A Tattoo That Can't Be Removed - Chapter 13

That day was Dad’s final surgery.

He still didn’t open his eyes to look at me, no matter how much I called him. He used to say he dreamed of Mom, and maybe he really did. He didn’t want to wake up.

I sat at the door of the operating room, unable to focus, still feeling the urgent heartbeat. Time became unbearably slow again.

Suddenly, my phone vibrated intensely in my pocket. I was so out of it these days, I didn’t even realize I had added a stranger.

The person claimed to be a friend of Qin Chuchu.

She said Qin Chuchu hadn’t eaten for three days because Wei Yan had abandoned her.

She begged me to leave Wei Yan, saying it was my fault for taking him away, causing Qin Chuchu’s distress.

She said I was just a third party, that I didn’t know the story between Qin Chuchu and Wei Yan, and I had no right to compete with Qin Chuchu.

She said Qin Chuchu was Wei Yan’s first love. Back then, Wei Yan was the top student in school, and it was Qin Chuchu who barged into his life. She taught him to smoke, and he even got into fights for her. When she suddenly disappeared, he searched the entire city for her.

The message was followed by numerous pictures, mostly night scenes. This Qin Chuchu was indeed the Qin Chuchu, and this Wei Yan was a side of him I had never seen before.

Dressed in a white shirt with the top two buttons undone, he smiled at the camera with such flair.

I clenched my phone, feeling my heart being squeezed painfully. Why did this message have to come now, of all times, when my dad’s surgery light was still on?

But then I looked up and saw Wei Yan approaching. I glared at his face, full of concern, and never before had I felt such hatred for him.

He probably didn’t expect me to be so strong, as I pushed him back against the wall, and he still tried to check if I was hurt.

“What happened?”

“Wei Yan, your girlfriend hasn’t eaten for three days. You should go back and make sure she eats!”

I threw the phone at him. He glanced at it and seemed to understand.

I hated his silence, his indulgence, just like that night he let her into our home.

I admit the pressure was overwhelming then, and I desperately needed an outlet to vent all my grievances and unease from the past few days.

“Your girlfriend hasn’t eaten in three days. Shouldn’t you go back and cook for her yourself? What if she starves? You care so much about her, go back quickly!”

I grabbed his collar, mocking him with all my might, but my voice was hoarse. He tried to wipe away my tears, but I dodged.

“Why am I still receiving messages about your ex-girlfriend now, Wei Yan?”

“Can you and that woman just disappear from my sight? I don’t want to know what stories you had. I really don’t want to know. Do whatever you want… please.”

“I have nothing, Wei Yan. I really have nothing. I already lost my mom, and now I’m losing… I’m really all alone. Being alone is fine, I don’t want to be toyed with by you two anymore.”

“If you care about her, be with her, okay? There’s no need for this pretense, no need to appear in front of me. I…”

“I don’t like you anymore, really, I don’t.”

As the tears fell, I realized I had never cried like this in front of him before.

He once said he liked my smiling eyes, so whenever I felt wronged, I would cry alone under the covers.

In fact, a long time ago, I knew he saw me as a stand-in for his ex-girlfriend.

But I liked him, and his eyes had me in them, so I stayed by his side. I even planned what I would wear for the wedding and where we would go for our honeymoon.

But maybe I overstepped. I wanted to possess him, I wanted him to be mine alone. I wanted him to chase after me in that heavy rain, but he didn’t.

He once searched the entire city for another girl, and he also left me alone in the pouring rain at dawn for that girl.