Chapter 6 | If I Hadn’t Let Go Back Then, You Would Already Be Gone

Wen Yan decided to leave on a very quiet morning.

She packed her luggage slowly. One piece of clothing folded at a time, one book placed into the suitcase after another. She had lived in this city for four years, yet what she had truly left behind amounted to nothing more than the shadow of one person.

Lin Yu stood at the doorway, watching her.

“Reluctant to go?”
he asked softly.

Wen Yan shook her head.

“It just feels a little unreal.”

What she didn’t say was—
it wasn’t the city she was reluctant to leave, but the version of herself that had already died.

She placed the last item into the suitcase. Just as she was about to zip it shut, her hand suddenly stopped.

At the very back of the drawer lay a piece of paper, folded so many times it had grown old and worn.

—the one Shen Che had written.

I’m sorry.

She stared at those three words, and a sharp pain suddenly pierced her chest.

The next second, she threw the paper into the trash.

As if sealing the past in a coffin.

And on the other side, Shen Che’s life was being forced open to its darkest page.

After that phone call, he was summoned back to the place he had sworn he would never set foot in again.

The hospital corridor was long, the lights blindingly white.

The doctor flipped through the files, his tone calm and professional.

“When you signed on her behalf back then, she was already in a critical condition.”
“If the surgery had been delayed by even two more hours, she wouldn’t have survived.”

Shen Che’s fingers slowly tightened.

Of course he remembered.

That night, Wen Yan suddenly collapsed and was rushed to the hospital.
Her parents were overseas; no one could reach them.
She lay outside the operating room, her face pale as paper.

Everyone was asking the same question:
“Who is the family member?”

Only he stepped forward.

When he signed, the doctor looked at him. “Are you sure you’re willing to assume all the risks?”

He didn’t hesitate.

“I’m sure.”

The surgery was successful.
But the aftermath was that her body could no longer withstand intense emotional fluctuations.

The doctor told him gravely:

“If she experiences severe stimulation again, there’s a high likelihood of irreversible psychological and physiological damage.”

At that moment, Shen Che understood one thing—
he could no longer let her love him so deeply.

He began to distance himself from her.
Grow cold.
Force her to leave.

Even if she hated him, it didn’t matter.

“Why didn’t you tell her back then?”
someone asked in a low voice.

Shen Che smiled faintly, so lightly it was almost weightless.

“What she wanted was love,”
“not pity.”

He would rather have her believe she wasn’t loved
than have her come to harm because she loved him.

But he never expected—
that she would leave so completely.

The doctor closed the file and said, “She’s had recent records of leaving the city.”

Shen Che snapped his head up.

“Where to?”

“The south.”
The doctor paused. “If her emotions remain stable, there won’t be a problem. But if she’s stimulated…”

He couldn’t hear the rest anymore.

There was only one thought in his mind—
she was leaving.

And he was running out of time.

That evening, Wen Yan stood at the train station.

There were crowds everywhere, loud and chaotic.

Lin Yu carried her luggage and said softly, “Everything will be fine.”

She nodded, but suddenly found it hard to breathe.

Her chest felt tight, her heartbeat erratic.

She thought it was nerves.

The announcement for boarding began.

Just as she was about to enter the station, someone shouted her name from behind.

The voice was hoarse, urgent, almost breaking apart—

“Wen Yan!”

Her entire body froze.

She didn’t turn around.

But that person had already come to stand in front of her.

Shen Che.

He had run all the way there, his forehead drenched in sweat, his breathing completely uneven.

He looked at her, his eyes frighteningly red.

“Don’t go,”
he said.

Those words came far too late.

Lin Yu frowned. “What do you think you’re doing?”

Shen Che didn’t look at him. He only looked at her.

“The reason I let go back then wasn’t because I didn’t love you.”

Wen Yan’s heart shook violently.

“But because—”
his voice trembled, “if I hadn’t let go, you might not even be alive now.”

The world seemed to fall suddenly silent.