234 Promise (2/2)

He hugged her more tightly. His eyes also started welling up. ”Baby, please. I'm begging you. Don't leave me.”

When he refused to release her, she snapped and pushed him away with all her might. ”Let go, a**hole!”

It felt like she just stabbed a pole into his heart and twisted it. His arms loosened around her, and then fell down to his sides.

Seeing his hurt expression, she wavered for a moment before she hardened once again. She avoided looking at his face, while she continued disentangling herself from him.

He no longer tried to stop her. He just watched her with heartbroken eyes, as she got off him.

As for Iris, she was fighting a fierce internal battle. Hatred boiled within her, threatening to explode any second, but she forcefully tamped it down. The need to raise hell and go berserk was so intense that she could barely control herself.

But she couldn't bear to hit Jin Liwei again. When she lost control earlier, it also hurt her when her fists struck him. It was a pain that battered at her heart. It felt like his pain was also her pain.

All she wanted was to console him and to stay with him. However, she just couldn't disregard the overwhelming bloodthirst of her body.

Jin Liwei wanted forgiveness, but it wasn't her who needed to forgive him. The soul of the original Iris might be gone, but her remnant was still very much alive inside her body. The remnant consisted of pure and unadulterated emotions. This time, it was of pure hatred.

She needed to appease the remnant's desire for revenge first before she could live in peace with Jin Liwei.

If she stayed with him at this time, she feared that the remnant would only engulf her and make her hate Jin Liwei. She didn't want that to happen. So she could only leave him…for now.

She crouched and then hugged his neck tightly. Speaking directly to his ear, she told him, ”I can't stay with you for now because I don't want to hate you. I need to leave and resolve something on my own first. After I'm done, I…I'll come back.” She released his neck.

They looked at one another.

”You'll come back? Promise?”

”I promise.”

He looked unwilling to let her go, but he still nodded. ”I'll wait for you. Please…please don't forget to come back to me. I love you so much.”

She looked at him one last time, memorizing every detail of him.

”I need to go,” she said, standing up. Taking a few deep breaths, she turned around and walked away.

Jin Liwei remained on the floor, watching his baby girl's back get farther and farther away from him, until she completely disappeared from his view. He wanted to chase after her but stopped himself. He trusted her. She said she was going to come back, so he would wait for her.

He dropped on his back, lying on the cold hard floor. He looked up at the night sky through the glass dome. It was as if the twinkling stars lost their lustre. His baby girl took all the beauty and colour of his world with her. He would need to live in a dark, colourless and joyless world from now on until she returned to him.

”What am I going to do? You just left but I'm already missing you.”

Covering his eyes with his arm, he began to cry.