Chapter 221: Chapter 0221: You Provoked First Chapter 221: Chapter 0221: You Provoked First Mu Lan subconsciously licked her lips.
“Then let’s go upstairs and talk,” she suggested.
Huo Tingxiao nodded, walked over, and picked her up; she seed to have lost so weight recently, and a flicker of distress unconsciously passed through his dark eyes.
Mu Lan carefully clutched his arm and looked down, thinking about what she would say later.
The two returned to the guest room and settled Mu Lan on the long sofa; Huo Tingxiao sat on another adult-sized sofa across from her. Perhaps feeling a bit nervous, he leaned forward, interlocking his fingers, and resting his elbows on his thighs.
“What do you want to say?” he asked.
“About this incident, I am very grateful to you. If it hadn’t been for your help, I…”
“If you just want to say thanks, I think it’s unnecessary,” he interrupted.
Mu Lan looked up, her clear eyes steadily eting his.
“No, Huo Tingxiao, this is a matter of life-saving. I can’t just overlook it as if it were a matter of course.”
Huo Tingxiao’s heart sank; her words ant that she wanted to clearly define the boundaries between them.
“So, you’re telling you want to set clear boundaries between us?”
Mu Lan pursed her lips.
“Huo Tingxiao, our current relationship is not one where we can make unconditional sacrifices for each other.
I really can’t convince myself that I should just accept your help as sothing natural.
I’m sorry…”
Huo Tingxiao let out a deep breath, unable to express his feelings in words at that mont.
Not being able to take his help for granted ant she no longer saw him as one of her own from the bottom of her heart.
Thus, her cries for help were instinctual, a survival-seeking person’s attempt to grasp at a strand of hope.
It didn’t an she still considered herself important in her subconscious.
Allowing him to see her vulnerable side did not imply that he still had a place in her heart.
This realization left Huo Tingxiao reeling for quite so ti.
His heart ached with sorrow and pain; if he hadn’t hurt her so deeply, why would she feel this way?
“As long as you ask, I will do everything I can to repay your life-saving grace.
I’ve already lost my share of the Mu corporation; however, before our marriage, my father gave so real estate. Although it might not seem much to you, but…”
Mu Lan spoke hurriedly, but to Huo Tingxiao, these words only added to his grief and anger.
Suddenly, like a swift leopard, he pounced on her, pinning her down on the sofa.
Mu Lan was startled, looking up at the sowhat angry man in front of her.
“Do you think I want these things you’re offering?” he said with uncontrollable anger.
His deep black eyes seed to spark fire as he gazed at Mu Lan.
“I wish you owed ; why would I accept your repaynt?
If just saving you could make up for the past, the one taking advantage would be .
You don’t need to keep reminding how much of a jerk I was before. Do you know I’d rather the kidnapper had been looking at your injuries?
Mu Lan, I’m not forcing you to do anything; can’t I just do what I should?”
Mu Lan looked at Huo Tingxiao blankly; she hadn’t really ant that… Her words were not to intentionally provoke him…
She…sigh…why was he torturing himself like this?
Huo Tingxiao thought she would be angry, that she would spew a torrent of words to scold him, just like before when she never let herself be disadvantaged.
But she just looked at him steadily, saying nothing.
Huo Tingxiao imdiately regretted his impetuosity and softened his tone.
“You can punish however you want, but don’t use yourself to punish , Mu Lan, okay?”
I know you’re angry with , disappointed in , but don’t tornt with yourself.”
Mu Lan looked at him with a very unfamiliar gaze and after a long ti, she hesitantly spoke out.
“Huo Tingxiao, I… hardly recognize you anymore.
You make feel alienated, and even more, you make feel lost.
Just when I had gotten used to keeping my distance, you suddenly co close to . What do you expect to do?”
She didn’t even use a blaming tone, yet Huo Tingxiao’s heart couldn’t help but sting.
Yes, he had realized that he wanted her to see his changes, to treat him like before, but people are not machines; they have emotions. If emotions could be turned on and off at will, who would ever get hurt?
“Can you try not to be so resistant to ?
I know you’ve just recovered your mory, and you don’t rember everything that happened in the past few months.
I also know it’s my fault for not seizing the opportunity before, but…”
Mu Lan looked at Huo Tingxiao, and at that turning point of ‘but’, she almost stopped breathing.
“You proposed divorce, and I also have the right to salvage my own marriage.
Even if you call shaless or overbearing, it’s okay.
Mu Lan, you provoked first!
You can’t provoke and then, after making fall in love with you, decide to abandon everything.”
Mu Lan’s eyes widened incredulously, and her seemingly calm face finally showed emotion.
“What did you say? Decide to abandon everything?”
Hearing her slightly rising tone, Huo Tingxiao actually felt a bit happy.
At last, she wasn’t just indifferent, acting like she didn’t care about anything.
“Yes, decide to abandon everything.
Do you rember what you told when we got married?
You said you would be by my side for a lifeti. You can’t go back on your word.”
The man who had always been so proud actually resorted to such a despicable trick, completely dumbfounding Mu Lan.
“Huo Tingxiao, you’re distorting the truth!”
She finally couldn’t hold back her temper and glared at him furiously.
“Oh? How am I distorting the truth?”
“It was you who gave the cold shoulder, you who ignored , and you who allowed your secretary to openly intimidate !
You made the joke of Sea City, turned into a so-called Mrs. Huo in na only; you’re the initiator of all of this!
I can overlook everything I’ve done for you, all voluntary, not studying abroad, listening to everything your mother said—I won’t hold those against you.
But don’t you know what you’ve turned into, don’t you understand?
Why can you still claim that it’s who provoked you, that it’s who decided to abandon everything?
For seven years, my heart never harbored anyone else, but what about you? Have you ever responded to ?
Now you pretentiously stay by my side, saying you love , that you can’t live without —why should I believe you?
Huo Tingxiao, how can you be so despicable and shaless!”
The more she spoke, the more aggrieved she felt, but she stubbornly kept her eyes on Huo Tingxiao, refusing to let her tears fall.
Huo Tingxiao felt an imnse pain in his heart, gently holding her in his arms.
“Mu Lan, I am indeed a despicable and shaless person. I have many dark sides; in fact… I am not perfect at all.
Even, I am extrely bad, I… don’t know how to love soone; no one ever taught .”
Reviews
All reviews (0)