Running Over The Head Of My Ex [Rebirth]

Chapter 76

The atmosphere grew tense for a moment.

Zhuo Zhiwei could clearly feel that person’s body stiffen.

She let go of the hands that were wrapped around her waist and half-lowered her eyes as she stood in front of the water dispenser, pressing her lips tightly together, not daring to look at her.

Only the slight trembling of her fingers seemed to betray some emotion—regret, guilt—as if she had done something wrong.

Zhuo Zhiwei glanced down without expression, and suddenly, a dense sourness surged in her chest, causing her brow to knit instinctively.

Forget it.

She told herself this, blinking wearily and letting out a sigh.

“If you don’t want to talk…”

But her tightly clenched fingers said otherwise, leaving deep crescent-shaped marks in her palm.

It hurt, but the pain was vague, completely overshadowed by the dull ache in her heart.

Zhuo Zhiwei understood that even between lovers, there should be personal space, secrets of their own. Her possessiveness wasn’t extreme; she didn’t demand that He Qingqi lay everything bare before her, forbidding any privacy.

But, judging by He Qingqi’s evasive gaze these past few days, this matter clearly involved her.

She bit her lip. “Just don’t say it then.”

Weary, she lowered her head and was about to turn away.

The person who had been silently avoiding her gaze suddenly grabbed her arm, the warmth of her palm familiar and comforting.

A faint, unclear warmth flowed into Zhuo Zhiwei’s heart. She exhaled softly, her eyes widening slightly as she turned back to look at her, her gaze filled with hope.

“I…”

He Qingqi’s voice was slightly low.

Another stretch of silence followed.

Zhuo Zhiwei stood in place, waiting patiently.

He Qingqi’s eyelashes fluttered lightly, and after taking a deep breath, she raised her eyes, meeting Zhuo Zhiwei’s dark, ink-like gaze. “I just suddenly remembered there was something I forgot to tell you.”

“What is it?” Zhuo Zhiwei looked at her seriously, her tone calm yet restrained, though beneath that calmness surged a torrent of emotion. Her eyes resembled a bottomless abyss.

He Qingqi’s lips moved, and she blinked twice, a nervous emotion barely held back. She wanted to avert her gaze.

But that unspeakable relationship was like a time bomb, planted in their lives during her youthful ignorance. If not defused soon, it was bound to be ignited by some careless spark.

Steeling herself, He Qingqi closed her eyes tightly and, with a determined heart, blurted out:

“I was married to Fang Xuanyao.” Her words were rapid.

The air instantly froze, leaving only the sound of soft, suppressed breathing. Zhuo Zhiwei stared at her in disbelief, her gaze hard to face.

He Qingqi turned her head, biting her lip as if waiting for judgment.

They had been married.

Zhuo Zhiwei’s ears buzzed with noise, her mind occupied by those few words, adrenaline rising to her throat, her heart trembling with pain.

She tilted her head slightly, as if doubting what she had just heard.

Her lips parted, but for a long time, no words came out.

After a long while, she finally heard herself speak.

“What did you say?”

Her voice was cold and dry, like sandpaper scraping across a table, making He Qingqi’s heart ache painfully.

Her throat moved slightly, a mixture of irony and regret in her tone. “Why didn’t you tell me before?”

He Qingqi opened her mouth but found no words to answer.

What could she say?

That she had fallen for her long ago, that she feared telling her would drive her away?

It wasn’t just that she couldn’t tell Zhuo Zhiwei; she herself hadn’t wanted to admit to these dark, shameful thoughts.

Zhuo Zhiwei thought for a moment, then shook her head in self-mockery. “Right, who am I? We don’t have anything between us; at most we’re colleagues. This hidden relationship can’t compare to what you had with Fang Xuanyao. Of course, you couldn’t tell me.”

She bit her lip, her words filled with self-torment, each one like a blood-stained knife, cutting through both herself and He Qingqi’s heart, her tone revealing evident jealousy and resentment.

Her fingers clenched tightly, her whole body trembling.

“It’s not like that, Weiwei.” He Qingqi’s face showed guilt and regret. “Please don’t be like this.”

“I never meant for this.”

Zhuo Zhiwei, feeling exhausted, turned around and pulled a chair to sit down.

After venting her emotions, what filled her chest was a vast emptiness and cold.

She tiredly rubbed her temples.

“Married? So you’ve already divorced?”

She forced herself to regain her composure, seizing upon the key detail, her voice now smooth and cold as the moon. Under the light, He Qingqi stole a glance at Zhuo Zhiwei’s expression. Silver light bathed her typically calm and aloof face.

If not for her slightly trembling fingers, she still appeared composed.

He Qingqi paused before replying, “We’ve divorced.”

“When did you get divorced?” Zhuo Zhiwei thought she had calmed down, though perhaps it was more accurate to say she had grown cold, cold enough to start shivering, her body trembling uncontrollably.

She had known of Fang Xuanyao’s existence from the beginning, but dating and marriage were two different things. She had even believed for a time that He Qingqi merely harbored a crush and that this person had belonged to her from the start. But now, a former wife had suddenly appeared. How laughable!

No wonder He Qingqi had been acting strange these past few days. Such a bombshell was enough to leave her dizzy.

Inwardly, Zhuo Zhiwei wondered if her reaction was considerate and tactful, if she was being the ideal partner by offering enough understanding for her girlfriend’s past relationship.

Yet the jealousy and resentment that raged in her heart almost drowned her, her eyes turning bloodshot with rage.

“A month ago,” He Qingqi answered her.

After a moment’s hesitation, she gave a more specific time. “After I returned from filming Miracle Journey.”

Zhuo Zhiwei nodded thoughtfully.

“Weiwei, actually I…”

He Qingqi was about to say more when she heard Zhuo Zhiwei chuckle coldly, her eyes filled with unfamiliarity and coldness, her gaze sharp.

“So, the reason you didn’t want to share a bed with me back then was because of this?”

Zhuo Zhiwei tortured herself by recalling every moment, searching for any clue, her mind clearer than ever.

“He Qingqi, you’ve really opened my eyes,” Zhuo Zhiwei said, her words slow and deliberate.

Hearing herself addressed like that, He Qingqi froze, bound by an endless panic, her pupils dilating slightly.

“You’ve liked me for a long time? Since when?” The phrase that once made her heart sweet now felt like the swiftest executioner.

“You nearly made me into the person I despise most. Do you realize that?”

“If your divorce didn’t go as smoothly as you thought, or if Fang Xuanyao hadn’t let go, would you have…”

Zhuo Zhiwei paused, a bitter sourness rolling through her throat before she forced out the words, “cheated during your marriage?”

In truth, beyond her accusation, Zhuo Zhiwei felt a deeper self-loathing. She had fallen in love with someone who was already married, just like her mother. The only way she could cope was by using harsh words to wound the person in front of her.

Her gaze was too cold, as if it could see straight into someone’s heart.

He Qingqi, ashamed, didn’t dare to look at her. Hearing this, however, she reacted like a startled cat, her face flushing red.

“I didn’t!”

“Weiwei, I didn’t!”

“Please, just listen to me.” He Qingqi moved closer to Zhuo Zhiwei.

Zhuo Zhiwei looked at her in confusion, unsure why she always added so many useless prefaces to her sentences, pale and powerless, achieving nothing but revealing her guilty conscience.

Suddenly, Zhuo Zhiwei found the girl in front of her a little unfamiliar.

Was this still the bossy, awkward girl with a childlike sincerity and gentleness?

From the beginning, He Qingqi had been hiding things from her.

The word “mistress” was a wound that would haunt Zhuo Zhiwei for a lifetime, the darkness lurking beneath her outward calm. She carried that filthy blood, wishing those wounds could rot in the shadows, never to be seen.

And yet, she had almost allowed this person she loved—the one she thought would never hurt her—to tear open those wounds, causing the filthy blood to spill out once more.

She didn’t know if the stench repelled He Qingqi.

Her gaze, like moonlight, scattered across the barren cold ground.

He Qingqi furrowed her brow, looking at her in this state. Her heart felt as if it were being gripped by an unseen hand, the pain making it hard to breathe.

She wanted nothing more than to tear apart the people who had hurt Zhuo Zhiwei, to soothe the pain that furrowed her brow.

But she knew too well who was truly to blame—it was her.

Even she could not go easy on herself.

Taking a deep breath, He Qingqi looked intently at Zhuo Zhiwei and said seriously:

“You might not believe this.”

Zhuo Zhiwei, as

if pushed to the limit, had turned into a woman full of thorns. She smirked at her. “How would you know if I’d believe you if you don’t say it?”

He Qingqi was momentarily at a loss for words, but she pressed on: “I was reborn.”

The words caught Zhuo Zhiwei off guard. She raised her head, staring into He Qingqi’s eyes, as if searching for any sign of deceit.

But there was nothing in those eyes except earnestness and a quiet, resigned sorrow.

Her gaze narrowed, and the sarcasm disappeared. Suddenly, she seemed to have thought of something, her lips parting slightly, looking at her in disbelief.

All the emotions that had been surging within her settled down, replaced by another wave of emotions.

“Re… reborn?” she stammered.

“Yes.” He Qingqi nodded. “Reborn.”

“I’m from ten years in the future.”

Zhuo Zhiwei felt dazed, muttering to herself, “How… how is that possible?”

He Qingqi let out a soft laugh. “I didn’t believe it at first either, but it’s the truth.”

“Everything I told you about Fang Xuanyao wasn’t something I overheard. It was my personal experience from my previous life. We were married for ten years, but the sad thing is, in my previous life, I was kept in the dark the entire time.”

He Qingqi’s lashes trembled as she slowly recounted her past life. Strangely, after she had said it all, her heart felt a sense of peace. Watching the stunned look in Zhuo Zhiwei’s eyes, she no longer felt anxious or lost.

Instead, she felt relieved.

At last, she had said it.

“She was always cold to me. Her constant emotional neglect made me lose hope. I finally made up my mind to divorce, but even then, she drained every last bit of value from me.”

“I was deceived, persecuted, sent to someone else’s bed, and even my life.”

“In the end, I gave her that too, in a car accident.”

He Qingqi shook her head and let out a quiet, bitter laugh. The only sound in the room was her laughter, carrying a sense of release.

But Zhuo Zhiwei’s heart twisted painfully. All the doubts she had held vanished in an instant.

She had never imagined this person had gone through something like that. How could someone like Fang Xuanyao exist? To use someone’s sincerity, to frame them so cruelly, to cause them to be scorned by all.

Zhuo Zhiwei’s pupils flickered as her breathing quickened, the burning hatred in her heart replacing her jealousy. She gripped He Qingqi’s hand tightly, not knowing what to say.

“The time I’ve spent since being reborn has been the happiest days of my life,” He Qingqi said, her gaze soft as she looked at Zhuo Zhiwei.

“I met the person I owed the most to at the beginning of my new life. I wanted to make it up to her to be her best friend for the rest of my life, but…

He Qingqi laughed. “But our relationship is so much better than in my previous life. She shared her most difficult secrets with me, and I…”

“I fell hopelessly in love with her.”

Zhuo Zhiwei’s throat tightened. “So, in your previous life, the person you were with was me?”

He Qingqi nodded, blinking slightly. “Yes, you were the unlucky one dragged into all of this.”

Turning her head, He Qingqi stared into the distance, continuing, “But when I realized I had fallen for you, I hadn’t divorced Fang Xuanyao yet. I knew I couldn’t be with you like this, so I kept my distance for a while.”

Zhuo Zhiwei was taken aback. “Then why did she, if she was just using you… why did she divorce you so easily? Could there be problems in the future?”

“Because…” He Qingqi sighed softly. “Life is full of irony. She was reborn too.”

“She told me she loved me.”

The abrupt statement carried a self-deprecating laugh, but He Qingqi didn’t continue criticizing Fang Xuanyao.

“So, she just went along with my wishes and divorced me.”