The Monarch Butterfly - Chapter 7

After the program ended, I ignored Lu Zhiyao and went straight back to my office.

Once I had packed up, I went to the underground parking lot to drive home and rest.

That interview had exhausted me in body and mind.

I felt as though I had been hollowed out.

Even breathing was difficult.

When I reached my car, I saw someone leaning against the door and quietly watching me.

I did not slow down. I pressed the unlock button.

The car gave two short beeps, and its lights flashed.

I walked up to her. “President Lu, please move.”

She refused.

Not only did she refuse, she reached out and pulled me into her arms.

I did not resist. I let her hold me.

Her kiss landed on the side of my neck.

Her hand moved tenderly over my waist.

I sighed and raised my arms to encircle her shoulders and back.

Holding me, she turned us around and pressed me against the car door.

She covered my mouth and kissed me deeply.

As always, her kiss made my face burn.

Every place she touched burned too.

My body wanted her. I had never denied it, and I would not resist it.

Lu Zhiyao breathed hard and slowly let my lips go.

“Chu Tianshu, why don’t you refuse me?”

“Why should I refuse you?”

I gently stroked her flushed cheek. “Lu Zhiyao, no one can refuse a face like yours.”

“But this face couldn’t stop you from divorcing me.”

“That’s a different matter. Lu Zhiyao, I think you’re better suited to being a fuck buddy than a wife. If our relationship were only physical, we’d get along wonderfully.”

Her brows drew sharply together.

“Chu Tianshu, don’t say things like that.”

“Lu Zhiyao, what right do you have to tell me what I can say?”

“…You’re right. I don’t.”

She held me tighter, her sigh brushing over the top of my head. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. If I told you I don’t like hearing you describe our relationship so coldly, would that be easier for you to accept?”

“I don’t really care what you like anymore, Lu Zhiyao.”

I gently pushed her away a little.

“Your wife has already left you. The person standing in front of you now is only Chu Tianshu. Chu Tianshu is always willing to let Lu Zhiyao come to her for sex, but Chu Tianshu will no longer think about what Lu Zhiyao likes or dislikes. That is something Lu Zhiyao’s wife should have considered, not something Chu Tianshu needs to consider.”

I shoved her away, opened the car door behind me, and sat in the driver’s seat.

Lu Zhiyao stood beside the car, her eyes dark.

I started the engine and lowered the window.

“Lu Zhiyao, are you coming home with me? We’ll have a very pleasant night.”

Her eyes had darkened to almost fathomless depths.

There was not the slightest trace of a smile on her face. She looked at me coldly and said stiffly, “No need.”

I curved my lips.

“Then I’m off. Call me if you need me~”

I raised the window and stepped on the gas.

The car roared away.

Before I reached home, tears blurred my vision.

I quickly pulled over somewhere safe.

I folded over the steering wheel and cried until my whole body shook.

I had personally told Lu Zhiyao, “I don’t care about you anymore.”

It was almost no different from saying, “I don’t love you anymore.”

But I still loved her.

I had said something so cruel, and said it with such careless nonchalance, as if I truly did not care about her.

Driving a knife into the heart of the person you love—the blade went through her body and into my heart too.

I was facing her when I embraced her and stabbed her from behind.

I had pushed so hard that the tip was bound to pierce both of us.

But what else could I do?

The divorce was done.

We had already said everything there was to say.

And she still came looking for me.

I could not understand why she kept coming back.

She was forcing me to strike.

How could she be so cruel…?

I sobbed uncontrollably.

Lu Zhiyao had once been the person Chu Tianshu carefully placed at the center of her heart.

All of Chu Tianshu’s softness belonged to her.

Chu Tianshu had loved so humbly that, even during the divorce, she had not said a single harsh word to Lu Zhiyao.

Chu Tianshu wanted to paint everything back over as it had been—to make it look as though Lu Zhiyao’s life had never contained a person named Chu Tianshu.

Even today, Lu Zhiyao was still the person Chu Tianshu loved.

The person she loved most. Without exception.

That feeling had not vanished with the divorce.

Chu Tianshu still loved Lu Zhiyao.

But Chu Tianshu could no longer be with Lu Zhiyao.

I lay at home for several days.

No one dared contact me.

Even my boss played dead—she knew exactly how much damage making me interview Lu Zhiyao would cause.

It had been her decision, after all. Of course she did not dare make a sound now.

Rain fell without end outside.

It was not a torrential downpour, but it was not light either.

Damp air seeped into the house through every crack.

I had to turn on the dehumidifiers in every room. They ran like mad, sucking desperately until the humidity gauge in my house barely stayed at the edge of the green “comfortable” zone.

One tiny rise higher and it would enter the blue “humid” zone.

For heaven’s sake.

I hated humidity more than anything.

The endless rain kept my mood from recovering.

It felt as if someone had pulled out my backbone. I lay weakly on the bed, unwilling to eat, drink, or move.

I closed my eyes and soon slipped back into sleep…

In a haze, my vision blurred. I seemed to see someone enter my room.

That tall figure…

She climbed onto the bed and buried her head among my petals.

I gasped and caught the hand at my chest.

I would not let that hand misbehave on my body. She gripped me so hard.

Sleepiness soon dragged me under again.

The last thing I felt was someone taking hold of my ankle.

Soft kisses fell on the top of my foot.

With the reverence of someone worshiping her god.