Chapter 12
Edward Quan ·
hell does that make me?”
His voice dropped lower.
“Just a man who happened to be willing to marry you? Someone who only had to stand up there to complete your wedding?”
My chest tightened.
“It isn’t like that.”
“Then what is it?” He stepped closer. “You say you love me, but even your wedding venue is full of him. I’m a person too, Shen Wangshu. Why should I finish what a dead man couldn’t?”
I said nothing.
For the first time in four years, he was expressing his hurt plainly.
He had every reason to be angry, every right to ask why I hadn’t told him what this wedding meant.
I should not have concealed it.
But I also realized that our problems had never ended there.
“Shiye,” I said softly, “I accept that I was wrong to hide it. But when Yingqiao said those things today, did you understand why I was hurt?”
He frowned.
“You’re still dragging her into this?”
“She knew Cheng’an had died, and she joked about the wedding we never had.”
“She doesn’t know what happened between you!”
“She does. I told her myself that my fiancé died.” I looked at him. “I only asked her to remove that part. She refused, so I suggested another speaker. Was that unreasonable?”
He had no answer.
After a while, he irritably loosened his collar.
“She said she didn’t mean it.”
“I know.”
“Then what more do you want?”
Looking at him, I suddenly had no words left.
For eight months, our arguments had followed this pattern. I said I was hurt. He said someone hadn’t meant it. I tried to explain. He snapped that I was making a fuss.
Peace always required my apology.
I suddenly asked:
“Xue Shiye, if Yingqiao hadn’t said that today, would you have canceled the wedding?”
He looked startled.
“Of course not.”
“And afterward?”
“After what?”
“After we married. If something displeased you, would you threaten divorce?”
His face fell.
“Do you really have to think so badly of me?”
I said no more.
He still wouldn’t tell me that I would never face that threat again.
—
### 11
He dropped onto the sofa. A long time passed before he spoke.
“I can let today’s incident go.”
I looked up. His expression finally eased a little.
“The wedding’s canceled. We’ll rearrange it. Another date. Another venue.”
My fingertips curled faintly.
“I don’t want this happening in our lives again. I’m not asking you to forget Xu Cheng’an. But don’t compare me to him. And don’t make me feel… like I’m filling the space he left.”
This time, he hadn’t simply erupted in anger. I could hear that he wanted more than another fight.
Two years ago, I might have been overjoyed.
Back then, when we disagreed, we were still willing to sit and listen.