Volume One, Chapter 92 His fingers touched her lips, gently rubbing and pressing.

To make things easier, Liang Jinmo moved a little closer, his hand gently rubbing her damp hair through the towel.

The sound of rustling filled her ears. Xu Zhi lowered her head slightly, her eyes downcast, cheeks growing warm. She might be suspicious, but affection was something she couldn’t control. Every time he drew near, that flutter in her heart became impossible to suppress.

Liang Jinmo had almost finished drying her hair and said, “We’ll blow it dry in a bit, or you’ll catch a chill.”

Xu Zhi murmured her assent.

The towel still draped over her hair, and to Liang Jinmo, she really did look like a little quail.

He picked up the documents from the coffee table and placed them in front of her.

“In fact, tens of millions isn’t as impossible as you think. I saved up some money back in school,” he began in a low voice. “I also own a few software patents. They’re currently being managed overseas by agencies, but I can transfer them directly now. I’ve done the math—these are worth over sixty million. If that’s not enough, whatever is borrowed I can pay back in the next few years.”

Xu Zhi was stunned.

Spread before her were patent certificates, agency agreements, and even a bank card.

Liang Jinmo’s tone was solemn. “I’ll shoulder all the debt. I won’t let you live a hard life.”

All day long, from morning to now, Xu Zhi felt as though she had been buffeted by wave after wave of shocks.

Liang Jinmo was only three years older than her…

She was so taken aback she couldn’t find any words.

“Originally, I wanted to persuade your father to change his marketing channels, thinking maybe he could save the company through regular means. But…” Liang Jinmo frowned, “now it seems too hard, and would take too long. Since your father is so stubborn and your mother only wants to protect herself, perhaps divorce really is the best choice.”

“But…” Xu Zhi tried to speak, but her mind was a blank.

Liang Jinmo turned his face to her, regarding her sidelong. “There’s nothing here I can’t handle. This money—honestly, it doesn’t mean that much to me.”

Xu Zhi bit her lip, looking at him, her eyes full of helplessness, feeling undeserving.

She’d done so little for him, yet now, to clean up her family’s mess, she’d be emptying his savings and borrowing against his future. It made no sense—why would he do all this for her?

No one had ever treated her this way, as though they would give anything for her sake.

“Don’t bite…” Liang Jinmo raised his hand, his fingers brushing her lips, gently massaging them.

“Now, your problems are mine too. If money can solve it, that’s already the best outcome.” His lips moved, as if wanting to say more, but he didn’t.

Xu Zhi always chose someone else.

She would secretly bring him a flashlight, but the next time they met, she would follow behind Liang Muzhi without even giving him a glance.

She’d brought him medicine and water when he was feverish, but the moment Liang Muzhi called, she drove him away.

To this day, he couldn’t remember how he’d left the villa that day. All that remained was the thought lodged in his mind—if she wanted him gone, why give him the medicine at all?

She was always like this. Maybe she felt some guilt toward him, but she was forever more concerned with what others thought.

He’d seen it all, time and again; Gao Ying had been the same.

No one had ever truly chosen him.

Now Zhao Nianqiao was in trouble, and he knew Xu Zhi was wavering again.

If money could solve everything, then all he had to do was secure the money—if he had money, he could keep her.

If he had money, she wouldn’t be so anxious and unsettled.

He leaned in, lowering his head, and pressed a gentle kiss to her smooth forehead.

Xu Zhi’s mind was tangled and chaotic; she didn’t react at first. Only when she felt his kiss did she abruptly look up, meeting the deep darkness in his eyes.

Her heart raced in confusion, her gaze darting away.

“You heard it, didn’t you,” he said.

Xu Zhi stared blankly. “Heard what?”

“My conversation with Zhou He.”

Xu Zhi fell silent.

“I hadn’t planned to keep it from you forever,” he said. “I joined the Liang Corporation for other reasons; I never intended to work for Liang Zhenguo indefinitely.”

Once, in front of her, he would at least call Liang Zhenguo “my father.” Now, he used only his name.

The difference was all too clear.

Xu Zhi grew anxious. Was he confessing now? But was it really because she’d happened to overhear them?

Liang Jinmo continued, “I know you’ve always gotten along with Liang Zhenguo, Fu Wanwen, and your grandfather, and you and Liang Muzhi practically grew up together. But this time, I want you to choose me. Whatever the Liang family can do for you, I’ll find a way, too.”

Xu Zhi felt as if something had struck her heart. He, too, understood that if she knew about this, she might warn the Liang family and be more guarded toward him.

After all, she’d known the Liang family far longer than him.

She was in an awkward position, caught in the middle.

Why did everyone always ask her to choose? She truly didn’t know how. All day, her mind had spun circles, leaving her head throbbing and still without an answer.

Xu Heping and Zhao Nianqiao wanted her to choose. Liang Jinmo and the Liang family wanted her to choose as well.

She was reaching her breaking point.

She turned away in panic. “I… I don’t know. I haven’t decided.”

If she didn’t return and get engaged to Liang Muzhi, she would inevitably offend the Liang family and could hardly warn them of anything. But if she went back for Zhao Nianqiao’s sake, she would become the Liang family’s future daughter-in-law.

One’s stance could shift in a single thought.

Liang Jinmo didn’t press her further. That night, they slept in separate rooms.

Xu Zhi couldn’t sleep.

Liang Jinmo, most of the time, was very reserved. For him to openly admit he hoped she’d choose him was rare.

But perhaps it was only because he didn’t want her to expose his plans.

So he would give his all, just to keep her.

Xu Zhi felt like that person who suspects a neighbor of stealing their axe—she constantly scrutinized Liang Jinmo’s every word and action, always drawing the conclusion that he must have ulterior motives.

Yet in the end, her mistrust stemmed from her own guilt.

If she’d never hurt him, she would have nothing to fear. But ironically, if she hadn’t done those awful things, would he have ever approached her at all?

It was a question with no answer. She was so lost. She reached for her phone and messaged Yang Xue.

Xu Zhi: Can I ask you something?

Yang Xue: What is it?

Xu Zhi: I have this friend… When she was in elementary school, she bullied someone. Do you think the person she bullied would ever forgive her?

Yang Xue: I was just about to say you’re making up imaginary friends, but if it’s bullying, you’d never have the guts for that. How do you even have a friend like that? Was she a delinquent as a kid? Or is this actually you? Please don’t go picking up friends from the trash heap.

Xu Zhi felt as if she’d been stabbed, her eyes stinging as she stared at the last sentence.

Yang Xue: Forgive? Not a chance. Some people are just trash from the start. They won’t change when they grow up. What did the bullied person ever do wrong? After being hurt, they’re supposed to talk about forgiveness? If it were me, I’d make sure to get back at them, no question. *hands on hips emoji*

Xu Zhi began typing, wanting to explain that her friend had her own difficulties at the time, but after writing a long paragraph, she deleted it all.

It really was an imaginary friend—she was the one from the trash heap.

And what she’d done to Liang Jinmo went far beyond that.

Now she wanted to whitewash herself, but could she truly come clean? Her own cowardice was her original sin.

She placed her phone face down beside her pillow, unwilling to look at it any longer.

She, too, felt like garbage.