Pretty Wife Insists I Live Off Her - Past Life (3)

Past Life (3): Confusion.

Though she managed to brush off the film situation on the surface, Yue Lei fell into a state of extreme confusion and helplessness when she got home.

She liked Mo Yingxue—that was clear from the moment they met. And their interactions since then had only deepened that affection.

But Mo Yingxue was too perfect; just looking at her made Yue Lei happy. She had never considered defiling or possessing her.

What exactly did Mo Yingxue mean by taking her to watch that restricted film?

When faced with emotional turmoil, Yue Lei naturally sought help from Lin Zhixi. Lin Zhixi, who herself suffered from avoidant attachment, analyzed the situation and firmly believed that Mo Yingxue must have been misled by the movie’s synopsis, genuinely thinking it was a story about friendship.

After all, based only on Yue Lei’s descriptions, Mo Yingxue seemed like a gentle, shy girl who definitely wouldn’t make such an explicit suggestion.

Lin Zhixi guessed that Mo Yingxue was probably mortified after watching the movie and might be too embarrassed to see Yue Lei for a long time.

Therefore, Lin Zhixi strongly advised Yue Lei to stand down. No matter how panicked she felt, she needed to compose herself and give Mo Yingxue time to recover.

Yue Lei thought the advice made sense. Even she, someone so shameless, had been completely flushed with embarrassment. She didn’t dare look at Xiao Xue. The situation was too tense, and neither of them had managed to say anything meaningful afterward.

Coincidentally, a live streaming platform event was starting, and several of her hosts were participating.

Yue Lei shifted her focus to work, forcing herself not to see Mo Yingxue. Even their online contact became deliberately cold and detached. Whenever Mo Yingxue wanted to meet, she made up excuses about being busy, even taking several unnecessary business trips.

Once she genuinely became busy with work, the compulsive need to see Mo Yingxue subsided. However, by the time she wasn’t busy anymore, she couldn’t find a good excuse to meet, and their friendship seemed to be temporarily suspended.

It wasn’t until more than two months later, as Mo Yingxue’s birthday approached, that Yue Lei finally dared to see her, as Mo Yingxue proactively invited her to dinner.

Yue Lei had never been in a relationship, but based on her observations, she figured two months was enough time to dull the pain of a breakup. She reasoned that their small awkwardness should be long forgotten, and they could finally resume contact. Her heart immediately ignited again.

She first ordered an expensive set of antique picture frames from a renowned artist. Since she didn’t understand art, she started with these niche items.

Next, Yue Lei bought a bouquet of flowers from a florist. This was another copycat move: drawing inspiration from the paintings Mo Yingxue posted on her social media, she worked with the florist to create an impressionistic bouquet. Yue Lei exerted herself like a peacock displaying its feathers, terrified that after two months of absence, Mo Yingxue had grown closer to others and forgotten her.

When she arrived, however, she discovered Mo Yingxue had booked a table for two. Her birthday dinner, and she had only invited Yue Lei!

Yue Lei was overwhelmed with flattery and anxiety as she finished the meal. She didn’t know what Mo Yingxue was thinking, but after a few glasses of wine, her repressed emotions bubbled over.

In the warm twilight, looking into Mo Yingxue’s dark eyes that reflected her own image, Yue Lei swallowed hard, a pang of sadness rising in her nose. She subtly wiped the corner of her eye under the cover of the fading light, but Mo Yingxue saw the action.

When Yue Lei looked up, Mo Yingxue’s beautiful face was close, and she gently stroked Yue Lei’s hair, asking softly: “Yue Lei, what’s wrong?”

Fueled by the alcohol, Yue Lei laid all her cards on the table: “I… I was too busy before and couldn’t be with you. I thought you didn’t want to be my friend anymore, but now I see that’s not the case.”

“I think we’re the best of friends,” Mo Yingxue looked at her, a slight curve at the corner of her lips.

“Hmm… I don’t think so,” Yue Lei’s alcohol-free brain slowly processed this for a moment. “Lin Zhixi and I are the best friends; we grew up together.”

Mo Yingxue didn’t expect that response. Her expression instantly froze, and she lost the mood to say anything else. She looked deeply at Yue Lei, then quietly pulled away, sitting back down in her seat.

The alcohol fumes gave Yue Lei a headache, and she didn’t notice Mo Yingxue’s shift in mood.

Seeing her move away, she immediately moved closer, chuckling foolishly. While playing with a lock of Mo Yingxue’s hair, she mumbled indistinctly: “But I want to play with you. I can stop playing with Lin Zhixi, but I want to see you every day…”

“Why didn’t you look for me before?” Mo Yingxue interrupted her, looking at her with cold eyes.

“I… I thought it was for the best. Things got a little awkward between us. I was afraid…” Yue Lei realized she seemed genuinely angry and quickly moved closer to apologize.

They were very close, their faces only a hand’s width apart; they could feel each other’s breath. If she hadn’t been drinking, she wouldn’t have been so candid.

Mo Yingxue bit her lip, turned her face away, and said flatly: “Afraid of what?”

“I was afraid our friendship would change, and I was afraid you’d be scared of me and ignore me…” Yue Lei’s face followed Mo Yingxue’s, turning the other way, watching her expression pitifully.

Mo Yingxue swallowed and looked up at her. She accepted Yue Lei’s explanation, as that was simply the kind of person she was. She scoffed: “I won’t be angry. The friendship between those two girls in the movie didn’t change; it clearly became deeper and better.”

“Really?” Yue Lei’s face lit up with joy, and she eagerly seized Mo Yingxue’s hand—it was the first time she had been so forward.

Feeling that Mo Yingxue was also trembling slightly, her own heart soared. The things she had never dared to fantasize about, the feelings she had suppressed, surged forward like an avalanche, quickly and fiercely crushing Yue Lei’s remaining sanity with snow and cold.

She looked earnestly into Mo Yingxue’s dark eyes, as if asking and pleading: “Xiao Xue, if… I mean if… if I pursue you, will you agree?”

Who asks for permission before pursuing someone? If I say no, will she really give up? Mo Yingxue didn’t think Yue Lei was that timid.

But she was pleased that Yue Lei was showing her this vulnerable side. She also had no experience with this kind of thing, so she just nodded, feigning calm: “I don’t dislike you. You can try. But it can’t affect my studies.”

For the first birthday they spent together, Yue Lei was too excited and drunk to retain many memories.

But she clearly remembered that Mo Yingxue had given her permission to follow her around. She boasted to Lin Zhixi for ages, vowing never to heed her advice to keep her distance again; the days she couldn’t see Mo Yingxue had been the hardest she’d endured as an adult.

Following that, Yue Lei embarked on her “sticky sugar” path. She stayed by Mo Yingxue’s side, acting like a non-official partner, quietly waiting for her to graduate.

Perhaps it was because she had waited and held back for too long. The day Mo Yingxue received her degree, Yue Lei skipped the courtship and directly orchestrated a grand proposal.

She knew Mo Yingxue valued propriety, but she was also afraid her wife might regret her earlier words a few months down the line. So, she took the manipulative route, forcing her to commit.

The gamble proved worthwhile. The two smoothly transitioned from friendship to love and soon moved in together.

Mo Yingxue was naturally reserved, rarely smiling or speaking, seemingly only showing emotional fluctuations in bed. Yue Lei couldn’t figure out what she was thinking, so she focused on learning different techniques to satisfy her wife. Six months later, after meeting Mo Yingxue’s mother, Ms. Mo, they proceeded directly to marriage.

Perhaps everything went too smoothly. The underlying issues only began to surface after they were married.

Yue Lei had promised Ms. Mo that she wouldn’t let Mo Yingxue suffer any hardships, so she forbade her from working, insisting she stay home as a full-time wife. Every time Mo Yingxue brought up doing something, Yue Lei awkwardly changed the subject, stubbornly refusing to let her wife earn money.

Mo Yingxue tried to discuss it several times, only to be met with Yue Lei’s resolute refusal. Finally, she stopped negotiating politely. After several cold arguments and repeated head-butting, Mo Yingxue finally managed to open her art gallery.

As if fueled by spite, to repay Yue Lei’s disapproval and lack of support, Mo Yingxue began to treat her coldly.

Because Mo Yingxue’s demeanor was naturally blunt, it took Yue Lei half a year to realize that since opening the gallery, her wife seemed to be actively contradicting her in everything and was only focused on looking glamorous herself, buying new clothes, shoes, and bags only for herself.

Yue Lei racked her brain but couldn’t understand why. She finally concluded that the gallery must be the problem. Her wife loved collecting famous art pieces.

With her own business, she was bound to encounter more expensive and rarer works. Yue Lei surmised that Mo Yingxue’s temper was getting worse because she couldn’t afford the paintings she wanted, seeing them but unable to possess them.

The more Yue Lei thought about it, the more convinced she was of her answer. She was privately furious, blaming herself for not being capable enough to satisfy her wife’s spiritual needs, only providing her with a comfortable life. Yue Lei then became obsessed with making money, pouring all her energy into work, relentlessly expanding the live streaming company, and recruiting powerful female hosts and operations teams. She started working non-stop.

Although the time she spent with her wife significantly decreased, every time she saw the company’s account balance increase and later transform into a collection piece in her wife’s gallery, she felt her efforts were worthwhile.

By their fifth year of marriage, they were both workaholics, and the total time they spent together probably amounted to only two months a year.

They maintained that minimum because, during their dating period, Yue Lei was so infatuated with Mo Yingxue that she had desperately established a dating contract requiring them to spend the night together every week.

In all the years of marriage, Yue Lei had never heard Mo Yingxue say “I love you,” so she summarized their relationship as entirely one-sided. They rarely saw each other now.

When they did, they would quickly end up in bed. The tender after-sex conversations of their dating days were gone; even their chats were just about what wasn’t done right in bed.

One day, after reviewing her assistant’s schedule, Yue Lei belatedly realized she was only seeing Mo Yingxue four or five times a month and fell into confusion. She definitely wanted to keep the relationship going, trying every possible way to maintain it. But all of that depended on Mo Yingxue’s willingness.

Did she still love me? She didn’t know.

Did she ever love me? She didn’t know that either.

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