Chapter 127: How useless she is!

This gesture wounded Gu Lili deeply. She couldn't understand—weren't they husband and wife? What was so wrong about wanting a child?

Wasn't it the most natural desire between a married couple?

He had said they would wait until later, but never that they wouldn't.

To her, having a child would only make their home warmer, their bond stronger. Having grown up in solitude, raised only by her master, what she craved most was the warmth of family.

She took a few gulps of tea and slammed the cup down, then sat heavily on the edge of the bed, waiting for his return.

But no matter how long she waited, Long Yubei didn't come back.

She went downstairs to look for him, but the house was empty.

"Qingli, where did your young master go?"

"He drove out," came the reply.

"What about the trash bag he took down?"

Tang Qingli answered, "Trash bag? I didn't notice. I only saw his car leaving."

Gu Lili checked the bins in the living room and the yard—no trace of the trash bag.

Her frustration flared. Did he really drive out just to dispose of it?

What, was he afraid she might retrieve those contraceptives and use them again?

How pathetic did he think she was?

Seething, she stormed back to the bedroom, locked the door, and threw herself onto the bed.

But sleep wouldn't come. The more she thought about it, the more convinced she became—Long Yubei must have other intentions.

If she were to become pregnant, their lives would be entangled forever. And if that happened, it would make it harder for him to leave her for another woman someday.

He didn't love her. Naturally, he wouldn't want to have a child with her.

All that talk about not liking children, about having them later—it was all a convenient excuse.

She stared at the ceiling, one cruel thought echoing in her mind: In the end, he never truly planned to stay with you for long.

Marriage was merely a different pretense under which he slept with her.

It had always been this way.

She was the one who had foolishly tried to turn this place into a real home.

Sitting up again, Gu Lili picked up her phone and called Gu Xichen.

"You're still awake?"

"Yes." Her voice was low, and her sorrow came through even in that single word. "Gu Xichen… You once said, on Mount Xiliang, that if time could be turned back, you would marry me. I told you then that even if time rewound, fate would still drive us apart. But let me ask you now—if time truly turned back, would you really take me as your wife?"

"Do you happen to have a time machine?" he teased gently. "If you do, send me one—I could use it. But why the sudden question?"

"I just want to know… If you had married me, would you have wanted children?"

"Of course," Gu Xichen replied without hesitation. "Not wanting children—that's the real issue."

"He doesn't want them," she whispered, her nose stinging. "He doesn't love me. He doesn't want a future with me, doesn't want to have children with me."

He could hear the raw ache in her voice—a rasp that hadn't been there before. The woman who always prided herself on being strong, who never let her guard down in front of him, had called tonight to say this.

Had she finally come to see him as her family?

"You've known all along he didn't love you," he said softly. "This isn't new."

"I thought he would fall in love with me eventually," she murmured, her voice catching.

"You think it's that easy for someone to hand over their heart?" Gu Xichen said quietly. "It looks easy—some people fall in love after a few glances, a few minutes, a few fleeting meetings. But for others, no matter how hard they try, they'll never earn the other person's heart."