Faded love 21

Chapter 21 

“I couldn’t look.” 

I could barely hear my own breath. 

“What did you say?” 

“I thought the sea could wash everything clean,” he murmured. 

“I thought I could forget. 

But later, every time I dreamed, the only thing I heard crying-was me.” 

My tears fell before I could stop them. 

He reached out slowly, as if to hold me. 

I stepped back. 

“Don’t touch me.” 

“I know you hate me,” he said quietly. 

“But I had no choice. 

When I signed, you had no pulse.” 

“Then you should’ve let me die,” I rasped. 

He laughed, a spent, exhausted sound. 

“Then what would I be alive for?” 

After that night, he fell into a silence so deep it hollowed the house. 

He stayed in the study every day, returning to the bedroom only at night. 

The villa’s quiet became terrifying. 

Outside, the public frenzy only grew. 

Sybil gave a second interview, smiling tenderly: “Mr. Zhou barely slept a full night these three years. 

He dreamed of Mrs. Gu every day.” 

When that clip aired, ice spread through me by inches. 

I was smiling-so placidly- 

like a blade peeling my skin. 

I turned off the TV and saw him through the window. 

He was sitting on the stone steps in the garden, 

head bowed over something in his palm. 

Moonlight poured down. 

11:39 Sat, Oct 18 

I saw it was a small silver pendant- 

: 

the charm I had hung from the baby’s cradle. My vision went dark; I swayed where I stood. 

In that moment I finally understood: 

his gentleness was only a new kind of cage. 

And that pendant- 

his relic to sanctify his madness. 

Past midnight, a message arrived from Yuanzi: 

“Wendy, this is your chance. 

Tomorrow night at eleven, I’ll wait by the back gate. 

I’ve prepared a car and a passport. 

Go.” 

I stared at the text until my palms were slick with sweat. 

Tears slid down without a sound. 

I looked toward the door- 

he was still awake; the study light was on. 

I closed my eyes and said silently in my heart: 

Alright. I’m going. 

I didn’t expect he had been waiting all along. 

That night, I eased the door open. 

Wind skimmed the corridor. 

He sat on the sofa in the study, motionless. 

“Where?” 

His voice was low enough to frighten. 

I froze. 

He lifted his eyes and gave a small smile. 

“I should have known. 

When you go quiet, you’re planning to run.” “Rory-” 

“You think I won’t let you go?” He stood. “Wrong. 

Chapter 21 

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11:40 Sat, Oct 18 

I’ll send you.” 

Only- 

he stopped before me, voice barely above a breath, 

“this time, you won’t make it past the door.” 

His hand slid to the back of my neck. 

I struggled; my breath shortened. 

“If you’re going to run,” he whispered, 

“then you should know- 

this cage doesn’t lock you. It locks me.” 

When he let go, his eyes had gone utterly dark. 

“Wendy, 

I’m really at the end of myself.” 

I stared at him. 

For a second I couldn’t tell who was more insane- 

me, the prisoner, 

or him, imprisoned by love. 

The rain came hard that night. 

Wind battered the windows like a hand knocking, again and again. 

At ten fifty, the minute hand inched toward the hour. 

I sat on the bed, lacing my shoes tight. 

Every second burned. 

Yuanzi’s message still glowed on my phone: 

“Eleven. Back gate. I’ll be there. 

Car at the bottom of the slope. 

Hurry.” 

I cracked the door and slipped out. 

The corridor lights were off; only a strip of glow leaked from the study. 

He was still there. 

I didn’t dare make a sound. 

With each step, my heart thudded like it would explode. 

The lock downstairs clicked softly- 

Chapter 21 

4 G (85 

11:40, Satistaii’s cireu silly- 

lela 

: 

I held my breath. 

Wind hit my face, rain cold as knives. 

((( 

85 

11:40 Sat, Oct 18 

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