Chapter 99 - Nightmare (1)

Meanwhile, at the Meng Residence.

Meng Renshu got out of his car as he sighed in exhaustion. He strode with his long legs and entered a huge house painted with white in front of him. The house had a lot of windows framed with black woods, creating a pleasant contrast with the white painting. The roof was made using dark blue tiles and there were two high chimneys that trapped the main building in between, which looked like small towers from distance.

The garden was spacious and decorated with fountains and rose bushes everywhere, making the house look extraordinarily artsy and elegant.

As the Young Master of this house, Meng Renshu had long since gotten used to such spectacle, so he did not even bother looking at it again and went straight to his place. He was very exhausted and could not wait to dip in a bathtub of warm water and call in the day.

When he came in, a few maids had waited in front of the door and bowed to him respectfully. A woman in her late fifties came forward and greeted him, "Welcome home, Young Master. Do you want to eat or take a bath first?"

Meng Renshu casually let a maid take his bag and loosened his tie. "Prepare a bath for me, and I have eaten already, so no need to prepare any food."

"Understood." The older maid nodded her head and quickly arranged some maids to prepare the bath for the Young Master.

Meng Renshu went to his room on the second floor and plopped himself on the nearest couch without even turning on the light. He laid down with his arm covering his closed eyes, feeling the exhaustion in his body slowly being comforted by the darkness. 

His mind wandered, and many memories flashed through his mind in an instant. Among those memories, one person kept appearing in his mind.

"Xiaoyi…" He muttered in a low voice. 

In the end, that girl still left them without hesitation at the boutique. Meng Renshu kind of expected it, but he was still disappointed when she really did that. He felt like his effort had gone to waste, and he was helpless against the girl who once followed him around like a little chick.

What could he do to bring the old her back? He promised himself that he would treat her better this time. However, she did not leave him any chance to prove that. She just wanted to be away from him as much as possible.

What was it about her that made him feel unsettled? Why did the thought of her leaving him scare him so much?

These days, he could not sleep well because she kept appearing in his dreams. The nightmares he had every night made him feel bad and exhausted whenever he woke up, so the effect slowly took a toll on his body.

He wanted to sleep peacefully again. He did not want to see the nightmare about Li Caiyi again. 

Meng Renshu was soon defeated by his weariness and eventually drifted away to dreamland.

***

It was a full moon night during their wedding night. The room was dark, with only moonlight shining through the window as the light source, but no one took the initiative to turn on the light.

Sitting on the edge of his bed while wearing his pajamas, Meng Renshu sneaked a glance at the woman sitting on another edge of the bed with a complicated expression. 

Li Caiyi had just gotten out of the showers, so he could faintly smell the scent of the same shampoo he was using from her hair.

Although it was dark inside the room, Meng Renshu's eyes slowly got accustomed to it, so he knew that Li Caiyi was fidgeting in her place. Her figure, who basked in the moonlight, looked incredibly charming and ethereal. She wore a thin, white nightgown that made her snowy skin seem to exude a faint silver glow as she bit her red, luscious lips nervously.

Meng Renshu gulped, seeing how alluring she was before he quickly averted his eyes and scolded himself inwardly for thinking like a beast. 

Even though they had been married and had become an official husband and wife now, they had no romantic feelings toward each other, which made him feel guilty for imagining something he should not have even for a moment. 

He clearly had Li Chunhua in his heart, so thinking this way about her made him feel like he was cheating on Li Chunhua, which sounds ridiculous because Li Caiyi was his legal wife. 

It was under their family arrangement they got married. Meng Renshu had always been aware of his obligation as the heir of the Meng family, but he had never expected that the one who would share the rest of his life would be Li Caiyi. While he knew various interests were playing a part in their marriage, he had no power to go against it. 

Their marriage started on the wrong foot from the beginning, so how could Meng Renshu bear to touch someone he had considered his biological sister just like that? It was already unfair enough for her to get dragged into this mess, much less stuck with a man who was her sister's ex-boyfriend. Li Caiyi deserved a better man who could love her just the way she was, not a man whose heart had been occupied by another like Meng Renshu.

He felt it was not right to touch her while he had another woman in his mind. Not to mention the said woman had a similar appearance to her. 

However, just ignoring her like this did not feel right, either. Whether or not they liked it, they were husband and wife now, and they could not avoid their destined duty to produce an heir forever.

While Meng Renshu contemplated what he should do, he heard Li Caiyi speak with a soft voice.

"Brother Renshu, aren't you tired?"

"Not really. What about you? You have worked hard today."

"I'm fine. It's not a problem at all."

The room fell into silence once again. Meng Renshu could not stand the tension and cleared his throat awkwardly. "Xiaoyi, I think we have something to talk about. Don't you think so as well?"

There was a pause before she replied faintly, "That's right."

Meng Renshu did not know why, but he suddenly felt nervous. "S-so, you know our parents arranged this marriage, right? We don't have to force ourselves to commit to our marriage right away. By that, I mean…." Meng Renshu looked down at the bed before he averted his eyes in a fluster, "...you know what I mean."

Li Caiyi nodded her head. He did not know if it was because of the moonlight, but she looked so lonely and fragile. "I understand. Brother Renshu, I'm okay, so you don't have to be cautious of me. They also forced you into this, so this isn't your fault at all."

Meng Renshu looked down gloomily. "I wasn't the one who planned this, but I should be able to avoid this outcome if I were stronger."

"Brother Renshu… Did you regret it?"

Maybe because he was too immersed in his thoughts, he didn't notice the slight tremble in Li Caiyi's voice. 

"Yes, I regretted it." 

Meng Renshu regretted he did not fight harder for Li Chunhua. He also regretted making Li Caiyi spend the rest of her life with someone incapable of giving her the love she deserved. 

"I-I see," Li Caiyi said. Meng Renshu could not see her face clearly because of the shadow cast by the moonlight on her face, but he saw her shoulders shiver.

"Are you cold? You should go to sleep now. Don't forget to cover yourself with a blanket." Meng Renshu rose from his seat. "We both are tired because of the wedding. Let's take a good rest tonight and talk about this again tomorrow."

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to sleep in the guest room." Meng Renshu smiled and stroked her head like he usually did. "Don't think too much and take a good rest. I will see you again first thing in the morning tomorrow."

She nodded her head again. Meng Renshu was glad Li Caiyi was very easy to talk to. Although he was upset with the whole situation behind their forced marriage, he was grateful that his partner was Li Caiyi at least and not a random woman he had never met before. 

It would be awkward at first, but he was confident he could lead a harmonious marital life with Li Caiyi as his partner. They had always got along well, after all. 

Meng Renshu went out of their wedding bedroom and slept in the guest room instead. After entertaining the guest all day, he was exhausted, so he immediately fell deep into sleep. 

The next day, he received an urgent call for work and left early in the morning.. The idea of having a wife still had not settled in his brain yet, so he had completely forgotten about his promise and left without leaving a word to his newlywed wife.