Chapter 33 (Part 1) How fortunate!
Amidst the rising steam, a man sat in the water, leaning against the pool wall. His long hair swept to the side of his neck, revealing a slender, fair neck. His rounded shoulders, like those sculpted from white jade, reflected a lustrous sheen, a beauty that was almost breathtaking. This was the scene Xu Qi witnessed when he returned to the bathroom after handing the kitten to the maid.
“Please stand there and don’t move, okay?” Si Qiang suddenly spoke, but did not turn around. She simply maintained her back to him and continued, “Some things… saying them won’t change anything. But perhaps I should tell you.”
Xu Qi stopped and looked at the other person silently without saying a word.
“Do you know… how my stepfather died? He was a low-ranking gang leader, and he was hacked to death in an ordinary shootout in Chinatown.” Si Qiang sneered as she said this, “But nobody knows that it was because his stepson drugged his breakfast, causing him to suddenly take effect while he was fighting with a knife… He probably never knew who was behind it until he died.”
Xu Qi was shocked. Although he roughly knew about Si Qiang's background, he did not expect that there was such a thing.
“After my stepfather died, my mother lost her support. To support herself and me, she had to work desperately. When she fell ill, she had no money for treatment... In the end, she died tragically in that cramped rented room.” Si Qiang’s voice grew colder and colder, but her laughter became more and more obvious. “Heh... Come to think of it, they were the first people I owed a life to.”
Xu Qi felt a chill run down his spine, not because of Si Qiang's supposed debt of life, but because of the increasingly strange tone in her voice. He managed to utter, "That man... your stepfather, what did he do to you?"
“How could that be? He loved me very much. He would give me the best food, clothes, and things he could provide, and he would often take me out to play.” Si Qiang’s voice became somewhat unsteady. “What a wonderful father… At the time, I thought that even a biological father couldn’t be better than this.”
"And then?" Xu Qi asked as calmly as possible, but his face grew paler and paler. He had a vague feeling that what he was about to hear would make it impossible for him to remain calm.
"Later... as I grew up, he liked me even more." Si Qiang paused, her tone gentle, "When my mother wasn't around, he would kiss me, take off my clothes... and even ask me to 'serve' him like my mother did."
Xu Qi's head buzzed, and he rushed to the edge of the pool, instinctively wanting to see the other person's face.
Si Qiang quickly turned her face away and continued in a low voice, "However, because of my lack of cooperation, he lost patience after several failures. One day, he pushed me into the water and tried to rape me."
"Stop talking." Xu Qi spoke slowly and deliberately, his voice chillingly cold.
“Fortunately, my mother found us before he succeeded,” Si Qiang continued, her voice becoming somewhat shrill. “At that time, I was thinking, why didn’t I die?”
"I said, stop talking!" Xu Qi suddenly roared. He knelt by the pool, wrapped his arms tightly around the man's shoulders, and covered the man's mouth with one hand, his whole body stiff and aching.
Those unbearable past experiences were finally being exposed to this man, bit by bit. Even though the water was warm, she felt a bone-chilling cold. Si Qiang's body trembled violently, her lips icy, as if she were trapped in an ice cave. Why wouldn't he let her continue? This wasn't enough. He wanted more pain, much more pain…
Unable to imagine the pain Si Qiang had endured, Xu Qi only knew that his heart was clenching so badly he could barely breathe. This child… how could she be so heartbreaking? Xu Qi closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and slowly lowered his head, whispering in the man's ear, "Let me tell you… why you didn't die. Because… you were destined to meet me, destined to be mine, destined… to be by my side for life."
Si Qiang suddenly turned her head and stared intently at him.
"Unwilling?" Xu Qi curled his lips and narrowed his eyes. "Too late." He let go of her hand, took off his bathrobe, and nimbly stepped into the water. Then he grabbed her and sealed her lips, which were half open in surprise, with a kiss without saying a word.
Si Qiang remained motionless as he kissed her, feeling the warm embrace and the burning lips and tongue. The coldness in her body gradually dissipated, as if her frozen blood was flowing again—it was the feeling of being alive. Staring intently at the man's face, at the determination and tenderness in his deep eyes, her heart clenched, and she almost burst into tears.
How fortunate I am to have met you in this lifetime.
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