I'm sorry… I'm sorry… I'm sorry… Cheng Qingchong repeated the word of apology so many times that she didn't notice one inadvertently slipped from her lips. "I'm sorry…"

…

Actually, the moment Cheng Qingchong laid her hand on Qin Yinan's face, the man had already woken up. Her fingers fell on his face but never moved. She didn't make any sound, and since he didn't open his eyes, he couldn't see her expression and thus had no clue what she was up to.

The room was so quiet that Qin Yinan felt the feeling of her touch on his face had slowly become a part of his dream. Suddenly, he could hear her shaking voice saying, "I'm sorry… I'm sorry… I'm really sorry, Yinan…"

Qin Yinan felt like someone had used a knife to slice through his heart. His body shuddered, and the breath caught in his throat.

She continued to murmur her apologies until she started to choke on them. Probably afraid that she might wake him up, she kept her crying and words to the softest of volumes, and it took his complete focus for him to hear what she was talking about.

"…I know you don't like me… I also the only reason you were once good to be was to take revenge on me…" Her voice was shaking terribly, and it was laced with a heavy sadness. As they drifted into Qin Yinan's ears, they squirreled into his heart and tore it open from within. "I know you hate me so deeply… but I don't blame you… because it is my fault to begin with… and because…" Cheng Qingchong tripped on her words then. She sobbed silently before uttering softly, "…I like you."

He knew she had feeling for him because that was only of the most important step of his revenge plan. It felt like ages ago when they were on the nameless hill and he once asked her, "Do you like me?"

Initially, the answer she had given him was "I don't know."

As he pouted with disappointment, he had pressed, "Does that mean you don't like me?"

Hurriedly, she had replied, "Of course not."

If he was not mistaken, that was the very first and only time she had admitted that she liked him.

When he heard her confession, Qin Yinan's heart started to race.

"I… I like… I like you…" Cheng Qingchong talked slowly to prevent the emotions from getting the best of her. In that effort, she even had to repeat some words several times. Her words though sounded soft had an incredible despair and sadness to them. "…I really, really, really like you…"

Qin Yinan seemed to be quietly sleeping, but he was internally overwhelmed by the feelings and emotions that were ravaging him.

Her fingers that settled on his face finally moved. They brushed past his brows very lightly, and he could feel how hard they trembled. As if resonating with the vibration, his heart also quivered with pain.

Before he could recover, the woman's soft and teary voice said, "Yinan… do you know? Actually, there has been a question stuck in my heart, will you forgive me?

"But…"

He could no longer control himself from keeping his eyes closed. Using the dim nightlight, he could see the woman has a smile on her face, but behind that smile there was a heartening plea.

"…I don't dare to because I'm afraid…"