Chapter 14 — Today, I’m Done Waiting

Do you still love me?

That is why you chose Shen Rou.

Yes. He finally admitted it. In the beginning, I only helped her out once.

She does not exist in the book.

I temporarily changed my schedule, and nothing stood in my way.

It was in that exact second that I realized my life could genuinely be decided by my own will.

And what happened after that?

Xie Wenxuan fell silent. I spoke in his place.

After that, you chose her again and again.

I compromised again and again.

You felt at ease.

Because I still loved you.

At the same time, I felt profoundly disappointed.

Because you still could not figure out whether my love for you was merely dictated by a predetermined plot.

His fingers trembled slightly.

I did not want to hurt you.

You only wanted to test my devotion.

I looked straight into his eyes.

Xie Wenxuan.

Human beings are capable of feeling pain.

A child can die.

I am not a book whose pages can be flipped back and forth at whim.

The last trace of color drained entirely from his face.

I did not know something would happen to our child.

You knew I was at the hospital.

I thought you would wait for me.

The words faded. In that very instant, the anger within me suddenly vanished. So this was the truth all along. He had expected me to wait. The hospital would wait. The child would wait. Everything would simply pause right there, waiting for the male protagonist to finish his journey of seeking freedom before returning to wrap up the grand finale.

The you in the book always waited for me no matter what, Xie Wenxuan's voice choked with tears. No matter what happened, you would always forgive me.

I burst out laughing.

Because the author only needs to turn the page, and the story can move forward.

But my child will not come back just because a page is turned.

Neither will I.

This meticulously orchestrated banquet ultimately came to an abrupt end. When I took Jiamu away, Xie Wenxuan made no attempt to stop us. That very night, he signed the divorce agreement. There was only one condition he requested: we would share the custody of Jiamu. The boy would primarily live with me and spend two days of every week at Xie Wenxuan's place. I agreed. A month later, the divorce procedures were finalized. Our appointment was scheduled for nine o'clock in the morning. When I arrived at eight-fifty, Xie Wenxuan had already been sitting in the waiting area for a long time. On the table rested a red brocade box, looking exactly like the one he had brought home that day. He had grown much thinner. The moment he saw me, he stood up abruptly.

I arrived at seven.

I said nothing. He pushed the brocade box toward me.

The longevity lock has been melted down and recast.

The inscription on the back has been re-engraved as well.

I opened it to take a look. Peace and longevity through all the years.

This time, it is not a gift for our child, he said. It is for you.

Regarding the past, I know it can never be undone.

I only hope that you will be safe and at peace for the rest of your days.

I closed the box and pushed it back across the table to him.

I will not accept this.

Can you not even accept a simple blessing?

I can.

But I do not need the longevity lock.

It has no place in the relationship between us now.

Xie Wenxuan lowered his head.

Qingsui.

This time, I am not late.

I glanced at the clock on the wall. There were still five minutes left until our scheduled time.

It is not that you arrived early today.

It is that every time before, you arrived far too late.

A staff member called our names. Xie Wenxuan followed closely behind me. When it was time to sign, he held his pen suspended for a long time without letting the nib touch the paper. Only after the staff member reminded him did he finally write his name. The final stroke curled slightly upward, mirroring the handwriting on the flyleaf of a novel. Holding the divorce certificate in his hand, he looked at me and asked:

If that book had never existed.

If we had simply been ordinary people.

Would you still have loved me?

I paused to think for a moment.

I used to love you.

Not because the author wrote it that way.