Shen Xubai gazed at Gu Wanqing in silence. The only sounds in the room were their rapid breaths and the occasional whoosh of vehicles passing by outside the window. Tears streamed down Gu Wanqing's face like severed pearls, each drop shimmering with fractured light under the lamp's glow. Her confession had struck Shen Xubai's heart like a series of relentless blows from an invisible hammer, leaving him reeling and disoriented. He struggled to organize his thoughts, but his mind was a maelstrom of confusion. Love and hate, sincerity and deceit, intertwined, blurring the lines of distinction. He deeply cherished the woman before him. Their shared past was replete with tender memories, and he had come to regard her as an indispensable part of his life. Yet, she had confessed that it all bega

