After returning home with the child, her ex-husband knelt down and gently coaxed her.

The living room was brightly lit, and the man sat on the large sofa, a cigarette burning between his fingers but not being smoked.

"Young Master, Miss An is outside the door."

Li Quan stood by the sofa. "Are you really not going to see her? She said she has something she wants to talk to you about in person."

Lu Xiyan parted his thin lips, "So the late-night snack Uncle Quan brought back was her?"

Li Quan smiled and said, "It was just a coincidence. I went out for a walk and found that Miss An seemed to be sick. She didn't look well and said she had something she wanted to talk to you about in person, so I brought her in."

Hearing that she was sick and looked unwell, Lu Xiyan shook the ash off his cigarette.

......

Anning stood outside the villa gate, gazing at the huge, lit window, but couldn't see the man's figure.

A moment later, the door opened, Li Quan came out, and shook his head at her.

"Ms. An, Mr. Lu does not wish to see you. I see you are ill, so I will have the driver take you home to rest."

He sighed softly. He had delivered his message, but the young master seemed to have made a great decision and insisted on not seeing her, so he couldn't say anything more.

Separated by only a wall, An Ning was refused entry by Lu Xiyan.

She stubbornly continued to ring the doorbell, her eyes reddening.

The lights inside the villa suddenly went out, leaving it completely dark.

Seeing her stubbornly pressing the doorbell, Li Quan reminded her, "Ms. An, Mr. Lu is already resting. Why don't you come another day?"

An Ning seemed not to hear her and continued to ring the doorbell.

She couldn't wait until another day; if she didn't say some things now, it would be too late after he got engaged.

The doorbell rang intermittently in the huge villa, breaking the silence of the night, abrupt and jarring.

Li Quan sighed, turned around, and went inside.

He had the will but not the power to interfere with what the young master had decided.

......

The second-floor balcony of the villa was dark, with the lights off.

The man's figure was hidden in the darkness, blending into the inky blackness.

A straight figure stood on the balcony, glancing down at the doorway, his gaze fixed on that stubborn figure.

The white streetlights shone on her as she pressed the doorbell. After a long silence, she seemed tired and sat down against the door, hugging her knees, as if she wasn't going to leave.

His hand gripping the railing tightened suddenly, and Lu Xiyan's eyes churned.

He had already decided to let her go and settle things evenly.

Why did she still come to provoke him?

After a long while, the downstairs door opened again.

When Li Quan left, she stood up and rubbed her numb legs, said something to Li Quan, and he nodded and went back into the house.

A short while later, I heard light footsteps behind me.

"Young Master."

Standing behind the man, Li Quan said, "Miss An asked me to pass on a message to you. She said that if you answer her this question in person, she will never bother you again."

Lu Xiyan looked down at the figure sitting again by the door. "What did you say?"

Looking at his tall, straight back, Li Quan said softly, "She asked if she could get back together with you?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Lu Xiyan's eyes trembled, and his palms clenched involuntarily.

It felt like I'd been whipped hard somewhere in my chest, a sharp, tight pain.

......

The door behind me opened, and light streamed in from the entrance.

An Ning quickly stood up and turned to look at the slowly opening door.

Li Quan stood at the door. "Miss An, please come in."

After two hours of enjoying the evening breeze, An Ning felt dizzy and lightheaded, but then she saw a smile curving up behind the open door.

Lu Xiyan finally agreed to see her.

The lights came back on in the spacious living room on the first floor. A man dressed in pajamas sat on the sofa, glancing at the person who walked in from the door, and whispered to Li Quan to go and rest first.

Only the two of them remained in the large living room.

An Ning looked at the man sitting on the sofa, who was calm and composed, with an air of aloof arrogance.

His face had deep, perfect features, with short, black hair that lightly obscured his thick eyebrows, and his cold, indifferent eyes showed no emotion.

The way he looked at her made Anning feel uneasy.

It seems that the tenderness he once had can no longer be seen in his eyes.

"Lu Xiyan..."

She took a few steps forward, standing two steps away from the man, and clenched her fist. "Can we talk?"

"What do you mean, Miss An?"

The man lazily lifted his eyes, glancing at her slightly flushed cheeks. "Coming over so late at night to ask such delusional questions."

An Ning had a high fever, her body was burning hot, and her breathing was labored.

His eyes were misty from the high fever.

"I really want to have a proper talk with you. Can we talk calmly and rationally, without saying anything in anger?"

Her tone was so sincere that Lu Xiyan let out a light sneer, "For work and for profit, you really will do anything and say anything."

"I didn't come to see you for work," Anning gently shook her head. "I genuinely want to talk to you."

"sincere?"

Lu Xiyan's eyes narrowed. "Miss An, do you even deserve to talk about the word 'sincerity'?"

"I know I hurt you, betrayed your feelings, and let you down..." An Ning's throat tightened as she stood before him. "You have every right to blame and resent me..."

Hearing her words, Lu Xiyan's eyes flashed, and he asked coldly, "Miss An, what new trick have you come up with this time? A self-inflicted injury scheme?"

An Ning's head throbbed. She asked him, "Wouldn't you feel bad about this self-inflicted injury scheme?"

"Oh!"

Lu Xiyan seemed to have heard a joke. He stood up, walked up to her, and stared into her misty eyes. "An Ning, who do you think you are? How important are you?"

They were very close. An Ning slightly raised her eyes, but she couldn't see a trace of concern in them.

The emotions in her eyes were so intense that they pierced Lu Xiyan's heart.

He looked away, took a deep breath, and said, "If you hadn't gone back to Jinghai, perhaps I would still have lingering feelings for you. But now, I don't want to see you anymore, and I don't want to have anything to do with you anymore."

His words were crisp and clear, piercing Anning's heart with a dense, persistent pain.

"Then why did you save me yesterday?" An Ning raised her hand and tightly gripped the hem of his clothes. "You were clearly worried about me. I could tell you were concerned for me, west Yan, we—"

"You're overthinking it!" Lu Xiyan interrupted her, pulling aside the hem of his coat. "I would have saved anyone."

An Ning opened her mouth, looked at her empty palm, and felt a splitting headache.

There are so many things I want to say, but I can't bring myself to say them in the face of his indifference.

All words seem pale and powerless.

Her eyes were red-rimmed as she looked up at the vivid mole on the bridge of his nose, tears blurring her vision. "What if... I regret it?"

A thousand words welled up in my heart, but they all boiled down to one sentence: I regret it.

I regret divorcing you, and I regret leaving Jinghai four years ago.

I regret deceiving you with one lie after another.

Lu Xiyan, I regret it.

Tears welled up in her eyes and slid down her cheeks. Her lips trembled as she said, "I regret it... Do you still love me?"