The atmosphere froze for a moment. You Xiaonian stood rooted to the spot and asked in disbelief, "Why?"
Gu Wenze's tone was casual. "Because nothing matters more than her being alive."
That simple sentence pierced his chest like a sharp blade. You Xiaonian's breath caught, and for a long time, he couldn't speak.
He had thought Gu Wenze would say he would never let her go.
Yet Gu Wenze had actually said he would willingly let go. How was this the Gu Wenze he knew?
You Xiaonian nearly crushed the glass in his hand. Through gritted teeth, he said, "I will never let her go."
"Then can you watch her twenty-four hours a day?"
Gu Wenze's voice was calm yet cruel as he mercilessly laid bare the bloody truth. "Sooner or later, she'll try to kill herself again. How many times can you stop her?"
You Xiaonian fell silent. His face blurred in the reflection of his glass, his expression vacant, his thoughts unreadable.
Gu Wenze patted his shoulder. "Think it over carefully. What matters more: keeping her by your side so she can keep barely existing, or letting her leave so she can truly live?"
You Xiaonian took a fierce gulp of his drink. Images of Shen Zhen hurting herself kept flashing before his eyes, and the blood seeping from her wounds stabbed painfully at them.
Gu Wenze said nothing more. What mattered most was You Xiaonian coming to terms with it himself. No amount of advice from anyone else would help.
He had been the same back then. Only after nearly losing Qiao Hua had he finally come to his senses.
Gu Wenze left You Xiaonian some space to be alone, getting up and leaving the bar counter.
He returned to the second floor to find Qiao Hua