She switched on the bedside lamp with a flick of her wrist, sat up, and looked at him with a grave expression. "You've been gone so long, and you still remember your way home?"
"You're here. Of course I came home," he replied.
"Where did you go?"
"Gu Xichen called me. He said He Meiwei was threatening suicide, so I went to check on her."
Gu Lili let out a breathless, incredulous laugh. "And what is she to you now? Whether she lives or dies, what does it have to do with you? You two broke up long ago. Coming to you at a time like this, asking you to divorce me and marry her—does that sound like the act of someone who's truly in despair?"
"I have no feelings left for her—only sympathy," he said, meeting her gaze directly. "You have to believe me."
Gu Lili didn't wish to quarrel over this, but still she asked, "And when she said all those things to you… not even a flicker of emotion?"
"Not in the slightest, I swear," he answered earnestly. "Even if I had never met you again, I still wouldn't have gone back to her."
"How long were you together?"
"About a year. We've been apart for two. Whatever feelings there were… time washed them away."
"Then tell me something." Curiosity sparked in Gu Lili's eyes. "You're clearly not into men—so why didn't you sleep with her?"
Long Yubei chuckled suddenly, his voice deep and smooth as velvet. The sound of his laughter was magnetic.
"I didn't think much of it back then," he said with a grin. "But looking back now, it's true—we were together, but I never once felt the urge to be intimate with her. There was never that kind of impulse. We were both… pure. I didn't initiate, and she was reserved."
"Then why are you so different with me?"
He gently pulled her back down onto the bed, undressing her in swift, practiced movements until not a single thread remained.
"Because you awaken something in me I can't suppress."
Her cheeks flushed crimson. "What exactly did you say to her?"
"I made it very clear. There's no going back. What's lost is lost. That was the message. Gu Xichen had thrown out her luggage, but seeing her on the brink, he let her back in. Still, judging by his expression, that relationship is well and truly over."
Gu Lili nodded, satisfied. "Good."
Long Yubei began kissing her again, as though he could never get enough of her.
They explored new ways of loving, and when passion reached its peak, he whispered against her ear with a soft nip, "Spread your legs… a little wider."
She obeyed without hesitation—and was ravished thoroughly in every possible way.
By the time it ended, her legs trembled beneath her, barely able to carry her to the floor.
Behind her, his laughter followed like a tease. "Take it slow."
She clutched her aching waist and hobbled toward the bathroom.
They slept soundly through the night, but morning brought the unwelcome voice of Tang Qingli, delivering troubling news.
"Young Master, Young Madam—both of your phones were off last night. Gu Xichen contacted me directly. He said He Meiwei was taken to the hospital around 3 a.m."
"And?" Gu Lili frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"
She switched her phone back on and immediately called Gu Xichen. As soon as he picked up, she snapped, "What's your point? Whether He Meiwei is your ex or current girlfriend, can you stop bothering people who have nothing to do with her?"
"I've already broken up with her, definitively," Gu Xichen replied coldly. "There's no chance of reconciliation. The call was her request, not mine. I'm not at the hospital—whether she lives or dies is no concern of mine."
"Well, aren't you the ruthless one," Gu Lili said coolly. "Swift and clean, like slicing through tangled thread. I thought you adored her—loved her so much you lost your mind over her. She was the perfect match for you, wasn't she? So what now? Got a glimpse of her true colors and fell out of love that fast?"