Thẩm Diên Tri leaned down and kissed my forehead, his voice deep and hoarse from just waking up.
“Did you sleep well last night?”
I was like a startled fawn, then obediently nodded.
If it were before, I might have resisted, but he had used three weeks to teach me a lesson.
Obedience was all that was needed.
He took my arm, which was resting by my side, and delightedly threaded his fingers through mine, intertwining them.
He leaned against me, smiling softly as he looked at me with tenderness.
“You didn’t throw away my ring this time, did you?”
…..
His ring was the diamond ring I wore on my ring finger.
Before that, there had been two others. One I hid in the refrigerator, and the other I threw into the pond in the garden downstairs.
I temporarily didn't want to recall the consequences of those two rings, but the consequence of the third one was probably this:
I had to be with him, the person I had once feared the most.
Marry him.
2
I loved the time I spent soaking in the bathtub. Because I didn't have to face him, nor would I recall any terrifying memories.
But as I stared blankly at my upper body in the bathtub reflected in the mirror opposite, the hazy mist obscured some of the scars on my body.
My eyes were red-rimmed as I looked at myself in the mirror.
Until Thẩm Diên Tri slowly knocked on the door and called out to me.
“Why are you taking so long to bathe?”
“If you don’t come out, I’m coming in.”
…..
It wasn't as if he hadn't entered the bathroom without a word before, so I immediately turned off the shower and wrapped myself in a towel.
…..
Breakfast was already on the dining table as usual, but Thẩm Diên Tri probably didn't have time to eat.
The morning news was playing on the TV, and his slender, clean fingers deftly tied his tie.
Noticing me watching him, he leaned down and rubbed his nose against mine.
“Like what you see? Next time, you can tie it for me.”
I turned my face away. But he didn't seem to mind, smiling softly. He then took the glass of milk I had been drinking from and sipped from the very spot my lips had touched.
“Be good, wait for me to come back.”
“I’ll take you to see wedding dresses.”
3
Thẩm Diên Tri left. I stared blankly at the TV for a while.
Then I picked up the glass he had just drunk from, raised it, and threw it at the TV.
The TV shook slightly, and the glass shattered into pieces on the floor. As for me, I curled up, hugging myself, and sat there crying.
…..
Thẩm Diên Tri had once been my nightmare.
In high school, among all those who bullied me, he was the cruelest.
He, from his lofty position, threw all the books from my bag down to the floor below.
He had also made his friends ostracize me. At his instigation, those girls dragged me into the restroom and slapped me.
As long as he was leading the bullying, no one dared to help me.
Because Thẩm Diên Tri was the son of the owner of some large corporation.
Our school had a building that his family had donated.
He led those who mocked me; back then, bullying me even became a trend in class.
I heard that his face was even the dream of many girls.
But for me, it was a nightmare that tormented me, making it impossible for me to sleep.
Such a person. Yet, seven years after graduation, he said he wanted to marry me.
4
I couldn't change my habit of trembling hands whenever I met Thẩm Diên Tri.
Even though I had been sharing a bed with him for three weeks now.
No one helped me. When my mother learned that the person who wanted to marry me was Thẩm Diên Tri, she was so happy she lit incense to inform our ancestors.
Thẩm Diên Tri seemed to have changed cars again; the back compartment of this car was very spacious.
But I didn't like cars with spacious backseats.
The partition between us was up; no one knew what he and I were doing behind it.
But Shen Yanzhi was quieter than usual today.
Perhaps seeing me constantly trembling, he turned up the car's heater, but I still shivered.
He paid no mind to my reaction, pulling me into his embrace.
"Khanh Khanh, why are you so frightened?"
The man's deep voice was in my ear, and clearly, he knew who had made me this way.
"Later, I'll take you to pick out a wedding dress, alright?"
I suppressed my trembling little by little, then let out a mocking laugh.
Who would have thought that the man who had, step by step, pushed me into the abyss,
would now suggest taking me to try on wedding dresses, in such a warm and gentle voice?