As soon as Qin Huaihe returned home, he confined himself to his study, leaving Cao Rui clueless about what had happened during his trip.
Even if she wanted to ask, there was no one to inquire from. She cast a forlorn look at the study door and silently returned to her room.
Cao Rui looked at the two quilts on the bed — when their daughter was home, they always slept together.
However, each was covered by their own quilt. For over twenty years, she lived a nearly widowed life, with scant intimacy between them.
Sometimes she wondered whether she shouldn't have agreed to her family's arrangement and gotten married.
Before she married Qin Huaihe, she had heard that he had once been in love with another woman.
But she thought that as long as she loved him enough and gave all of herself, he might fall in love with her too.
However, it was only now that she realized that some things, such as emotions, truly couldn't be forced.