Unsaid Love Story

Chapter 22

The house is filled with the sound of rhythmic bubbling water as the rice balls are dropped in, but the hearts are filled with the pain of rapid thumping as the tears are dropped in. Yanli can't take it anymore; today she will talk with Cheng, no matter what. Knowing he's not in his room, she finds her feet dragging her to the one place where she has a nagging feeling he will be.

Placing a hand on her protruding belly, she carefully sits beside him and looks at his face, saying nothing.

"Sister," Cheng clasps his hands together and rests them on his lap. His voice is curt, far from the tone one should use when requesting something from another. "If you're here to convince me..."

"Convince you of what?" Yanli interrupts, smiling forlornly. "To date a girl you met at the temple?"

Cheng grits his teeth, frustration bubbling to the surface.

"I thought you were different, different from other alphas who act on impulse, but you proved me wrong. You're just like every alpha: hurt the weak and walk away, watching them bleed," Yanli utters, a flicker of hurt crossing her features.

"That's..." Cheng pauses, the bite in his voice more evident than before.

"They say a hasty person lacks wisdom, and here you prove it." Yanli's words hang in the air, heavy with disappointment. "Just once... Just once if you put your anger aside and thought rationally, you could understand how anyone would dare to take someone to their enemy and fool around in front of them. Not you, I, or anyone would dare. And if anyone really wanted that world and this world to hold on, they definitely wouldn't dare."

Cheng narrows his eyes, his jaw clenching as he absorbs each word. He senses the mistakes in his actions, but he can't accept them, so he opens his mouth to ask the one question bothering him when Yanli beats him to it.

"Then why did Zhan take you to the temple, right? Listen, I will tell you since you haven't given him a chance to explain." Yanli pauses, her gaze piercing through his defenses.

"Mom ordered him to take you to Huayan Temple and hook you up with her friend's daughter. If she didn't demand him, he wouldn't have taken you there. If he didn't take you there, he wouldn't have met with Yibo. Now tell me, where was he, a cunning and selfish bastard, Cheng?" she asks, her voice filled with a mixture of anger and concern.

Cheng closes his mouth, whatever words he is about to say dying behind his lips. He feels defeated, defeated by the inner fear that seeps into every fiber of his muscles, threatening and haunting him with losing his pride.

Yanli opens her mouth to speak but stops when she notices how Cheng is shaking. His hands tremble as he holds his clasped hands to his face and lets himself cry.

Tears stream down his cheeks as the weight of guilt and shame crushes him, leaving him unable to speak. Just once, as his sister said, if he had put his anger aside and thought rationally, things would be different. But now... he cries, unclasping his hands and letting them fill with tears.

"Cheng," Yanli clasps her fingers around Cheng's trembling hand, trying to comfort him.

But Cheng can't be comforted when he has so much on his mind that he doesn't want to admit. If he admits it, everyone will know how much fear he carries inside and for what. He can't lose—lose his little brother, his pride—to that lunatic whom he hates the most.

"Everyone makes mistakes, but don't let it ruin what you have built for so long. Go and talk to Zhan," Yanli advises.

But how can Cheng be when he not only hurt Zhan mentally but also physically? With his rage, the fire raging inside him, he burned not others but his little brother, who fought with him for their dreams day and night. He weeps soundlessly, tears streaming down his cold cheeks.