Chapter 652: Figure that out by yourself!
Xinyue made a face. "I didn't have to learn about romance. I was dedicated to my job. Romance was a waste of time for me. As a spy, I was more interested in finding information, not love."
That's why you are so hopeless, Ruiling thought.
"So if you were so dedicated to your job, when did you…" she coughed, "when did you start l-liking me?"
Xinyue thought back to it. "Around the time when I was undercover at the base as one of your cousin's guards. When I came to look out for Lihua."
She stiffened and widened her eyes.
Wait, that long back? Doesn't it mean that he had feelings for me during the time I had Shen Yang in my life?
She stared at him, flabbergasted.
"What?"
"When you first came to our house? Doesn't that mean from the beginning? When Sh-Shen Yang and I…" her heart drummed rapidly in her chest.
"Pretty much, I guess?"
"Then why didn't you do anything!?" She burst with impatience.
The other customers gave her a quiet, frowning look, and she immediately straightened up.
Xinyue tilted his head. "What was I supposed to do anyway?"
Ruiling couldn't believe she was talking to him. "Don't we do something when we are in love? I mean, you never a-approached me…"
"Of course, I didn't. You should understand. Firstly, I was on a job and that was to find out how Lihua was doing after your cousin simply took her away and made her disappear all of a sudden."
Ruiling coughed.
"That was my primary job. Not falling in love. Love was not my agenda. Lihua was. So, I just didn't pay any attention to it."
"..."
"How is it possible? I know you had a task to do, but love is different. It's not like you can control your emotions."
"I do admit it was frustrating for me at times. I always wanted to kill Shen Yang for being so close to you. I had once thought of secretly dumping him into the ocean," Xinyue said unfazed.
Her jaw dropped but a moment later, her cheeks heated up, realizing that Xinyue felt jealous. She failed to imagine how Xinyue would have handled his feelings for more than a year, especially when she dated Shen Yang. He might not look like it, but she knew that that phase would have hurt him terribly. Who wouldn't be to see the love of their life loving someone else?
"Secondly," Xinyue continued. "You were in love with Shen Yang. Do you expect me to kidnap you from him or something? At that time, I didn't know that he was secretly a spy for Jiang Zhen. Otherwise, I would have ended his sorry life ages ago."
Ruiling remembered how Xinyue had taken her away during the time when Jiang Zhen took control of the Underworld.
She didn't know how to face anymore now that she knew he had feelings for her for a long time. She lowered her head, biting her lower lip.
Xinye lifted her chin with his finger and stared straight into her gaze. "You don't have to look guilty. They were my feelings, my choice, and it had nothing to do with you. So stop with the tears. You look ugly."
"..."
Their coffee and sandwiches order arrived, and they quietly dug in. Ruiling just took a small bite and then asked, "Th-then…"
Xinyue glanced at her, already finishing his one piece of sandwich.
"..."
He eats so fast…
She came back to her question. "When I learned Shen Yang's truth, why didn't you…say anything at that time?"
"What should I say? You were already devastated by his betrayal. I couldn't just barge in and confess my feelings out of nowhere."
"B-But it has been more than a year."
Xinyue chuckled. "I was giving you time to heal. I wanted you to move on from him. I didn't say anything, but I frequently visited you after everything got settled so that you don't get any time to think about him and eventually forget about him."
Ruiling gasped.
That was why he often came to the villa?
"You said you came to meet bro and cousin for work!"
"Naturally, that was my excuse. You were my real intention. So, it's not like I stayed quiet. I was just waiting for my chance when I could confidently come out with my feelings. I had no intention of letting you slip out of my hand twice and see you falling for some other man in the future. If there is a man, then it must be me."
Ruiling blushed hard. She accused him of not being romantic but then what was this when he was so smoothly making her heart beat faster like butter?
"W-wait! So why did you always act so mean to me when I lived in the Cheng residence during those months?" She glared at him. "Shouldn't you be happy that the woman you love is living under one roof with you?"
Xinyue sneered. "Well, you were acting like an idiot at times, especially when it concerned Shen Yang. I don't tolerate silly behavior, whoever it is. Do you ever see me sparing Lihua? She is my sister but if she acts silly, then I will taunt her. That's my right. Same with Dad or Aunt Zhang."
"..."
"I was just waiting for my chance. It came unexpectedly today when I kissed you, but I felt I had to do it today even if confessing wasn't in my plan. I wanted to completely uproot that bastard from your heart once and for all."
Ruiling trembled. She couldn't stop the bullet train speed of fluttering sensations flying everywhere in her heart. She took a deep breath to calm herself.
Xinyue put the coffee mug down and said as he sat straight. "So now that you know my feelings, will you be my girlfriend?"
"..."
Ruiling was speechless. "Is that how you ask someone to be your girlfriend?"
"What is wrong in asking?" He was confused.
"Not asking but HOW you are asking!" She harrumphed. "How can you ask me such an important thing in a cafe and in that monotone voice?"
"What is wrong with the cafe and my voice?"
She felt like banging her head on the wall.
She grabbed her purse and got up. Glaring at him, she said, "Figure that out by yourself!" She walked away, clicking her heels in anger.
Xinyue furrowed his brow and didn't understand what went wrong.
"I love her, and I told her. What did I do wrong?" He seriously pondered. Then he sighed and leaned back on his seat. "Women are so complicated. That's why I didn't want to fall in love."
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