If You Could Hear My Heart

When everyone slandered her for stealing the necklace, he could choose to believe her without hesitation.

But at this moment, he believed the recording.

It came from her own mouth, leaving him no choice but to believe it.

As he thought about this, his grip on the steering wheel tightened, and the car swerved, nearly hitting a large tree on the side of the road. With this jolt, Xu Chaomu groggily opened her eyes.

Oh, how had she fallen asleep again?

She rubbed her forehead and looked up at Shen Chi, whose face was cold, still looking like someone owed him money.

Not daring to provoke him, she chose to continue her silence.

She yawned several times but could no longer fall asleep.

Shen Chi pressed the gas pedal several times and parked the car in front of a five-star hotel.

The hotel’s lights twinkled, it was well-located, and there were people coming and going every now and then.

Shen Chi stopped the car here, and Xu Chaomu looked up, realizing this place was neither near her school nor the Shen Family. Where was this…

What were they doing at the hotel?

Suddenly, she thought of Shen Chi’s previous words, “Sleep with me for fifty thousand,” and she shuddered.

They couldn’t possibly be here to check into a room, could they?

Although she liked him and enjoyed snuggling close and teasing him. She wanted to kiss him, to sleep with him, to flirt with him.

But that was before she knew he had a fiancée. Before she knew he was about to get married…

Auntie Zhou had said, “Don’t get too close to Achi, and don’t try to be the other woman.”

She wouldn’t be a homewrecker, nor would she destroy his happiness.

She had her own bottom lines.

“Get out!” Shen Chi glanced at her.

Xu Chaomu was still pondering the words Zhou Ran had said to her and didn’t hear Shen Chi’s command.

“Get the hell out!” His voice was deep and he repeated firmly.

She then reacted, unbuckled her seat belt, and murmured “Oh.”

When she opened the car door, a blast of cold air greeted her. It was so cold outside, with the night wind howling.

Looking at the weather, it didn’t seem very promising, and she wondered if it was going to rain tomorrow.

The wind blew through her hair, and she tucked her locks behind her ears, standing with her arms wrapped around herself in the chill.

After parking the car properly, Shen Chi walked over to her.

At this time of night, it was very deep. There were still couples passing by from time to time, but the overall silence was frightening.

At this moment, a fat, old man was holding a young woman, whispering sweet nothings as they walked.

“Babe, are we leaving tonight or not?”

“You’ve brought me to a hotel, how could I leave?” The woman cooed. “Relax, I won’t let you down. Tonight, I’ll make sure you’re satisfied…

Hahaha…”

“Stop talking nonsense. There are people around, stop making a scene.”

“Look at you, blushing. I love that about you.”

“Stop it, stop it, it’s embarrassing with others around. We’ve reached the hotel, let’s go make a scene inside.”

“What’s there to be afraid of? Anyone standing at the entrance of a hotel at this hour is here to sell themselves, right?”

After he finished, the old man glanced at Xu Chaomu.

Xu Chaomu dodged his gaze, but his words were quite uncomfortable to hear.

“What are you standing around for, go in!” Shen Chi barked at her again.

Xu Chaomu looked at him warily, stepped back two steps with her arms crossed, and shook her head, “I’m not going in.”

“You have no say in this!” Shen Chi grabbed her wrist.

Her hand was cold to the touch, while his was quite warm. His dominant grip on her small hand proved she no say in the matter.

He dragged her into the hotel and pulled out a card for the front desk.

“Good evening, sir. Would you like a single or double room?”

“Single room.”

“Certainly. ”

He brought her here to have a clear conversation with her, a single room was enough for a talk, no need to book a suite.

The front desk clerk was clearly accustomed to this, customers of the opposite sex arriving at this hour were mostly here to book rooms.

Only, the girl in front of him was bright and youthful, not looking too old.

Soon, Shen Chi, holding the room card, took Xu Chaomu to their room.

With a “bang” the door closed behind them, and Xu Chaomu clutched the doorknob, refusing to go inside.

“What are you doing? Why did you bring me to a hotel?” Xu Chaomu asked with caution.

“What do you think you can do in a hotel?” Shen Chi gave her a sidelong glance.

He was feeling warm, perhaps from irritation, and started taking off his coat as he spoke.

As he disrobed, her vigilance intensified.

Her heart raced, beating wildly like a frightened deer.

“If there’s anything to say, let’s just talk. No need for physical contact!” Xu Chaomu backed away, pleading pathetically.

“I really have no interest in you,” Shen Chi shot her another icy look.

The hand on the doorknob finally relaxed, what had she been thinking?

Shen Chi knew what she was thinking all too well; he had never been interested in her. He had always told her she was like a sister to him. It was her own wishful thinking.

“Then why did you bring me here, what do you want to say?” Xu Chaomu blinked her big eyes, standing at the doorway.

Shen Chi took off his jacket, sat on the bed, rolled up his sleeves, and pointed to the spot next to him, “Sit down here!”

Today, he wanted to have it all out with her.

Xu Chaomu moved to sit, but instead of next to him, she sat in a chair.

She moved the chair a bit farther away from him.

Seeing her childish behavior, he couldn’t help but snort coldly.

“What do you want to talk about?” Xu Chaomu repeated.

“Xu Chaomu,” he called her name, in a neutral tone, “today you’re going to make it clear how you feel about me.”

So, it was still that issue…

A few days before, he had asked her, “Xu Chaomu, you really want to marry me, don’t you?”

Back then, she was flustered and angry, responding quite rudely, “Don’t flatter yourself too much. Do you think every girl likes you? Take a good look at yourself in the mirror, old man! Bastard!”

After that, he said, “Don’t make me dislike you.”

Today, he had rephrased it, but the meaning was the same.

“How I feel… whatever you want me to feel, that’s what I feel.”

If he wanted her to see him as a brother, then she’d see him as a brother.

“Don’t brush me off!”

“I’m not brushing you off,” Xu Chaomu retorted, feeling wronged, her head hung low.

Finally, Shen Chi took out his phone and played the recording that had been haunting him.

He almost threw the phone at her face but restrained himself.

Had he thrown it, it might not have disfigured her, but it would certainly have drawn blood.

At first, there were “whooshing” sounds from the phone, like the wind rustling the leaves, followed by Bai Man’s voice.

“I don’t know why you like Shen Chi, perhaps it’s just a simple crush, or perhaps… you’re attracted to the Shen family’s status. Yes, it’s such a good opportunity, who wouldn’t want to stay with the Shen family, to marry Shen Chi. Marrying him would mean you’ll never have to live poor and lowly again; he’s your only lifeline, you want to cling to him desperately, don’t you?”

“Right, if I could marry him, I wouldn’t have to worry about anything, so I like him. No, so I’m clinging to him, sticking to him. As long as I can marry him, why would I care about face!”

That was her voice.

At this point, the recording abruptly stopped..