Chapter 169 - Leave And Never Return (1)
He should respect her decision but Shen Zichen wasn\'t ready to give up on her yet. He knew a lot of things were his fault, but he was determined to win her back no matter how difficult it would be. This time, he wouldn\'t allow her to be alone and think that she was unloved.
Regardless of what she believes right now, Shen Zichen would make it clear that from now on, she wouldn\'t be able to doubt his love for her ever again.
That was why the next day, Li Chuntao found herself speechless when she woke up in her penthouse and found him standing in her kitchen, busy making breakfast for her. She looked at him somewhat surprised. Shen Zichen was wearing a white dress shirt and black pants, but the thing that caught her attention was the pink apron he was wearing.
"What are you doing here?" She asked before noticing a plate of sliced sweet melons on the table. Melons were her favorite and she was surprised that he remembered it even though they were separated for a long time. She initially thought that Shen Zichen was only paying attention to her twin sister and not her.
"I just thought that you lost so much weight recently. Yu Lou also mentioned that you don\'t have much of an appetite and haven\'t been eating well lately." Shen Zichen remained standing in front of the stove without turning to face her.
Li Chuntao, who was in no mood to argue early that morning, sat without a word before she forked the sweet melons and ate them. The sweetness of the fruit hit her tongue and moments later she realized she\'d finished everything.
Shen Zichen smiled inwardly seeing how she enjoyed the fruit he prepared. He wasn\'t ready to give up yet! Not without a fight and this time he intended to win.
"What are you looking at?" Li Chuntao huffed when she caught him looking at her. "Don\'t look at me like that and finish what you\'re cooking. I\'m starving."
Shen Zichen hummed and nodded, returning his attention to his cooking.
"There\'s another plate in the fridge if you want more, but don\'t eat too much or you\'ll ruin your appetite." Shen Zichen was acting like they hadn\'t had a fight and treated her as usual.
Li Chuntao\'s eyes darkened and she hung her head low. Her lips formed a straight line. No… she couldn\'t just let him take the rein in her life anymore. For so many years, she had waited for him, always putting him as a priority, hurting herself in the process.
She pushed the empty plate away, losing her appetite to eat breakfast. She was afraid that Shen Zichen\'s presence would waver her resolve to move on.
\'Li Chuntao, how long do you plan to torment yourself?\' She asked herself. \'Do you intend to make the same mistakes again?\'
"You don\'t need to do any of these. Please leave and never return," Li Chuntao said before dragging herself out of the kitchen, going back to her room without waiting for his response.
She thought she should talk to Su Ling to change the security lock for her penthouse. It wouldn\'t be okay if Shen Zichen continued to barge into her place like this, not when she already ended the foolish affair that they had.
Ying once told her that a smile was the best mask one could muster up to protect themselves, but Li Chuntao would rather choose to put on her cold mask and hide her heart away from everyone.
Shen Zichen once again found himself looking at her retreating back and he didn\'t like it one bit. Last night, after he went home, his mind was filled with her that he couldn\'t even sleep through the night.
He understood how much he messed up his chances to be with her and he wasn\'t sure how he could make up for his mistakes. With her giving him a cold shoulder, ignoring him, Shen Zichen wondered if this was what she felt like when he ignored her feelings for a long time.
If he could turn back time…. No… he shook his head pushing these thoughts out of his mind. Like what his father said, he couldn\'t change the past but he could still work hard to have a better future.
But how would he convince Chuntao to accept him again? She wouldn\'t even spare him a look and chose to run away from him. Regardless, he wouldn\'t give up that easily.
These continued for the next few days. Until one day, he stood outside Li Chuntao\'s penthouse unable to open it with his key card. His brows furrowed, as it meant that she was driving him away, not giving him a chance to see her. Su Ling and Yu Lou watched helplessly as he stood outside and waited for a long time for Li Chuntao to acknowledge him.
"Should we tell him to leave?" Yu Lou asked Su Ling, who shook his head and rubbed his temple.
"No," he sighed. "She knows he\'s there but there\'s nothing else we could do if Miss Chuntao doesn\'t want to see him."
Shen Zichen waited for a whole day, but Li Chuntao never came out. He slumped outside the front door and rested his head against the door with his eyes closed. He\'d expected this to happen but he wouldn\'t give up!
This was the scene Li Chuntao saw the moment Su Ling opened the door for her. She hadn\'t expected that Shen Zichen would spend the night outside her door, waiting for her, when she ignored his calls and messages.
Didn\'t she already tell him that she didn\'t want anything to do with him anymore? Why was he persistently showing up to annoy her? Was he here to mock her?
Shen Zichen stirred in his sleep and peered only to see Li Chuntao looking down at him with her usual impassive face. Since he was already awake, she didn\'t need to see him off.
"Chuntao…" he muttered as he pulled himself up on his feet. He could feel his neck aching from the awkward sleeping position.
"Let\'s go," Li Chuntao ignored him and headed towards the elevator and waited for her bodyguards. She\'d promised to the children at the orphanage to visit them today.
Yu Lou and Su Ling shared a confused look before following their Miss Chuntao. They both wanted to say something to Young Master Shen but the fierce glare Li Chuntao gave them made them shut their mouths.
Shen Zichen hurriedly ran after them, but the door of the elevator closed even before he could reach them. He had no other choice but to use the stairway. It took him some time before he reached the car park and saw Li Chuntao climbing into the back seat of her car.
He immediately ran towards his car and followed after them.
Su Ling looked at his dashboard mirror and frowned.
"Miss Chuntao, Young Master Shen… he... "
"Don\'t mind him and just do your job. He would get over it soon," Li Chuntao cut him off. She crossed her arms over her chest and shut her eyes close. She wasn\'t sure what she should feel at the moment.
A part of her was happy that he was trying to win her, but the other part refused to acknowledge his efforts. It would never be enough to compensate for the amount of tears she had shed for him.
\'Shen Zichen, Have you ever just randomly cried because you\'ve been holding shit in for too long? Because I have.\'