She suddenly opened her eyes, wanting to retreat inside, but her shoulder was tightly held.

"Don’t be afraid... I scared you," Lu Ziyuan softly consoled her, asking, "Is there any discomfort?"

"Let go of me..." Xie Wanqing pressed against his chest with her hand, at least to prevent them from being too close. She wanted to reprimand him loudly, but her voice was weak and powerless.

"What if I can’t let go?" Lu Ziyuan laughed as he spoke slowly, "I really can’t let go."

That laugh was full of mischief. Xie Wanqing only heard the mockery in it, and her already unpleasant expression instantly turned cold.

Seeing this, Lu Ziyuan dared not tease her again. After releasing her, he gently asked, "Are you hungry?"

Xie Wanqing curled up with the blanket inside, remaining silent upon hearing his words.

He reached out, trying to grasp her shoulder, but after she quickly avoided his hand, he slowly retracted it.

"What’s wrong?" Lu Ziyuan’s voice also turned slightly indifferent. Looking at her dark hair, he said, "Am I not as considerate as Wanwan’s husband, that last night’s performance didn’t satisfy you?"

How dare he mention Pei Yuqing!

Xie Wanqing’s body stiffened, abruptly sitting up and grabbing the soft pillow, hurling it at him fiercely, "So you do know I have a husband!"

"Are you talking about that old, weak man with a belly full of schemes? Since he can’t protect you, he should step back voluntarily and let a worthy person have the place," Lu Ziyuan sneered coldly, grabbing the pillow and tossing it aside, holding her wrist and pulling her into his embrace tightly, "Wanwan, haven’t you recognized reality yet? He can’t hold on to you."

"Whether he can hold on or not is not up to you! We have a marriage certificate! He and I are the legitimate couple!" Tears welled up in Xie Wanqing’s eyes, struggling as she gritted her teeth, "What do we count as now, contemptible adulterers?"

She had thought about starting over with him but must first have a resolution with Pei Yuqing.

Instead of this current situation, bearing the identity of Mrs. Pei, engaging in an illicit affair with him!

Adulterers!

Lu Ziyuan’s jaw tightened, "Have you forgotten? We are also husband and wife."

"I only remember you as the fiancé I abandoned; get real, memories of past lives don’t count, you thief!" Such absurd reasoning made Xie Wanqing laugh in anger, "You only know how to satisfy your desires, when have you ever considered my feelings!"

"Haven’t I considered your feelings enough?" Lu Ziyuan forced down the bitterness in his heart, smiling through gritted teeth, "Last night when your legs wrapped around my waist, you didn’t say that. So, Wanwan plans to use me and then deny knowing me?"

As the blood rushed to his head, he went mad again, one hand clasping her waist and the other sliding under the brocade blanket, tracing up her struggling thigh, softly teasing, "Husband and wife in past lives are also husband and wife; we are so compatible, can he be better than me? Are you as passionate and tight with him..."

"Shut up, stop it!" Struggling endlessly proved futile, Xie Wanqing’s mind went blank, as she suddenly swung her hand choking his neck, the crisp slap landed on his face.

Silence finally fell inside the room.

Two pairs of reddened eyes stared at each other, each seeing the pain in the other’s eyes, remaining motionless.

The despicable hand also stopped its movement, after a moment, Lu Ziyuan withdrew his hand, his face turning ashen.

"You said you wanted to start over with me," he was holding her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder, his voice hoarse, "I was so happy at the time, as much as I was resentful upon knowing you deceived me; even if it’s my own fault, my insistence, but Wanwan... you can’t treat my feelings like this."

In both past and present lives, he had given her all his true heart, every emotion, even his humanity, only to receive a phrase ’contemptible adulterers’.

She clearly had softened and changed her attitude towards him, leading him to wholeheartedly believe he saw hope, but she deceived him.

Everything she did was for preserving herself for another man, wishing to return to his embrace.

They were true love, while he was the thief, the adulterer, the villain breaking apart lovers.

Lu Ziyuan chuckled bitterly, "If all this is punishment, why didn’t you kill me with a knife back then."

Xie Wanqing unknowingly burst into tears, unsure whether it was for the man in front of her, so despairing that it left her helpless, or for the man far away whom she had promised to wait well at home for his return.

Thinking of Pei Yuqing, her chest tightened with pain, "It’s my fault; I let him down; I treated his feelings poorly."

Lu Ziyuan’s entire body stiffened, lifting his head from her shoulder, staring at her tear-stained face, at her expression of such anguish as if the world was collapsing, his face cold as ice.