Third party.
‘It’s not what you’re thinking,’ Gu Jiao Wu said. ‘Why do you want to drag someone else into our relationship?’
Someone else? Chu Da was the thorn in Qiao Tan Yuan’s heart.
‘Chu Da isn’t someone else,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said. ‘She’s the woman you love. The woman who has your heart. Do you think I don’t know?’
Qiao Tan Yuan tried pushing Gu Jiao Wu off her, but he only held her tighter.
‘I’m being calm and reasonable,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said. ‘Let go of me. Gu Jiao Wu, I won’t get back together with you. I’m Qiao Tan Yuan. I’m not going to degrade myself anymore. I want to find a love that belongs to me. I want a man who loves me, and only has me in his heart. I don’t want a man like you who is unfaithful, and has another woman in their heart. Now do you understand?’
Gu Jiao Wu didn’t know why Chu Da’s bright face had faded in his heart. He looked at the Qiao Tan Yuan determination on her face to leave him, and he held her tighter. Many thoughts ran through his head, and feelings in his heart that made it hard for him to get Qiao Tan Yuan to believe him.
‘I don’t know what to say to make you believe me,’ Gu Jiao Wu said. ‘Right now I can’t say why I love you. But I can say right now in my eyes there is only you, and the person I’m holding is only you. I don’t want to mention the past anymore, and the woman you saw last night isn’t Chu Da.’
‘If she’s not Chu Da, why does she look like Chu Da?’ Qiao Tan Yuan asked.
‘I think she’s a suspicious person,’ Gu Jiao Wu said. ‘She knows a lot about Chu Da’s past, but I’m certain she’s not Chu Da.’
‘Are they sisters?’ Qiao Tan Yuan asked.
‘No, I had her investigated,’ Gu Jiao Wu said. ‘Her name is Li Lam. The Li Household’s heiress. My mum arranged a meeting for us to meet.’
‘An arranged meeting?’ Qiao Tan Yuan asked.
‘Um,’ Gu Jiao Wu said. ‘The last time you saw Li Lam and I together at the cafe was an arranged meeting my mum setup. I can promise you, Li Lam isn’t Chu Da. If Li Lam is Chu Da, I would be with Chu Da by now, and you and I wouldn’t be together.’
‘Because Chu Da…’ Qiao Tan Yuan said.
Qiao Tan Yuan didn’t want to say she knew Chu Da couldn’t have children. She didn’t know if Chu Da was alive after getting treatment.
‘Why?’ Gu Jiao Wu asked.
‘Because Chu Da isn’t with you, you’re using me as her substitute,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said. ‘If you find Chu Da, you’ll be with her. In your heart there’s only Chu Da. Let me go, and you can go to hell!’
‘Qiao Tan Yuan, do you really believe I’m using you as someone else’s substitute?’ Gu Jiao Wu asked. ‘Even if I wanted a substitute, don’t you think I would want to be with a substitute I like? Even if the substitute was Xiao Bao’s mother, if I didn’t like the substitute, don’t you think I can force the substitute to return Xiao Bao to the Gu Household?’
‘You wouldn’t…’ Qiao Tan Yuan said.
‘I would,’ Gu Jiao Wu said. ‘At least believe I can use more dirty tactics than you.’
‘Gu Jiao Wu, I can’t be with you,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said.
‘Why?’ Gu Jiao Wu asked.
‘I told you, I want to be with someone who truly loves me,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said. ‘You’re not capable of loving me.’
‘True love?’ Gu Jiao Wu asked. ‘Right now I can’t promise you I know why I love you. But I want you to give us a chance to see if you’re the person I’ll love the most. Why won’t you give us a chance?’
‘There’s no point,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said. ‘You’re not capable of loving me. You said I’m not the type of woman you like.’
‘If love can be controlled by the head then it wouldn’t be love,’ Gu Jiao Wu said. ‘Yes, you’re not the type of woman I like. But I can promise you right now I do like you even if you’re not the type I like. What’s really stopping you from giving us a chance?’
‘If you want me to give us a chance, I have one condition,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said. ‘When you can forget Chu Da, I’ll get back together with you.’
‘Qiao Tan Yuan…’ Gu Jiao Wu said.
‘Don’t call me,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said. ‘We both know you married me to punish me. I don’t want to go back to the past. Today you can say you like me because of Xiao Bao. If tomorrow Chu Da comes back to you, you’ll be cold toward me like before. I can’t bear that kind of pain a second time. Gu Jiao Wu, if we’re not fated to be together, I rather not have you love me for a day. Having you love me for a day, and leaving me tomorrow, for me it’s more painful than death.’
‘Qiao Tan Yuan, I promise you if I say I want to be with you even if Chu Da returns, I won’t leave you,’ Gu Jiao Wu said.
‘Perhaps you won’t leave me, but your heart is with Chu Da,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said.
Gu Jiao Wu wouldn’t know how he felt if he saw Chu Da again. But he was determined to find Chu Da to know why Chu Da left him, and get closure. He didn’t want Qiao Tan Yuan to know he was still looking for Chu Da, because he didn’t want Qiao Tan Yuan to misunderstand him.
While Gu Jiao Wu was distracted, Qiao Tan Yuan escaped his embrace and took several steps away from him.
‘Gu Jiao Wu, you can’t give me what I want,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said. ‘What you can give me, I don’t want. If you sincerely like me then respecting my decision is the best way to show you like me.’
‘Big sister, come downstairs to eat dinner,’ Qiao Jie said from outside the door.
Qiao Tan Yuan walked downstairs with Qiao Jie. Gu Jiao Wu stared at the books about Denmark on the coffee table for a while before he walked downstairs.
When Gu Jiao Wu entered the dining room, he approached Qiao Tan Yuan but she changed to another seat far away from him. Qiao Jie, Mr and Mrs Qiao acted like they didn’t notice the tension between Gu Jiao Wu and Qiao Tan Yuan.
‘Jiao Wu, sit and eat dinner with us,’ Mr Qiao said.
‘Uncle, aunty, I need to work overtime so I can’t stay for dinner,’ Gu Jiao Wu said.
Gu Jiao Wu looked at Qiao Tan Yuan, she was still upset with him. He knew if he stay, she wasn’t in the right mind frame to listen to his explanation and believe him.
Qiao Tan Yuan watched Gu Jiao Wu leave, and she was surprised her heart left with him.
End of Chapter Eighty-Four