37 Who is ‘he’?

"Time for bed, Princess."

Princess...

My heart jolted at the sound of that word. I stared at him, zoning out, as though I was paralyzed.

It was the same word, same gentleness. But different voice, different tune.

'He' said that too. He used to. Often, every now and then. Treated me like I was a priceless treasure. Something that any amount of fortune could not compare.

I had never seen such eyes like his before. Searing so brilliantly that it lit up my whole world. They were the pair of eyes that had indulged me. The one that would look at me first before anything else.

I had always been his princess, and he was my knight.

Knight...

Prince...

Until he had become 'the one'.

Until he had become everything.

...and then nothing.

Not even a trace of his presence. Just a memory. A beautiful past that reminded me I was once happy. I was once in love. I had once belonged to him.

Tears welled up in my eyes, blurring my vision as they threatened to fall. To release the tension, the tightness in my chest that was overload with feelings I had of him.

It had always been clear from the start, he was the source of my joy, the future I was aiming for, the first love that I had ever dreamt of.

But now, he was just the past that I couldn't return to, the love I had lost, and the promise that was left unfulfilled.

"Lian-ge." My voice quivered in whisper.

His name finally escaped from my lips. And like the tide in the sea, it overtook me once again and left me stranded by the shore. Wounded and untended. Quivering in the cold that pressured me to surrender.

But I knew this pain, this life, was the only thing I had left to repay them. So, I couldn't just let go. I would immerse in it. I would feel every strand, every heartbreak that the pain could offer.

Though I could not relinquish this sorrow, I had no exit to run to, I hoped I was at least permitted to be weak. Just for a little bit, I would like to break down.

And so I did.

The tears fell, drop by drop, onto the back of Jin Longwen's hand. Even as it was, I still held my eyes on his unwaveringly.

Hence, I didn't miss the surprise in his eyes and the distress hidden behind his grey iris. But, above all, I didn't miss the anger that was slowly brewing under his breath.

Perhaps he had already knew right then. He had already guessed. I had a story, a story that he probably would never be able to hear.

But I couldn't guess at this moment, was it Li Fei he was looking at or was it me, Airi, the soul imprisoned within her?

Because our story differed from each other, like how she came from the capital and I, from a small town at the edge of Country S.

But nevertheless, he was looking at us. And with such deep concern painted in his eyes, I couldn't stop myself from falling into his embrace.

When I did, I felt the tight grip around my waist. That was the last straw before the cry broke out and the deafening silence shattered into a thousand pieces of glass, burrowing themselves deep into the man's heart.

And then, it wasn't just one. Two were bleeding in the same temperature.

.....

Jin Longwen only had one question in his mind that seemed to incessantly provoked the explosion of his wrath.

'Who is he?'

He heard her whisper. No matter how faint it was, how broken, and quivering her voice. He would always be able to catch it because he cared.

He cared for this young woman who cried in his arms like a hurt little girl who had the whole world standing against her.

'Lian-ge.'

That was the word that had escaped from her lips. That was the name that she had spoken with such deep yearning. An existence that was worth every drop of her tears.

Lian-ge.

The presence and the wall that had suddenly appeared and barred him from stepping further into her life.

Jin Longwen felt it within him, the resentment that he couldn't stop from overflowing and the heart-wrenching pain that had crushed the profound emotion he held within him, before it could even begin to take shape.

He thought it was just that bloke who chirped divorce here and there like a stupid bird who could only see the sky but not the sun. Even chose a mere cloud that looked the same from the pile of cottons spread across the vast sky.

He thought it was just Lu Tianfeng who this woman had loved dearly. But then he saw her placid and indifferent face like a calm sea in the afternoon when they first met. She was just that emotionless as if the whole farce had nothing to do with her.

It had been confusing at first and his curiosity was piqued. But now, he regretted being curious.

He had seen crazy and all the tricks that women could hatch, especially Huang Li Fei who was all over the news. However, no amount of tricks could equal to this woman's masterpiece.

'The whole thing is just a facade,' Jin Longwen thought to himself.

He felt like laughing to himself now. How foolish. They had all been tricked, including him as well.

The woman had opened the red curtain and become the actress of her own drama. All for the sake of protecting what had actually transpired behind the marriage.

She had loved someone else. She had her Lian-ge to protect.

Jin Longwen chuckled. It had all made sense. Considering the head of the Huang family, that old fox would have surely used this piece of chess to gain more power.

And that piece of chess had been this woman crying in his embrace.