Captured By The Cold Detective (BL)-Chapter 513: Thank You And Goodbye
He Juan could feel his mind turning blank, but Ye Qiu did not even give him a chance to react as she repeated, "I’m leaving. Me and the children, all of us. I am here to bid you farewell, XIU. I’m not certain if you want to meet them, so I told them to stay in the car just in case."
She blurted out all those words in a single breath as though fearing that He Juan would cut her off. Alas, when she was done, only a tense silence enveloped the room, mingling with the distant crash of waves.
He Juan was at an utter loss of words. There were so many things to address that he did not know where to start. So, Ye Qiu was not here for Marius? She had taken everyone along with her because... she wanted to leave? He did not even have the time to feel bitter for her cautious demeanor of keeping the others away from him because all of his jumbled thoughts eventually narrowed into two questions.
"Where are you going and... why?"
He Juan knew the answer to the second question as soon as he said it aloud. Alas, the spoken words could never be taken back, and he could only wait for Ye Qiu’s response with bated breath, his heart thumping in an ominous rhythm. He felt light-headed all of a sudden, and it was not until a crisp sound echoed when he reached out to hold onto the table that he realized he was still grabbing the damn cup in his hand. He quickly set it down before any damage could be done.
"I still have no idea where to go, but..." she whispered, anguish filling her eyes. "I can’t stay here any longer. None of us can. Especially now that..." she choked on her words but still pressed on anyway, her voice trembling. "Now that he is gone, I can’t burden you further, XIU. You have sacrificed enough for all of us... more than enough."
"You’re not..." a disbelieving laugh tumbled out of his lips as he raked his fingers through his hair. Despite the pain tugging at his chest and back, it barely registered in his mind right now. "You’re wrong, Miss Ye. You are not... oh God, I have never seen you or the children as a burden. Not even once. Where did you get such an idea?"
Ye Qiu shook her head again and again, the rims of her eyes reddening. "You don’t need to explain further, XIU. I know... if it weren’t for us, if we hadn’t intruded into your and Marius’ lives, none of the subsequent accidents would have happened. The two of you would have been fine."
"But I’m fine!" He Juan burst out.
An unprecedented sense of panic overwhelmed him, and he could not pinpoint why he was so insistent for her to stay either. Perhaps it was out of genuine concern that they would get themselves into an accident out there, perhaps it was because too many people had walked out on him recently and he was desperate to make someone stay, or perhaps... perhaps it was because Ye Qiu was the person Marius liked.
If it was her, she would never give up on him, unlike others.
Whatever the reason was, he found his emotions getting out of control. His wounds throbbed and pulsed, and he could faintly feel sticky blood on his skin, yet all of his attention was on the woman before him.
He did not even realize that his entire body was trembling as he attempted to persuade her, "Please think twice, Miss Ye. You don’t need to leave. You can just stay in that villa, and I promise that everyone will be safe. Where would you even go when we... when we haven’t found Marius yet? What if he returns later and can’t find you? What could I possibly tell him? If this is because you’re worried that I will hurt the children..."
This time, Ye Qiu was unable to hold back a sob. A droplet of tear slid down her cheek and she wiped it away haphazardly. "I know..." she managed to say amid the tears. "I know you will never hurt us, XIU. You’re too kind for that. But I’m sorry... I’m so sorry for Marius. I’m so sorry for you too, and your brother..." she raised her eyelids, the corner of her lips tugged into a heartbreaking smile. "How can you still be so kind to us after what happened to your brother? You can bear it, but I can’t. I feel guilty, so guilty that I don’t even know how to face you. It’s all our fault. Please..." her voice abruptly cracked, more and more tears falling from her eyes. "Please, don’t ask us to stay, XIU. I can’t...!"
He Juan froze. He had never mentioned his brother in front of Ye Qiu before, and he did not even know how she knew about him. But now was not the time to question her. As her muffled cries washed over him, an icy chill seeped into his heart, waking him up to the cruel reality.
He finally understood.
Ye Qiu had come prepared. She had been prepared to leave, and just as she said earlier, she was only here to bid him farewell.
Alas, even knowing that, he still made a last ditch attempt, "But what... what about Marius?" His momentum waned this time, just like the feeble struggle of a dying beast in the throes of death. "What if he..."
"He will not return," Ye Qiu interrupted him in a nasal voice, causing his heart to sink to the pit of his stomach. She, the person whom he thought would believe in Marius until the end, turned out to have given up. Within her eyes, He Juan could see nothing but sorrow, despair, and resignation. "He will not return, XIU. Until when are you going to deceive yourself?"
No... He Juan shook his head, his body tensing in agitation. Marius would definitely come back one day. He would!
"Think about it. How slim are the chances of him surviving in that kind of—"
He Juan’s pupils trembled. "Shut up."
"—accident? It’s been almost two months, XIU. It’s time for you to—"
"SHUT UP!" He Juan roared, every fiber of his being clamoring for violence and destruction. In one furious motion, he swept everything off the table, sending them crashing to the floor in a mess. Yet his rage was still not appeased.
How dare she...
She, of all people, should not have given up. She should have believed in Marius until the end! Because Marius was still alive somewhere out there. He Juan was certain of it! Marius Morningstar was the strongest person he had ever known. He wouldn’t succumb to the cruel clutches of death so easily like that!
The edges of He Juan’s eyes glinted with a murderous red hue as he fixed a cold violent gaze on her. He stressed with a hiss, "He will return. He must!"
He was panting heavily after he finished, leaving Ye Qiu in a state of shock. Granted, she must have never seen him in such a messy and emotional state before. Where was the composed and level-headed XIU who took everything in stride? Perhaps that XIU had already died when Marius’ helicopter exploded in the sea, or perhaps it was the agonizing moment when the knife flayed his skin bit by bit, with Luo Xuan’s cruel words echoing beside his ears, "You brought this upon yourself, XIU. Because of your willfulness, everyone close to you will suffer."
He Juan could barely recognize who he had become, and the realization brought a surge of powerlessness and despair into his heart. He turned away and uttered, "Leave." His voice was quiet now, heavy with exhaustion. "If you want to leave, then go now."
It’s okay, he told himself. As long as he himself believed that Marius was still alive, everything would be fine. He did not need anyone else. Others could waver, but he must hold onto his conviction tightly.
For two full seconds, there was only silence behind him and then he heard footsteps. The sound of the door opening reached He Juan’s ears, causing him to tense up, but he stubbornly did not turn around. He could almost imagine Ye Qiu standing by the door, with one hand around the handle while gazing at his back.
"Thank you," she uttered softly. "You might have grown tired of hearing me say this, but really, I am forever grateful for you, XIU. Thank you for helping us, sheltering us and accepting us when we are shunned and rejected by the whole world. You have no idea how much it means to us. Thank you and goodbye..." she paused for a beat, her voice laced with emotions. "...Ge."
Ge. She called him ’Ge’...
He Juan’s eyes were wide in shock, and he couldn’t come back to his senses even after the door closed, and the footsteps faded into the distance. It was the first time she had ever called him that, and ironically...
It might also be the last.
Ye Qiu was the oldest and thus had always been addressed as ’Jiejie’. For the children, she was an unbreakable pillar, a mental and emotional support, someone they could rely on all the time. Now that she called him ’Ge’... did it mean... He Juan was also that kind of figure in her eyes? Someone she could trust and lean on during arduous times?
He Juan gritted his teeth as a burst of pain surged through his heart. His nose turned sour, and he squeezed his eyes shut to prevent the tears from falling. Ye Qiu’s departure seemed to have torn a crack in his impenetrable façade, leaving behind a massive void in his heart. His broad shoulders trembled as he buried his face into his hands. Inside the cluttered yet quiet office, he made a desperate plea for the very first time,
"Help me... help me, Marius... I don’t know what I should do. Can you tell me? Can you please return soon...?"
