Chapter 56: Unbearable to Look Back

er the shower for a long time, Zhou Guangtao's clothes were drenched. Wearing them made him very uncomfortable, so he took off his wet clothes and put on a robe instead.Once he had calmed down, Zhou G...Chapter Fifty-Six: Unbearable to Look Back Upon

When the busy Zhou Guangtao was preparing them, how much thought did he put into it at that time What kind of feelings did he have.

Yan Luoxi sadly thought about this. And she ultimately ended up betraying him. The idea that all is lost surged in her mind.

These years, on the difficult and hesitant journey of walking alone, she had exhausted her strength with unwavering perseverance, only to seek a harbor for happiness. But no matter how much she persevered or how far she ran, no matter how beautiful the scenery along the way was, nor how much she longed and hoped for it, in the end, she realized that the harbor of love she had arrived at was a place she dared not stay and could not stay.

Fate had never been kind to her.

In the silent surroundings, Li An's malicious words buzzed in Yan Luoxi's ears like they were about to burst through them.

"Six years ago, when she was only sixteen, our relationship was already intimate...

""Zhou Guangtao, I got to know Yan Luoxi before you did. We are deeply entangled and intimately affectionate with each other, while all you two have done is hold hands under the moonlight..."

"I am telling you, Zhou Guangtao, Yan Luoxi and I were already talking about marriage and would be registering our marriage soon. You have no right to take her away..."

Looking at everything before her that she could not bear to part with, Yan Luoxi felt even angrier, more despairing, and sadder. The long-accumulated dark hatred towards Li An in a certain corner of her heart seemed to have been completely untangled by some deft hands.

Her hatred and resentment toward Li An reached its peak at this moment; she wished she could immediately jump up, grab a knife, kill Li An, and dismember him piece by piece.

It was he who had destroyed all her happiness and made it impossible for her to even muster the courage to stay in such an enticing place.

Yan Luoxi felt sad and dejected. She didn't know how long Zhou Guangtao had waited with great effort for her arrival, yet she was destined to disappoint him. Tears flowed down her face uncontrollably; no one in this world knew of the good man she had disappointed.

She did not dare to stay too long in this bedroom, where everything made her yearn and feel reluctant to leave. It robbed her of the courage to leave Zhou Guangtao. She went to the bathroom again to wash her face; the cool water helped clear her mind a little.

In the mirror, she saw desolate eyebrows and melancholy eyes. She tried hard to pull up the corners of her mouth, but the person in the mirror only managed a bitter smile that looked even worse than crying. Yan Luoxi put on the skirt she had been wearing before and left.

Zhou Guangtao was busy in the kitchen not far away. The open-plan kitchen was steamy; his actions were smooth and well-organized. Standing beside him, Yan Luoxi watched until her mind was lost again.

Such a warm home, such a good man—everything she loved was right before her eyes yet could no longer be within her grasp.

"Luoxi, sit down and wait there. We can eat soon." Zhou Guangtao's voice reached her from afar; he had noticed Yan Luoxi standing in a daze when he turned his head.

Yan Luoxi obediently went to sit on the sofa in the living room without a word, not even turning on the TV. She just turned her head to look out of the window.

Zhou Guangtao, while cooking, occasionally glanced at her and noticed the delicate curve of her side profile and her fair and gentle face. Her expression as she looked out the window seemed incredibly focused; she wouldn't even blink for a long time. She exuded an air of melancholy and tranquility that was unlike her usually lively and passionate self.

Zhou Guangtao had been cooking meals for Yan Luoxi since he was young, and his speed in the kitchen had always been fast, with food ready to be served in no time. However, his culinary skills had improved significantly compared to when he was a child.

With her mind preoccupied, Yan Luoxi looked at the four appetizing dishes on the table—tender ginger shredded meat, spicy lotus root, oil-fried Chinese cabbage with mushrooms, and bitter gourd egg omelet—all of which were her favorites. Despite how appealing they were to her taste buds, she had no appetite.

Zhou Guangtao was clearly more composed than her at this moment; his face showed no particular emotion except for a gentle smile as he lightly patted Yan Luoxi's shoulder. "Be good and sit down to eat first. Only when our stomachs are full will we have the energy to talk about matters."

Yan Luoxi took a deep breath, sat down, and started eating attentively without daring to look at Zhou Guangtao once. A few bites of the spicy dish ignited her appetite; she hadn't eaten properly for days. With an improved appetite, Zhou Guangtao served her three bowls in succession but dared not serve more.

After finishing a full meal, one tends to feel lazy and emotionally better. Yan Luoxi felt physically and mentally at ease, yet seeing Zhou Guangtao's smile made her melancholy resurface.

This wonderful man would ultimately belong to someone else.

Zhou Guangtao efficiently cleared the table of leftovers and prepared a cup of jasmine tea for each of them. He always said that Yan Luoxi's eyes were the most beautiful, bright and expressive like they could speak, thus requiring special care. As such, it was his habit to serve her jasmine tea whenever they were together.

Seeing Zhou Guangtao sit in front of her, Yan Luoxi knew that it was time for her to accept the judgment of fate and confess frankly. She clenched the teacup tightly with both hands, turning her knuckles pale.

Gazing at the white tea leaves swirling in the cup, Yan Luoxi’s mind wandered back a few years ago. With a calm yet hoarse voice, she began to recount that painful past to Zhou Guangtao.

Those past events, those memories she had forcefully sealed away—there was a time when she thought she had forgotten them all. But then Li An suddenly appeared, catching everyone off guard, and the past resurfaced vividly. As she recounted each event one by one now, she realized that the pain remained as sharp as ever; it never left her.

The air inside the room was heavy and oppressive. Zhou Guangtao had some psychological preparation for this matter beforehand, but he did not feel as agitated or angry as expected while listening to Yan Luoxi's account step by step.

He clasped his hands on his lap, lowering his head to look at the teacup in front of him without speaking. He seemed indifferent to what Yan Luoxi was saying, but he heard every word and every sentence clearly.

The further back Yan Luoxi went with her story, the harder it became for her to remain calm, her pace quickening as she grew more agitated emotionally.

Once something like this started, no one could control its course. It was like a river flowing eastward unstoppable. Once the events between Yan Luoxi and Li An were exposed, there would be no going back for anyone or anything.

Or perhaps this matter itself was solely maintained by Yan Luoxi's efforts to keep it hidden; once the surface calm was breached, a long-repressed torrent of uncontrollable anger and pain would erupt.

Zhou Guangtao listened immovably as Yan Luoxi poured out her tale. By the end, he felt his clasped hands going numb, every joint in his body creaking stiffly with each movement. Luoxi's questioning, cold sweat dripped from Fang Jianghai's body uncontrollably as he dared not answer.Upon hearing that He Yufan accompanied Fang Jianghai for the sake of helping Zhou Guangtao, Yan...