Escape.
Qiao Tan Yuan thought about how to escape Gu Jiao Wu after the meal. She couldn’t ask Du Lei Xin to take her home, Du Lei Xin and Gu Jiao Wu were in the same boat.
Qiao Tan Yuan avoided looking below Gu Jiao Wu’s waist. Their bodies were separated by flimsy towels on the sofa.
A full stomach helped Qiao Tan Yuan cleared the seductive mist out of her head. She retraced what happened before she and Gu Jiao Wu ended up in bed together. She drove Quan Zheng Hao to see apartments, and Gu Jiao Wu appeared out of nowhere looking angry. Gu Jiao Wu punched Quan Zheng Hao’s face, and Gu Jiao Wu drove her to Gu Jiao Wu’s apartment… Gu Jiao Wu! She understood why Gu Jiao Wu brought her to his apartment, he didn’t one anyone to become Xiao Bao’s step-dad. Gu Jiao Wu would do anything to sabotage her chance of marrying another man, including sleeping with her.
‘Gu Jiao Wu, you AH!’ Qiao Tan Yuan cursed. ‘Who gave you permission to touch me? What right do you have to touch me?’
Gu Jiao Wu watched Qiao Tan Yuan’s changes in facial expressions then suddenly she had an outburst. Her skin was still moist from their shared bath, she looked beautiful and he was enjoying the afterglow of their coupling. Why did she ruin it by accusing him of not having the right to be with her?
‘I don’t have the right?’ Gu Jiao Wu asked. ‘Then who has the right? That little white rabbit?’
Little white rabbit? Qiao Tan Yuan would have laughed if she wasn’t angry at Gu Jiao Wu.
‘That’s right, any man has the right except for you,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said. ‘You should remember your status. You’re my ex-husband. Gu Jiao Wu, we’re divorced. You don’t have the right to touch me.’
‘So what if we’re divorced?’ Gu Jiao Wu asked. ‘We can remarry each other. I want us to get back together.’
‘Get back together?’ Qiao Tan Yuan asked. ‘Who wants to get back together with you? What about Chu Da?’
Gu Jiao Wu didn’t understand why Qiao Tan Yuan mentioned Chu Da. Chu Da had nothing to do with his and Qiao Tan Yuan’s relationship.
‘What has Chu Da got to do with us?’ Gu Jiao Wu asked.
Qiao Tan Yuan wanted to escape from Gu Jiao Wu. She was foolish once, she wasn’t going to be foolish again. There was no way she would accept a man who had another woman in his heart again, especially a man she loved. She foolishly thought if she was Gu Jiao Wu’s wife, she could wait how many years it took for him to notice her, think of her and love her. Their failed marriage showed her it wasn’t enough to want something, and do everything in her power to obtain it. Something was unattainable by force… like a person’s heart. She didn’t have Gu Jiao Wu’s heart so she wanted to let go of him. But Gu Jiao Wu slept with her even though he didn’t love her. Gu Jiao Wu saw her only as a worthless booty call, she was nothing to him.
Qiao Tan Yuan took a deep breath. She was determined to end things with Gu Jiao Wu.
‘Gu Jiao Wu, I know what your agenda is,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said. ‘You’re back together with Chu Da, and you want to take Xiao Bao. You think the world revolves around you. I’m telling you, you’re mistaken. No matter how invincible you are, you can’t make the earth orbit a different direction. I’ll never give Xiao Bao to you, and I won’t degrade myself to love a person who doesn’t love me again. Gu Jiao Wu, stop dreaming.’
‘Back together with Chu Da?’ Gu Jiao Wu asked. ‘I’m not back together with Chu Da.’
‘Can you deny the person you truly love is Chu Da?’ Qiao Tan Yuan asked. ‘Can you say the person you’ve been missing in your heart for years isn’t Chu Da? Can you say Chu Da isn’t the person you dream of every night, wishing you can be together with her again?’
Gu Jiao Wu admitted he did want to find Chu Da. But he didn’t want to get back together with Chu Da. Too many things have happened since Chu Da left him. He doubted he could live with Chu Da like he did in the past. The reason he wanted to find Chu Da was to get closure. He wanted Chu Da to tell him why Chu Da left him and disappeared without a trace.
Qiao Tan Yuan’s heart was on a high a moment ago, but a moment later it was dropped into the cold abyss. Knowing the truth was one thing, hearing the truth only solidified the pain. Why did she still hold onto the minuscule hope there was a room for her in Gu Jiao Wu’s heart? Gu Jiao Wu sleeping with her, and acting like he cared for her did awaken the minuscule hope. But the painful truth left her hopeless, Gu Jiao Wu didn’t love her.
‘Gu Jiao Wu… let me go,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said. ‘I can’t give you Xiao Bao. If you want to see Xiao Bao, I’m willing to compromise. My limit is you can see Xiao Bao twice a month.’
Qiao Tan Yuan finally believed one myth in trashy magazines, men use their bottom halves to think so a man didn’t need to love a woman to sleep with a woman. Gu Jiao Wu wasn’t an exception. The only reason Gu Jiao Wu didn’t sleep with other women during their marriage was because he valued reputation. He didn’t want his private affairs to affect his public image. They weren’t married anymore, but no one would could accuse him of being a player if he slept with his ex-wife. In his eyes she was someone convenient to use to satisfy his physical desires.
‘You’re back together with Chu Da, but how can you sleep with me?’ Qiao Tan Yuan asked. ‘Aren’t you worried Chu Da will misunderstand your heart, and break up with you again?’
Gu Jiao Wu was in deep thought, he only heard the last question Qiao Tan Yuan asked him and shook his head.
‘She won’t misunderstand,’ Gu Jiao Wu said. ‘I’ll explain about us to her.’
If Chu Da came back, Gu Jiao Wu would explain his relationship with Qiao Tan Yuan to Chu Da. He was certain even if Chu Da came back, he wouldn’t get back together with Chu Da because he wanted to be with Qiao Tan Yuan. He and Qiao Tan Yuan have a daughter together, and he didn’t want to be with any woman except Qiao Tan Yuan. Did he want to be with Qiao Tan Yuan because of Xiao Bao? He didn’t know why he wanted to be with Qiao Tan Yuan, but he was certain Xiao Bao wasn’t the only reason.
‘Explain?’ Qiao Tan Yuan asked.
What was there for Gu Jiao Wu to explain to Chu Da? Qiao Tan Yuan could picture he would explain to Chu Da, he slept with her to get her to give Xiao Bao to Chu Da.
‘Gu Jiao Wu, go to h.e.l.l!’ Qiao Tan Yuan said.
Qiao Tan Yuan had loved Gu Jiao Wu enough. How long did he expect her to let him mistreat her for?
‘Gu Jiao Wu, you’re truly a despicable AH!’ Qiao Tan Yuan said and slapped Gu Jiao Wu’s cheek.
‘Qiao Tan Yuan!’ Gu Jiao Wu said. ‘Why did you slap me?’
‘An AH like you deserve to be slapped,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said. ‘Don’t look for me or touch me again. If you don’t want Chu Da to misunderstand then stay away from me. I told you, I’m not your personal prost.i.tute. When you’re hungry, go find Chu Da. The other day you and Chu Da were cosy with each other. Gu Jiao Wu, you disgust me.’
End of Chapter Seventy-One