Hearing his words, Yu Xiang blinked slowly, her mouth parting as her lips began to tremble.
Her teeth found her lower lip, biting down gently as she realized she could no longer sugarcoat her feelings. His eyes were looking at her with such genuine emotion pouring out that it made her chest tight.
She clenched her dress fabric in her fists, looking down at the rough wooden floor as the words finally escaped her.
"I hated you," she said quietly, the words falling into the silence between them like stones into still water.
As those words left her lips, Tianlong's eyes blinked in surprise, but then a small, rueful smile formed on his face.
"Indeed I did that," he muttered, more to himself than to her as painful clarity washed over him.
