress the raging beast.
He had bullied her.
Lu Huai’an tossed the phone aside, unable to resist walking forward to help her change clothes, seeing the slow reactions due to her physical weakness.
"Mostly, my phone is filled with contacts from business deals."
Lin Chu lacked the strength, so she didn’t resist.
After changing into pajamas, she got out of bed and headed to the bathroom, casually remarking, "You might need to set a new password; I just unlocked it myself."
The six-digit number she entered was her birthday.
It was an unintentional act, yet it unlocked successfully.
Lu Huai’an stopped all his movents upon hearing her words, but only for a few seconds, and then naturally followed her into the bathroom, seamlessly changing the subject.
"I’ve already filled the bath; you’ll feel better after soaking."
To what extent does Lin Chu fear water?
She always showers, never takes baths, and Lu Huai’an is aware of that.
Without a second thought, she refused outright, "I don’t want to, Lu Huai’an, you should leave."
In the early hours, not knowing the ti, in the bathroom of the adjacent room, she was pressed against the wall, the punitive invasion still vividly rembered.
Thrown onto that bed, as if discarded like trash.
Once a rift forms, it’s hard to eliminate.
Since Lu Huai’an had prepared the bathwater, he wouldn’t be easily sent away.
He rolled up his shirt sleeves, taking long strides to the shower, directly lifting the girl who was waiting for him to leave.
Even though she was still wearing a silk nightgown, he didn’t mind.
When placed into the bathtub, Lin Chu instinctively clung to his neck, shutting her eyes, almost screaming, "Lu Huai’an, what are you doing!"
She was truly frightened.
So, the grip around his neck tightened, constantly struggling.
Her choking voice seed both annoyed and pleading, "I didn’t an to unlock your password; my mory isn’t good, I’ll forget soon, Lu Huai’an, I’m scared, please don’t do this!"
Maintaining his bent position, the angles of Lu Huai’an’s face softened slightly as he spoke in a gentle voice, "I’m here, don’t be afraid."
Lin Chu dangled in mid-air; if he let go, she would fall into the water.
So mories can’t be erased, like being trapped in icy lake water at age ten, that choking feeling akin to having her throat seized.
"I really don’t want to, isn’t begging you enough?"
The girl’s soft voice was pitiful; Lu Huai’an’s gaze fixed on the pendant at her collarbone, asking, "How did you get this button, did you forget?"
Button...
Lin Chu’s struggles suddenly ceased, her anxious heart gradually calming.
If it weren’t for this button, she wouldn’t knowingly approach the fire.
Everything started with this button.
When Lu Huai’an placed Lin Chu into the bathtub, her body trembled uncontrollably, curled up in confusion.
Even knowing such shallow water posed no danger, the fear was deeply entrenched, impossible to forget.
But when Lu Huai’an removed his clothes and joined her in the bathtub, pulling her into his embrace, her trembling subsided, regaining sensation.
Nestled in the man’s arms, she let him remove her soaked nightgown.
In what should have been a scene of allure and ambiguity, there erged an indescribable warmth.
Soaking in the warm water, Lin Chu’s tense, sore body gradually relaxed, her vision blurred amidst the steam filling the room.
She quietly asked, "Are you giving a slap and then a sweet, to make abandon the idea of divorce?"
Lu Huai’an gently rested a hand on her shoulder, his actions devoid of suggestiveness, his deep, black eyes revealing emotions never seen before.
Affectionate, yet regretful.
Faint, nearly inscrutable.
He didn’t answer her question but instead asked, "Does it hurt?"
For a long, long ti, he received no response.
The girl in his arms seed asleep, the bruises on her skin faded significantly from the soothing hot water.
"Xiao Chu, don’t go."
His low voice turned heavy as a stone wheel, seemingly dissipating before it reached her ears.
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