Does Only Giving Freedom Deserve to Be Called Love?

Wan Fuqi had just risen to leave the classroom when Wan Song called.

The first thing she said was a calm pronouncement, unlike her usual roaring.

"Don't contact that Alpha again. I'll handle the rest."

Wan Fuqi's expression darkened at once.

There was no one else in the classroom, so he demanded without reservation, "Why?"

"So you really are an idiot when people call you one, huh?!"

Unable to suppress her emotions, Wan Song shouted, "Wan Fuqi, do you know that permanently marking someone without their consent is a serious crime? If those little bastards find out, you can spend the rest of your life in prison!"

Wan Song took several deep breaths.

"Before those little bastards find out and join forces with that Alpha to report you, I'll find a way to settle things with him first. Make him keep his mouth shut—give him more money and send him farther away."

"Impossible." Wan Fuqi's tone left no room for doubt.

"You don't need to interfere. I can handle this myself. The fire won't reach the family or you."

Marking someone without their permission, especially a permanent mark, caused irreversible harm and was indeed a serious crime.

It was also enough for his half-siblings to make an issue of it.

But the key to this matter was that, if it were investigated, Li Mao had broken into his room and maliciously drugged him first.

Wan Fuqi was not entirely responsible.

With a top lawyer in the field, he could even turn things around and send Li Mao to prison instead.

Li Mao knew that perfectly well, which was why Wan Fuqi was certain the little stutterer would not be stupid enough to do anything rash.

So none of the accusations against him would stand.

"Heh heh." Wan Song sneered.

"And why is that? What good are your words? I don't care whether you live or die, and I don't care what happens to the Wan family. Give me a reason to make sure the fire won't reach me, and I won't even bother interfering."

"Do you still have the hotel surveillance footage from outside my room that night?" Wan Fuqi asked.

Wan Song gave two smug hums, which counted as confirmation.

"It was him," Wan Fuqi replied. "The room service attendant who entered my room. Can you rest easy now?"

After learning the true identity of the Alpha who had taken down her little brother, Wan Song first sighed in relief, then burst into unrestrained laughter on the other end of the call.

"HAHAHAHA, Wan Fuqi! You fell for a little thug?! What do you think you are, some sweet and innocent rich lead in an idol drama?! Planning to run off with some wild brat too?"

"Oh my! Wonderful, wonderful! I can hardly wait to see that old bastard's face when he sees your thug boyfriend!"

Wan Fuqi frowned slightly, displeased by Wan Song's teasing.

He corrected her in a low voice, "He's not my boyfriend yet."

After Wan Fuqi's buzz-killing reminder, Wan Song clicked her tongue disdainfully.

"Didn't you say you were about to start dating? A little mutt willing to drug someone for money—just tempt him with cash and he'll follow you, right? It's only a matter of time."

At that, her tone shifted again, becoming light and gloating.

"Good little brother~ Your sister will be waiting for you to bring your boyfriend home for the Spring Festival~ Piss that old bastard off to death, hmm? Add a little dark humor to an otherwise boring Spring Festival."

"I have to say, after holding it in for nearly twenty years, your taste really is unique. All those rich heirs throwing themselves at you, and you didn't want any of them. You fell for some poor, shabby thug."

"I thought the little brother I raised with my own hands was different from those little bastards. Turns out you just find superiority in someone beneath you..."

Wan Fuqi's finger hovered over the hang-up button for quite a while. In the end, he did not end the call, only muttering in rebuttal, "If I lure him with money, that isn't love. I want him to fall in love with me, not my money."

"Fall in love with you?!"

Wan Song laughed incredulously.

"Wan Fuqi, other than your money and your face being somewhat useful, what is there about you that could attract anyone? Your ears don't even work properly—you can't hear people when they curse you. Love you, my ass! Besides, no one in this world would fall in love with the pervert who raped them, thank you!"

Wan Song's last sentence struck Wan Fuqi squarely in the heart.

Li Mao's arguments about "liking" and "love" seemed to circle around his ears again like a curse.

Yet the happy times they had spent together afterward were terribly misleading.

Having barely interacted with others and never liked anyone before, Wan Fuqi wavered.

"But a few days ago, he stayed with me through my susceptible period. Would you stay with an Omega you didn't like through their heat?" Wan Fuqi asked sincerely.

Wan Song drew out an "Mmm..."

After raising her little brother's hopes, she finally mocked, "Wan Fuqi, I suggest you add the words 'willingly' to every premise. There's a huge difference between willing and forced. For example, I was forced to be the sister of an idiot like you."

"Fine, go mess around in Willow City with that little thug boyfriend of yours. Just cause me less trouble."

"One last piece of sincere advice: sometimes, the power of money is beyond your imagination. You may be a deaf and stupid piece of trash, but you're a rich piece of trash."

"I'm hanging up. Bye-bye. I hope that after hearing all this, you'll immediately jump into a lake and end it all."

After saying that, Wan Song hung up without caring that she was the only emotional adviser for her twin brother, who had barely interacted with the outside world since childhood and did not understand what "love" meant at all. Then she went off to enjoy herself.

As the "beep beep beep—" standby tone sounded through his hearing aid, Wan Fuqi sat in his seat in confusion.

So...

Li Mao curled up in his arms, looking at him with those bright, crescent-shaped smiling eyes.

Li Mao used lathered foam in the bathroom to smear his face, then sat in the bathtub and grinned wickedly when he embarrassed himself.

Afterward, Li Mao lay in the crook of his arm, holding him as they fell asleep peacefully.

All the sweet memories from those seven days were not proof of affection?

Then by the same logic, they were not enough to reveal his own feelings either, nor answer the little stutterer's question as proof that he liked him.

For the first time, Wan Fuqi found a question so difficult to answer.

Something so certain, yet so difficult to prove.

Willingly.

The word suddenly popped into Wan Fuqi's mind.

He thought again of what Li Mao had said.

"If you really loved me, you should let me go. You should want me to be free."

Let him go?

Impossible.

When you liked something, your first thought was always to take it away and keep it by your side.

Even if the ending was wilting and decay, he wanted to be the one to watch it happen.

Letting go was not love. Only cowards let go.