novelraw Chapter 0132 A Belated Kneeling
Chapter 0132 A Belated Kneeling
The bedroom was still dimly lit.
Only a small nightlight by the bedside emitted a faint, warm glow.
Jiang Ci knelt beside the bed.
The carpet was thick, but he could still feel a dull pain in his knee.
That was the punishment he deserved.
He remained in that position, motionless.
It's like a statue that's repenting.
All that could be seen was Wen Ning's pale, thin sleeping face.
She was sleeping soundly, her breathing shallow.
Her long hair was scattered on the pillow, like a clump of black seaweed, making her face look even smaller than a palm.
Jiang Ci looked at her.
In his mind, the contents of those hundreds of diary entries were like a movie playing on repeat, relentlessly crushing his nerves.
I'd rather rot in the mud than let him stand in the light.
Don't hurt Aci.
"How could you... be so foolish?"
Jiang Ci's voice choked with emotion.
He recalled everything he had done to her over the past month.
He dragged her back from the airport like he was arresting a fugitive.
He stuffed the check into her collar, humiliating her dignity.
He put a gold chain on her, restricting her freedom.
He forced her to eat things she didn't like, and watching her want to vomit but dare not, he actually felt a sense of pleasure in subjugating her.
Every scene.
Looking back now, it all feels like a slow, agonizing torture.
What is he doing?
He repaid kindness with enmity.
He was pushing this girl, who was willing to sacrifice everything to save him, to the brink of death.
Jiang Ci reached out his hand.
Her fingertips trembled, hovering above Wen Ning's cheek.
He wanted to touch her.
I wanted to help her brush away the stray hair that was blocking her eyes.
I wanted to warm her cold cheeks with my fingertips.
but.
It's less than a centimeter from the fingertip to the skin.
He stopped.
He abruptly withdrew his hand.
It was as if some taboo had been touched.
He looked down at his hands.
His knuckles were still stained with dark red, somewhat dried blood from when he smashed the wall in the study.
The lines on her palm seemed to still hold evidence of the crimes she committed last night when she forced and imprisoned her.
Dirty.
It's so dirty.
These hands once pushed her into the abyss.
These hands once tore her paintings to shreds, shattered her hopes.
These hands, even yesterday, were gripping her chin and saying to her viciously, "I hate you."
He is now filled with malice and sin.
What right do you have to touch her?
Even the slightest touch would be a desecration to him.
"I don't deserve it..."
Jiang Ci closed his eyes in pain.
He held those "dirty" hands tightly to his sides.
My gaze shifted downwards again.
It landed on Wen Ning's left wrist, which was exposed outside the blanket.
There.
He was wearing a black smartwatch.
He put it on her three days ago.
Those were the electronic shackles he used to monitor her and control her movements.
The watch strap is made of a cut-resistant material and is fastened very tightly.
A deep red mark was left on her snow-white wrist, and the skin was even chafed.
Jiang Ci's heart felt as if it had been hooked tightly by a barbed iron hook.
Blood was everywhere.
He's an idiot.
He imprisoned his savior like a criminal.
He deprived her of her freedom and trampled on her dignity.
Yet he arrogantly believed that this was love, and that he was trying to keep her.
"sorry……"
He silently recited it in his heart.
These three words are too light.
It was too light to bear the weight of her three years of suffering.
Jiang Ci took a deep breath.
He forcefully suppressed the urge to self-destruct.
He stretched out his hand.
He pulled out the specially made magnetic key from the pocket of his pajama pants.
That's the only way to unlock this watch.
These past few days, he's kept it close to his body, even putting it under his pillow while he sleeps.
I was afraid she would run away.
He was terrified of losing control over her.
But now.
The key was incredibly hot in his hand.
Jiang Ci held the key.
My hands are shaking badly.
He moved closer to Wen Ning's wrist.
He moved very carefully, afraid that the cold metal would touch her skin and wake her.
"Click".
A very slight, crisp sound.
The magnetic clasp has been released.
The black watch that had haunted Wen Ning like a nightmare was finally released.
Jiang Ci took it down.
heavy.
But it felt heavier to him than the gold chain.
He looked at the red, swollen marks on Wen Ning's wrist.
His eyes were red-rimmed.
He lowered his head.
He didn't kiss the wound (because he felt his mouth was dirty too).
Instead, he gently and lightly rested his forehead against the back of her hand.
That's a gesture of submission.
It is also a gesture of atonement.
"Here you go."
His voice was hoarse and broken, and in the quiet bedroom, only he could hear it.
"Freedom is back with you."
"Your dignity is back."
"I will pay back all your debts."
Starting today.
It is no longer imprisonment.
It's no longer forced.
If she wants to leave.
he……
Jiang Ci's fingers tightened suddenly, his nails piercing his palms.
No.
He still couldn't bear to let her go.
But he will no longer keep her bound by chains.
He will spend the rest of his life with it.
Use his life.
Go and gently warm up that heart that he broke, little by little.
Even if it means kneeling for a lifetime.
He accepted it.