Chapter 2657: Rain in the Southern City Tonight 19

Outside the window, a sudden thunderbolt split the layered clouds, lightning tore across the horizon and poured into the room, for an instant it was as bright as daytime, then immediately returned to darkness.

Xie Linzhou felt the thunder as if it had struck directly on his head; his fingertips went limp, his phone fell onto the carpet with a dull thud, as if it had finally summoned back a bit of his wandering, lost soul; a continuous buzzing rang in his ears, his stomach clenched with sharp pain, twisting and hurting.

He looked pallid, shoved Jin Chen aside, and staggered toward the bathroom; reaching the washbasin, he couldn't help but bend over and began to retch violently.

His stomach churned, the alcohol he had just swallowed surged uncontrollably up his throat.

Xie Linzhou's whole body trembled uncontrollably; within just a few minutes he was drenched in cold sweat, soaking his back shirt, the hairs on his forehead dampened and clung messily to his cheeks and forehead, leaving him in a wretched state.

After vomiting, only bitter gastric fluid and bile remained; the burning reflux made his throat and even his entire scalp feel numb and scorching, and tears welled up without any psychological guard.

Why is it like this again, again like this.

Everything is utterly rotten.

He had vomited himself weak, yet his stomach continued to spasm relentlessly, wave after wave of tightening, more tyrannical and unreasonable than his chaotic emotions.

Xie Linzhou barely leaned on the washstand, his trembling fingers turned on the faucet; icy water splashed out, wetting the backs of his hands and his cheeks, water droplets and tears mingled, indistinguishable.

A warm hand reached from behind, covered his cold hand, and turned off the faucet.

Jin Chen supported Xie Linzhou's limp body, holding a towel soaked in hot water and wrung half-dry, he gently pressed it to his face, wiping away the cold water and tears.

His movements were so gentle, so slow, plainly showing his heartache.

Xie Linzhou still felt sorrow; an unstoppable chill seeped from the cracks of his bones.

In recent days, the suspicions arising from the Song Qi incident had made him wake repeatedly night after night, unable to sleep soundly.

He thought that by clinging to that faint hope he could step by step reach the long-awaited happiness, believing he had finally broken free from his former shackles, but looking back he realized he had long been mired in a mire, doomed to repeat the same mistakes over and over.

Tears seemed endless; just as they were wiped dry, fresh moisture seeped from the corners of his eyes.

Jin Chen looked at his pitiable state, his heart felt as if it were being tugged, unsure how to go on, but he knew avoidance was not a solution.

"The design draft wasn't leaked by me."

Xie Linzhou lifted his eyelids to look at Jin Chen, his eyes full of brokenness and pain, "But you lied to me…"

His eye sockets were red, his tone obstinate, "You're also a liar, you all are…"

Xie Linzhou snatched the hot towel from Jin Chen's hand and clenched it tightly.

The water in the towel was wrung out, dripping onto the bathroom tiles, gathering into a small puddle.

Indoors, a silent, damp rain began to fall.

"Was it you who leaked it…" Xie Linzhou even felt a weary, disheartened exhaustion, "Now… is there any difference?"

"There is a difference, Zhouzhou." Jin Chen reached out, his fingertip lightly brushed again over the eyelids that seemed impossible to dry, firmly supporting his slightly trembling shoulders, making him face him.

"You can't just sentence me to death like that; I never helped Xie Shao, never leaked any of your designs, never gave him any information about you, aside from getting close to you…"

"Then why did you tell me?"

Xie Linzhou suddenly interrupted him.

He seemed unable to comprehend, his slender shoulder blades trembling uncontrollably from agitation, "Why can't we keep hiding it? Why… must you choose this moment to let me know?"

If he didn't know, he could still go on living in that false warmth, even for just another moment.

Jin Chen looked at him, his voice low and hoarse: "You can't keep it hidden, Zhouzhou."

Lies are like snowballs, only growing larger as they roll, until the day they collapse.

He didn't want to wait for that day, to have Xie Linzhou learn the truth from others' mouths or from an even worse situation.

Xie Linzhou was still shedding tears, opening his mouth to draw a few breaths.

In the living room, the phone that had fallen on the carpet rang again, buzzing with vibration, but no one had the leisure to attend to it.

Xie Linzhou was firmly embraced by Jin Chen.

The embrace was warm, yet it could no longer give him peace, as he heard Jin Chen speak beside his ear.

"Can I help you? I'll help you settle this matter, settle Liu Chi, settle Xie Shao."

Xie Linzhou lowered his eyelids, tiny tears still clinging to his lashes, he struggled to move his lips, his voice hoarse, "Let me go… I want to leave here."

He perhaps had never been a brave person; when faced with unbearable harm, all he knew was fragile escape.

Jin Chen's arms tightened further, refusing without hesitation, "No, I can't let you go."

At such a moment, letting him be alone, he could not imagine what Xie Linzhou would become.

Xie Linzhou spoke extremely slowly, as if he had exhausted all his strength.

"Jin Chen, don't force me… I hate you."

Jin Chen remained silent, taking back the towel that had been clenched into a wrinkled mess, re-wetting it with hot water and wringing it out, he continued to wipe the disheveled tears from Xie Linzhou's face.

"I don't want to believe you anymore; you and they… what difference is there…"

Jin Chen loosely embraced him, his fingers probing the shirt buttons, intending to help him remove the soiled clothing.

"Let me go…" Xie Linzhou struggled a little, his voice pleading, "I don't want to stay with a liar…"

Rip.

Jin Chen tore the shirt from his back, pulled it off, and tossed it aside.

"Have you finished?" Jin Chen asked in a low, hoarse voice, his gaze heavy as he looked at him.

Xie Linzhou stared for a second, then suddenly tugged at the corner of his mouth, revealing a truly ugly smile, more heartbreaking than crying, "Then what do you want me to do?"

During this period, he had long grown accustomed to relying on Jin Chen, as if merely having this person nearby gave him a backbone, so he feared nothing.

Yet he never expected that, in the end, even at this heart-wrenching moment, he would unconsciously ask Jin Chen what to do.

Xie Linzhou himself found it both laughable and tragic.

Jin Chen cupped his face with both hands, forcing him to lift his gaze to meet his own, looking deeply into Xie Linzhou's eyes brimming with moisture.

"You're exhausted now; you need rest."

"Now take a hot shower, go to sleep; leave the matters of Liu Chi, the competition, all the problems to me, I'll help you resolve them."