The Reason She Wouldn't Give Up

She wouldn't give up...

Ye Xinxia sat in her wheelchair, thinking over what had just been said.

She had spoken forcefully, hoping to use the opportunity to put Mu Ningxue on the back foot and make her give up on competing.

Instead, she seemed to have rekindled Mu Ningxue's determination. If anything, it burned more fiercely than before.

She had actually turned into a formidable rival. How troublesome!

Ye Xinxia wasn't entirely sure what Mu Ningxue was thinking. After all, they hadn't been in touch for nearly four years, and part of what she had said to Mu Ningxue had been meant to test her.

As expected, her resolve and her feelings hadn't changed. What else could Xinxia expect from her rival and best friend?

Still, I have the advantage. Her path is far more difficult than mine.

As long as Mo Xie gradually accepts that we aren't really siblings, winning his heart will come naturally.

After that, no little vixen will get anywhere near him. Mo Xie can only be mine!

Next... I need to test him.

When Ye Xinxia returned home, she smiled sweetly.

"Mo Xie."

The forcefulness she had shown earlier was gone. Only when her feelings were at stake would she refuse to yield an inch.

In front of Mo Xie, she was nothing more than a gentle, considerate little sister.

"Xinxia, you're back already?"

Mo Xie came out of the kitchen wearing oven mitts.

"Mm. We chatted for a bit, then my classmate left."

"All right. The cake's in the oven, so we'll have to wait a little."

Mo Xie took off the mitts and leaned back on the sofa.

Ye Xinxia slowly climbed onto the sofa and sat sideways on his lap. She wrapped her arms around his waist and rested against his chest.

Feeling her soft body against him, he couldn't help slipping an arm around her slender waist.

For some reason, whenever Ye Xinxia leaned against him lately, he found himself holding her waist without thinking.

It was an unconscious reaction. Had he simply grown used to it?

Ye Xinxia nestled against Mo Xie's chest. Her beautiful eyes gleamed, and a faint smile touched her lips.

This was one of her strategies, and it seemed to be working already.

Habits were frightening things. They couldn't be corrected overnight.

Little by little, she was changing the way Mo Xie saw things until this felt natural to him. That was exactly the effect Ye Xinxia wanted.

After they had sat together for a while, Mo Xie spoke softly.

"That classmate of yours was Mu Ningxue, wasn't it?"

The young woman in his arms trembled. Ye Xinxia hesitated for a few seconds before slowly nodding.

At first, Mo Xie had assumed she was an ordinary classmate. But the more he thought about it, the more he realized Xinxia had no classmates who would come to the house looking for her.

If Zero hadn't told him afterward, he wouldn't have known it was Mu Ningxue.

"Mm. She said she wanted to apologize to us."

"Apologize..."

Mo Xie nodded and stared up at the ceiling, his thoughts unreadable.

Ye Xinxia lifted her head and cautiously studied his profile.

"Mo Xie, you aren't angry that I took Mu Ningxue away without asking, are you?"

"Angry? Why would I be angry?"

"Then... if Mu Ningxue apologized to you, would you accept it?"

At that question, Mo Xie fell uncharacteristically silent.

After a long while, he stroked Ye Xinxia's hair and looked her in the eye.

"I thought about that too, at first. Back then, my answer was no."

"The lie she told and the mistake she made brought humiliation on our whole family. I hated her for it."

Mo Xie lowered his eyes, lost in memory.

"But alongside the hatred, I couldn't understand why she'd done it. I'd never imagined she would betray me."

"Later, I decided she'd just been a willful, immature child. Why should I keep getting angry over a child's tantrum?"

Ye Xinxia rested her head against his chest. She didn't interrupt, only listened quietly.

"And now?"

"Now..."

Mo Xie caressed her cheek and smiled.

"People have to grow up. Come to think of it, I should thank her. She taught me just how much this world rewards the strong and preys on the weak, and how important family is."

"Whether she apologizes or not, I don't care. It's in the past. We have to look ahead."

He settled Ye Xinxia on the sofa, then got up and went into the kitchen.

Ye Xinxia remained there, her hands clasped before her chest and her shining eyes following him.

Mo Xie is so mature. So charming!

Mu Manor.

Mu Zhuoyun sat on the sofa, quietly savoring his tea.

The fragrance of tea filled the living room, soothing the mind.

Footsteps drew closer, and Mu Zhuoyun looked up.

Mu Ningxue walked in with her head lowered and her eyes on her feet, looking utterly lost.

"Ning Xue, what happened?"

Mu Zhuoyun set down his cup and asked with concern.

"Nothing."

Mu Ningxue came back to herself a little. A chill seemed to radiate from her as she gave her curt reply.

Before Mu Zhuoyun could ask anything else, she went straight upstairs and shut herself in her room.

At the sound of the door slamming, Mu Zhuoyun sighed helplessly.

Who besides that boy Mo Xie could leave his daughter like this?

She had probably hit a wall with him.

Looks like an apology is out of the question... Mu Zhuoyun sighed again and took a sip of tea.

When he had learned from Mu Ningxue that she had run away on her own, he had regretted what he'd done.

Mo Xie hadn't taken her away. On the contrary, he had brought her home.

But Mu Zhuoyun had been furious at the time. The moment Mu Ningxue told him Mo Xie had taken her, he had stormed over to the Mo family's home without thinking twice.

He had considered taking Mu Ningxue to apologize. But after all the harsh things he had said, he couldn't swallow his pride, and he kept putting it off.

Then Mo Xie made his debut and became famous so quickly that Mu Zhuoyun was caught off guard.

Apologizing now would make him look like an opportunist, wouldn't it? He still had a reputation to uphold in Bo City!

And so the apology never happened.

In her room, Mu Ningxue sat before her dressing-table mirror, looking at her own cool, exquisite reflection.

The person she cared about hadn't seen her like this. Instead, Ye Xinxia had mocked her mercilessly. Now she felt like a clown.

I can't accept this... Mu Ningxue lay down on her bed, her beautiful eyes gradually losing focus.

She had awakened the Ice Element on her own at fourteen, and at fifteen, she had been admitted to Imperial Capital Academy as an exception.

But studying alone in the Imperial Capital had left her feeling lonely and adrift.

Her father, Mu Zhuoyun, called from time to time to check on her or praise her.

Yet his warmth felt shallow to Mu Ningxue, who had already seen what the Imperial Capital was really like. It was as though they lived in different worlds.

His concern never went beyond whether she was eating well or finding her studies tiring.

Perhaps, in his eyes, she was still Bo City's little princess: lofty, extraordinarily gifted, and surrounded by people eager to please her.

But Mu Ningxue knew she was no longer that girl.

Beautiful and alone in the Imperial Capital, she had experienced and grown far more over the past year than Mu Zhuoyun imagined.

Most of her time was spent at the academy, yet she was still surrounded by hostility from some men and jealousy from some women.

Some showed their malice openly and without restraint. Others hid their jealousy behind false smiles.

That harsh reality had easily shattered the understanding of the world she had built over ten years. It taught Mu Ningxue that she was only an ordinary person. She had been treated like a princess because she came from a place people in the Imperial Capital considered provincial.

It taught her that her talent was not as exceptional as she had believed, and that talent might matter less than resources and connections.

Mu Ningxue could only build an icy suit of armor around herself and use the Mu Clan's name to give herself a fragile layer of protection.

Only when she listened to Mo Xie's songs or saw his smile did something stir within her.

When she had felt trapped and utterly alone in her Spiritual World, they had been the last things she could hold on to.

Mu Ningxue hoped that one day, her own strength and potential would shine brilliantly enough to earn everyone's recognition and respect.

She hoped that one day, she could leave her pain and unease behind, smile without a care, and stand freely in the sunlight.

She hoped that one day...