Lu Ke wanted to say something else, but as soon as she opened her mouth, she remembered the original character's persona.
She immediately shut her mouth, lowered her head, and cried silently.
Seeing that Fu Jihuai remained silent and refused to look at her, his whole being seemed enveloped by some intense emotion.
Lu Ke gave a sorrowful smile. "If you hate me now, brother, then I will go. I'll leave this place, leave Shengjing, and never appear in front of you again."
In that instant, Fu Jihuai felt his heart visibly skip a beat.
A wave of panic surged within him.
He finally turned around and looked at the pitifully crying girl on the bed.
Lu Ke forced an ugly smile, wiped the tears from her face, and feigned strength. "It's okay, brother."
"I... I'm all grown up now. I can live well anywhere."
"You don't need to worry about me, brother."
"I'll leave tomorrow. Could you... please not be angry because of me?"
Fu Jihuai's chest ached with a suffocating tightness. His dark, heavy eyes stared unblinkingly at the young woman before him, his heart feeling as if it were being sliced by a knife.
Lu Ke had never shown such an expression in front of him before.
She had always been happy around him. Even though she was occasionally sad, she had never been this cautious and walking on eggshells.
And she never needed to be cautious.
The incident with Pei Zheng... had actually dealt her quite a heavy blow.
Fu Jihuai opened his mouth, his throat dry. "What... are you thinking?"
Lu Ke looked at him, meeting his murky gaze, then slowly lowered her head again, avoiding the man's eyes.
She tugged uncomfortably at her clothes, trying to cover the bruises and marks on her body.
As if doing so could cover up all her wretchedness.
Tears suddenly spilled from her eyes.
Lu Ke blinked rapidly, trying to hold the tears back.
But the tears fell uncontrollably, growing fiercer.
She simply turned her back, not wanting Fu Jihuai to see her in such a pathetic state.
Choking back sobs, she said, "I... I'm already dirty... I'm sorry, brother, I'm really sorry..."
"I never deserved you to begin with. You are the heir to the Fu family, and I'm just a little fishergirl from a fishing village."
"We are from entirely different worlds. It was my delusion before, my delusion to be with you."
"Now... this is fine... I will return to the world where I truly belong. From now on, from now on... let's never see each other again..."
As she spoke, she gradually choked up until she couldn't utter a word. Her shoulders shook continuously, her entire being looking as if it were about to shatter.
The miserable sight of the broken girl endlessly degrading herself in front of him acted like a sharp blade, stabbing ruthlessly into Fu Jihuai's heart.
The pain made his fingertips curl involuntarily.
His nose stung, and his eyes slowly turned red.
Finally unable to control himself any longer, he slowly stepped forward and reached out to pull Lu Ke into his arms.
After a moment of stunned silence, Lu Ke buried her face in his chest and began to cry agonizingly.
Fu Jihuai gently patted her back, soothing Lu Ke's emotions.
Lu Ke gripped his clothes, rubbing her tears and snot all over the front of the man's shirt.
While crying, she secretly observed the man's expression.
Although she could feel Fu Jihuai's pain, his continued silence allowed her to vaguely guess what he was thinking.
The Fu Jihuai in the book was inherently an innocent and devoted person.
His view on love was that two people should be each other's only one, absolutely forbidding anyone else from stepping in and interfering.
Once a third person was involved, the relationship would no longer be pure.
It was very hard for him to swallow such an undercooked and disgusting meal.
Yet, his love was also incredibly extreme.
That extremity was only directed at himself; once he left the person he loved, he would be like a fish out of water, struggling to survive.
This character setting earned Fu Jihuai a massive wave of fans in the book.
But it was also the root of his suffering.
Fu Jihuai would need a long time to convince himself and gradually accept it.
Or perhaps, after distancing himself from her for a period, he would painfully realize that he simply couldn't live without her, and only then would he return to her side.
Various thoughts flashed through Lu Ke's mind, and she couldn't help but feel a few traces of pity for the poor soul in front of her.
Out of everyone, Fu Jihuai was the one who treated her the best and respected her the most.
Short-term pain was better than long-term suffering. She would give him a hand.
To save him from living in pain, self-doubt, and self-denial for a long time to come.
Having made up her mind, Lu Ke cried for a little while longer.
Seeing that Fu Jihuai remained silent, she simply pretended to be exhausted from crying and slowly fell asleep in his arms.
Her health was already poor, and she had a fever. She had been mostly unconscious for the past two days, hadn't eaten a thing, and had only received two IV drips of glucose.
Lu Ke genuinely couldn't hold on much longer; she was incredibly dizzy.
Noticing the woman in his arms had fallen asleep, Fu Jihuai tucked her into bed.
He sat by the bed for a while, then went back to lie on the sofa, keeping his eyes open until dawn.
Then, he got up, washed, packed up, left the villa, and went to work at the company.
After Lu Ke had slept enough, eaten breakfast, and sent the nanny away.
She scanned the house she had only lived in for a few days, feeling terrible inside.
Ever since she transmigrated into this world, she felt like she had never settled down.
She always had to move out of a house after only staying for a few days.
Even though the places she lived in now were all large houses, luxury mansions.
Top-tier luxury mansions that, in her past life, she wouldn't have been able to afford even a toilet for, even if she starved and emptied her savings.
Yet, they gave her the feeling of being a floating duckweed—homeless and without anyone to rely on.
She always seemed to be drifting between different places.
In her past life, it was because she had no money; she didn't dare to spend recklessly, nor did she dare to buy a house.
Now she had money, but she still didn't dare to buy a house that truly belonged to her.
A house completely her own, where she could lock everyone else out and let her heart finally settle.
Lu Ke took her ID card and phone, packed a few clothes simply, and quietly left the villa while the bodyguards weren't paying attention.
She would return here sooner or later; Fu Jihuai would never let her wander and drift outside.
No matter where she ran, she would be found and brought back.
But if you're going to put on an act, you have to do the full set.
Lu Ke also wanted to test whether the methods of chaebol heirs were truly that terrifying, and whether she really couldn't escape the male leads' grasp.
Anyway, she had a legitimate reason now; even if she was found, it wouldn't be a big deal.
The male leads would only pity her more, not torture her.
Her mind made up, Lu Ke withdrew some cash, pulled out her SIM card and threw it away, and turned off her phone.
She hailed an unlicensed taxi and, while the male leads were completely unaware, left Shengjing without hesitation.
But this was her first time out, and Lu Ke didn't know where to go either.
The car's destination was a city 400 kilometers away from Shengjing, called Jing'an.
About a five-hour drive.
Within these five hours, Fu Jihuai should notice she was missing, and would likely start a city-wide search for her very soon.
Once he made a move, the others would inevitably notice and follow suit.
By then, it would be difficult to leave Shengjing again.
If they couldn't find her in Shengjing, they would expand their scope and start searching the surrounding areas.
So Jing'an wasn't necessarily safe either.
It could only serve as an intermediate transit stop; she still had to rethink where to go next.
Lu Ke didn't treat this as a romantic game of she runs, he chases, and she can't escape even with wings.
Instead, she treated it completely as a desperate escape drill for her life.
If she managed to run away this time, she would definitely keep a low profile and never appear in front of the male leads again.
