If You Could Hear My Heart

Bai Man's words could no longer stir up even a ripple deep in Shen Chi's heart; he remained calm.

"Those who commit too much wrongdoing will inevitably bring about their own demise. I gave you five years, yet you still couldn't grasp this truth," Shen Chi said flatly, his eyes as deep and dark as a bottomless pool.

"Why should I grasp it? I simply failed, that's all. Have you ever wondered, if I had succeeded, what things would look like now? Just guess, if I had succeeded back then, what kind of scenario would we be facing today?"

Shen Chi had no interest in guessing; facts were facts.

Seeing Shen Chi's lack of interest, Bai Man laughed: "If I had succeeded, I would now be Mrs. Shen. As for Xu Chaomu, he'd already be a wandering ghost."

Shen Chi let out a cold laugh and ignored Bai Man's absurd ravings.

Because there was no possibility of her succeeding.

However, Xu Chaomu seemed to have a peculiar affinity for these hypotheticals, so Shen Chi thought it wouldn't hurt to listen to Bai Man's ramblings a bit longer—he could recount them to Xu Chaomu later.

"Why don't you explain just how you think you'd end up as Mrs. Shen? Do you think I would ever want you?" Shen Chi said coldly, slashing her with his gaze, his eyes as sharp as knives.

"Could Mr. Shen not figure it out? That only proves my plan was flawless. The problem was merely one misstep," Bai Man sneered. "I failed to handle Xiaobao properly, allowing your excellent assistant Xiao Mo to catch on."

Thinking of that matter, Bai Man truly felt a pang of frustration.

If it hadn't been for that misstep, her situation today could have been entirely different.

She had mishandled the welfare institution. Although she'd hidden Xiaobao among numerous other children, she still couldn't escape Xiao Mo's investigations.

The plan had been to transfer Xiaobao out of C City after a few days, but unexpectedly, on that rainy day, everything was exposed.

Losing is losing—no match for the opponent.

In terms of tactics, capability, and scheming, she couldn't measure up to Shen Chi or Xiao Mo.

Ultimately, too inexperienced!

Shen Chi took a drag from his cigarette and said lightly, "You're always too clever for your own good. There's a saying—'Smart people might outsmart themselves.' You couldn't grasp that either."

"I told you, I don't need to grasp any of that. I needed to take risks, don't you understand?" Bai Man said with a hint of irritation.

"Taking risks isn't the same as gambling recklessly; true risk-taking requires intelligence—do you understand that?" Shen Chi countered.

For instance, at the moment of the explosion, he chose to save Xiaobao—an act of risk-taking—but he depended on strategy, not chance.

Bai Man's face darkened, showing how angry she was.

She ground her teeth and gave Shen Chi a cold, cutting glance.

"You always act superior, as if you're used to hearing flattery, which inflates your self-confidence," Shen Chi analyzed. "Along with that comes arrogance and disdain; you can't tolerate those you look down on outpacing you."

As though her innermost thoughts had been laid bare, Bai Man trembled with rage.

It was as if she had been exposed in front of Shen Chi; she realized this man had always understood her!

How had she forgotten? He was an old fox who knew both himself and his enemy.

Perhaps, from the beginning, when she'd chosen to seek revenge on him, her fate had already been sealed.

Shen Chi looked at her indifferently, his face still devoid of any expression.

Halfway through his cigarette, the smoky haze engulfed the monitoring room. Separated by several iron gates, the distance between him and Bai Man was neither too close nor too far.

"Shen Chi, aren't you the same? Always full of self-righteousness!"

"I am, of course, different from you. If you think I'm self-righteous, it's only because you've never seen the other side of me that isn't presumptuous," Shen Chi retorted.

His words left Bai Man speechless. Indeed, all his gentleness, his kindness, his meticulous care, had been lavished entirely on Xu Chaomu.

"Actually, I'm quite curious about that plan of yours to become Mrs. Shen…" Shen Chi said with a faint smirk.

He wasn't curious at all—Xu Chaomu was the one curious.

He had no choice. When his wife wanted to know, he had to ask.

Bai Man laughed mockingly: "You want to laugh at me, don't you?"

"No, I want to hear it—maybe I can point out which part went wrong. That way, you can die with a bit more clarity, isn't that right?"

Shen Chi's words remained as cutting as ever. Bai Man had grown accustomed to it because his gentleness had never been for her.

"Alright, shall I tell you then?" Bai Man laughed aloud. At this point, everything seemed like a dream.

Shen Chi said nothing, continuing to smoke.

"Shen Chi, if I tell you everything, will you call me 'Manman,' just like you did when we were young?" Bai Man looked at him, her gaze tinged with pleading.

Shen Chi remained silent, glancing at her briefly.

That piercing gaze again—it made Bai Man's chest tighten. She knew it: impossible.

The days of their youth could never return.

"Let me indulge in my delusions at least…" Bai Man smiled bitterly.

Her short hair made her look as if she'd aged over ten years; her eyes sunken, her complexion pallid, her lips dried white.

She opened her pale lips, laughed self-deprecatingly twice, then said faintly: "Do you know how much I wanted to marry you? Those five years I spent in Washington, every single day I missed you, deeply."

"I asked you once to question your heart—was your desire to marry me truly pure?" Shen Chi asked back, his mouth curving in mockery.

As expected, Bai Man fell silent. She seemed to have given up entirely.

"Yes, it wasn't pure. I wanted to marry you because we were a match, because the Shen Family is rich beyond measure, because the title of Mrs. Shen is infinitely glorious," Bai Man admitted frankly. At this point, there was no reason to hold back.

Saying it out loud gave her an inexplicable sense of relief.

"But Shen Chi, can you guarantee Xu Chaomu's intentions are different from mine? Can you assure me her love for you is truly pure?" Bai Man sneered.

"I have confidence in myself. Equally, I have confidence in her," Shen Chi replied.

"Really? I don't believe her love for you is pure either. She's just better than me at pretending," Bai Man said. "I don't believe she can keep up the facade for a lifetime—but I suppose I won't live to see that day."

"Even if you lived to be a hundred, you wouldn't see that day," Shen Chi replied in an indifferent tone.

"You're truly beguiled by her," Bai Man smiled bitterly. "She really is a cunning little vixen."

"You don't need to view everyone with such cynicism, nor harbor such a narrow mind."

"Heh, no matter what, isn't it true that there's no turning back for me?"

Shen Chi said nothing. Yes, it was true.

"Weren't you curious about my plans? I'd also like to know what I should've done to achieve becoming Mrs. Shen," Bai Man said.

Shen Chi stood still, finishing another cigarette.

He took another stick from his cigarette box and lit it with his lighter.

Bai Man stared at Shen Chi's face, the man she was obsessed with throughout her youth.

"I had Xiuxiu add medicine to Xu Chaomu's milk—the kind that induces premature labor," Bai Man's eyes were vacant as though dredging her memories.

Thinking back, this incident had already passed two years ago.

But for deeds committed by oneself—even after ten years—they linger vividly in memory.

Shen Chi said nothing; he simply listened silently to her recounting.