I'll take you home.
Yu Jinli's casual "We're even" was like an invisible, icy blade that pierced Feng Jinxuan's heart.
Then, cruelly, it turned around and shattered all his self-righteous and ridiculous love.
A deathly silence fell over the living room.
The air seemed to freeze, so heavy that it was hard to breathe.
Feng Jinxuan looked at the girl in front of him, whose face was pale and eyes were empty, yet whose back was still stubbornly straight.
He wanted to go up to her, to grab her, to tell her that what he had just said wasn't sincere.
He wanted to tell her that he was just too scared. Scared of losing her, scared that he would destroy the only light in his life again.
But he couldn't bring himself to say it.
His pathetic pride and his deep-seated fear, like two venomous snakes, tightly coiled around his throat, rendering him unable to utter a sound.
He could only watch helplessly as the last glimmer of light in her eyes slowly faded away.
Yu Jinli didn't look at him again.
She turned around and gave Yuehua a smile that looked more like a grimace.
“Mom,” she said softly, “let’s go home.”
Looking at her daughter's pale, distraught appearance, Yuehua felt as if all her life force had been drained from her, a sight that tugged at her heartstrings like a knife.
Without further hesitation, she stepped forward and tightly shielded her daughter behind her.
She gave Feng Jinxuan a cold look, as if she were looking at an irreconcilable enemy.
Yu Jinli broke free from her mother's embrace, didn't look at anyone else, and went straight to her room on the second floor.
Her steps were steady, and her back was ramrod straight.
But every step felt like stepping on a knife's edge, causing excruciating pain and drawing blood.
The second bedroom on the second floor was still the same as she remembered.
Off-white walls, soft plush carpets, and a viewing balcony overlooking the entire back garden.
Everything here is filled with those sweet yet laughable memories between her and Feng Jinxuan.
She had once forced him to drink a strange-tasting health-preserving soup here.
She had once been here, studying those mystical and esoteric theories with him.
She even experienced what it meant to be moved for the first time here.
But now, it all seems like a huge irony.
She opened the wardrobe, which was filled with expensive, latest seasonal items that Feng Jinxuan had prepared for her.
She didn't touch a single one.
She simply pulled out the small suitcase she had originally brought from the deepest part of the wardrobe.
She started packing her things.
The movements were slow and meticulous.
She carefully folded the expensive pajamas and dresses that didn't belong to her and put them back in their original places.
She put all the calming aromatherapy diffusers he had given her on the table into the drawer.
She watered the thriving pothos plant one last time.
The only things she put in her suitcase were a few of her own old clothes, the pink diary, and... the koi fish figurine carved from imperial green jade that she treasured.
There's no way around it; a greedy nature is something one can never change, even until death.
What's more, this was a prize she won through her own abilities.
Ten minutes later, she pulled her suitcase and walked down the stairs.
The atmosphere in the living room remained oppressive.
Yu Zhengdao stood with his hands behind his back in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, exuding an aura of authority that kept strangers at bay.
Yuehua paced back and forth anxiously, her eyes red-rimmed.
Gu Yanzhi stood quietly to the side, his gaze following her figure, his eyes filled with heartache and pity.
Feng Jinxuan remained standing in the same spot.
Like a lifeless sculpture that is slowly weathering away.
Yu Jinli pulled her suitcase and walked to the coffee table.
She stopped in her tracks.
Under everyone's gaze, she raised her hand, her movements slow but unusually firm, and reached towards her neck.
She untied the red string that had long been warmed by her body heat.
Then, she gently placed the warm and antique peace buckle, a token that carried all their beautiful memories, on the coffee table.
“This,” she looked at him, her voice hoarse but unusually clear, “is here back to you.”
"From now on, our transaction is settled, and we owe each other nothing."
The small safety buckle made a crisp, piercing sound on the cold marble tabletop.
It sounded like something shattering completely.
Feng Jinxuan's body jolted violently.
Looking at the only memento his mother had left him, which she had discarded like trash, he felt his entire world collapse at that moment.
"good."
After a long while, he managed to squeeze out a broken, incoherent syllable from his throat.
Yu Jinli stopped looking at him.
She pulled her suitcase and walked towards the door without looking back.
Yuehua and Yu Zhengdao immediately stepped forward, one on each side, to support her swaying body.
“Child,” Yuehua said, her heart aching at the sight of her daughter’s distraught state. “Let’s go home.”
“Let’s go back to our real home.”
Yu Jinli nodded and buried her face deeply in her mother's warm embrace.
Tears welled up silently once again.
Under Feng Jinxuan's watchful gaze, the group slowly walked out of the living room, which was filled with pain and despair.
As he reached the door, Gu Yanzhi suddenly stopped.
He turned around and looked at the man who was still standing there, like a wounded and trapped beast. He had once been arrogant, but now he was silent. In Gu Yanzhi's usually gentle and clear eyes, a trace of real, cold, and almost cruel emotion was revealed.
It was a judgment handed down from the victor's superior position.
“President Feng,” he began, his voice still gentle, yet like a knife chilled to the bone, each word piercing to the heart, “Do you know?”
"When you doubt her, hurt her, and push her further and further away."
"But I am walking closer to her step by step."
"You think you've given her the whole world."
"But little did she know, all she ever wanted was absolute trust without reservation."
"Unfortunately, you can't afford it."
“So,” he looked at him, a gentle yet incredibly cruel smile on his face, “from today onwards, she is mine.”
“I will take her home, heal her wounds, and teach her how to truly control her power.”
“I will give her everything that you can’t give her.”
After saying that, he stopped looking at the man whose face was ashen and whose body was swaying precariously.
He turned around, caught up with the group of people ahead, and disappeared completely outside the door.
"Bang."
The heavy door was slowly closed.
Two worlds were separated.
Feng Jinxuan looked at the empty living room, where the chattering, energetic figure was no longer present, and felt what it meant to be utterly despondent.
He slowly squatted down, reached out his trembling hand, and tried to pick up the safety amulet she had left behind.
However, when his fingertips touched the cold jade pendant, he could no longer muster any strength.
With a "whoosh".
A mouthful of bright red, scalding blood gushed uncontrollably from his mouth.
It stained the pristine white carpet red, and it also stained the long-cold safety buckle red.
The dark misfortune that had been suppressed by Yu Jinli on him completely spiraled out of control at this moment.
Like a raging flood that has broken free of its shackles, it devoured him completely.
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