"Did you mean it?"
Mo Shian's question was spoken quietly, but Xia Weiwei could hear the uncertainty hidden beneath his calm voice.
His fingers were intertwined with hers, yet his hold was loose, as though he was afraid she would pull away if he held her too tightly.
The happiness and amusement that had filled the room slowly disappeared.
Weiwei looked into his ocean-blue eyes and felt a sharp pain in her heart.
She had spent the past few days showing him affection, inviting him back into their bedroom, sharing meals with him, going on dates, and publicly acknowledging their marriage.
However, two months of pain could not be erased by a few happy days.
Moreover, in Mo Shian's memories, she had changed suddenly.
One day, she had treated him like an enemy and wanted nothing to do with him. The next day, she had begun smiling at him, calling him intimately, and claiming she wanted to protect their marriage.
Anyone would be suspicious.
Mo Shian had accepted her change because he loved her and desperately wanted to believe it was real, but that did not mean his fear had disappeared.
Weiwei tightened her fingers around his hand.
"Yes, I meant it."
Her voice was firm and clear. There was no drunken confusion in her eyes this time.
"You are my husband. You are the only man who has the right to touch me intimately, and I will never betray you."
Mo Shian's eyes remained fixed on her face.
"Even if Shen Hao…"
"There is nothing between Shen Hao and me," Weiwei interrupted before he could finish. "There has never been anything between us. I treated him like a friend and an older brother, but I was wrong about his character."
She had already told Mo Shian that Xinya had tried to destroy their marriage, but she knew that Shen Hao was another thorn buried inside his heart.
In their previous life, she had worsened everything by refusing to explain herself.
When Mo Shian asked whether Shen Hao was her lover, she had deliberately claimed that he was. She had said those cruel words because she was angry and wanted to hurt him.
She would never repeat that mistake.
"I don't love Shen Hao," she continued. "I have never loved him. If he or anyone else tells you otherwise, ask me directly. Don't carry the pain by yourself."
Mo Shian's expression changed slightly.
"What if I ask and you become angry?"
"Then let me be angry."
Weiwei moved closer to him.
"Even if I become angry, you should still ask. I would rather we argue and resolve the matter than let someone else tell us what the other person supposedly thinks."
Mo Shian lowered his eyes to their intertwined hands.
Weiwei could tell that he was remembering all the things Xinya had told him.
She lifted her free hand and touched his face.
"And I promise to do the same. If I hear something about you or misunderstand your actions, I will ask you. I won't listen to someone else and punish you without giving you a chance to explain."
Mo Shian leaned his cheek against her palm.
"I wouldn't betray you either."
"I know."
"You say that so confidently."
"Because I know what kind of man you are."
Mo Shian studied her face.
"Two months ago, you believed that I married you because Grandfather forced me."
Weiwei felt a stab of guilt.
"I was foolish."
"Why did you believe it?"
"Because it came from someone I trusted. Xinya kept saying that you only treated me well because you were afraid of losing your position as CEO. The more you tried to prove that you loved me, the more she convinced me that you were acting out of guilt."
Even now, Weiwei could not understand how she had believed such ridiculous reasoning.
She had allowed Xinya to interpret everything Mo Shian did.
When he gave her gifts, Xinya claimed he was buying her silence.
When he treated her gently, Xinya said he felt guilty.
When he moved into the guest room, following Xinya's own advice, she said it proved he no longer wanted Weiwei.
No matter what Mo Shian did, Xinya twisted it into evidence against him.
"I should have asked you," Weiwei said. "If I had spoken to you instead of believing her, none of this would have happened."
"Would you have believed me?"
The question made Weiwei fall silent.
If she had confronted him in her previous life, would she have listened to his explanation?
Or would she have believed that his denial was another lie?
"I don't know," she admitted honestly. "I was too convinced that Xinya wanted what was best for me. But I know better now."
"What made you realize it?"
The question finally came.
Weiwei had known Mo Shian would ask eventually. Her transformation was too sudden. Even if he accepted it, he would naturally want to understand what caused it.
She could not tell him that she had watched him die.
She could not explain that she had stood at the edge of a cliff after discovering that Xinya and Shen Hao had caused their miserable marriage, hired the people who killed him, and stolen everything he left behind.
Even if Mo Shian believed her, telling him about his death would only burden him with memories that did not belong to this life.
At least, she was not ready yet.
Weiwei lowered her hand from his face.
"I discovered that Xinya wanted you for herself. I also realized that several things she told me didn't make sense."
"That cannot be all."
Mo Shian knew his wife.
She could sometimes be naïve, but she was not good at concealing her emotions. There was sorrow in her eyes that did not belong to a simple discovery about her stepsister.
"Last night at dinner, you looked at me as though you had almost lost me."
Weiwei's fingers trembled.
Mo Shian noticed.
"Your nightmares are also about me, aren't they?"
Weiwei raised her head sharply.
"You knew?"
"You call my name in your sleep."