Please Let Me Go, My Contracted Ex-Husband.-Chapter 221- stop being so full of yourself

Cynthia hugged herself tightly, clenching her hands unconsciously. Her eyes burned with anger as she glared at him. Albert felt a suffocating tightness in his chest under her resentful gaze. He let out a self-deprecating chuckle, turned his eyes away, and spoke.

"Robin, William S. Lancaster, and Karl—there’s no need to mention them. I’ve already steeled my heart to take their lives. As for Carl Laurence, I have no intention of letting him go either!"

He clearly sensed the surge of fury within her the moment he mentioned Carl Laurence. Turning back to her, his gaze was unwavering as he said,

"Cynthia, maybe in your eyes, Carl Laurence is truly innocent. But what you don’t know is that most of the Laurence family’s drug business is actually controlled by Carl Laurence. If he isn’t eliminated, he’ll eventually become another drug lord."

"How is that possible?"

Cynthia shook her head in disbelief. She simply couldn’t imagine that someone as melancholically handsome as Carl Laurence could be the mastermind behind such things.

Perhaps it was because Bonnie constantly spoke of how kind and caring Carl Laurence was towards her, which led Cynthia to perceive him as nothing more than a gentle man who doted on his sister. She had never associated him with the world of drug lords.

Albert moved closer, reaching out to hold her hand.

"Cynthia, since I’ve chosen to be honest with you, I won’t lie to you about anything. Of course, I’ve said my piece—whether you believe it or not is up to you!"

Cynthia gasped, her eyes widening as she stared at him without blinking. She gazed deep into his dark eyes, trying to find any hint of deception within them. But in the end, her efforts were in vain—there was nothing in his eyes except her own panicked reflection.

His grip on her hand tightened.

"There’s one more person I truly want to deal with—Vincent!"

This was the deepest pain in her heart. The moment Cynthia thought about Vincent still being in prison, her eyes welled up with tears.

Albert spoke with sincerity,

"I admit that, at first, I just wanted to drag Vincent down. I wanted to see him disgraced and ruined because I couldn’t stand watching you being so affectionate with him, exchanging those loving glances. I was jealous of the years you two had together!"

By the time he reached the end of his sentence, his tone had become more intense, but he didn’t stop.

"But Cynthia, after you called him that time to warn him, I reflected on everything carefully. In the end, I just didn’t want to see you sad. So I ultimately... decided to let him go."

Cynthia was completely stunned by his words. She had never imagined that his feelings for her ran so deep—so deep that he had been consumed by jealousy toward Vince, to the point of wanting to destroy him.

She had always believed that she was the only one fighting for their marriage, while he had remained detached—aloof, proud, and indifferent. But now, she suddenly realized that perhaps she wasn’t the only one trying to hold on. He had been trying too...

But... just... she couldn’t understand, so she asked,

"Then why is Vince still in prison?"

Albert let out a bitter laugh.

"Cynthia, what I did ends here. The rest—Bonnie’s disappearance, Maureen’s car accident, and Vincent’s imprisonment—I had nothing to do with them!"

"You already know about Bonnie. It was James who took her back then. As for everything else, it was Lucca!"

Albert poured out everything he had kept inside for so many years. The weight that had been crushing his chest, suffocating him with pain every time he thought about it, was finally lifted.

Cynthia’s tears suddenly burst forth like a flood. His words were so honest, so sincere, that she couldn’t even bring herself to argue with him.

She didn’t even know why she was crying. Was it relief that he wasn’t responsible for those things? Or was it sorrow for how they had reached such a state of misunderstandings and collapse?

Albert, flustered, grabbed a tissue and gently wiped her tears.

"Hey, hey, why are you crying?"

Cynthia slapped his hand away and buried her head in her knees, sobbing uncontrollably. She didn’t want to talk to anyone—she just wanted to cry her heart out.

Albert watched her cry like a child and couldn’t help but reach out, wrapping his arms around her trembling body. With a deep sigh, he murmured,

"Cynthia, don’t you think you’ve been a little cruel too? I explained all of this to you before, but you never believed me. That... really hurt me too."

Hearing this, Cynthia sobbed even harder. Faint memories surfaced—he *had* tried to explain back then, but she had been so consumed by rage, so convinced that everything was his fault, that she had refused to listen. Looking back now, some things truly hadn’t added up.

She thought of the time she had stabbed him. She thought of the four years they had been apart. The pain in her heart felt like it was tearing her apart. She lifted her tear-streaked face and looked at him through blurry eyes.

"I’m sorry, Albert... If I hadn’t been so stubborn back then, we wouldn’t have ended up like this..."

Albert cupped her tear-stained face in his hands, his eyes lighting up with hope.

"Cynthia, you..."

Did this mean... she had forgiven him?

Instead of answering, she burrowed deeper into his embrace, wrapping her arms around his neck. Over and over, she wept,

"I’m sorry, Albert... I’m sorry... I’m so sorry..."

She had always known she was stubborn, but she never imagined that her stubbornness would cost them four years apart.

Albert felt a stinging sensation at the corners of his eyes. He held her tightly, his voice trembling as he said,

"Cynthia, don’t apologize. Maybe... this was just our fate. Maybe it was never our fault."

Cynthia leaned against his chest, sobbing silently. They held each other tightly, listening to the rhythm of each other’s heartbeats, cherishing the love they had lost and found once more.

After great sorrow came great clarity—perhaps that was the best way to describe them.

No one knew how long they stayed like that. When Cynthia’s emotions finally settled, Albert lowered his head and whispered softly into her ear,

"Cynthia, have I ever told you... that I love you?"

Cynthia felt as if her heart had suddenly stopped. The world around her seemed to fade away, leaving only the man before her. She lifted her head from his embrace, staring blankly at his resolute face.

Curled up in the corner of the small sofa, she remained wrapped up like a cocoon in his arms. He held her tightly, cupped her face in his hands, and spoke with unwavering sincerity,

"Cynthia, I love you. Even after all these years, I still love you."

Her tears welled up once again, uncontrollably spilling over. *I love you*—three simple words that ordinary couples could say without a second thought. But for them, after enduring life-and-death separations and endless hardships, those words carried an unbearable weight. Hidden within them was a sweetness so heavy, it almost hurt.

Seeing her cry again, Albert grew nervous. His voice trembled as he asked,

"Cynthia, can you tell me... now that I’ve confessed everything to you, do you still love me? This man who once clung to hatred, who caused you so much pain—do you still love him?"

By the time he finished speaking, his own voice was choked with emotion. Cynthia’s vision blurred with tears, making it almost impossible to see his face clearly. She opened her mouth to speak but found that no words would come.

Feeling overwhelmed, she reached for his sleeve and wiped her tear-streaked face messily against his shirt. Albert was caught between laughter and tears at her childish gesture.

Was she saying she loved him? Or... was she saying she loved him? Or maybe... she was saying she *really* loved him?

But he already knew, didn’t he? Even if she didn’t say it, he understood, didn’t he?

If she didn’t love him, why would she keep their daughter? If she didn’t love him, why would she name their daughter *Olive*? If she didn’t love him, why would she travel across the world to save him?

At this thought, he couldn’t help but tighten his embrace around her, his heart swelling with joy.

"Cynthia... The moment you decided to return and save me, you had already begun to forgive me, hadn’t you?"

Cynthia blushed at his words, feeling slightly embarrassed. She wiped another tear on his shirt and playfully scoffed,

"Albert, stop being so full of yourself!" 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

But her flustered reaction only confirmed what he already knew—no amount of resentment could outweigh the value of his life.