Yin XiaMo said quietly, her voice as cold and sharp as a needle in the sound of wind rustling through shattered leaves.

"Because... I love him."

"I love Ou Chen."

As if fearing he wouldn't understand, she repeated herself, watching his eyes snap wide open, watching his face instantly drain of color, bloodless. She still gripped her fingers tight, feeling as if she were submerged in a surging tide, her blood from head to toe frozen to the bone.

"I misunderstood him before.

I once believed he was entirely responsible for the car accident that took my adoptive parents and Xiao Cheng six years ago. I believed he orchestrated the repossession of the house that drove Xiao Cheng and me to desperation. So I hated him, determined to forget him, to never forgive him."

She spoke flatly, as if recounting someone else's story.

"But later, I found out. Those were all misunderstandings; he had nothing to do with them.

I was the one who wronged him, and the old... the old feelings have always remained deep in my heart..." Hate me... then forget me... just let her accept every punishment and retribution fate has in store, just let him completely step out of her shadow, he will surely have a wonderful life... "You're lying to me..." The hand gripping her wrist turned from scorching hot to ice-cold. Luo Xi dazedly let go of her and staggered back a step, his face as pale as paper. He shook his head frantically.

"Impossible... You're lying to me... Even if I don't understand why you're marrying him... you love me... whether it was six years ago or now, you love me, you never loved him! ... Why... Why would you tell such a ridiculous lie to me..."

"Why do you keep coming to find me again and again?! Haven't I hurt you enough yet?! Do you need to hear these cruel words from my own mouth before you finally give up?!" Yin XiaMo’s control wavered slightly. She fought to suppress the surging turmoil in her chest. "Remember I warned you not to fall in love with me..."

"It was all a lie... wasn't it..." Little by little, the light in his eyes extinguished. Luo Xi's lips were pale as he whispered softly, "You once said... you liked me... You once said... never betray... never leave... Were all those... lies to me..."

Yin XiaMo couldn't say a thing.

The sharp pain twisting in her chest made her vision darken in waves; her eardrums thundered loudly. She almost believed she had already died.

"Are you... so indifferent about this..." He coughed lightly, as if an unbearable pain gripped his chest, "... Even... without a single word of defense..."

"I'm sorry..." Hate her, forget her... and then... start his new life... As long as she wasn't in it, he would be happy, right...

"Even if I disappear from this world in the next second... you would still marry him without hesitation, wouldn't you..." Luo Xi stared at her steadily, a strange glint flashing in his eyes. His pale lips suddenly turned vivid again, bright crimson as if steeped in blood.

"Luo Xi!" Deep, dark eyes were immediately veiled with thick white mist, as if he might dissolve into that vapor at any moment, vanishing without a trace.

In that instant, fear and dread gripped her once more. She cried out, trembling, unconsciously reaching out a hand to try and grasp him.

"Are you scared..." Luo Xi dodged her hand, and the corner of his vividly red lips curved into a faint, mocking smile. He slowly turned away. In the autumn sunlight, his shadow faintly stretched across the ground, appearing and disappearing within the shifting patterns of light and leaves.

The Summer of Foam III