Chapter 1: Have You Ever Loved Me? (1)
"Yan Yan, have you ever loved me…? Even for a second…?"
Bai Qingyan"s body trembled horridly from Gu Yezhi"s harrowing voice. Her lips parted, incapable of replying.
Yan Yan, have you ever loved me…?
At the age of twenty, she married Gu Yezhi, albeit against her will. In five years time, she forcefully grabbed hold of all his possessions and gifted them to his nephew, Gu Hang. She felt nothing but icy coldness to her husband, Gu Yezhi.
Love? Did she love him? Had the inclination of love ever cross her mind?
"Yezhi, are you okay…? Why are you bleeding so much…?" Bai Qingyan watched in inept pain as his body quivered and his chest rose and fell to the beat of the droplets of blood free-flowing.
Thump!
Gu Yezhi had lost far too much blood.
Unable to support his weakened body, he knelt on the cold ground. He raised his head, one hand touching Bai Qingyan"s thighs and the other caressing her soft lips.
"No, you don"t love me, Qingyan, but… without you… I am nothing." He smiled lightly. "It"s sad when things are most beautiful when they are ending."
Then, he pressed his lips against hers, soft and tender.
Bai Qingyan felt his body loosen.
Who"d have thought something so small could feel so… everlasting.
Gu Yezhi struggled to hold Bai Qingyan, but he kissed her, badly, with all his strength. He kissed her, as deeply as possible, slowly concocting the lies he told himself — she is mine, she is mine, she is mine. But she was never his. She was his wife, but she never gave her heart. She helped others take all that which was his, but he did not blame her, he only despised that she did not love him enough.
Bai Qingyan embraced his touch and pulled him closer. She felt his breath inside her, his weakening pulse from the touch of his skin — death was near. Her tears fell through the corner of her eyes, left terrified of the unknown for he was balancing between life and death.
Bang!
A bullet pierced Gu Yezhi"s back which had been riddled with purple bruises priori. His body trembled, coughing out blood violently. The liquidy red dyed his white s.h.i.+rt a scarlet red like a red flower blooming in the white wintry snow.
Then, he fell on her legs.
"Uncle, she loves me. You"re better than me. You"re always one step ahead of me, but, uncle, the woman you love, she doesn"t love you. She loves me. This time, in this game, you have lost." Said Gu Hang as he stepped foot out of the shadows whilst brazenly pulling the trigger and shooting Gu Yezhi on the back.
"Yezhi!" Bai Qingyan shouted, voice br.i.m.m.i.n.g with panic.
"….." Gu Yezhi, try with all his might, opened his eyes powerlessly before it closed. Tears of blood ran down the corner of his lips.
"Yezhi, don"t die… I"ll take you to the hospital… you"ll be alright…" Bai Qingyan"s cheeks flushed a rosy pink while her eyes reddened.
How she wished she had the strength to pull him up, but she was unable to. Her leg, it was disabled from sacrificing herself for the sake of Gu Hang"s safety.
Bang!
Chuckling in delight, Gu Hang drew his leg back and kicked Gu Yezhi from Bai Qingyan"s embrace.
Gu Yezhi fell to the ground while she flipped over from the wheelchair.
They were far apart, only separated from a small thread of distance.
Gu Yezhi had lost too much blood and he soon fell into a deep sleep of death.
"Yezhi… no…" Bai Qingyan croaked, crawling towards him.
Gu Hang bent down and lifted her chin. His voice lacked any hint of warmth. "Bai Qingyan, you fell in love with Gu Yezhi, did you not? What happened? Didn"t you say you"ll love me forever? Why are you like this? Why are you crying? Why?"
Bai Qingyan"s starry eyes darkened. She grabbed hold the hem of his clothing. "Devil! You"re a devil… a devil…"
"b.i.t.c.h, you dare touch and speak to me in this manner?!" Gu Hang tightened his grip on her neck, almost choking her. "You seem to seek death."
"Cough… cough…" Bai Qingyan"s countenance turned white, yet her eyes remained firm. She gazed at him as if he"d been pierced and cut a thousand times over.
Thump!
Gu Hang was inadvertently pushed to the ground.
Gu Yezhi, who neared his deathbed, rose to his feet amidst the agonizing pain. He grabbed hold of Gu Hang"s neck tightly, yet a sense of weakness overfilled him. "Don"t hurt her… Yan Yan… no one can hurt her…"
Pushed to the ground, fury beset Gu Hang. He immediately reached for the revolver and pulled the trigger on Gu Yezhi"s forehead.
A loud shot echoed the room, and soon, pools of red blanketed the ground.
"Ye Zhi!"
Bai Qingyan… from this moment on, I, Gu Ye Zhi, your husband, will love you forever and ever. I swear to protect you for the rest of my life.