The CEO's Substitute Ex-Wife-Chapter 457: Unspoken Devotion

"Because you’re in London."

The statement was uttered casually, lightly, with Wushuang’s gaze fixed on the sea and a serene smile. It was as if this was the most natural thing in the world, and the answer slipped out without any hint of awkwardness or discomfort.

Kaka’s composure was astonishing. He wasn’t particularly shocked by her words, but he looked deeply at Wushuang. The sea breeze caught her long hair, seemingly blurring his vision. Suddenly, he was reminded of an event from ten years ago. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

That year, Wushuang was fifteen.

She was already a breathtaking, graceful teenager: slender, tall, self-assured, and utterly free-spirited. She had just returned from field training in the Middle East, carrying an air of competence, dominance, and a faintly discernible darkness. Perhaps because she had just endured two years of intense and cruel training, Wushuang back then didn’t yet know how to temper her sharp edge or how to naturally display a normal human side.

He could tell at a glance that she had just walked out of a crucible of violence.

An inexplicable ripple stirred in his heart—a feeling of mutual understanding. He took Wushuang all over London. After two years of confinement and training, Wushuang indulged in a wild spree. That was the first time he had ever seen Wushuang drunk.

She went to a dance club. The stage was crowded, the music loud. Men and women were gyrating, venting their daytime stress and seeking the thrill and exuberance of youth. Wushuang seemed to be venting something too. Her dancing was passionate, drawing the covetous eyes of the young men around her.

She was of mixed heritage, with bloodlines from several countries. Her features were deep-set but leaned towards an East Asian look. Her height was similar to Western women, and her appearance was near-perfect, dazzlingly beautiful. No man who saw her could help but be moved.

Kaka, afraid she would be taken advantage of, went onto the stage, despite his dislike of excessive physical contact in crowded places, and carved out a space for her to dance freely.

If anyone tried to invite Wushuang to dance, he would place his arm around her waist, a cold gaze sweeping over them, making the other men retreat. Then Wushuang suddenly hugged him.

They had grown up together, so a hug was perfectly normal.

But the whisper in his ear plunged him into an abyss from which he could never return.

She said, "Kaka, I like you."

Directly, without any disguise. She hugged him and stated her feelings so brazenly.

Without warning, without giving him any chance to react, she simply laid her heart bare for him, allowing him to enter or leave as he pleased. How could he not be shocked?

He was completely unprepared. He even convinced himself that the music was too loud, too chaotic, and that perhaps he had misheard her.

*Yes, I must have misheard.*

She was drunk and dancing so wildly; she didn’t even know what she was saying. Even if she said she ’liked’ him, it was normal. This liking wasn’t necessarily romantic.

It could be the liking of a childhood friend.

Wushuang seemed to forget the incident afterwards, completely unaware of the profound impact her words had on Kaka. She continued to shop and eat with him as usual, go on missions, and mischievously demand his company. Kaka was very busy during that time, running between North America and the Middle East, and Wushuang followed him everywhere, never mentioning her feelings again. Kaka eventually managed to convince himself.

It was just an illusion.

The dazzling lights of the dance club, the deafening music, the colorful lights, the radiant Wushuang, and the seemingly heartfelt confession—it was all just a dream he had accidentally wandered into.

Neither of them ever brought it up.

This continued until New Year’s Eve. That year, Chu Li, Rong Yan, and Kaka came to Rome to spend New Year’s Eve at the Mo family’s castle. In Wushuang’s room, he accidentally knocked over her pen holder and saw Wushuang’s diary.

Wushuang didn’t actually have a habit of writing a diary. To be precise, what he found was a journal dedicated to him and her, recording everything that happened between them. He never knew Wushuang had such deep feelings for him.

From the journal, he learned that the night at the dance club was not his hallucination—Wushuang truly said she liked him.

From the journal, he also learned that Wushuang wasn’t drunk that night, nor was it a sudden impulse. She was afraid she wouldn’t have the courage to speak, so she pretended to be drunk on purpose. If she confessed and Kaka rejected her, she could use the excuse of drunken rambling, and neither of them would be embarrassed.

If they couldn’t be lovers, they could always remain friends.

Kaka, as she expected, didn’t react, and Wushuang knew what to do, remaining silent about the matter, letting Kaka believe it was an illusion.

He didn’t intend to read Wushuang’s private thoughts, but driven by a strange impulse, he finished the entire diary. The entries started before Hǎilán’s death, intermittent, including her thoughts about the Queen, the Princess, and the Prince. He understood all of it.

It was only then that he realized what Wushuang had hidden in her heart for so many years.

She never showed it in front of him, and he had no way of knowing. It wasn’t that he was oblivious, but that Wushuang was too good at concealing it. How could others know something she didn’t want them to know?

His feelings were suddenly mixed with sadness and joy.

To be loved by her so deeply for so many years was his good fortune, but her misfortune.

He intended to nonchalantly place the diary back where it belonged, but Wushuang happened to walk in and saw the diary in his hand.

The shock and surprise were fleeting. Wushuang appeared calmer than he did, quietly taking the diary from his hand and putting it back. She smiled and asked, "Finished reading?"

He nodded, simply looking at her without speaking.

Wushuang sat to one side and played a game, seemingly having nothing to ask him.

He wondered if every girl who had her most intimate secret exposed would act as composed as Wushuang. She showed no surprise, as if the whole matter was perfectly normal.

They didn’t speak a single word about the diary until Little White came up to call them down for the New Year’s Eve dinner.

At the dinner table, both of them were completely normal, conversing and joking.

In terms of composure and patience, Wushuang and Kaka were well-matched.

It wasn’t until the clock struck midnight that Wushuang asked him what he thought.

He knew what Wushuang was asking. Now that he knew her feelings, whether he liked her or not, whether he accepted or rejected her, it was a matter of a single sentence.

Little White and Mo Chen were setting off fireworks.

The midnight fireworks were spectacular. They stood beneath the brilliant display, a romantic and beautiful scene. But the fireworks reflected in his eyes held no trace of brilliance. He smiled and said, "**I’m sorry. I can’t forget Hǎilán.**"

He rejected her.

Hǎilán was just a shield. It was partly because of Hǎilán, but not entirely. Even he wasn’t sure why he had rejected Wushuang.

It was a purely instinctive... rejection.

Wushuang was very direct. They agreed to remain good friends and never bring the matter up again.

She turned and walked away gracefully, leaving him with a strong, upright silhouette.

A year later, he was with Fang Jiaqi.