Because I Cannot Hurt You

Liao Yun only laughed. "Who made me a monster, Yueqin? You. If I hadn't met you and fell so madly for you, none of this would have happened."

Her knuckles cracked. "You are shameless, Liao Yun! Even at this point, you rather blame me than finding faults in yourself!"

"Doesn't matter what you say, Yueqin. Since things have come to this stage, I need to get you out of this country until things settle down. Your one mistake ruined everything."

She stiffened.

He smiled. "Don't be so afraid. It won't be for long. This time…I will make sure to end the root problem once and for all. You felt weak and vulnerable because I left them alive. But now, you won't have any place to return to."

He grabbed her arm. "Let's go. My private jet is waiting for you."

She tried to shake off her hand. "Liao Yun! I am not going anywhere! Leave me!"

He ignored her protests and dragged her out of his base. As he stepped out, his whole body froze like a block of ice.

Instead of his men guarding the entrance, they were nowhere to be seen. Their posts were empty. In their place, the area was surrounded with men in black clothes with their faces covered in black masks. 𝐟re𝐞w𝐞𝒃𝓃𝒐𝐯𝚎𝒍.c૦𝚖

One look was enough to tell Liao Yun that they weren't regular men. They belonged to the Underworld. They remained silent and stern in their positions.

His expression turned icy. "Who are you? How dare you surround my base?"

A tall figure, clad in a jet black business suit and black shirt with a frosty countenance that made Liao Yun's expression seem pale in comparison, calmly stepped forward amidst his men. "Going somewhere, Liao Yun? You seem to be in a rush."

The deep voice was laced with a sinister ring to it. The whole atmosphere seemed to turn still.

Liao Yun widened his eyes. "Y-You…What are you doing here, Liu Jinhai?"

His dark gaze sized him up and down. "What do you think I am doing? Take a guess."

He awkwardly smiled. "Why have your men surrounded my base? Where are my guards?"

"Take a guess." f𝐫ee𝘄ℯ𝚋no𝐯𝐞l.c𝘰m

His brow twitched in annoyance. But he was a powerful figure - the leader of the Underworld to be precise. He couldn't act disrespectful.

"I don't understand what is going on…"

Somehow Liao Yun got a bad feeling creeping inside him like a worm who slithers on the skin.

"You understand very well what is going on," this time it was An Guoting who had spoken. He saw Liao Yun harshly grabbing into An Yueqin's arm. Heat rushed up to his head, and he charged forward, punching him in the face.

"That's my wife you are touching, you fucking bastard!" His nostrils flared.

He gently pulled An Yueqin to his side, and hastily checked her from head to toe. "Are you hurt anywhere?"

She slowly shook her head. Feeling relieved, he hugged her into his embrace. An Yueqin was stupefied for a moment. But her shaking arms hugged him back as tears filled her eyes.

"Ssh. Don't cry. You are my strong Yueqin. You don't cry. You make the bad people cry."

She chuckled. "You still remember that?"

With a warm smile he answered, "I never forgot a single thing you said or did," he pouted. "Unlike a certain someone who pretended to forget her husband. My heart is terribly hurt."

She buried her face in his chest. "I am sorry."

"I need more compensation than that."

"Okay."

Liao Yun, who finally came to his senses, was stunned seeing An Guoting. "What is going on here!? Give her back to me! An Guoting, you…take your hands off her-"

He sharply kicked Liao Yun in his abdomen, making him puke blood.

"You…I won't take this humiliation!"

An Guoting spoke through his clenched jaw. "You will have to bear a lot more than just these measly kicks and punches. I will make you rot in hell for imprisoning my wife for all these years! I will fucking kill you!"

He sneered. "What wife are you talking about, An Guoting? Your wife is An Meiying, who you married hardly a few years after your daughter was born. Now, you are acting as if you are Yueqin's husband? Hah!"

"I don't have to act because I am. As for Meiying, she isn't my wife anymore. I had already completed my divorce formalities with her soon after she was arrested. But you kept this fact from Yueqin, didn't you?"

He stiffened.

"You wanted her to believe that I am still happily married. There was no reason to entangle herself with me. As for marrying Meiying, I only did it to give Caihong a mother's love. We never had any intimate relations. We didn't even sleep in the same room. She wanted a father for Shuang, and I wanted a mother for Caihong. It was on my terms that we won't ever have any physical relationship, and she had agreed to it."

An Yueqin trembled. At first, she was indeed slightly hurt to know that he got married even if she guessed the reason behind it. But now his words sounded so sweet to her ears that she felt like melting. It was as if all the anguish in her heart had dissipated like steam.

If An Guoting wanted to, he could have slept with An Meiying. It wasn't anything wrong for a married couple. But his gesture of staying emotionally and physically loyal to An Yueqin even after her 'death' deeply touched her heart.

The panic in Liao Yun finally set in. He glanced at Jinhai for help. "Liu Jinhai, w-why are you on his side!? I am being framed here! Yueqin is mine, but he is taking her away from me! Do something!"

Jinhai was unaffected by his screams and cries. "I choose sides very carefully, Liao Yun. You don't need to tell me what I should do," his cold voice made his hair tingle.

"Right now, you should be worrying more about getting me on your bad side," he narrowed his eyes.

Liao Yun hesitated and nervously laughed. "What did I do?"

"Apart from forcibly keeping a woman by your side for so many years? I have a long list of underworld rules you have broken. Where should I begin?"