My Villain

Chapter Sixty-Seven

Maybe the most apt description of a marriage is that it isn't beautiful, and it won't be peaceful.

You could know your partner inside and out but they can still hide secrets from you that you could either find peace in never finding out or wait for them to find their way to reveal whatever it is to you.

Zuer knows this but she is also afflicted with the natural need to always know what's wrong and see whether there is anything she can do.

These past days, that curiosity has increased over the fact that Feiyu seems to be more and more introspective and has been escaping within himself much too frequently than she likes.

It felt akin to being with a robot who is as cold as steel but looks and talks like her husband.

On top of this, anxiety is eating away at her heart because the last she had seen him like this was when he was struggling to look for a job because DiDi had exerted his influence to avenge himself on the guy. Feiyu didn't want to burden her and hid the fact that he had resorted to working odd jobs just to support the two of them.

She already tried to talk him into letting her know what has been bothering him but was met with a wall that she hasn't seen in years.

He brushed off every attempt she made thereafter but she is not going to give up.

However, she did ease off the "attacks" over the past days.

Zuer feels that she might be able to catch her husband when his guard is down and he could spill all of his heart's concerns to her.

"Will you be working overtime tonight?", she asked as she prepared his lunch.

"It depends", he answered, busy looking at the mirror to make sure not a hair is out of place, "I'll call you if that's the case."

She plans to cook his favorite dish for dinner and to also buy a few beer cans so they could just unwind at home – something they haven't done in weeks. She'll take their baby to her parent's house and ask them if they can look after the child just for the night so there won't be distractions.

"I hope you get home by eight", she put just enough pleading in her tone, "You've been working so hard lately and I miss being able to talk to you over dinner."

Feiyu managed to look guilty. "Sorry."

"Don't be", she answered solemnly, "I understand you're doing it for us, but I do hope you could come home earlier tonight – even just this once. Please?"

A slow reluctant smile lit his handsome face up and Zuer felt the nerves around her heart being twisted in knots. WHAT COULD POSSIBLY BE WRONG WITH HIM?

"I'll do my best", he answered, "I'll call you when I can, I promise."

She smiled back at him then. "I'm looking forward to it."

***

"Xin was based in London so I'm familiar with all possible stops you can have and how long your flight is. Why won't you tell me what airline you're taking?", Yue told DiDi over the phone.

"I told you, you don't need to monitor my flight. Besides, I would most probably just be sleeping half the time."

"I also told you that you're not the reason why I would be staying up for most of the night. I'm running after a deadline. I see nothing wrong if I check on you and your plane every now and then since I would be awake", she defended.