PART 59

After a few minutes, Yibo and Gu Wei arrived at their destination, riding in a taxi. Gu Wei was surprised when they got out and what greeted him was a huge house—no, a mansion. He scanned the surroundings and then looked at Yibo. "Whose house is this?" he asked, puzzled. Yibo smiled at him. "It's my house. Come on, let's go inside. It's cold here," Yibo said. Noticing that Gu Wei still wasn't moving from where he stood, Yibo approached him and whispered.

"Do you want me to carry you inside? I don't mind," he asked playfully, grinning. Gu Wei shot him a look before walking as if he owned the place. Yibo could only chuckle as he followed him.

When they entered, Gu Wei was surprised to be greeted by five helpers. He turned to Yibo, as if silently asking how they knew they were coming. Yibo just shrugged.

"Do you still want to sleep in the same room?" Yibo teased. "Your house is huge, so why would we share a room? Besides, it's not like you'd have to pay extra if we each took a room," Gu Wei said, hands on his hips.

Eros couldn’t help but smile, noticing how much Ebisu had changed. In the past, Ebisu wouldn’t let a moment pass without acting like baby, which Yibo had always found endearing. "Your room is over there, I’ll bring you some clothes," Yibo said. Gu Wei remained silent and headed to the room Yibo pointed out.

Once Gu Wei was inside, Eros went to his own room and retrieved his phone from the drawer of a small table. He called Jili several times but couldn’t reach him. He was about to try again, but he heard a knock on the door.

Opening it, one of his bodyguards stood before him. "Sir, here’s the pack of cigarettes you asked for. Oh, and I forgot to mention earlier—Sir Jili called. He said he’s coming over with Doctor Mianmian. He also told us to prepare since you might arrive at any time," the bodyguard explained. Yibo nodded in acknowledgment and thanked him.

"If you hear this voice recording, head straight to the hotel where the banquet is being held and get the CCTV footage. I want you to find the man who kissed Zhan's hand," Eros said before leaving a voice note.

Afterward, Eros called the director of his hospital, who answered immediately. "Hello, Yibo. I’m sorry, I wasn’t aware you were rushed here," the director said with concern. Eros smiled. "It's alright. I just wanted to thank the doctor who treated me and for not revealing my condition to my companion," Yibo replied. "Speaking of companions, did you know that the man with you had an altercation at the hospital?" the director asked, causing Yibo’s eyebrows to rise.

"What do you mean?"

"Check out what’s gone viral. It’s a good thing the hospital's name wasn’t mentioned. I only found out when one of the nurses who saw them told me," the director explained. "Okay," Yibo replied before ending the call and opening social media. "Liying?" he muttered, tightening his grip on his phone. He didn’t recognize the face in the post, but the name clearly identified it as Liying involved in the viral incident.

His thoughts were interrupted by another knock on the door. He opened it, surprised to find Gu Wei standing there in a bathrobe. Yibo glanced outside to make sure no one else was around. "I came over because, from the looks of it, you have no intention of bringing the clothes you mentioned," Gu Wei said.

"Sorry," Eros apologized before pulling Gu Wei into his room. "Pick what you want from here; I’m going to take a quick shower," Yibo said. "Oh, by the way, the cigarettes you asked for are on the table," Yibo added before heading into the bathroom.

Gu Wei quickly found the clothes he liked, and after changing, he went downstairs to grab some wine. To his surprise, the helpers were still awake, even though it was already 4 AM. He suddenly felt a pang of guilt. One of the helpers stood up and asked if he needed anything, but Gu Wei stopped them and smiled.

"I can manage. Go ahead and rest. I’ll take care of Yibo," Gu Wei said, then asked where Yibo’s wine was stored. The helpers thanked him, but before leaving, Gu Wei told them they had the day off tomorrow, so they didn’t need to wake up early. "Thank you again, sir. You and Sir Wang are both so kind," they said before heading off.

...

Gu Wei didn’t return to Yibo’s room but went straight to his own. As he smoked, he played with the rim of his glass, unable to stop thinking about everything that was happening. But before his thoughts could deepen, he heard Yibo’s voice outside. "Can I come in? Are you still awake?" Eros asked. Gu Wei walked to the door and opened it. He didn’t invite Eros in, but he left the door wide open, so Yibo followed him inside after closing the door.

"It’s 4 AM. Aren’t you sleepy?" Eros asked, sitting down in a chair. Gu Wei took another drag from his cigarette before answering. "Most of the time, I don’t sleep. But I sleep even less when I have a lot on my mind, sometimes going days without rest," he said, sipping his wine. "What are you thinking about?" Yibo asked, reaching for some wine, but Gu Wei stopped him.

"I don’t think that’s good for you. Drink water instead," Gu Wei said, handing Yibo a glass of water. Gu Wei took another sip of wine before asking, "How do you live not recognizing the faces of the people around you?" This time, Yibo was the one who drank his water. "And if I’m not mistaken, you’ve had brain cancer since we first got married?" Gu Wei paused, looking at Yibo. "That’s probably what you always meant when you said your head hurt, but I thought it was just from lack of sleep," he added.

Eros took a deep breath. "I can’t say my life has been easy. Maybe this is my karma," Yibo began. "When you disappeared, that’s when the headaches started coming more frequently. Sometimes, I forget things easily, but that video of you kissing someone always stays in my mind," Yibo said. Gu Wei remained silent, listening to him.

"For nine months after you disappeared, we found out that you d@ed . I immediately believed Liying when she told me because I was furious with you for leaving us, for abandoning our child to be with the friend you loved. I’ll admit, I made a mistake when you were pr@gnant. Do you remember the time I invited you to our business party? You couldn’t come because you were eight months pr@gnant and having trouble moving. I understood that, so I told you I’d attend and come back as soon as I could because there would be important people there. Liying was there, too. At first, I was surprised, but because she was your sister, I trusted her deeply.

She invited me to drink, and I couldn’t refuse because, as I said, I had great respect for your sister. But I didn’t realize she had different intentions. I don’t know what happened, but the next morning, I woke up with her beside me in bed. I was furious and even punched her—remember the bruise on her lip? That was my doing.

She blackmailed me, threatening to tell you. I was scared because I knew how much you loved your sister."

"Four months after I found out you had died, Liying told me she was pr@gnant. During those four months, my headaches worsened until I was diagnosed with stage 3 brain cancer. I married Liying because I wanted to punish myself. In those four months when I believed you were dead, I realized I couldn’t live without you. Do you know why the only thing I felt was anger when I thought you left us to be with another man? It was because I still held on to the hope that one day, you’d come back to us, that you’d still choose us. Since we were young enough to understand what love meant, we had always been together. Even before we were born, it felt like we were destined for each other. That’s why I couldn’t believe that you wouldn’t come back to us. But even with that thought in my mind, I was still furious at you—to the point where I forgot how much I had wronged you."

Gu Wei couldn’t help but feel conflicted as he listened to Yibo’s words.

"But when I found out you were really gone, all that hope vanished. For four months, I did nothing but blame myself. I couldn’t even bear to hold our child. Then came the day I married Liying, with none of our families attending. But I didn’t get angry because I only got married to punish myself. After the wedding, I didn’t live in Liying’s house. I stayed in the house I had built for us." Eros paused before continuing.

"Fast forward."

"A year after the wedding, I went abroad. When I returned to C, A-Yuan was already five years old." Gu Wei glanced at Eros, looking confused. Eros took a deep breath and, this time, looked straight into Gu Wei’s eyes. "Zhan, I have permanent amnesia. To this day, I have no memory of the people around me, and that includes you."

Gu Wei looked even more confused by Yibo’s words. "Are you joking? If you don’t remember being a part of our lives, does that mean everything you told me about you and Liying was made up?" Gu Wei asked angrily as he stood up, but before he could fully rise, Yibo grabbed his hand.

Eros stood up and gently pulled Gu Wei out of the room. “Where are you taking me?” Gu Wei asked, confused, but Eros didn’t answer. He continued to lead Gu Wei into his own room, heading straight for his wardrobe. He pressed something on the side, causing the wardrobe to split, revealing what seemed to be an ordinary wall. But when Eros placed his hand on it, the wall suddenly opened.

THANK YOU FOR READING IT 💚 ❤️ 🥰