Chapter 222: I Just Want to Hug You
Naturally, Xinghe could feel his gaze on her.
She once again raised her eyes to meet his. She questioned, "Didn"t you say you were hungry?"
"…" Mubai didn"t answer, he just stared at her wordlessly.
"Well, since neither of us is hungry, let"s get down to business." She put down her utensils and continued, "Tell me, what is your solution?"
"You"re willing to talk to me only if it"s business-related?" Mubai blurted out, perhaps due to the impatience from being ignored the entire night.
Xinghe"s expression remained unchanged as she replied, "Of course, hasn"t it always been like this between us?"
"…" She"s right.
Mubai laughed self-deprecatingly. "You"re right. It is true that we barely shared more than a few words during our marriage. Our relations.h.i.+p has always been sterile and professional."
"I"m glad you see it that way too."
"If I"d known, I would have treated you better. I"m so sorry!" Mubai confessed suddenly.
He finally managed to break Xinghe"s composure, but not by much. Xinghe was slightly surprised by his apology, she definitely wasn"t expecting that. She saw sincerity in the pair of eyes that kept staring at her.
"Xia Xinghe, do you regret marrying me?"
"There is no room for regret in my life," Xinghe answered truthfully.
Regret was nothing but a burden to her. Life was a constant moving forward. There was no use regretting over things in the past because Xinghe believed one could always use the present and the future to rectify it.
Mubai nodded slightly because he understood what she means. "I too have been living my life without regrets, but now, I realize I do regret something…"
Regret for not knowing the real her sooner. Regret for meeting each other at the wrong time.
It was a case of right place, right people, but the wrong time…
If he had seen her real self since the very beginning, he wondered how different things would have been…
Alas, there was no redo in life.
These thoughts darkened Mubai"s gaze.
He couldn"t help but ask, "If we were allowed a do-over and this was our first meeting, would your impression of me be different from the one you have now?"
She decided to indulge him in the game of conjecture. She admitted to herself she would probably have admiration for a man as impressive as he is.
However…
"It is impossible between us."
Sadness entered Mubai"s eyes but Xinghe"s tone went icier as she added, "Forever impossible!"
Xinghe stood up and said, "I think I should go."
There was nothing left to be said.
Xinghe turned to leave. There was determination and resoluteness in her every step.
Mubai stared intensely at her back and clenched his hands tightly.
He leaped up from his seat to chase after her. Xinghe heard the door behind her open and felt the air-conditioning from within caress her skin. The next thing she knew, she was pulled into a bear hug from behind!
The sudden physical contact unsettled her…
Mubai held onto her tight, not giving her any wiggle room to get out of the hug.
Before she could say anything, she heard from behind, "For this once, please tolerate my selfishness; I just want to hug you!"
Xinghe relented. She stood in his hug wordlessly and motionlessly.
Pain and helplessness twisted at his heart.
He would rather she struggle or be angry at him, anything but a void of emotions…
For the first time in his life, Mubai understood the feeling of heartache.
Sometime later, he finally loosened his grip. There was nothing else he could do, he was powerless before her.