The Reluctant Bride Book II Chapter 136

Who?

It was the first time Gu Jiao Wu heard Gu Jiao Mai spoke down to him.

‘I rarely thought about Liang Hao Cheng during the time Du Lei Xin and I were together,’ Gu Jiao Mai said.

‘Then why would Lei Xin accuse you?’ Gu Jiao Wu asked.

‘There were many things that stopped me agreeing to be with Du Lei Xin at the start,’ Gu Jiao Mai said. ‘I’m older than Du Lei Xin, my legs and Liang Hao Cheng dying to save me. But I’m flesh and bones too. Slowly I began to believe Du Lei Xin loved me because of everything he did for me.’

Gu Jiao Mai didn’t regret being with Du Lei Xin even if it was a lie, because he did make her happy.

‘Liang Hao Cheng’s parents called me on Liang Hao Cheng’s anniversary,’ Gu Jiao Mai said. ‘It was the first year I forgot Liang Hao Cheng’s anniversary. It was also the night I found out I was pregnant. I felt guilty for forgetting. Liang Hao Cheng’s parents drove me to the cemetery. I asked Liang Hao Cheng to forgive me for forgetting, and I told him how happy I was to have a baby with Du Lei Xin. But Du Lei Xin was waiting for hours for me at home to eat dinner together. I left my phone at home, and I received miss calls from Du Lei Xin. When I called Du Lei Xin, I only had a chance to say I went to visit Liang Hao Cheng, and Du Lei Xin hung up on me. I thought I could tell Du Lei Xin the good news, and clear his misunderstanding about me not being able to accept his love in the morning.’

Gu Jiao Mai was happy she could walk even a little with crutches. The exercise helped keep her mind busy.

‘I thought Du Lei Xin would always be faithful to me,’ Gu Jiao Mai said. ‘Big brother, I was wrong. When I saw him in bed with another woman, I found out how much I did love him, which was why I was hurting more than when Liang Hao Cheng died.’

‘Jiao Mai, if you love Lei Xin, forgive him for hurting you and give him another chance,’ Gu Jiao Wu said. ‘What you saw that morning was a misunderstanding. Lei Xin didn’t sleep with another woman. He drank because he misunderstood you didn’t love him, and he only slept when he got home. Jiao Mai, ask your heart if you love Lei Xin or Liang Hao Cheng more.’

‘I can say four years ago I loved Liang Hao Cheng and I wanted to marry Liang Hao Cheng,’ Gu Jiao Mai said. ‘Now I can say the man I love was Du Lei Xin. Du Lei Xin’s love is the slow burn kind of love, I didn’t see coming. Liang Hao Cheng now only has a faint corner of my heart.’

‘Jiao Mai, if you and Lei Xin love each other then you should give Lei Xin another chance,’ Gu Jiao Wu said.

‘What about you?’ Gu Jiao Mai. ‘Tan Yuan loves you, and you love Tan Yuan. Why didn’t you marry Tan Yuan? Why did Tan Yuan leave you? You say Du Lei Xin is the man who loves me the most in the world. But do you understand how much Tan Yuan loves you?’

Cheng Ting Yu walked into the room, and interrupted Gu Jiao Wu and Gu Jiao Mai’s conversation to call them to eat dinner.

Gu Jiao Wu didn’t want to eat dinner. He drove to the apartment he bought for Qiao Tan Yuan. He had hung up their portraits on the wall of their bedroom, and he kept their photo alb.u.ms in the drawers of their bedside tables.

The lighting in the bedroom was dim. But Gu Jiao Wu could still see Qiao Tan Yuan smiling at him in the photo alb.u.ms.

Gu Jiao Mai’s words affected Gu Jiao Wu, ‘Do you understand how much Tan Yuan loves you?’

Then Gu Jiao Wu remembered Qiao Tan Yuan cried when Cheng Yi shot him, ‘Jiao Wu, you can’t die.’

Gu Jiao Wu realised that day was the first time Qiao Tan Yuan cried in front of him. During their first marriage, no matter what hurtful words he said to her, she didn’t cry in front of him. She didn’t cry when they were trapped in the elevator, she only held his hand and begged him to save Xiao Bao.

Gu Jiao Wu picked up his phone, and he looked at how happy Qiao Tan Yuan and Xiao Bao looked in the photo without him in their lives. Qiao Tan Yuan could live happily without him, but he couldn’t live happily without Qiao Tan Yuan and Xiao Bao in his life.

The day Gu Jiao Wu read Chu Da’s diary, like how Liang Hao Cheng had a faint corner in Gu Jiao Mai’s heart, he discovered Chu Da had a faint corner of his heart. He loved Chu Da four years ago, but four years later the woman he loved was Qiao Tan Yuan.

End of Chapter 136