Xiao Zexin looked at her steadily, unable to speak from the emotion welling up inside him.

All along, he thought he loved her deeply, but it turned out that her love for him was no less.

Nangong Ruyue tentatively reached her hand out to him: "Even when you can control yourself, please don’t reject my touch, okay?"

Seeing her hand, Xiao Zexin’s body stiffened for a moment.

But he didn’t move, trying hard to control himself.

Nangong Ruyue’s hand covered the back of his hand, then held his hand.

Xiao Zexin’s heart skipped a beat—

Although the hallucination became increasingly apparent, a sense of delight rose from deep within his heart.

Nangong Ruyue smiled: "Look, you can accept my touch."

She tightened her grip on his hand, the warmth of her palm continued to be transmitted to him.

Xiao Zexin’s deep eyes watched her, his throat moving slightly.

Nangong Ruyue met his gaze, then lightly leaned closer to him, resting her head on his chest.

Thud—thud—

Xiao Zexin’s heart thumped violently, as if it were about to burst from his chest!

"Ruyue..." Breathing in her scent, he felt it was difficult to breathe.

Nangong Ruyue raised her hand to embrace his neck, Xiao Zexin suddenly closed his eyes, gripping tightly with both hands.

"You don’t mind me hugging you, do you?"

She tightened her arms forcefully, her face rubbing against his chest.

This gesture was her favorite when she was young.

Back then, they were deeply in love and blissfully happy.

Her greatest happiness every day was embracing him like this, listening to the sound of his heartbeat.

But they missed this kind of hug for over twenty years before finding it again.

Although he still looked handsome and upright, she appeared young and beautiful as ever.

Nonetheless, time had truly slipped away.

Between them, a gap of over twenty years stretched silently.

She truly couldn’t bear days apart from him anymore.

Even if in the next moment he killed her, she wouldn’t want to leave him.

"Zexin, could you hug me too, please?" she softly asked, a seemingly simple request that Xiao Zexin couldn’t fulfill.

At that moment, he was rigid all over, sweat covering his forehead.

"Just for a moment." Nangong Ruyue requested again.

"I..." Xiao Zexin couldn’t even speak.

"You can do it."

No, he couldn’t.

His hand itched, as if a thread at his wrist was pulling, trying to manipulate him, urging him to grasp a knife and cut toward her abdomen!

He gripped his right hand tightly, completely afraid to move.

"Try, I believe in you," Nangong Ruyue gently encouraged again.

Xiao Zexin gritted his teeth and slowly raised his left hand.

Such a simple action of raising his hand took him immense effort, as if that hand weighed a thousand pounds.

He couldn’t even manage with his left hand, let alone his right.

Seeing him in such agony, Nangong Ruyue’s eyes were sorrowful.

Yet she knew, giving up halfway was not an option at this moment.

"You can certainly do it..."

Under her encouragement, Xiao Zexin’s hand twitched again.

This time, he embraced her.

But in that instant, an intense impulse surged within him.

He wished he could exert all his strength to press her into his body, or squeeze her until she burst...

Yet her towering belly pressed against his body.

If he exerted too much force, he would compress her abdomen...

Xiao Zexin awkwardly but gently embraced her, sweating profusely.

Nangong Ruyue joyfully tightened her grip around his neck.

She raised her chin: "See, you did it, didn’t you?"

Seeing Xiao Zexin’s expression, she was taken aback.