she needed to move

Hua Jing stiffened.

She needed to move.

She had to move.

But her body betrayed her.

Her heart, her mind, her very soul were at war.

She had spent years telling herself that she hated him.

She had built her walls so high, reinforced them with steel, and refused to let herself feel anything beyond resentment.

And yet—

Now, in the quiet vastness of this moment, with his golden eyes gazing into hers so gently, so intently—

She could no longer deny the truth.

She had always loved him.

She had never stopped.

The realization terrified her.

Her emotions had metastasized into something even greater than before, something that left her feeling raw and exposed.

But she couldn't accept it.

Because no matter what her heart screamed, no matter what the warmth of his touch made her feel—

He was still Fu Jing Rong.

The man who had broken her.

The man who had spoken those words.