Love in the Midst of Mistaken Identities

“Lui, forget her, okay? Let’s go back to how we were before for the sake of our baby.” Li Manni tightened her arms around him. He still smelled like what she desired. She yearned for it, and she loved it—how could she bear to lose it?

“Lui, okay? Do you want our baby to be born without a father? All these years, our lives were great; but we were just missing a baby. Now that we have another chance, I will protect him... and so will you, right?” Li Manni continued, pressing her face to Chu Lui’s stiffened back. Slowly, she found that his body relaxed. The corners of her lips curved up slowly. She was right.

Even if he didn’t love her, he wouldn’t leave her as long as this child was here no matter how reluctant he was.

Chu Lui closed his eyes for a long time before opening them. His eyes were as deep as withered works, like a bottomless pit. He turned around and raised his hands, which were resting by his sides, at last to bring Li Manni into his embrace. He patted her back lightly. “Alright, don’t think too much. It’s late. Go to sleep.” The woman in his arms was his wife, but that was all he could give her.

“Li Manni, sleep with me today? I’m a little scared.” Li Manni raised her head and looked at him, her eyes shimmering constantly. Chu Lui nodded at last and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, walking into the room he had not stepped in in forever.

Perhaps this was just his and Xia Ruoxin’s fate. Xia Ruoxin was being cared for by another man, and he finally had a child that was his. Despite how entangled their lives were—despite how he had found out everything, they were still like that string of pearls that had broken. No matter how much he tried to thread them back together, they couldn’t go back to how they were before.

Yet, who was able to go back to how it was before, and who was willing to?

“Let’s sleep.” Chu Lui patted Li Manni’s shoulders lightly. Li Manni finally let out a sigh of satisfaction, and her lips curved upwards even more. This is great, Lui. You’ve finally returned to me.

It might be due to her pregnancy or the fact that she was in a relaxed mood that she fell asleep almost immediately, but the man beside her showed no signs of drowsiness.

He looked down at the woman in his arms, faint helplessness and resignation in his eyes.

Chu Lui was heartless and ruthless, but he would never do anything to his own child. He was no longer the reckless man he was four years ago.

He gripped his hand weakly and, at last, placed it on Li Manni’ stomach. It was his child, his second child; but why did he feel so hopeless?

He let out a soft sigh and turned off the bedside lamp. The woman in his arms breathed evenly, but the man was wide awake in the dark. He leaned against the head of his bed on his side, lost in thought with a faint bitter smile on his face.

What he wanted didn’t belong to him anymore, and what he didn’t want was something he had no choice but to accept.

Everyone had times when they were helpless, and he was not an exception. He thought he had everything in the palm of his hands, but in the end, he realized that he was just human.

He placed a hand on his chest where there was still a dull ache that never seemed to have ceased. Let it be this way if it could make him feel at least slightly better. If this could alleviate even a thousandth of that woman’s pain, then he would be resigned.

He clenched his hand tightly as if he wanted to grab that pair of hands, but he let go in the end, unable to catch anything. He wasn’t able to give her the things she wanted... so what could he do if he caught her?

He raised his head, his Adam’s apple bobbing, and then he covered his face with his hands. His face was dark with little semblance of his past self.

“I’m sorry, Xia Ruoxin...” His lips moved as he said hoarsely. The words disappeared by his ears quickly. It was the apology he always wanted to say, but he was always reluctant to say.

He wanted to make up for all the wrongs he had done to her, but she might not need it anymore.

The night was silent, and the heart cold.

Xia Ruoxin sat up suddenly in her big bed. Her forehead was full of sweat. She reached a hand out to her forehead, feeling the dampness of her hair. Her fingers moved down, and she felt the stream of cold water on her face. She was crying. Why was she crying again? She lowered her hand and turned around to look at Rainy, who was lying beside her.

She was sleeping soundly, her long eyelashes like hers. However, her nose was higher, and her eyes were a darker shade. Perhaps these were the only traits that resembled that man? She put a hand on her daughter’s small face.

“Rainy, is this the right thing to do?” She rubbed her face gently against her daughter’s. She should be hating the man, but she couldn’t do it. Her heart clenched slightly. They were supposed to be happy, but why did things become this way?

“Rainy, let’s forget him, okay? Because he is bad, and he made us suffer so much so we don’t need him anymore.

“We will be fine together with your daddy Gao Yi...” Her voice broke.

She raised her head again and wiped away her tears with the back of her hand. She laid down and hugged Rainy in her arms.

The night was still silent.

...

In the hospital, in Gao Yi’s office, Rainy’s eyes were welling up with tears. Her lips pursed as she held her doll in her arms. A red dot appeared faintly on her arm.

“How was it? Daddy’s injections don’t hurt, do they?” Gao Yi rubbed Rainy’s soft hair. It was time for her to get vaccinated; otherwise, her immune system would be poor. He was a doctor himself so he couldn’t possibly let other doctors do it for her.

Rainy shook her head. “Daddy lied. It hurts.”

“It hurts now, but in the future, you won’t get ill.” Xia Ruoxin said as she let Rainy sit on her lap. It was no wonder the child would cry. She had received two injections in a row. When she saw the needles piercing into her daughter’s arm, she felt her arm hurting, too.

Gao Yi took out another syringe. It was already the third one.