Said Not to Fall in Love - Chapter 14
Chapter 14
On the day the contract expired, I still packed my bags.
Zhou Yubai stood in the bedroom doorway, watching me.
From beginning to end, he didn’t try to stop me.
I folded my clothes one by one and placed them in the suitcase.
He just stood there like a silent statue.
At last, I zipped it shut.
“I’m leaving.”
He said, “I’ll drive you.”
I looked at him.
“You’re not going to ask where I’m going?”
Zhou Yubai lowered his eyes.
“You’re free now.”
My chest ached with a sharp, sour pang.
“Zhou Yubai, you really are infuriating.”
He looked up.
I pushed the suitcase in front of him.
“You obviously don’t want me to leave, but you insist on pretending to be magnanimous.”
His voice was a little hoarse.
“I don’t want to trap you with an agreement.”
“Then you could use something else.”
He froze.
I held out my hand.
“The key.”
Zhou Yubai took the key from his pocket.
Not to return it to me.
But to place it in my palm.
I had used that key for nearly a year.
There was a very shallow scratch on it.
It was from the first time I moved in, when I accidentally dropped it by the elevator and it hit the floor.
I closed my fingers around the key.
“What about the divorce papers?”
Zhou Yubai turned and brought them out from the study.
The documents had been kept in perfect condition.
Not a single page was creased.
I flipped to the signature page.
His name was blank.
So was mine.
I asked, “Why did you never sign them?”
Zhou Yubai looked at me.
“I couldn’t bear to.”
This time, he finally told the truth.
Three simple words.
Yet they were more moving than all the restraint he had shown in the past.
I lowered my head and tore the divorce agreement in half.
Zhou Yubai’s breath hitched.
Then I took out the prenuptial agreement.
I flipped to the last page.
That clause-“no falling in love”-was still there.
I picked up a pen and crossed it out.
Then I wrote a new line beneath it.
Clause One: No pretending you haven’t fallen in love.
Clause Two: If you have something to say, say it that same day.
Clause Three: Arguments are allowed, but divorce is not to be mentioned.
Clause Four: Wen Yi retains the right of final interpretation and may amend this agreement at any time.
When I finished, I handed him the pen.
“Mr. Zhou, will you sign?”
Zhou Yubai lowered his head and looked at those few lines.
His eyes slowly reddened.
“This isn’t fair.”
I raised an eyebrow.
“Contract marriages were never fair to begin with. You drafted the last one. Now it’s my turn.”
He took the pen and signed his name below.
Zhou Yubai.
After he finished signing, he looked up at me.
“Then I’ll add one too.”
“What?”
He took my hand and pulled me closer.
“From now on, Wen Yi isn’t allowed to force herself to be strong all alone.”
I wanted to argue.
But he lowered his head first and kissed the back of my hand.
“I know you can.”
“But I want to be there.”
Outside the window, evening had fallen.
Golden light shimmered across the river.
I tightened my grip on the pen and didn’t argue again.
Zhou Yubai pushed the suitcase back into the bedroom.
I followed behind him.
When we reached the doorway, he suddenly stopped.
“Wen Yi.”
“Mm?”
He turned to look at me.
“That day, I said I wanted you because you wouldn’t fall in love with me.”
I folded my arms.
“I remember.”
“I was wrong.”
I couldn’t help laughing.
“Wrong how?”
Zhou Yubai took a step closer.
He didn’t answer.
He simply lowered his head and kissed me.
I lifted my arms and looped them around his neck.
“You pass this time.”
He smiled.
“Mrs. Zhou.”
“Mm?”
“I’ll say fewer foolish things from now on.”
