Marianne casually lifted her eyes, meeting deep, dark eyes that seemed to have been waiting for her. The gaze was intense and warm.
An awkward tension filled the air. Every part of her tingled where his gaze touched, contorting her body. She couldn’t even take a deep breath, fearing her breathing would be too conspicuously loud.
Finally, as if embarrassed, she avoided his eyes once again. The more she did, the more his snake-like persistent eyes followed her.
“Case records…”
Marianne parted her lips to change the atmosphere. Christoph, who had been staring at her for some time, eventually handed her an envelope.
“Here.”
Taking the envelope, Marianne slightly furrowed her brows. As if swallowing bitter medicine, she slowly opened the envelope and took out the documents inside.
“Only two pages.”
“……”
“Veronica’s death is contained in only a two-page report.”
Christoph remained silent. Marianne’s lips moved and a desolate voice escaped.
“I’ve skimmed through numerous reports while sorting through the stacks of papers on the police station desk… Even common theft or assault cases had at least five-page reports. With evidence and witness statements, not to mention the opinions of the detective in charge…”
For a moment, her voice trembled. Christoph thought she might be crying.
However, Marianne didn’t shed tears. She clenched her lips and endured the moment.
It then occurred to him that she hadn’t cried even at Veronica’s funeral. Though she looked as if she could collapse any moment, she stoically endured the situation.
Instead, she swallowed her tears. And Christoph realized that her not crying didn’t mean she was alright. Her smile seemed precarious, as if about to break, because it was hiding tears.
Christoph’s fingers twitched. He wanted to hold Marianne right then, to console her gently. He wanted to tell her to cry freely in his arms.
But Christoph knew he wasn’t entitled to do that. Especially when he hadn’t questioned the two-page report in front of him.
Christoph clenched his fist tightly beneath the table.
“Christoph.”
She slowly lifted her head. His reflection caught in her shaking teal eyes. Instead of responding, Christoph looked squarely at her, as if confronting his own sins.
“Veronica wasn’t the type to take her own life. Even more, to throw herself into a river… She used to walk away, terrified at the mere sight of a fountain.”
Sometime, not too long ago, he remembered hearing the same words. What had he answered back then?
“…Yeah.”
Christoph barely moistened his lips. A rough and hoarse voice, as if he hadn’t spoken for a very long time, escaped.
Perhaps a second chance was given to him. A chance that felt like a miracle.
He chose his words carefully.
“You’re right, Marianne. I was careless. Veronica’s report lacks witness statements, lacks any evidence that would support her suicide, and I didn’t question it.”
“……”
“Let’s look into it from the start.”
“!”
Marianne’s eyes widened. Soon, tears began to fill them. Christoph watched her from afar, unable to move a finger.
Round tears fully covered her teal eyes. The swollen droplets couldn’t bear their weight and silently popped. Then flowed down her cheeks.
In the place where a tear burst, a new droplet swelled. Continuously. As if rain had pooled in the dawn sky.
She wasn’t not crying. She simply couldn’t find the place to cry. Had he embraced her shoulders sooner, Marianne wouldn’t have felt so choked up.
So it was all his fault. As always, everything was his fault.
What a fool.
“…….”
Without realizing it, Christoph stood up from his seat and walked over to her. He extended his large hand. Finally, his slowly moving fingers touched her cheek.
He thought he might be rejected. Her hand was as cold as ice, and she was sober.
Nevertheless, he couldn’t just watch her cry from afar. A part of his heart felt unbearably heavy. If he left it like that, it seemed his heart would screech to a halt.
It was different from anger. Different from frustration or helplessness. It was an unfamiliar sensation, one he had never felt before.
As Christoph pondered the name of this emotion, Marianne buried her face in his chest.
“…….”
Christoph threw his head back and let out a short breath. His Adam’s apple moved slowly. The next moment, he tightly embraced her shoulders.
“Marianne.”
He clenched his teeth, vowing never to lose what he had in his grasp. If he had already lost it, he swore to regain it, no matter the cost.
Suddenly, he remembered Liam’s words that she belonged to no one.
Nonsense.
Christoph stared into the void and let out a cold chuckle. Marianne was his.
The moment he embraced her, his hollow heart felt as if it had found a missing puzzle piece. There was no way she wasn’t his. Finally, he could breathe, and hot blood coursed through his body. There was no way she wasn’t his.
Christoph moved his fingers and gently brushed the hair scattered on her nape. The sensation of his fingertips felt nostalgic after so long.
My Arch-enemy Sealed My Memory and Said That He is My Husband
This is an incredibly captivating story that you absolutely shouldn’t miss! I’ll give a brief introduction here, and below you’ll find a detailed synopsis of the plot.
The female lead is a fierce and powerful demon king. The male lead is a once-in-a-millennium celestial lord, admired by the entire cultivation world.
They are equally matched, legendary rivals who have battled for centuries.
In the final duel, the female lead is gravely injured. The male lead saves her, seals her memories, and hides her true identity. He tells her that he is her fiancé. His entire life has been flawless—except for the one thing he never expected, never controlled, and never wanted to control: falling for his greatest enemy. She is his inner demon, his obsession.
When the female lead regains her memories, she is furious at his deception.
She makes his life a living hell.
And somehow, the male lead—possibly a total masochist—doesn’t mind at all. In fact, he’s happy she’s paying attention to him.
Yep, we’re back to my favorite trope: male lead suffering. If you love this kind of story, jump into the pit with me now!!!
Intro
Dong Xia lost her memory.
Her handsome and extremely powerful fiancé Li Qing comforted her: “It’s okay if you can’t remember. I’ll always be with you.”
Everyone thought Dong Xia’s ancestors must have burned incense to get such a perfect fiancé. He was the number one person in the immortal realm, yet he remained chaste and only loved her.
…
The day before marrying her fiancé, Dong Xia finally remembered everything.
She wasn’t suffering from memory loss at all.
Her arch-enemy had made her fake her death, destroyed her cultivation, replaced her memories, and pretended to be her deeply in love fiancé.
No wonder he said, “It’s okay if you can’t remember”!
Dong Xia laughed coldly as she pulled out her long knife: Li Qing, prepare to die 🙂
*
Li Qing, as the supreme being of the immortal realm, was the people’s shining beacon.
The only unknown stain in his life was his affection for Dong Xia, the ruler of the demon realm.
In the final battle of the war between immortals and demons, the sky collapsed and the earth shattered. The ruler of the demon realm was finally slain under the sword of the supreme being of the immortal realm, and everyone in the immortal realm applauded.
The cultivation world lost a ruler of the demon realm.
And in the back mountain of Li Qing’s cave dwelling, he secretly hid away a fiancée.
Notes:
1. The female lead is white on the outside, black on the inside, and the queen of flattery; the male lead repeatedly tests the edge of darkness, a VIP guest at the crematorium.
2. Fantasy cultivation world setting.
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]
