Chapter 80: He Thought He Could Leave After Giving Up Everything…
“Sheng-sheng, don’t… don’t jump into the river…”
“Don’t leave me. I can’t live without you…”
Shen Xingyu spoke with a trembling voice. He buried his face in the hollow of Liang Sheng’s neck, kissing the tips of his hair repeatedly. He held him tighter and tighter, deathly afraid that Liang Sheng would vanish in the next second.
Liang Sheng was being squeezed so hard he could barely breathe.
He hadn’t intended to jump into the river at all; he just couldn’t accept the truth and wanted to stand by the railing to clear his head.
Who knew this man would act like a madman!
Running over and saying these incomprehensible things!
“You… let go of me… cough cough!”
Liang Sheng’s small face was flushed. His eyes, which had been crying, were still misty. He weakly slapped at the man’s shoulders.
“It hurts…”
Feeling the person in his arms trembling, Shen Xingyu finally let go. Seeing his face covered in tear stains and his nostrils slightly flared piteously, he felt an immediate pang of heartache.
Now free, Liang Sheng took deep breaths. He blinked his tear-rimmed lashes. Before he could see the man clearly, his face was cradled by a pair of warm, large hands, and two icy lips pressed against his own.
“Mmph…”
Liang Sheng’s eyes widened in shock. His mind went blank for a moment before he belatedly began to struggle.
Shen Xingyu kissed him very forcefully. Faint traces of tears seemed to leak from the corners of his eyes; he was unwilling to let go, yet unable to release him.
He truly, truly loved Liang Sheng.
The love he couldn’t put into words was all poured into this kiss.
He was simply unreasonable, accustomed to controlling everything—including everything about Liang Sheng. His joy and sorrow, his time and energy, his love and soul—all of it was his, and no one else could touch it.
Liang Sheng couldn’t move. He could only let out muffled, blurred sounds of protest as tears pitter-pattered down.
After a long time, the lips parted.
He was panting heavily, his face crimson and his small body shivering uncontrollably. He was clearly frightened.
“Sheng-sheng…”
Shen Xingyu called out to him softly. Before he could say anything else, a sharp slap landed hard on his face.
Liang Sheng staggered back two steps, staring at him with red eyes, biting his swollen, mistreated lips:
“You… what kind of madness is this!”
“Sheng-sheng, I’ve realized something.”
Shen Xingyu spoke seriously, his face red on one side. His eyes seemed to light up in an instant.
Liang Sheng said impatiently, “I’m in no mood to listen.”
He was still grieving over the matter of his adoptive mother!
Shen Xingyu gently took his hand. “I won’t force you to accept the truth. It’s too cruel for you. Let her remain the perfect person in your heart. There’s no need for you to feel a rift with her because of my issues. After all… I’ve witnessed for myself how well she treated you.”
As he spoke, he lowered his eyes dejectedly.
Even now, he couldn’t understand what kind of person this mistress who ruined his family actually was. Why was she so evil to him? So evil she wanted to kill him.
And yet, finding that woman again more than ten years later, she had transformed from a wicked mistress into a virtuous wife and mother. Had she truly repented and wanted to be a good person? Or did she simply have a grudge against the Shen family?
Consequently, even after finding her, he never confronted her.
Because at that time, he was completely blinded by the hatred he had suppressed for years.
Back then, he only thought she deserved to die.
He was unwilling to accept that his own biological mother was buried beneath the soil while he was forced to live as a dark, twisted thing—neither human nor ghost. So, he had quietly destroyed the happy and beautiful family that woman originally had.
In doing so, he had also indirectly destroyed Liang Sheng’s happiness…
He thought he could replace the Liang family and give Liang Sheng the life he wanted, but in the end, he had still underestimated the distortion of his own heart.
Liang Sheng tilted his head slightly, his eyes brimming with tears. He choked out, “So you knew all along that my mom was the one who harmed you? Then why did you like me? Why did you choose to marry me? Was it just so you could torture me better?”
“No! It wasn’t!”
“Or was everything in the past… fake? You just wanted to use me to get revenge on my mom…”
“No! I, Shen Xingyu, never need to use anyone to achieve my goals! I have the capability myself!”
Shen Xingyu grew anxious. He gripped Liang Sheng’s hands with both of his, his gaze sincere as he clumsily expressed himself:
“I truly love you.”
Liang Sheng had only seen such sincerity and deep affection in his eyes twice before: once during his shy youth when he confessed, and once when he made his solemn marriage vows.
Facing it again now, he felt none of the original heart-pounding joy. He only felt terror.
After all, over these years, he had been deceived by the other’s pretense of deep affection many times, and each time he suffered for it.
Seeing him hesitate, Shen Xingyu panicked and gripped his hands tighter. “Sheng-sheng, trust me, okay?”
Liang Sheng shook his head, pulling his hands back. He looked at him coldly. “You stopped loving me long ago. Even if you remember the beauty of the past, you won’t love me again. Things that can be forgotten aren’t important.”
“It’s not like that… it’s not…”
Shen Xingyu sobbed, his gaze careful and tentative.
Liang Sheng turned his face away decisively, not wanting to listen.
Shen Xingyu grew frantic, pulling at his hand like a drowning man clutching at a straw. He explained incoherently:
“Sheng-sheng, I don’t know what to say… for you to believe me. I don’t know why I turned out like this either… I didn’t want to, but I couldn’t help it. I was afraid you would leave, so I always… did things against my heart, and spoke my true feelings so dismissively…”
The more he spoke, the sadder he became. Tears he could no longer hold back gushed out. This consistently indifferent man was now weeping like a broken soul.
Liang Sheng hadn’t expected him to cry like this. No matter how much he resented him, he couldn’t bear to see him weep.
Moreover, the man’s heart condition had just flared up. Such extreme emotional fluctuations… what if it suddenly hurt again?
He comforted him, at a loss: “Alright, alright, stop crying. We can take things one at a time. Whatever it is, we can talk after we’ve calmed down, okay? If you keep crying like this, your heart won’t be able to take it…”
Shen Xingyu’s eyes were bloodshot. He took a difficult breath. “Then… can you forgive me?”
Liang Sheng looked away, remaining silent.
Silence was the best answer.
Shen Xingyu felt despondent. He didn’t know why he had just suffered an emotional breakdown and said those sentimental things.
But now, he couldn’t lower himself to continue crying. He could only hang his head, sobbing intermittently.
Liang Sheng couldn’t take it anymore. He bit his lip and struggled with his thoughts for a good while before saying in a small voice:
“Fine. Although I can’t forgive you, I didn’t say… I would leave you…”
Hearing this, Shen Xingyu stopped sobbing.
He looked at Liang Sheng’s embarrassed face in disbelief, filled with both shock and joy. The tiny tear stains on his face shimmered in the light.
“Is it true? Sheng-sheng, you really won’t leave?!”
Liang Sheng suddenly regretted what he had just said. Why give him a chance?
He didn’t know. Perhaps because of their deep feelings in youth and their shared hearts, he was ultimately unwilling to give up on this relationship that had spanned all his years. The decisiveness and disappointment he felt in the hospital room earlier had turned back into hesitation.
“Mm…”
He gave a slight nod.
He silently vowed in his heart that this would be the last time.
But it was mostly because of his mother.
Even if he didn’t want to believe it, the evidence was right there. His adoptive mother had once harmed Shen Xingyu, causing him such a tragic childhood. As the Liang family’s adoptive son, he had an obligation to make amends.
“That’s wonderful, Sheng-sheng! I… I…”
Shen Xingyu hugged him excitedly.
He was too happy for words.
Liang Sheng being able to say that meant he was willing to give him a chance to compensate for the mistakes he had made over the years.
Liang Sheng felt very uncomfortable with this harmony.
His heart was resistant.
After all, a broken mirror is hard to mend.
His hands hanging at his sides were raised and then dropped again.
In the end, he still didn’t have the courage to hug the man back.
Why… had things turned out this way?
He had finally decided to hate and to leave, yet because of his adoptive mother’s mistakes, his steps were hindered.
Could it be…
He would never be able to leave the Shen family for the rest of his life?
The corners of his eyes welled with tears. He was so incredibly sad.
He thought he could leave after giving up everything…
But things had turned out contrary to his wishes.
If his adoptive mother hadn’t been good to him or had mistreated him, he could have rejected Shen Xingyu without hesitation today many years later. But his adoptive mother had been good to him—too good.
No matter how he tried to remember this simple, kind, and enthusiastic woman, she didn’t seem like someone capable of destroying another person’s family…
The clouds parted to reveal the moon.
Fine light fell upon the two of them.
Yet it didn’t seem very warm.
Liang Sheng was forced to lie in the same bed as Shen Xingyu.
He had no way out now, yet he couldn’t muster much passion for the man, so he could only sleep stiffly on the inner side.
Shen Xingyu slept on the outside.
The two squeezed into one bed.
The bed wasn’t as wide as the one at home, so Liang Sheng, who wanted to stay away from Shen Xingyu, could only press against the wall to create some distance.
But Shen Xingyu stayed right next to him. At home, the bed was large, so there was no reason to be close. Now it was perfect; he could naturally press against his wife. Although he was too embarrassed to hug Liang Sheng after crying so hard earlier, he could at least manage to hold his hand.
He felt secretly delighted.
Liang Sheng moved forcefully twice, pulling his hand back.
His entire body was tense.
He really wasn’t used to sleeping this close to a man without any distance.
Without his wife’s hand to hold, Shen Xingyu couldn’t sleep peacefully. He looked at Liang Sheng with puppy-dog eyes, looking incredibly wronged.
Liang Sheng couldn’t take it anymore.
Who on earth taught him to act piteous like this?!
But it was… quite cute.
As soon as that thought crossed his mind, Liang Sheng quickly shook his head.
He was truly going crazy.
But this man looked so piteous like this…
Helpless, he silently slipped his hand back into the other’s palm.
Shen Xingyu was satisfied.
He closed his eyes.
He had a habit when sleeping; he liked to sleep on his side, his head tucked into a corner of the pillow as he curled himself up.
Stripped of that cold and arrogant shell, his heart was actually very fragile. That was why he was so stubbornly trying to keep him.
The next morning.
The boat slowly docked without any pilot.
Sunlight poured through the portholes, splashing onto the bed.
Shen Xingyu slowly woke up.
He instinctively reached out to hug the person beside him, but his hand found only empty space. The mattress was cold and without warmth; there was nothing there.
His heart jumped. He opened his eyes and discovered that Liang Sheng, who should have been lying next to him, was nowhere to be found.
Panicked, he scrambled up and shouted “Sheng-sheng” a couple of times toward the outside. Receiving no response, he hurriedly went out.
The deck was empty.
Where did he go…
He checked the surveillance immediately.
Only then did he find out that Liang Sheng had left the boat early in the morning.
Did he leave secretly…
Shen Xingyu was afraid, but then he quickly denied the thought. No, Sheng-sheng promised him last night that he wouldn’t leave!
Did he go home on his own?
His lips turned pale—a sign of his lack of security.
He made a call to the old butler.
Fortunately, the butler said Liang Sheng had returned safely.
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