Chapter 56: Lambs Awaiting Slaughter

Some things were simply impossible to say.

I certainly could not tell her that I was dying.

I did not want to waste time on romantic entanglements.
I did not want to mend fences and make up with Liu Zhuyin.
I was afraid she would remain unchanged, calling me her husband with her lips while her heart still belonged to Ning Yuanzhou.
I was even more terrified that she might love me as deeply as I loved her, for then my impending death would transform into a reluctant sorrow, breaking my heart—and breaking hers as well.

I had seen what she looked like when she loved someone desperately and recklessly. Back when Ning Yuanzhou left, the very first glimpse I caught of her felt like looking at a hollow shell.
devoid of vitality, devoid of a soul.
She had lost her temper entirely, agreeing to anything, indifferent to everything.

I dreaded seeing her like that again.
And I dreaded even more the prospect of her suffering heartbreak all over again because of me.

Liu Hanyue furrowed her delicate brows, studying me intently.
She was remarkably clever and could sense something was wrong from my words.
Yet she chose not to expose it.

"A shattered mirror is hard to make round again? You really are being overly sentimental."
"Fine, then let me see just how impossible it is for the two of you to mend things."

Liu Hanyue did not say much more, but her gaze clearly signaled that she intended to see this through to the end.
Filled with gloomy depression, I let her drag me out of the coffee shop and straight to a private dining room in a restaurant.

As soon as we stepped inside, I saw that Mrs. Liu and Liu Zhuyin were already seated, waiting for us.
Since Liu Hanyue had just returned today, a welcoming banquet was inevitable.
And I certainly did not dare to run away from this situation.

Only...
With three women gathered together, it felt less like a family dinner and more like a feast designed to test my resolve.

"Sit next to your wife!"
Liu Hanyue glared at me, leaving me no choice but to obey and take the seat beside her.
Thus, the family dinner officially commenced.

"Oh my, our family hasn't been able to sit down and share a meal together in quite a while."
"It truly hasn't been easy."

Mrs. Liu delivered her opening remarks with a faint, smiling curl of her lips.

"There will be plenty of chances in the future."
"If our family wants to get together, we can do it every single day!"
"Don't you agree, Brother-in-law?"
Liu Hanyue immediately seized the conversational initiative.

I was instantly rendered speechless, having no idea how to respond.
Fortunately, it was at that exact moment that Liu Zhuyin came to my rescue.

"I've been busy with work, so scheduling dinners really isn't that simple."
"Yichen is busy too, so please stop putting pressure on him."

Liu Hanyue let out a cold snort. "My, oh my, how protective! What's this? Weren't the two of you getting a divorce?"

Liu Zhuyin's pretty face flushed red, and she shot her sister a fierce glare.

Throughout the meal, Liu Hanyue kept pouring toasts for me without stopping.
This little troublemaker had a formidable capacity for alcohol, and neither Liu Zhuyin nor I was any match for her.

"Yueyue, I really... I can't drink another drop."

Yet she had no intention of stopping.
"What? Are you looking down on your sister-in-law now?"
"Is this your way of cutting ties with the Liu family, deciding you won't bother interacting with me in the future?"
"Refusing even to drink a toast? Have you grown full of yourself?"

Her words forced me to swallow several more cups.
When I finally ran out of options, Liu Zhuyin stepped in to rescue me once again.

"Your brother-in-law had too many business dinners over the past couple of years, and his stomach isn't well."
"Let me drink in his place."

Liu Hanyue curled her lips. "Drinking on someone else's behalf means you have to down two cups! Are you willing to do that?"

"I am!"

Liu Zhuyin did not hesitate, a reaction that left me slightly stunned.
In the past, she had never once stood up for me.
Not in a single instance!

Though today's gathering was nothing monumental—merely a family dinner—and Liu Hanyue wouldn't have actually done anything if I genuinely refused to drink,
she had still stepped forward to block the alcohol for me.

Watching her drink cup after cup, I quickly interjected, "That's enough, you've both had quite a bit... Do you actually intend to get us both completely plastered?"

Liu Hanyue nodded repeatedly.
"That's right!"
"Who told the two of you not to give me peace of mind? I'm just teaching you both a lesson."
"What's wrong? Unhappy about it?"
"If you're unhappy, hit me! Can you even beat me?"

She was an absolute scoundrel!
A spoiled and willful tyrant!

And so, while Mrs. Liu watched the spectacle unfold, Liu Zhuyin and I were relentlessly plied with alcohol by Liu Hanyue.

"Stop drinking, let me take it instead."
Time and again, Liu Zhuyin snatched the glass from my hand and emptied it in a single gulp.

With her acting this way, it almost felt as though we truly were a husband and wife united on the same front.
I let out a desolate sigh and remained silent.

"Yichen, I said I would change, little by little..."
"From this day forward, you are the only one in my heart."
"I will make sure to lavish all my partiality and devotion upon you!"

She looked at me with hazy, almond-shaped eyes, tinged with intoxication.
Amidst her orchid-scented breath, her entire body pressed close against mine.

I was thoroughly drunk as well, my mind swirling in a haze.
Yet through my peripheral vision, I could still catch Mrs. Liu's amused smile and Liu Hanyue's triumphant expression.
The two of them had planned this all along.

Later on, my memories fractured into blackness.
By the time I regained consciousness, I was already back at the villa, lying in bed.

A burning-hot body was straddling me, unbuttoning my shirt.

"What... what are you doing..."

I tried desperately to struggle free, but the lingering alcohol surged through my veins, making the world spin and leaving me entirely without strength.

"You are mine."
"I will never let you leave me!"

Liu Zhuyin was also flushed with intoxication, acting far bolder than she ever had before.
Under the moonlight, she began shedding her clothes piece by piece.
Beneath the moonlight, she looked breathtakingly beautiful and moving.

In the past, whenever we shared intimate moments as husband and wife, the lights were always turned off and we would hide away beneath the covers.
Each time, she never refused, yet she was never particularly enthusiastic either.
It always felt like carrying out a routine duty.

This kind of wild abandonment was something I was witnessing for the very first time.

"We... we're divorced, Liu Zhuyin!"
"Let me go... mmm!"

My lips formed words of refusal,
only to be effectively silenced as her red lips sealed mine.
True to her intent, my clothes were also stripped away piece by piece.
I wanted to fight back, but found it utterly impossible.
Her strength was astonishingly great!

In short...
That night turned me into a lamb led to the slaughter.
And for the very first time, I truly experienced the enchanting allure of Liu Zhuyin.

Down in the villa's living room, Mrs. Liu was brewing tea for Liu Hanyue.
"You little trickster, you really pulled it off!"

Liu Hanyue let out a soft chuckle, her face beaming with triumph.
"Of course! Would they dare disobey me?"
"Still... my sister really went too far."
"Treating her husband like that over someone like Ning Yuanzhou—just hearing about it made me furious enough to die."
"I honestly have no idea how my brother-in-law managed to endure these past few years."

Liu Hanyue sighed, and Mrs. Liu wore an expression of helpless exasperation.
"Ah, quite a few things have happened over the last two years."
"Still, judging by how things look now, the chances of them making up are still quite high."

She was one of the few who knew the absolute truth of the matter. Having eaten far more salt than we had eaten rice, she naturally understood what was weighing on my mind.
Since I had kept the truth hidden back then, blurting it out abruptly now would only complicate things further.

Her only option was to advance step by step, allowing Liu Zhuyin to discover the truth organically.
This process would not only allow me to personally experience Liu Zhuyin's transformation,
but also enable Liu Zhuyin to realize just how deeply invested my sacrifices for her had been.

Only then could this renewed love become genuine!
Rather than mere gratitude born of pity.

Her greatest fear was that if Liu Zhuyin suddenly learned the truth overnight, a one-eighty-degree reversal in her affections might cause me to misunderstand her motives.
That would only push me further and further away.

Mrs. Liu silently regretted why she had listened to my wishes back then.
Why hadn't she just blurted out the truth?
Yet now... saying anything was already too late.
They could only take it one slow step at a time.