Reborn: The Return of the Villainous Mr. Liu

Ai fixed her gaze at her. "Have you never hidden anything from me, Guiying?"

Guiying looked away for just a moment, feeling slightly uncomfortable, but she quickly shrugged it off. She shook her head. "Of course not, Ai. Why would I hide anything from you?"

"I don't know. Sometimes, even best friends hold secrets among themselves."

She chuckled and flicked her forehead. "Silly, I would never do that."

Ai had several questions in her mind. After her confrontation with Guiying in her past life which led her to her death, she was now aware that there were a lot of emotions she had bottled up within her over the course of her lifetime.

Those feelings exploded one night that ended her life forever.

Ai faintly smiled. "I see. It's nothing, Guiying. I just feel that I will get more freedom in Sky. Dream High is very specific about its tropes. I cannot write something that I don't like or just for popularity. I somehow could publish my books until now. But I know it cannot go on forever."

In her past life, she could hold onto her style of writing in Dream High only because Yating supported her. As the Chief Editor, he had considerable power and as her boyfriend, he gave her a lot of leeway despite Dream High's preferences.

But this time, she didn't want to rely on him. She wanted to stay far away from Guiying and Yating, so that she wouldn't interfere in their lives.

Guiying gave it some serious thought and nodded. "It's true that your writing style and plots are quite different. But Yating is there, right? He is the Chief Editor. He will handle it."

"No," Ai firmly replied with a slight hint of iciness in it. "I don't want him to use his position and give me leeway. I wouldn't want that. If Dream High has certain preferences, then it's the company's choice. I don't want others to mend the rules for me."

Guiying felt helpless. "B-But we have always been together! Now this separation feels so lonely."

Ai stared at her. "It's for the best. Sometimes, we feel that 'always together' is desirable. In love, in friendship - we think we all want 'forever.'"

A flicker passed through her gaze.

"But oftentimes…the truth is not what we would have ever imagined."

—

Jun stood inside the empty living room. He held a note in his hand which was written by Ai.

'I apologize. But I will have to leave early in the morning. It will take the entire day to set up my things at home. I thought I shouldn't disturb you so early.

Thank you very much for letting me stay at your condo for this whole month. I am sorry if I caused you any inconvenience, but I really appreciate your help. It was a good time.

-Zhou Ai.'

There was a PS at the end.

P.S - A small gift from me as my gratitude. I hope you like it.

He crumpled the note in his hands and almost threw it away when he stopped. He stared at the book on the table below which Ai had kept her note - Love amongst chaos.

It was the same book Jun had tried to snatch from Ai by bribing her with a cheque on Christmas Eve. He held the book in his hand with a complicated gaze. He wanted this book so badly but now that it was in his hands, he felt as if he didn't desire it anymore.

It reminded him as if it was Ai's parting gift, which erupted an unsettling feeling within him.

A mocking laughter echoed. "So, you left without even meeting me one last time. Nice excuse you gave there, but do you think I am so stupid to fall for it?"

His words were only met with silence. He glanced towards the dining table. This was the time Ai and Jun would usually have their breakfast together.

Realizing that he would be all alone now, that this house would return to its state of usual silence once again bubbled up a fury within his heart. Veins popped on his forehead, feeling prickly without her presence.

"I don't care. It was just supposed to be for a month anyway. Now, everything is the same as before again. Just the way I want. Perfect. No other people, no unnecessary talking, no cooking food for any extra person, nothing," his voice turned edgy, and the small note from Ai crumpled even further in his fist.

Though he seemed to make an attempt in consoling himself, a disconcerted feeling clouded his heart, and his gaze turned several shades darker.

He tilted his head dangerously. "You ran away from me, Ai. I feel I should bring you back here and thoroughly explain what happens when you escape from me…"

Hearing his own words, he jolted and snapped out of that dark territory of possessiveness.

Shit! What is wrong with me!?

Jun actually did understand her predicament. It wasn't her fault if Ai wanted to avoid meeting him after what happened last night. He himself was dodging from facing the situation.

No, no, no! I don't care anymore! There is nothing...I feel nothing for her...

But thinking about Ai as a rabbit running away for her life from a big, bad wolf gave him all the more compulsion to catch her from escaping.

His gaze fell onto the swing, and he stiffened. He touched his throat, beginning to feel hotter as he recalled him making out with Ai.

Fuck!

He gritted his teeth and kicked the crescent swing hard with his foot. "It's all your damn fault! She is gone because of you!"

The crescent swing if it had any thoughts of its own - '...'

His train of angry thoughts came to a halt hearing his phone's ringtone. It was his cousin, Yunru.

"Bro! You meanie! Why did you leave so suddenly last night? I didn't get the chance to talk to you!" He whined.

Jun took a few deep breaths. "I was in a hurry."

"So busy that you didn't have time to meet your most favorite brother!?" He said, aggrieved. "I have so many things I wanted to talk to you about last night! Do you know that a woman snuck into Liu villa and even dared to steal one of Uncle Jing's handmade dresses? The nerve of her to even wear it and blame it on the staff!"

"Really? That happened?" He raised his brow. "Uncle Jing must be so furious."

"He was! Damn, he was boiling like a volcano. We all know how much of a maniac he becomes when it comes to his dresses. But that wasn't the only thing that happened! I saw Dream High's Chief Editor, Gu Yating, at the banquet too! I was stuck with Uncle Jing, so I didn't know how the hell he was at our party!"

"Gu Yating…" Jun narrowed his eyes. "I know why he came. He threatened me to take down Sky statement's against MissImperfectlyFine."

There was a long pause.

"Shit! How does he know that you are the Sky CEO anyway!?"