Addiction to Temptation: His Mischievous Sweetheart Captivates Him-Chapter 177: Just Keep Hating Me

Zane Thorne didn’t even furrow his brows, allowing the blood to flow from his forehead as he pushed away the nurse who was trying to treat his wound.

He walked step by step toward Gideon Sheffield, but Leo Chandler was not very approving.

"Zane, he will hurt you."

Aaron Channing held onto Leo, the latter looking at him in confusion, but Aaron just slightly raised his chin, signaling for him to watch what Zane was going to do.

Gideon Sheffield noticed the blood on Zane’s forehead, his pupils contracted slightly, initially dodging, but then anger rekindled in his eyes. He looked around for something to strike Zane with, but aside from a vase, everything else was trivial.

He flung things at Zane in a frenzy, but the man wasn’t even bothered to dodge. It wasn’t until Gideon ran out of things to throw that Zane spoke up.

"Had enough madness?"

For a psychiatrist, these words were like a thunderbolt. How could someone say such things to a person with psychological issues?

Aaron Channing calmly pulled Leo Chandler, who was about to intervene again, out of the room.

"Aaron, what are you doing?"

"Let him handle it himself."

"He’s provoking the patient."

"He knows what he’s doing."

"Are you the attending physician, or am I?"

"Zane’s wife is a longtime friend of mine."

"...Then tell me what kind of person your friend is to be able to capture Zane, even better than Sandra Kendrick."

"...You’re just abandoning your patient?"

"Zane knows what he’s doing."

Indeed, gossip is human nature, be it men or women.

In the ward, Zane also asked the nurse to leave and then closed the door.

"I know you can understand what I’m saying."

Cowering at the corner of the bed, Gideon Sheffield trembled, covered his ears, and shook his head, unwilling to listen to Zane speak.

Zane casually dragged a chair and sat a few meters away from Gideon.

"Today, I saw the data on the broken phone you smashed. You seem to care a lot about my wife."

"What, do you want to see what my wife looks like, or... see how my life is after marriage?"

"Were you quite happy to hear about my arranged marriage? Zane Thorne, reduced to the point of needing an arranged marriage, bound by this damn relationship. Marriage to me is a shackle, a pain."

"You say you hope I live well, hope I can be happy, but you don’t think that in your heart, do you? Don’t you wish my wife and I were dead to each other? Wish we were total strangers?"

"You hate me for causing your leg injury, hate me for ruining the rest of your life, so you hope I will never be happy."

Zane’s deep eyes stared intently at the trembling Gideon in the corner, filled with inscrutable emotions.

Gideon kept shaking his head, his mouth opening without knowing what to say, only hitting his bandaged head over and over.

"If nothing had happened back then, you’d have had a perfect retirement, a good reputation in the racing world, married that woman, and peacefully lived your life."

Gideon suddenly stopped hitting his head, raising his head to look blankly out the window. In the endless night, Vivi once said she liked watching stars from the mountaintop.

Seeing his reaction, Zane realized Gideon still brooded over Vera Underwood’s decision to abort his child and leave him mercilessly.

"Do you want to know Vera’s current situation?"

Gideon abruptly turned to look at Zane, but his gaze was empty.

The man’s eyes darkened.

"You’re still hung up on that heartless woman."

Gideon hugged his head.

"Vera has left Astra City."

Tears suddenly welled up in Gideon’s eyes.

Zane, with a headache, pinched the bridge of his nose, only to find his hand covered in blood.

"Still thinking about that callous woman?"

Gideon suddenly began to agitate his injured leg, hitting it harder and harder.

Zane glanced over and immediately understood what Gideon was thinking. Leo and Aaron couldn’t do anything because Gideon refused to let the doctors treat him.

"Do you think she left you just because you broke your leg?"

Zane, ignoring Gideon’s status as a patient, cruelly exposed the truth to him.

Back then, Gideon was engulfed in the pain of losing his legs and his fiancée leaving him, attributing all sins to those legs he despised.

Gideon stopped his frenzied movements, raised his head blankly, and looked at Zane with eyes that were no longer so hollow.

Zane frowned, recalling the information he had gathered over the years.

"She’s been with several men over the years, each older and uglier than the last. Is this the kind of woman you’re still pining for?"

Gideon’s eyes widened, shaking his head frantically, refusing to believe Zane’s words, continuously muttering.

"Vivi"

"Vivi"

"Vivi"

"..."

How could it be? His Vivi wasn’t like that.

Zane didn’t intend to continue speaking. He stepped closer to Gideon, bending down.

"For what happened back then, keep hating me if you want, hate me for a lifetime. I don’t want your forgiveness."

Zane understood Gideon’s agony lay in his inability to fully hate him, wanting to forgive yet unable to overcome his physical and mental pain.

That’s why he was tortured like this.

He didn’t ask for forgiveness, just leaving things as they were, being hated wasn’t a dealbreaker in life.

After saying this, Zane left the ward, asking the nurse to come in while he headed to the rooftop.

He smoked cigarette after cigarette.

Winter nights when it snows truly are cold.

Zane smoked until the pack was empty, smoked until his hair turned white, smoked until his clothes were wet, smoked until his limbs were stiff, smoked until bloodshot eyes, smoked until the blood on his face had crusted over.

Five years, he was also a bit tired.

He never hoped for Gideon’s forgiveness. The race that year should have been his, but a minor accident occurred. For the team’s results, he pleaded with Gideon, who was planning to retire, to return for the race...

All these years, doing so much, he simply wanted Gideon to live on. Only if Gideon lived on could he continue living.

He didn’t expect to be happy, but... he met Natalie Vaughn.

The man brushed some snow aside from the ground casually, sat down, and looked east. He really missed his little girl, the one who was often playful and could be coaxed into his arms, the energetic little girl.

What’s she doing now? Is she thinking about him like he is?

Too bad Veridia has no snow. Snowy days would suit the little girl perfectly.

The little girl was smart enough to guess where he is and what he’s doing. His little girl is so obedient and considerate; when he doesn’t say anything, she doesn’t ask actively.

He only chased Miss Vaughn for a day; he needs to quickly handle things here and return to pursue his little girl again.

Oh, how cold it is!

Zane simply lay down on the ground, his lashes covered in snow, his vision gradually blurring.