CTS 64

Shen Mo turned his head with some effort, looked at him, and said, “I always was.”

Ji Mingxuan drew in a sharp breath and suddenly pulled him even tighter. After a few deep thrusts, he came hard inside him.

Shen Mo trembled, his whole body shaking from the aftershocks. Still caught in the lingering waves of pleasure, his body was overly sensitive, and his legs gave out completely. He slid down along the glass, unable to stand.

Ji Mingxuan reached out, wrapped an arm around his waist, and helped him up. He guided him into the bathroom to clean up. The intensity of what they had just done had drained them both. After washing up, they collapsed into bed, holding each other.

Shen Mo fell asleep as soon as he closed his eyes. In the middle of the night, still half-asleep, he felt a hand slide over his waist. That hand brushed lightly across his skin, stirring a familiar kind of desire. Shen Mo let out a muffled sound and half-opened his eyes.

“Mr. Ji?”

“It’s nothing,” Ji Mingxuan whispered behind him, wrapping an arm around his waist. “Go back to sleep.”

But that hand didn’t stop. It moved lower and lower.

Shen Mo grabbed his wrist. “Mr. Ji, I really don’t have the strength…”

Ji Mingxuan kissed his temple and coaxed softly, “You don’t have to do anything.”

He pulled off Shen Mo’s pants and found the place that had already been thoroughly claimed. Two fingers slipped inside, twisting and stirring. Shen Mo’s body, already loosened from earlier, welcomed him again.

Ji Mingxuan pulled his fingers out, pressed close, and slowly slid into Shen Mo from behind as they lay side by side.

“Ah…”

Shen Mo let out a sharp cry.

Ji Mingxuan held him gently and rocked into him with slow, steady movements. This time, he was exceptionally tender, but he dragged it out much longer than before. Shen Mo was left hoarse from moaning, reduced to begging by the end.

Ji Mingxuan kissed the back of his neck and asked, “Do you like it?”

“I do…” Shen Mo could barely catch his breath, his voice trembling. “I like you, Mr. Ji…”

That answer clearly pleased Ji Mingxuan. After holding him close and grinding into him for a while longer, he finally came. Neither of them bothered to get up and shower. They simply lay there in a sticky, sweat-drenched embrace, waiting for their breathing to settle.

Outside, the sky was still a deep shade of gray, just barely on the edge of dawn.

Shen Mo was so exhausted he couldn’t fall back asleep. Resting in Ji Mingxuan’s arms, he asked, “You really aren’t married?”

Ji Mingxuan gave a low hum. “You already know who has been in my heart.”

Shen Mo let out a bitter smile. If he hadn’t lost his memory, he would have known Ji Mingxuan’s feelings. But fate had played a cruel trick, nearly costing him everything.

“If that’s true,” Shen Mo asked, “then why did you break up with me four years ago? I had Attorney Chen reach out to you. Why did you never respond?”

Ji Mingxuan went quiet all of a sudden.

Outside, the sky gradually began to brighten. After a long silence, Shen Mo finally heard him speak a single name.

“An’an…”

Shen Mo’s heart gave a sharp twist.

This was the one thing he had never wanted to face. If it hadn’t been for his messy entanglement with Zhou Yang, none of that would have happened to Ji An’an.

“She woke up in the hospital that day,” Ji Mingxuan said slowly. “After I told her everything, she didn’t shed a single tear. You don’t know, but she’s always been the kind to cry easily. Even the smallest thing could make her cry. But that day, she was so calm it scared me. She only asked me for one thing.”

“What did she ask?”

“Since she was little, whatever An’an wanted, I did everything I could to give it to her. I hated Zhou Yang, but I still agreed to let him be my brother-in-law. That was the first time An’an ever asked me for something so seriously. How could I bear to let her down?”

Shen Mo asked again, “What did she ask you for?”

Ji Mingxuan closed his eyes. “She asked me to let you go. To let you be with Zhou Yang.”

Shen Mo’s eyelids twitched. He would never have imagined in a million years that Ji An’an would ask for something like that.

She was the one who had been betrayed.

“An’an said, people who love each other should be together. And the one who isn’t loved… can only choose to let go.” Ji Mingxuan continued, “She was clearer than I ever was, wasn’t she? I was the one who got it wrong from the beginning. I thought if I tied two people together long enough, feelings would eventually grow. But it only backfired. I exposed your relationship with Zhou Yang and ended up hurting you. I let An’an get engaged to Zhou Yang, and in the end… I hurt her too.”

Ji Mingxuan couldn’t go on.

Shen Mo quickly grabbed his hand. “No. I know you never meant to hurt anyone…”

“But what happened can’t be undone. So I agreed to An’an’s request. I broke up with you and never reached out again. I stayed away from both you and Zhou Yang.”

“I’ve been done with Zhou Yang for a long time now.”

“I only realized that when I heard you mention it the other day.” Ji Mingxuan kissed him gently. “I kept the promise I made to An’an. I never went back. I never thought I’d see you again, not until I saw you standing there by the pool…”

He didn’t finish the sentence. He just kissed Shen Mo again, over and over.

Shen Mo thought to himself, was that really the truth? Had Ji Mingxuan never expected to see him again? Then why invest in a hotel on this island? Maybe, just maybe, even with the slimmest hope, Ji Mingxuan had been waiting here for him all along.

Just like he once waited at Jinxiu Villa.

But Shen Mo said nothing.

Ji Mingxuan took his hand and placed it on his own chest.

“Shen Mo, you walked into this trap all on your own.”