102: Chapter 103 Secret Lover

"Was last night... good?" he whispered in her ear, his voice husky and magnetic. "Are you... satisfied?"

Tang Guo could no longer keep up the act. She snapped her eyes open, meeting his deep, scrutinizing gaze just inches away. Her cheeks instantly flushed crimson, her eyes frantic and ashamed, yet tinged with an irrepressible, post-arousal daze and... desire.

"CEO Yu... you..." Her voice trembled as she tried to push him away, but he easily caught her hands.

Yu Bo gripped her wrists tightly, his gaze as sharp as a knife, as if trying to see into the depths of her soul. "Tang Guo, stop pretending. I know what you're thinking. You went to such lengths to get close to Tianxue and me just for this, didn't you?"

Tang Guo's face paled for a moment, a flash of hurt and embarrassment in her eyes, but she quickly regained her composure, even curling her lips into a smile tinged with misery and self-deprecation. "Yes... I did go to great lengths. Because I like you, Yu Bo. I've liked you since the first time I saw you. But... you only have eyes for Tianxue; you've never seen me."

Her voice carried a hint of a sob, her eyes looking at him with resentment and obsession. "I know I'm not as beautiful as Tianxue, my family background isn't as good as hers, and I'm not as pure and kind... but I love you more than she does! I'm willing to do anything for you! Last night... didn't you enjoy it too? I'm bolder, more passionate, and I know better how to make you happy... don't I?"

Her words were bold and explicit, carrying undisguised desire and... a trace of humble pleading. As Yu Bo looked at the obsession and longing in her eyes, a complex mix of emotions welled up in his heart—disgust, irritation, but... deep down, there was even a hint of... secret satisfaction and... the pleasure of being pleased?

He shook his head, driving those messy thoughts out of his mind, his gaze turning even colder. "Tang Guo, you're wrong. I love Tianxue not just because of her appearance and family background, but because... she is who she is. The one and only her. And you..."

He paused, his gaze carrying a bit of pity and... an imperceptible warning. "You can never replace her. Last night... was just an accident, a mistake. I won't give you any status or any promises. I can't give you a future, much less a home. My wife will only ever be Tianxue. I will only give her a perfect home and all my love."

Tang Guo's face turned as pale as paper, the light in her eyes dimming bit by bit, replaced by deep hurt and... despair. She bit her lip, tears welling in her eyes, but she stubbornly refused to let them fall. "So... last night was just a... fleeting affair to you? A... mistake?"

Looking at her like this, Yu Bo's heart softened inexplicably for a moment, but he immediately hardened it again. He had to... cut off her hopes, otherwise, the consequences would be endless.

"Yes," he said coldly, his voice devoid of emotion. "Last night was just a mistake. Tang Guo, you're a good girl; you deserve someone better, a complete and exclusive relationship. Not... like this, being unclearly entangled with a married man."

He let go of her hands, stood up, and looked down at her, his tone carrying a final warning and... a faint hint of advice. "It's not too late to back out now. Leave this place, leave my and Tianxue's lives, and go find your own happiness. Otherwise... if you keep this up, the only one who will get hurt is yourself. I can't give you anything you want, and I certainly won't... let anyone, in any way, hurt Tianxue or ruin our relationship."

Tang Guo looked at his cold, indifferent gaze, her heart aching as if cut by a knife, and her tears finally couldn't help but fall. She lowered her head, her shoulders trembling slightly, her voice thick with nasality and despair. "So... you really... don't have any feelings for me at all? Last night... those moments of pleasure and madness, were they... all fake?"

Yu Bo saw her face covered in tears and her swaying figure, and his tense heartstrings finally loosened a bit. His Adam's apple bobbed, and a hint of irrepressible exhaustion and complexity mixed into his originally cold tone. He slowly crouched down to meet her gaze.

"Guoguo," he called her affectionately for the first time, the sharpness fading from his voice, replaced by a heavy sincerity. "In my eyes, although you aren't as clean and pure as Tianxue, you are still a beauty among beauties. I am a normal man; with such passion last night, I... didn't have no feelings for you at all."

Tang Guo snapped her head up, a weak but burning spark instantly igniting in her tear-blurred eyes, as if she had caught onto a final lifeline.

But Yu Bo's next words dragged her ruthlessly back to reality.

"But you know in your heart that if you follow me like this, I can't give you any status," he said, his gaze grave and serious, every word cruel yet blunt. "You can only ever be my underground lover. In the future, you won't even be able to get pregnant or give birth openly; you'll have to stay in the shadows, and even your children will have no status. This is too unfair to you."

He thought these words would wake her up and make her pull back that moth-to-a-flame obsession, but Tang Guo seemed to have all her stubbornness triggered. She forcefully wiped away the tears on her face, her fingertips turning white from the effort as she gripped the bedding tightly. Her voice was tearful yet incredibly firm.

"I don't care!" she roared through her sobs, her eyes full of reckless madness. "I only care about now! Right now, I just want to be with you. If I have to be a lover, then I'll be a lover; it doesn't matter if it's in the shadows!"

"So what if I can't get pregnant and have children openly?" She leaned forward, looking up at him almost humbly, her eyes filled with a love and obsession that could burn everything. "When I get pregnant, I'll go abroad to give birth. Once the child is born, I'll return to your side quietly. As long as I can stay by your side, I don't care about anything!"

Looking at her extreme paranoia, Yu Bo's brow furrowed tightly. An indescribable emotion welled up in his heart—helplessness, irritation, and a hint of being moved that he didn't even want to admit to himself.

He opened his mouth, but in the end, it only turned into a deep sigh, exceptionally clear in the quiet room.

In that sigh were hidden his struggle, his wavering, and even more so, his inseparable loyalty to Su Tianxue.

In the end, he still couldn't bring himself to push her away immediately.

Seeing that he didn't reject her immediately, the despair in Tang Guo's eyes was gradually replaced by hope. She cautiously reached out and gently grasped his hand, like a little cat begging for its master's pity, her voice turning incredibly soft: "Yu Bo, don't drive me away, okay..."

Yu Bo didn't speak; he just slowly closed his eyes, his fingertips trembling slightly.

Reason told him he had to make a clean break, but the physical stirrings, the secret pleasure deep in his heart, and the sincerity in the girl's tears before him all made it impossible for him to say that final "impossible."

After a long time, he finally opened his eyes, his gaze as dark as the sea at night, his voice low and nearly raspy. "Have you... really thought it through? No regrets?"

Guoguo nodded frantically, her tears falling again, but this time with the wild joy of having regained something lost. "I've thought it through. I'll never regret it."

Yu Bo looked at her and finally just sighed again. He didn't agree, but he didn't refuse either. He simply pulled her gently into his arms.