Chapter 345: Chapter 344: "How About You Go Sleep Next Door?

"I would!" Xu Su answered without the slightest hesitation. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

’I’d be more than just angry...’

"What if she touched me, then?" Zhou Mochen was fixated on the question. "What would you do?"

Xu Su pinched his arm. "It would depend on where she touched you. But regardless of where, I’d be angry. Zhou Mochen, you remember how petty I can be, don’t you?"

"I remember. And I haven’t let any other women touch me, have I?" He was clearly satisfied with her answer and kissed her cheek with a smile. "How about you answer one more question for me?"

Xu Su raised an eyebrow. "Go ahead."

Zhou Mochen lowered his gaze to meet hers. "If I really fell for someone else, would you try to make me stay?"

Xu Su’s pupils dilated. She couldn’t believe he would actually ask something like that.

’How ridiculous!’

"I wouldn’t!" Xu Su declared. "What are you thinking? The day you fall for someone else, I’ll pack my bags that very night to make room for her. I definitely won’t stick around and be an eyesore."

’Beg him to have a change of heart?’

Xu Su almost laughed in anger. ’The nerve of him.’

"Zhou Mochen, let me put it this way. I like you, but not so much that I’d lose myself and feel like I can’t live without you. If you ever dare to betray me like that, I’ll take back every feeling I have for you without a moment’s hesitation."

Xu Su took a deep breath, her gaze locked with his. "I might be heartbroken over you for a long time after we part, but I’m confident I’d be able to move on."

After all, she would always love herself more than she loved any partner.

Her affection and sympathy for Zhou Mochen were contingent on his actions and his love moving her.

It wasn’t just the thirty-five-year-old Zhou Mochen from her past life; the man standing before her now had moved her, too.

But if the day ever came when those things that moved her were gone, why should she love and ache for someone who wasn’t worth it at all?

Her words were terrifyingly calm and rational...

Zhou Mochen’s expression darkened, and he instantly regretted asking the question.

’We’ve only had a couple of good days, and I’m already getting ahead of myself. Asking this question was just asking for trouble.’

’What was I even expecting?’

In this relationship, he had always been the only one whose love ran so deep that he would lose himself, the only one who felt he couldn’t live without the other.

’If the roles were reversed and she fell for another man... I wouldn’t just try to make her stay. Even if I had to...’

’In any case, I would do anything, use any method, just to make her change her mind and come back to me.’

Zhou Mochen remained motionless for a long time. Xu Su, who was already incensed by his question, grew even more furious seeing his sullen silence.

’There was no way she was going to speak first.’

The car pulled into the underground garage of Imperial Central amidst the heavy silence.

The moment they got out of the car, Huang Chao visibly relaxed...

Xu Su pursed her lips and walked forward, leaving Zhou Mochen behind.

It wasn’t until they were in the elevator that Zhou Mochen finally snapped out of it. He reached out to pull the sulking Xu Su into his arms. "Don’t take that question seriously. I was just asking casually. I didn’t mean anything by it."

"There’s no such thing as ’just asking casually.’"

Xu Su pouted and muttered, "So-called casual questions are all tests. What were you trying to test? Did you want me to say that even if you had a change of heart, I would cry and beg you to stay?"

"..." Zhou Mochen paused, then suddenly chuckled and admitted, "That would prove you love me enough, wouldn’t it?"

"If you want to think of it that way, I guess you have a point." Xu Su laughed too. "So, you’re not satisfied with my answer?"

’This was exhausting. It felt like she was constantly being tested, and with every question, she had to figure out what answer the ’teacher’ wanted to hear.’

Zhou Mochen tightened his arm around her. "Your answer was what I expected. I’m not dissatisfied."

As he finished speaking, the elevator doors opened.

Xu Su, eager to drop the subject, quickly walked out.

She went straight to the bedroom to run a bath, not wanting to say another word to him.

’This man is getting more and more demanding. Does he really need me to lose myself for love just to prove that I love him enough?’

’He just keeps asking for more and more, one step at a time.’

’At first, he was satisfied if I just gave him the time of day. Then it was liking him, cooing over him, initiating kisses. We’ve already done the most intimate things, and he’s still not satisfied.’

’And now he’s fantasizing about a scenario where he falls for someone else, and I’m supposed to abandon my self-respect and beg him to stay.’

Xu Su couldn’t comprehend Zhou Mochen’s desperate mindset. In that moment, she even felt that the PUA tactics of a capitalist were truly ingrained in his bones, already starting to work on her subtly.

’I have to maintain my willpower,’ she reminded herself. ’I can’t let myself be swayed by his sweet talk and empty promises. If I really change myself to fit his ideas, I might end up thinking I was the one in the wrong.’

No matter how much she liked someone, she couldn’t completely abandon herself. Xu Su would never allow herself to become that person. That was her bottom line.

’She would always love herself most!’

While soaking in the bath, Xu Su mulled over Zhou Mochen’s behavior, and it gradually started to make her blood run cold.

She realized that ever since they’d gotten together, Zhou Mochen had always acted like he was the one who loved more deeply, constantly insecure about their relationship. This was meant to elicit more guilt and pity from her.

She had walked step by step into the trap he’d set, just as he’d wanted.

Coaxing him, kissing him, growing to like him more and more, and even taking the initiative to sleep with him.

He was clearly the one who got everything he wanted, yet she was the one left examining her conscience, feeling like she’d been unfair, that she hadn’t given herself to him sooner to grant his wish.

The more she thought about it, the colder she felt...

She didn’t know if she was just overthinking it. But with Zhou Mochen’s cunning, feigning weakness to get more affection from her in return really wasn’t out of the question.

But then she remembered his restraint and his patience during the year they had lived together, and she felt she must be mistaken.

’That pathological man from my past life must have left me with some serious trauma.’

’I’m just being too paranoid...’

The bathwater had gone cold by the time Xu Su finally got up. She wrapped a bath towel around herself and walked out.

Zhou Mochen was already washed up and lying in bed, waiting for her. He was a little stunned to see her emerge like that. "You didn’t take any clothes in with you?"

"Mm..." Xu Su clutched her towel, grabbed a set of pajamas, and went back into the bathroom to change.

When she came out again, Zhou Mochen had gotten out of bed and was standing by the vanity, holding a hairdryer and waving her over.

Xu Su: "..."

After he dried her hair and she finished her skincare routine, she hesitated by the side of the bed. She looked at the man who was now back on the mattress, eyeing her like a predator. For the first time, she dreaded the night.

Seeing her like this, Zhou Mochen chuckled and came over to pull her closer. "Susu, you look so scared, I’m starting to wonder if I really did something to make you uncomfortable."

Xu Su clutched the hem of her pajamas and took two steps back, avoiding his hand. She looked troubled. "How about... you go sleep in the other room?"

Zhou Mochen tilted his head, looking at her. "Why?"

Xu Su was blunt. "We’re going to my grandma’s house tomorrow. I don’t want to do it."

"Then we won’t," Zhou Mochen said. He hadn’t planned on doing anything tonight anyway. "I just want to hold you while we sleep. I promise I won’t even try anything. I give you my word."