Jiang Heng looked at Bai Xi’s smile, his brows gently furrowed, and a feeling of doubt welled up in his heart. "Why are you smiling like that?"

Bai Xi restrained her smile and looked at Jiang Heng with cold eyes, speaking in a calm tone, "You said you wanted to repay me, and I believe you. However..."

Suddenly shifting the subject, Bai Xi sharply pointed out, "There are many ways to repay a favor, yet you chose to marry Bai Xuan. When we first met, we were just kids; I don’t think you fell in love with your savior back then."

"In my view, Jiang Heng, you are definitely not the kind of man who would sacrifice marriage just to repay a debt."

Bai Xi’s gaze carried a wisdom that seemed to penetrate everything.

She confidently said, "Jiang Heng, the reason you agreed to marry Bai Xuan ultimately comes down to the fact that you fell in love with her. Whether she’s selfish or kind and humble, you cannot deny the fact that you once loved Bai Xuan."

"And your pain now, your struggle, is merely because you discovered the woman you loved is not as kind and perfect as you imagined."

"Jiang Heng." Bai Xi placed her hands on the table, leaned slightly forward, and asked Jiang Heng confrontationally at close range, "I ask you, if Bai Xuan had never done those things to me, if she were always that kind, perfect woman who loves you—in that case, when you found out you had the wrong person to repay, would you still divorce Bai Xuan?"

Jiang Heng was momentarily dazed by her question.

After a moment of silence, Jiang Heng said, "But she harmed you." 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"Then let’s phrase it differently." Bai Xi asked again, "If Bai Xuan harmed another woman, not you, when you found out she wasn’t the one you intended to repay, would you still divorce her?"

This time, Jiang Heng truly had no answer.

Seeing this, Bai Xi slightly curled her lips, the smile large, but the humor did not reach her eyes. "See, Jiang Heng, you don’t really mind whether Bai Xuan is genuinely kind and perfect."

"Regarding Jie Siyu’s betrayal, which made my life worse than death, you indeed bear no guilt, but your existence certainly helped to fan the flames."

Looking at the man who appeared noble, Bai Xi mercilessly revealed his true character. She said, "You imprisoned Bai Xuan and punished Jie Siyu. All this was not truly to repay me. What you really wanted to escape from was yourself."

Bai Xi’s analysis of Jiang Heng was profound and sharp.

After hearing these words, the expression on Jiang Heng’s face flickered uncertainly.

He tightly gripped the glass of lemonade, but his mind unexpectedly recalled Xu Xingguang.

Last night on the cruise ship, Xu Xingguang said something to him, a sentence that completely ignited Jiang Heng’s anger.

She said—

[Bai Xi’s suffering also has your blessing.]

The words Bai Xi just said have a similar essence to what Xu Xingguang said last night.

Jiang Heng tried to say something to change Bai Xi’s impression of him, but he was startled to realize that his heart was guilty and ashamed.

Seeing Jiang Heng unable to respond, Bai Xi suddenly stood up.

She lowered her eyes to stare at Jiang Heng and said coldly, "Jiang Heng, I saved you not to receive your gratitude, but simply because I couldn’t bear to see you starve to death. If it were anyone else, I would have saved them too."

"You don’t need to worry or feel anguished about my existence and the suffering I’ve experienced. Likewise, I won’t change the way I view you because of what Bai Xuan did."

"Because, even without what Bai Xuan did to me, I still look down on you." Bai Xi asked Jiang Heng, "Do you know why?"

Jiang Heng raised his head to meet Bai Xi’s mocking gaze, his lips trembling, asking hoarsely, "Why?"

Bai Xi did not hide her disgust for Jiang Heng at all. She said, "Because a man who deceives innocent women to steal their affection and uses their blood to save his true love is someone whose despicable nature I despise!"

Touching the scar on her wrist, Bai Xi said with a face full of disdain, "I very much want to get rid of this scar now. Because when I think about using my blood to save someone like you, it makes me sick!"

After saying this, Bai Xi turned and left the tea restaurant.

Watching Bai Xi’s determined back as she left, Jiang Heng felt as if there was a lump in his throat, with a mix of bitterness and frustration in his heart.

He never expected that the savior he held dear for over twenty years, upon recognizing his identity, would feel neither fondness nor gratitude for him, but disgust and disdain.

He sat motionless on the chair, gazing at the waves rolling outside the hotel, and for the first time seriously reflected on his own heart.