My Merman Husband Won't Admit He Loves Me - Chapter 7

The room grew warmer. But just as Shen Qingyan tried to take things further, I lifted my head and gave him a broad smile.

“Who knew you were so generous? So willing to share me. I was only teasing, but since you’re so sincere about not minding, I’ll call Meng Zhou and discuss it with him.”

I reached for the phone on the bedside table. A second later, the world spun.

He rolled me beneath him and pinned my hands above my head.

“Don’t you dare!”

The words came through clenched teeth, thick with anger.

“Jiang He, you’ve had my body, so you have to take responsibility for me! From now on, I’m your fish in life and your dead fish in death! Don’t even think about dumping me for someone else. If you stop loving me, I’ll…”

“You’ll what?”

“I’ll kill myself!”

Not much of a threat.

By the time he finished, his face was bright red.

He looked like a big, ripe apple.

I giggled, then looped my arms around his neck and whispered softly.

“Idiot. I’m not so generous with my affections that I can like several people at once. All I ever wanted was to hear you admit you liked me.”

Smiling, I met a pair of dazed blue eyes.

It took him a while to understand. Then his smile grew wider and wider. He buried his face in the crook of my neck and asked for reassurance again and again.

“So it’s just me, right? You’ve only liked me all along, right?”

He nuzzled me as he spoke, like a happy puppy wagging its tail.

“Guess.”

I grinned, my voice teasing.

“Hmph. I’m not guessing. It is. You only like me!”

His arms tightened until there wasn’t a gap between us.

His persistent erection was becoming impossible to ignore.

“Mm… Shen Qingyan, you’re poking me…”

“Mm…”

He made a plaintive sound but still wouldn’t let go.

“It hurts…”

“Then what do you want?”

I coaxed him beside his ear.

His answer came in a low, husky voice.

“I want you…”

Once we’d finally cleared up the misunderstanding, Shen Qingyan transformed from a proud, beautiful merman into a clingy puppy.

Wherever I went, he followed.

He even wanted to tag along to work and sit in my office.

My conclusion was that I’d trained him a little too hard before.

Ultimately, his insecurity came down to those extra five percentage points of compatibility.

So one weekend, I arranged to meet Meng Zhou, hoping he would help me put the misunderstanding to rest.

Shen Qingyan had work and joined us later.

The moment he saw who was there, his face darkened. Waves of frost seemed to pour off him, enough to freeze everyone in the room.

“Well, look who it is. Mr. Ninety-Five Percent.”

He was rarely this openly sarcastic.

See? It really bothered him.

Across the table, Meng Zhou raised an eyebrow, apparently intrigued.

“Oh, hello, Mr. Ninety Percent.”

Pfft.

I nearly choked on my water and stared at Meng Zhou in disbelief.

Hadn’t he agreed to help me clear things up? What the hell was he doing?

The comments appeared.

[Hahaha, the male lead is Captain Petty. Those five percentage points are really eating him alive.]

[Every night, remembering that someone else is a better match for his wife, he must have shed so many little pearls.]

[Biting the quilt to keep quiet so she wouldn’t find out, too.]

So that was why the pearl storage box at home had mysteriously filled up.

I made frantic faces at Meng Zhou, trying to get him back on track. He acted as though he couldn’t see me.

“Ah, what a shame. If the bureau hadn’t messed up the data, I’d be married to Jiang He now. It still stings a little when I think about it.”

He raised an eyebrow at me.

“What do you say? Care to give me a chance? I’ve been waiting for you, you know.”

Snap.

The fork broke in Shen Qingyan’s hand.

He drove the sharp end viciously into his steak, as though it were that scheming little bastard across the table.

“Hah. So what? I’m the one she’s with. I won’t give a fake innocent like you the slightest chance to come between us!”

He pointed at Meng Zhou, shaking with anger. Normally, he barely showed what he felt.

Then he caught my wrist and pulled me toward the exit, giving me no chance to break free.

By the time I collected myself, we were standing on the roadside around the corner.

The man beside me was rigid. A moment later, he burst into tears.

“Waaah…”

Between sobs and noisy sniffles, he said, “You brought me to see him! He was provoking me, and you didn’t even defend me! What was that supposed to mean? Couldn’t you tell he was faking that innocent act? You’re trying to destroy me! Destroy this family!”

“I don’t want to live anymore…”

On a busy street, without the slightest regard for passersby, he wailed as though his life were over.

I couldn’t take it.

“Enough.”

“Boo-hoo…”

“Enough.”

“Waaah… Mooo…”

“Enough! Cry, cry, cry. Such a typical man, crying all day! You’re going to cry this family apart!”

That shout finally stopped him. His lips trembled, and his eyes filled with disbelief.

“You yelled at me for that scheming bastard? So much for only loving me. Excuses, all of it. I understand now. I’m old, my looks are gone, and so is your love. I couldn’t keep your heart. It’s my fault!”

Nobody had told me that curing a proud, stubborn man turned him into a manipulative drama queen.

I sighed and pinched his lips shut before he could start crying again.

“Mmph… &*#…”

“I haven’t changed my mind. I only like you.”

First, calm him down. Sure enough, he quieted considerably, and I released his mouth.

“I asked him here so we could explain it to you. Our compatibility may be ninety-five percent, but I don’t like him, and he doesn’t like me. Nothing is going to happen between us. You don’t have to spend every day worrying. I’m not running off with someone else.”

His lips were red. He blinked.

“Really?”

“What would lying achieve?”

“Then why was he acting like such a schemer?”

“Who knows what got into him?”

“He’s jealous that we’re together. That’s why!”

Shen Qingyan huffed, then pulled me into his arms, nestling close to my ear.

“Even if he’s a better match for you, you still only like me?”

There was still a trace of caution in his voice.

This had weighed on his heart for days.

I smiled and gave his cheeks a thorough squish.

“Yes. Only you.”

“Even without the highest compatibility, I’d still fall for you at first sight.”

My love had nothing to do with compatibility. I loved him because I wanted to. It was as simple as that.

“I knew it. I knew I was one of a kind in my wife’s heart!”

He lowered his head and nuzzled my forehead.

“Is there anything you’d like to say to me now?” I asked.

“N-no…”

“Hmm?”

“Yes… Just… I love you…”

“I love you too.”