Chapter 67: This Was All His Fault
The crisp chirp of a bird jolted Shen Xingyu from his memories, his vision gradually clearing in the sunlight.
The weight in his arms lightened. He looked down to see that Xiao Man had jumped down at some point and was now chasing a butterfly.
Xiao Man looked very much like the cat Liang Sheng had given him all those years ago.
Unfortunately, that cat hadn’t stayed with him for long. It had been beaten to death by the other children in the orphanage. In retaliation, Shen Xingyu had blinded the lead bully in one eye.
That cat remained forever buried at the orphanage.
He stubbornly believed that Liang Sheng had abandoned him.
Even much later, after he had gone to great lengths to find that little boy from the orphanage, he still felt a deep sense of resentment.
This was why he had played a part, acting out a facade of sincere love to trick Liang Sheng into his hands. Yet, he was still never at peace. He feared the other would leave him just as he had before; he feared that the other didn’t truly love him. So, after their marriage, he had engineered the car accident and feigned amnesia, revealing his true nature just to see if Liang Sheng would continue to love him.
Over seven years, he had worn down Liang Sheng’s spirit until he had no personality left. He had even made Liang Sheng give up his dreams, turning him into a marionette who lived only for him.
Shen Xingyu thought that Liang Sheng would always be like this, loving him, which made him even more emboldened to test him recklessly.
When he heard Liang Sheng say with his own mouth that he didn’t love him anymore and wanted a divorce, he hadn’t believed it at first. He thought Liang Sheng was just saying it out of anger. But when he found out Liang Sheng had a terminal illness and had asked Xie Zhengran to hide it—telling everyone but him—he finally panicked. He no longer had the heart to toy with Liang Sheng.
His mother had died early, and his father had run off with someone else. His grandfather, who raised him, only wanted to groom him as an heir. No one had taught him how to love. Furthermore, his personality was reclusive and awkward; his pride was so strong that even when he cared, he had to pretend he didn’t, fearing that if he lost his heart, he would become pathetic.
The air after the rain was very fresh, carrying the faint, lingering scent of flowers and grass, but Liang Sheng was in no mood to appreciate it.
The Old Master’s words kept repeating in his mind.
Su Rao… Su Rao did it…
Was it really Su Rao?
He couldn’t understand it, but the human heart is unpredictable.
He didn’t dare trust anyone anymore.
He quickened his pace, crossing the long corridor.
The May wind carried the slight chill of late spring and the burgeoning heat of early summer, drying the tears on his face.
His heart ached terribly.
Liang Sheng covered his mouth, sobbing softly. He wanted to get back to his room quickly, not wanting anyone to see his pathetic state.
In his crying, he didn’t notice the man sitting in the pavilion until he was close.
Shen Xingyu saw him too. He saw his tear-stained face and his red-rimmed eyes as he sobbed piteously.
He couldn’t help but be stunned.
What… happened?
Did Grandpa scold him?
Surely not? Didn’t Grandpa adore Liang Sheng the most?
The moment Liang Sheng saw him, he was filled with burning rage. Since he was still crying and didn’t want to deal with him, he turned to leave.
Shen Xingyu hurriedly went up to stop him.
“What’s wrong? Why are you crying?”
He wanted to wipe away the tears on his little wife’s face, but his hand was slapped away. The other glared at him fuming, his voice carrying a sob, sounding deeply aggrieved: “It’s none of your business!”
“As long as I haven’t divorced you for a single day, you are still my wife. How could it be none of my business?”
Shen Xingyu grabbed his hand, refusing to let him leave. The intensity in his dark eyes was an overbearing force that couldn’t be ignored.
Liang Sheng was stunned for a moment, the tears hanging on his eyelashes trembling but not falling. He didn’t know where Shen Xingyu got the nerve to say such things. Furious, he struggled with all his might to break free from the man’s grip: “Let go of me! I hate you!”
“What did Grandpa say to you?”
Shen Xingyu frowned. He had never seen him throw such a large tantrum before—crying and making a scene. It made him worry.
“It wasn’t Grandpa!”
Liang Sheng roared at him in irritation.
“Then what was it for?”
Liang Sheng hadn’t wanted to entangle himself with this liar who was full of falsehoods, but the man kept questioning him. He was at the end of his tether. He stubbornly wiped his tears and glared at him with red eyes, then questioned him one word at a time:
“Why… why didn’t you investigate properly before deciding that I was the one who cheated?!”
Shen Xingyu hadn’t expected him to still be hung up on this matter. For a moment, he didn’t know how to answer.
“Grandpa already told me!”
Seeing him hesitate, Liang Sheng felt even more aggrieved. He sniffled as he spoke through his sobs:
“Everything was Su Rao framing me!”
“Shengsheng…”
Shen Xingyu was at a loss, his eyes full of apology.
Actually, regarding the matter of Su Rao framing Liang Sheng, he had already known since the day he interrogated Su Rao in the warehouse. But at that time, he cared too much about the indecent photos of Liang Sheng hugging another man.
The truth was right in front of him, but after Su Rao’s earlier provocation, he didn’t trust Liang Sheng. He couldn’t accept that his little wife, who had always loved him, would one day cheat. So, having lost his reason in that moment, he had ignored the truth and said and did those things that hurt Liang Sheng.
“You are always so selfish!”
Liang Sheng’s voice lowered. When he looked up at the man again, the tears in his eyes fell once more:
“Whenever something happens, you think it’s my fault, that I betrayed you. You never even consider that someone else might be framing me!”
Shen Xingyu had never seen him look at him with such a resentful gaze. His thin lips trembled as he wanted to explain, but at this point, any explanation was useless.
“If you had been willing to spend time… to investigate, instead of throwing me onto a deserted island first, my condition wouldn’t have worsened… I wouldn’t have nightmares every night… and I wouldn’t have nearly died in the darkness…”
As Liang Sheng spoke, he suddenly felt very tired. The pain in his heart was so oppressive that it numbed his body.
Even now, he didn’t dare to look back on those days on the island—solitary and helpless, abandoned by the entire world.
“I’m sorry… I…”
Shen Xingyu finally spoke. Looking at Liang Sheng, who was crying until he was out of breath, his heart felt as if it were breaking into pieces.
I just wanted you to stay out of the spotlight, to let you have two happy days. I didn’t know this would happen…
He couldn’t say it.
Such an excuse felt laughable even to him. How could Liang Sheng possibly believe it?
Furthermore, he had indeed hurt this person.
If it weren’t for his own selfishness, using vile methods to forcibly instill the idea into Liang Sheng that he could only rely on him, Liang Sheng wouldn’t have been tortured to the point of vomiting blood and nearly losing his life in the emergency room…
This was all his fault.
He was the bad one.
He was too obsessed with Liang Sheng’s love.
When he had it, he didn’t cherish it or believe in it, going to great lengths to test and hurt him. Now that he had finally destroyed this relationship through his own actions, he began to feel afraid and panicked, trying to seize it once again…
Liang Sheng trembled all over as he thought about those days on the island. He couldn’t contain his anger; he raised his hand and slapped Shen Xingyu hard across the face. The palm of his hand instantly stung with a fiery pain.
Shen Xingyu didn’t dodge or stop him. He let him deliver the slap. If it would help release his anger, he was willing to endure as many slaps as Liang Sheng wanted to give.
The slap had been too forceful. Liang Sheng was panting; his small frame couldn’t handle the strain. He swayed, and fortunately, he grabbed a pillar to avoid falling.
A cat’s meow suddenly sounded at his feet. He looked down with tear-filled eyes to see Xiao Man rubbing against his ankle.
Seeing the cat, he couldn’t help but think of the calico cat that had accompanied him on the island. It turned out that the cat was also just a pawn of Shen Xingyu, and its company was nothing more than a performance.
“Sob…”
As if the last shred of strength in his heart had been crushed, Liang Sheng couldn’t help but let out a cry. He crouched down, hugging his legs tightly. He buried his face in his knees, his shoulders shaking as he wailed.
The kitten didn’t know why he was crying. It tilted its head, looking at him curiously, and rubbed against him from time to time.
Seeing him cry so hard, Shen Xingyu grew frantic. His hypocritical and sweet words seemed to lose their effect in this moment; he couldn’t think of any soothing words. He crouched down, wanting to touch Liang Sheng, but his hand was thrown off.
“Y-you, stop crying. I’ll let you hit me, alright? I’ll compensate you. It’s my fault. I’m stupid. I shouldn’t have left you on the island alone.”
He apologized incoherently. Hearing this, Liang Sheng cried even harder. Shen Xingyu was out of options and said again:
“If that’s not enough, you can throw me onto a deserted island too, or throw me into the sea to feed the sharks. Please, stop crying.”
“Waaaah… waaaah!”
Liang Sheng was still crying. This pale method of coaxing was completely useless; his heart was utterly broken.
Shen Xingyu took a deep breath and pulled Liang Sheng into his arms. Cold tears soaked into the shirt on his chest. An unspeakable heartbeat suddenly surged within him, leaving him flustered.
He gently patted Liang Sheng’s shoulder, helpless and lost: “Alright, if you keep crying, Grandpa will hear.”
“You… get away! I’ll just leave, alright!”
Liang Sheng pushed him away, hating how he always used Grandpa to oppress him. He ran away, still crying.
Shen Xingyu instinctively wanted to chase after him, but the Old Master’s voice sounded from behind: “Xiao Yu.”
“Grandpa?”
He turned around.
“What is going on?”
Shen Xingyu shook his head, not wanting to talk.
The Old Master looked at the departing Liang Sheng, then at the anxious man before him: “Did you make Shengsheng cry?”
He had been coming this way for a while. Seeing Liang Sheng crying, he didn’t feel it was right to disturb them, fearing he would make things difficult for Liang Sheng.
Shen Xingyu sighed and nodded.
The Old Master said with deep feeling: “You, child. You’ve had a sharp tongue but a soft heart since you were young. You keep everything bottled up, which leads to misunderstandings. It’s no wonder Shengsheng was cried by you. If there’s a misunderstanding, it’s best to speak it out clearly, otherwise, it will affect the relationship between the two of you.”
“I understand, Grandpa.”
Shen Xingyu agreed with his mouth, but his mind was elsewhere. It was unclear if he actually took the words to heart.
“By the way, day after tomorrow is Shengsheng’s birthday. He suffered and was wronged recently, so you should compensate him more.”
The Old Master suddenly said.
“Day after tomorrow…”
Shen Xingyu murmured.
Over these years, he rarely celebrated Liang Sheng’s birthday, and he often couldn’t remember which day it was. In the beginning, Liang Sheng would tell him in advance, but later, seeing that he didn’t care, Liang Sheng slowly stopped mentioning it.
“Day after tomorrow is also the Dragon Boat Festival. Wanwan should be on break. I’ll have Xiao Li pick her up so she can play here for a few days.”
The Old Master couldn’t help but talk about his granddaughter.
“Grandpa, I’m leaving now.”
Shen Xingyu had no heart to listen to his rambling. He turned and walked quickly in the direction Liang Sheng had gone.
He had to go take a look. He was afraid that if Liang Sheng cried too hard, it would worsen his illness. On the island, it was because he cried too violently that he vomited blood.
The doctor said he couldn’t stimulate the patient’s emotions.
He had been so busy with Liang Sheng’s illness these past few days that he forgot to instruct the Old Master not to tell Liang Sheng the truth.
He had really been muddled.
Now, for some reason, when facing Liang Sheng, his usually steady nature would become frantic.
“Where is the Young Madam?!”
“The Young Madam has gone upstairs.”
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