Female lead’s Delusion of Starting Over

Chapter 81: Zhang Ziqin: I Do Love You

With a gaze full of tender affection yet tinged with nervousness, facing such a look, an unnamed flame of anger ignited within Lu Li.

“What is this expression for? What’s with this damned look? I wanted to see your despair, your anger, your hysteria after being bitten back by the once bootlicking dog. What’s with this expression?” Furious anger surged from within Lu Li.

Zhang Ziqin’s expression seemed to mock him, as if all he had done was meaningless; her tenderness felt like an insult to him. Constantly reminding him that his actions couldn’t even make her angry.

As for the affection in Zhang Ziqin’s eyes, even if it was real, Lu Li didn’t care. Those affectionate words made him sick.

Lu Li was regretting it; he had seen Zhang Ziqin too early. He should have waited until he was ready to kill her before seeing her.

“Lu Li… I want to tell you a story…”

Lu Li steadied his emotions. After all he had been through, he wasn’t going to lose control of his feelings.

“Go ahead!” He tapped the table lightly, his tone still indifferent.

Zhang Ziqin bit her lip, her gaze full of deep affection towards Lu Li.

“Once, there was a girl, cherished and loved by her parents, and at school, there was a boy who loved her too. Her life was surrounded by the world’s most beautiful things.”

“That girl met the boy who loved her in junior high. Without any reason, perhaps it was love at first sight, he fell in love with her. This love lasted for a long time, even after the sudden death of the girl’s parents, the boy stayed by her side.”

“But the girl was always cold towards the boy, maybe because everyone around her said the boy was a bootlicker, the girl stubbornly believed she would never fall for a bootlicker.”

Tears uncontrollably broke through as she clenched her fists tightly, falling onto her hands.

“Maybe because the boy was always by her side, the girl got used to being treated gently by him regardless of what happened. She gradually adapted to this life and, maybe wouldn’t admit it, but she fell in love with the boy too. But she had a dream, hoping to expand her parents’ legacy.”

“Because of this, even though the girl had fallen for the boy, she never had the courage to say it out loud. But she believed that the boy would understand her…” Zhang Ziqin’s voice trembled even more.

“And so, she did many things the boy disliked. The cherished girl tested the boy’s limits over and over until… the boy stopped loving her entirely.”

With a miserable smile, Zhang Ziqin’s voice broke, her words coming out in sobs.

She thought of her past life, how she collaborated with Ye Chen against Lu Li’s wishes, and in the end, lost the man she loved the most.

“By that time, the girl finally understood what was most important to her. She wanted to win him back; she wanted to tell the boy that compared to you, everything else is trivial.”

Lu Li listened quietly to the end, his smile turning more scornful.

“So, this is why Zhang Ziqin, in her past life, went against my wishes to collaborate with Ye Chen, pinning all the blame on her efforts!”

What Zhang Ziqin did in her past life, Lu Li knew all too well. She pushed him aside, happily interacting with Ye Chen. If he hadn’t been reborn, if he hadn’t taken control of Lu Corporation, if he hadn’t made Ye Chen run away, Lu Li was sure that everything that happened before would play out in front of him again.

The Zhang Ziqin before him would still brazenly collaborate with Ye Chen, continuing to treat him like a bootlicker she could summon and dismiss at will.

Now that I’ve stopped pursuing her, she says she’s loved me all along.

And she blames all the past incidents on my favoritism towards her, what a way to shirk responsibility.

Truly disgusting!

To say she loves me, her way of loving someone is to happily collaborate with other men, leaving her loved one aside, occasionally pulling him out to humiliate?

Lu Li scoffed.

“You left out a part.” His gaze turned cold as he looked at Zhang Ziqin.

“After her parents died, the girl repeatedly took it for granted to take orders from the boy’s home, hoping to turn her parents’ business around, and while taking those orders, she didn’t forget to humiliate the boy who favored her. When that boy became the head of the family business, the girl was the first to approach, hoping to get orders not meant for her once again.”

In his past life, he really hoped that by making Zhang Ziqin fall in love with him, he could break the so-called timeline and avoid continuing the damned plot. Lu Li even convinced himself he really fell in love with Zhang Ziqin.

But what did he get in return? No need to say more.

Zhang Ziqin trembled, biting her lip hard, bitterness swirling in her heart. So, this is how Lu Li has always seen her, but she couldn’t refute him. She couldn’t say it was because she thought they would be a family one day, so she took the orders Lu Li begged from his parents, right?

After getting those orders, she indeed said many hurtful things; she couldn’t argue against that.

Zhang Ziqin hated her past naive self. Her many careless actions caused irrepairable harm to Lu Li.

Even after being reborn, asking Lu Li for cooperation was only seen as her wanting to bite off a piece of Lu Corporation again.

“Lu Li, Zhang Corporation is gone. I’ve truly lost everything now; I only have you. Could you… could you not abandon me? I can do anything for you, just to stay by your side.” Her stunningly beautiful face was full of intense bitterness.

When Lu Li recounted her past actions without emotion, Zhang Ziqin felt as if her heart was being torn apart.

In her past life, she did even worse things to Lu Li. How much pain must he have felt back then!

Zhang Ziqin didn’t want to defend herself. She didn’t deserve to.

After so much preamble, it finally came down to this! Unable to maintain that disgusting smile any longer!

Is this Zhang Ziqin’s goal? To come back to me, the foolish benefactor, after losing everything.

Lu Li quite enjoyed Zhang Ziqin’s current look. This despair and sadness were what he wanted to see.

Admiring Zhang Ziqin’s current state, a wave of joy surged from within him.

The last time he felt this emotion was when Lu Ya, his sister, was killed.