Chapter 157: They Were Never Two People
Wang Gege turned toward the door, ready to leave the chamber, when Xie Rong suddenly reached out and grabbed her arm, stopping her.
"Let us speak." He swallowed hard, moistening his lips, his gaze fixed upon her with barely concealed panic. "We must resolve every misunderstanding between us... I beg of you..."
Wang Gege looked down at his hand around her arm before slowly raising her gaze toward him.
"There is no misunderstanding." Her voice was quiet, yet firm. "There are only things you did, and things I remember."
Xie Rong’s fingers loosened slightly, but he did not release her. "Then let this husband explain."
"What is there to explain?" Wang Gege frowned, completely showing the annoyance all over her face.
"Everything." His voice cracked slightly. "What happened back then, why this husband rejected you, why this husband never came looking for you after you left..."
Wang Gege’s expression changed slightly at his last words.
Xie Rong swallowed hard.
"This husband knows you hate me, but please..." His grip finally loosened completely, though his hand remained near her arm. "At least give this husband one chance to tell you what really happened."
Wang Gege stared and remained silent for a long moment. She wanted to leave... She truly did.
Part of her wanted to stay and hear him out.
After all, she had spent years wondering why Ethan Xu had rejected her so blatantly when she had once been certain that he had feelings for her too. Perhaps there was an explanation she had never known, something that could finally make sense of the past.
But as the thought surfaced, she slowly shook her head.
No.
She did not want to know.
The past was the past.
She had already died once, been given another life, and somehow ended up standing before the very person she had spent years trying to forget. She had thought she could finally leave everything behind, yet the moment she discovered Xie Rong was Ethan Xu, every painful memory she had buried came rushing back as though it had happened yesterday.
She hated that feeling.
She hated remembering the humiliation.
She hated remembering the rejection.
She hated remembering how she had walked away from him and forced herself to stop caring.
Most of all, she hated that even after all these years, those memories could still hurt her.
"I don’t want to hear it." Her voice was quieter than before.
Xie Rong froze.
Wang Gege gently pulled her arm away from his hand.
"Whatever happened back then, it has already happened." She lowered her gaze. "I don’t want to carry it anymore."
"Gege..." Xie Rong tried to stop her.
"Don’t." She shook her head. "I’ve only been here for a little over a month, yet I’ve already been dragged back into everything I thought I had left behind in my previous life."
Her eyes reddened again, but this time she refused to let the tears fall.
"This life is already mine. I don’t want to spend it digging through the past just to find another reason to hurt myself."
Xie Rong’s chest heaved up and down as he struggled to find the right words, desperately searching for something that could make her stay, something that might change her mind.
"Then..." he finally said, his voice becoming softer, "Furen can simply live this life."
He paused, swallowing hard.
"We don’t have to keep thinking about what happened before. We can both forget about our past..." His voice trembled slightly. "And start a new life together."
Wang Gege stared at him. For a moment, she almost wanted to laugh.
Start a new life together?
How easy he made it sound.
As though the years she had spent trying to forget him could simply disappear because they had been given another chance.
"You make it sound so easy." Her voice was quiet.
Xie Rong took a step closer. "It does not have to be easy."
"Then what is it supposed to be?" She looked directly at him. "You want me to forget everything and simply start again with you because we happened to meet in this world?"
Xie Rong’s lips parted. "I am not asking you to forget everything."
"Then what are you asking me to do?" Her eyes slightly widened in anger.
His voice lowered, "Give this husband a chance."
Wang Gege’s expression remained still. "A chance to do what?"
"To love you properly this time." He pressed his lips together for a second before taking a deep breath. "Since you already love—"
"Wait." Wang Gege immediately raised her hand, stopping him as she could already see where the conversation was heading, "I didn’t love you..."
"Furen..." Xie Rong anxiously interrupted, his voice carrying a trace of helplessness. "Lying will not solve this matter. You told this husband before that you had already fallen for me..."
Wang Gege’s expression stiffened. "That was before I knew you were Ethan Xu."
Xie Rong fell silent.
She looked away, refusing to meet his gaze.
"I liked Xie Rong." Her voice became quieter. "I don’t know if I can still like him now that I know who is behind that face."
Xie Rong’s chest tightened. "But I am still Xie Rong."
Wang Gege slowly turned toward him. "Are you?"
The simple question left him speechless, but after a few moments of calming himself, he finally said,
"I believe the one you love is still this husband. Ethan Xu only wears this face, but other than that, this husband is still me..."
She looked at him emptily, "Then how about you? When you confessed your love, was it for me... or for Shen Taotao?"
"Furen..." Xie Rong’s voice rose slightly with irritation. "Isn’t it the same? You are Shen Taotao. The person behind that face is still you... Wang Gege."
Wang Gege stared at him for a long moment. "Exactly."
Xie Rong froze slightly, trying to understand.
"You just said it yourself." Her voice was quiet. "Shen Taotao is me, because Wang Gege is behind her face."
She pointed lightly toward him, "Then Ethan Xu is you, because Ethan Xu is behind Xie Rong’s face."
Xie Rong fell silent.
"So don’t ask me to pretend that Ethan Xu and Xie Rong are two different people simply because I liked one and hated the other." Her eyes reddened, "They are both you."
She swallowed hard, "And that is exactly why I don’t know what to do with these feelings anymore."
Xie Rong’s expression softened. "Furen..."
"I liked you when you were Xie Rong." She looked at him. "But I hated you when you were Ethan Xu." Her voice trembled. "And now I have found out that they were never two people."