Gu Ying's face changed color, "I—"
"What's the matter, cat got your tongue?" Zhao Changdu let out a cold laugh, his expression so chillingly cold that it made one's scalp tingle.
What is going on...could it be that he found out about the affair between her and Jiang Yin?
At the thought that this might be possible, Gu Ying's petite face grew even paler.
"Prince, please let me explain..."
"Go ahead." Zhao Changdu gave a self-deprecating tilt of his eyelashes, concealing the predatory chill in his eyes.
Gu Ying's heart thumped rapidly. She awkwardly licked the corner of her lips, only now realizing that she wore not a stitch.
Her face flushed red. She bit her lip, struggled out of his scorching hot palm, and hurriedly gathered her clothes about herself. Her gaze darted about evasively. "...Changdu, let me get dressed first. We can talk about this afterwards."
Inscrutable pleasure or anger showed on Zhao Changdu's face, yet he did not continue his questioning. Instead, he clenched his fist tightly as he watched her appealing, flushed and tender skin, making no move to look away.
Gu Ying was left with no choice. With this hulking piece of meat blocking her way, the oppressive pressure made it difficult to breathe.
She still hadn't put her clothes on...Her small hand pushed against his firm waist and abdomen, but he did not budge as his gloomy gaze roamed over her. That sinister, gloomy look made Gu Ying inexplicably afraid.
There were no walls in this world that were airtight. Some things simply could not be kept hidden. Sooner or later the prince would find out.
Moreover, Jiang Yin was currently in Yueyang City.
The prince and he were both in the Yueyang government offices. If Jiang Yin wanted to expose her past, it would only take a sentence or two.
She lost her train of thought. Her heart ached so much she could barely breathe. She took a deep breath and slipped out from between the prince and the bathtub.
Seeing that he made no move to look away, she had no choice but to turn her back towards him and hurriedly tidy up her clothes.
It only took a fleeting moment to put her clothes on.
But in that time, she had already summoned her courage and forced herself to calm down.
The many memories from her past life coalesced into a single phrase.
She pursed her lips slightly and slowly turned to face the tall man standing in the bathroom. Her lips curved up into a faint smile as she said, "Prince, I think we should get a divorce..."
She did not want others to trample over her past, nor did she wish to hurt the prince. Even more so, she was unwilling to have the prince looked down upon by others because of her. Other than divorce, there was no other way.
In the dim lighting of the bathroom with only a single oil lamp, Gu Ying stood prettily about five steps away from the man.
In such oppressive and confined surroundings, Zhao Changdu gave a mocking quirk of his lips. His scorching gaze took in the unmatched beauty before him as he said in a low voice, "It seems that to you, there is only this one phrase when it comes to me. To you, am I merely someone you can abandon at any time?"
And it was not just him. She could even ruthlessly get rid of their child for Jiang Yin's sake.
Zhao Changdu only felt as if his heart had been slashed open by a dull knife, leaving it exposed to the howling cold wind. The pain made his heart clench tightly.
He laughed as well, the corners of his lips curving up mockingly and disdainfully. Cold, callous, and disappointed.
Gu Ying struggled to maintain the smile on her face. "Because I truly do not know how I should explain this."
Zhao Changdu gave a derisive twitch of his lips. "Is it that you do not know how to explain, or that you are unwilling to explain?"
Gu Ying's breathing stalled. Her fingers curled tightly together. "I admit that I am a coward. I just never dared to explain this to you. I was never prepared to explain this...but..."
"Hmph." Zhao Changdu forcibly suppressed his emotions, his heart turning icy cold once more. "All for the sake of one Jiang Yin, you would actually go to such lengths. Gu Ying, I have underestimated you."
Gu Ying parted her lips, and her eyes instantly turned red.
She knew that the prince would find out about her meeting with Jiang Yin today. But what wrong had she committed?
She too had been deceived by Jiang Yin, ruined for a lifetime, subjected to ten years of humiliation.
Did she not feel anguished and aggrieved as well?
Now, rather than hoping for the prince to feel distress and pity for her, she only wished for him to stop saying such hurtful things.
She blinked back her tears, forcing them to remain in her eyes. The smile on the corners of her lips faded away and could no longer be maintained. Her heart felt as if it was being roasted over a fire, burning her from the inside out.
She heaved a sigh, responding lightly, "So I do not wish to explain anymore."
Zhao Changdu's face was suffused with a terrifying wrath, his eyes darkening. pent-up fury simmered under a placid surface, winding ever tighter and tenser. "I do not agree. The child is yours and mine. You do not have the right to make unilateral decisions over its life and death."
Gu Ying frowned in puzzlement. "Prince, what do you mean by that?"
Zhao Changdu paced over to stand in front of her, an overpowering aura emanating from him.
Gu Ying retreated step by step. Raising her tear-reddened eyes, she looked at him in bewilderment.
Zhao Changdu's gaze was sinister and fierce. He reached out and pulled her slender waist towards him with one arm, forcefully imprisoning her soft and pliant body against his own. The aura surrounding his entire body was ice-cold and dangerous.
Gu Ying panickedly lifted her chin, her small hands clinging onto his sturdy arms. She looked up fearfully into the fathomless depths of his eyes, afraid that his immense anger would make him tear her apart.
"Prince?"
Feeling his broad, hot chest press towards her, and seeing that taut, sharp profile of his, Gu Ying's heart pounded faster and faster. "Prince, I truly didn't mean to...this isn't my fault..."
Barely restraining the flames of fury within him, Zhao Changdu used two fingers to pinch her chin, forcing her to look straight at him. He ground his teeth. "Since you did not mean to, then why did you buy abortion pills? Gu Ying, how can your heart be so cruel to even lay hands on your own child? I am the child's father. Were you not even going to tell me about this?"
Gu Ying blinked blankly for a few times, her cheeks involuntarily puffing out from the man's actions. "What nonsense are you talking about!"
Zhao Changdu's brows were tightly knitted together, his eyes full of anguish as his eyes turned red. Like a wild beast on the verge of losing control, he asked, "Do you still want to argue about this?"
Gu Ying suddenly laughed. Now she understood! The prince had not come to find her because of Jiang Yin's matter, but because of the abortion pill incident!
Perhaps the prince's subordinates had informed him about it. But they did not know that the pills were not meant for her to consume, leading the prince to misunderstand. She had not expected the prince would disregard all else the moment he learned about this matter, only caring about seeking her out. She was quite moved by this depth of feeling.
Gu Ying realized what the crux of the matter was. She flung herself into the man's embrace.
This sudden action instead made Zhao Changdu freeze up momentarily. There was bitterness in his voice as he painfully suppressed his anguish. "Gu Ying, don't think that by trying to curry favor with me, I would..."
Gu Ying mumbled, "Who said I wanted to get rid of our child?"
Zhao Changdu's fingers gradually tightened their hold, embracing her body. But the look in his eyes remained one of puzzlement and profound darkness.
Gu Ying could feel that the aggressive aura around the man had yet to fade away. She extricated herself from his embrace and grabbed his large hand, placing it on her slightly protruding abdomen. "Changdu, feel it. Our child is still there. I wasn't planning to use those pills myself."
Zhao Changdu's motions paused and his brows furrowed even more tightly together. "Then who were they for?"
Gu Ying pursed her lips. "They were for Ning Si."
