Ji Qikun knew that Wei Zhi had a long-standing habit of taking sleeping pills to help her drift off.
Once her steady breathing echoed from the pillow beside him, he quietly rolled out of bed and retreated to the master bathroom.
He gripped the deadbolt on the back of the door firmly, turning it as slowly as if he were hauling a heavy truck. The bolt slid into place without making a single sound.
The light switch was right there on the wall, but he ignored it. He sat down on the toilet lid and pulled out the phone he had been clutching. Switching to his burner account, he opened the "Dolphin House" chat group.
He had no intention of participating in the group’s childish, ridiculous chatter; he simply scrolled through the chat history repeatedly, using it as a tether to regain his composure.
Wei Zhi had replaced Weng Xiuyue, becoming a malignant tumor growing right before his eyes. This tumor was larger, more vicious, and more resilient than Weng Xiuyue had ever been. To excise it would require ten times the effort he had exerted before.
He would surely find a way to orchestrate a perfect curtain call.
Ji Qikun logged out of the burner account and turned off the screen, plunging the bathroom into total darkness. He leaned his back against the cold, hard porcelain of the water tank. As he did, the lid shifted slightly, letting out a tiny *clack*.
That minuscule sound choked the breath right out of him. He froze, eyes fixed unblinkingly on the door in the darkness.
The faint sound of breathing outside the door seemed to stop.
After twenty agonizing seconds, nothing happened.
Ji Qikun exhaled a breath of turbid air. He stood up, intending to leave, but suddenly paused and looked back at the toilet tank.
In the gloom, the tank—reflecting a faint, ghostly pale light—seemed to possess a strange magnetism, drawing his hand toward the lid.
"Hubby, are you in the bathroom?"
The sudden knock on the door made Ji Qikun shudder. His finger instinctively slammed down on the flush lever. As the water roared, he pretended he had just finished using the toilet and opened the door.
"Yeah. Why are you awake too?"
"I thought I heard something."
Wei Zhi’s snow-pale face looked even more bloodless against her white lace nightgown. Her gaze swept past him into the bathroom, seemingly gauging the truth of his words.
"I can't sleep when you're not beside me." She gently wrapped her arms around his waist, her tone tinged with a hint of grievance, yet Ji Qikun could see no trace of love in her eyes.
Those eyes, which he instinctively wanted to avoid, were more like the eyes of a predator glowing green in the depths of a midnight forest.
In her, he could no longer see a single trace of the woman who had once charmed him into falling in love.
Words of comfort spilled practiced from his lips. While whispering those clichés in a tender tone, he led her back to bed, desperate to release her ice-cold hand.
Once they were back in bed, they exchanged goodnights once more.
After the goodnights, the two lay on their sides facing each other and closed their eyes. After a long while, Ji Qikun opened his eyes in the dark.
He stared coldly at the face within arm's reach, a certain resolve hardening in his heart.
***
At six in the morning, Ji Qikun’s alarm rang punctually.
Though he didn't have to work today, he still turned off the alarm and got up. Following his usual routine, he changed into his athletic gear and went out for a run.
At seven, he returned home and took a cold shower. He prepared a lavish breakfast for Wei Zhi, who was still dreaming.
Only when the aroma of freshly ground coffee and the sweet, rich scent of toasted bread filled the air did Ji Qikun open the bedroom door to gently wake her.
His attitude mirrored the early days of their honeymoon phase. Wei Zhi’s misty gaze lingered on his face for a long time, as if she were trying to discern if he was the man she knew.
"Baby, time for breakfast. Hurry up, or the bread and coffee will get cold." He affectionately pressed a kiss to her forehead and led the way out of the bedroom.
Wei Zhi sat up in bed, looking as though she hadn't fully woken up. She sat motionless for a moment, listening to the clatter of dishes outside, before finally heading into the bathroom to wash up.
Five minutes later, she walked out. Ji Qikun had already set a homemade sandwich and hot coffee at her place.
"You've always been the one preparing breakfast for me. I wanted to take the initiative today to thank you for everything you've done for me, honey," Ji Qikun said with a smile. "Sit down. The coffee should be at the perfect temperature."
Wei Zhi cooperated, sitting opposite him and taking a sip from her cup.
"How is it?" Ji Qikun asked, smiling.
"It's good."
Wei Zhi nodded and began to eat her sandwich slowly.
Ji Qikun didn't touch his own sandwich; he simply watched her eat in silence. When she was halfway through, he suddenly spoke up out of the blue.
"Xiao Zhi, do you love me?"
Wei Zhi looked up.
"I've had many women in the past, but you are the most special one. I love you more than anyone. This love won't change because of anything—no matter what you become, or whether we are legally married or not. You will always be the woman I love most."
Wei Zhi didn't speak, but she slowly set down the unfinished sandwich. Her unexpected composure made Ji Qikun feel increasingly uneasy.
Forcing himself to remain calm, he continued with an air of earnest concern:
"Even though the police haven't come knocking lately, we still can't let our guard down. I've thought of a plan, honey. Let's get a fake divorce first, and then I'll send you abroad to hide for a while. You can think of it as a vacation—oh, you could go to Spain, visit the Prado Museum to see *The Garden of Earthly Delights*. In a year or two, once the heat has completely died down, I'll bring you back. How does that sound?"
"No." Wei Zhi’s refusal was instantaneous and devoid of emotion.
"Why?" Ji Qikun pressed. "Do you have concerns, honey? Or do you not trust me?"
"I don't want to leave you." Wei Zhi looked up, staring directly into his eager eyes. "Don't you feel the same?"
"Of course I don't want to leave you. Like I said, this is temporary. For us to be together in the long run, a brief separation is necessary."
Ji Qikun raised the stakes:
"I've already paid off your online debts, but you can't go abroad without money. I'll transfer another million in cash to you for your living expenses this year."
"A fake divorce?"
"Yes, a fake divorce." Seeing her stance soften, Ji Qikun hurried to offer more sweet talk. "When you come back in two years, we'll hold a grand wedding and invite all our friends and family."
"During this fake divorce, how will the assets be divided?" Wei Zhi asked casually, as if it were a throwaway question.
"How can we divide assets in a fake divorce?" Ji Qikun acted surprised. "Your parents know we signed a prenuptial agreement. If we divide the assets, they'll know we've actually divorced. If they find out, the police might find out too. That would defeat the whole purpose of the fake divorce."
"But if we don't divide the assets, I can just say you're in poor health and went abroad to recover. Only the two of us will know about the divorce." Ji Qikun paused. "Asking that makes it seem like you don't trust me. I'm hurt, Xiao Zhi. Are you with me entirely for the money, without any feelings at all?"
"Feelings?" Wei Zhi slowly swallowed the last bite of bread, a half-smile playing on her lips. "Isn't it actually that you want to get rid of me?"
"I never said that. How could you think of me that way?"
"Hubby, we've been together for over a year. I know your clean side and your dirty side better than anyone," Wei Zhi said. "It's quite pointless for you to say these things to me."
Ji Qikun stared at her for a long time. Then, with a scoff, he shed his false expression.
"Then what do you think is 'pointed'? Are your indecent videos pointed enough?"
"Are you threatening me?"
"I never said that," Ji Qikun countered. "I'll give you five million in cash, a villa within the Third Ring Road, plus the Mercedes in the garage, and your videos. We divorce. Everything you've done in the past and will do in the future will have nothing to do with me."
"Hubby, you're the one who told me to kill her. Why are you only regretting it now?" Wei Zhi said.
Ji Qikun never believed he had told her to kill Weng Xiuyue. At least, not in the style of some third-rate American slasher flick. In his mind, from the moment Weng Xiuyue’s corpse appeared in his trunk, he had become an innocent victim, held hostage by Wei Zhi’s stupidity and madness.
Wei Zhi’s self-righteous retort finally caused Ji Qikun’s long-suppressed rage to explode.
"I didn't tell you to kill anyone! If it weren't for you, I would never have ended up in this position!"
He shoved the table violently. The coffee cup and the porcelain plate holding the sandwich shattered one after another with a piercing crash.
To his surprise, Wei Zhi’s reaction was even more intense. Like a nuclear reactor reaching a supercritical state, she suppressed his anger with an even greater fury.
Before he could react, a stinging slap landed on his face, followed immediately by her screams directed right at him—
"I took that risk because I love you! Is loving you my mistake too?"
"If it weren't for you, why would I ever kill someone!"
Ignoring his burning cheek, Ji Qikun instinctively tried to cover her mouth to bury those jarring words: "kill someone."
"You were the one who threatened me first, saying you'd divorce me if I didn't get rid of Weng Xiuyue—you were the one who said you wanted to start over with me! You said you wanted to build a happy family with me and our child—that we would never be happy unless Weng Xiuyue was dead! You said all of that! How can you—how can you, after I killed—"
One sharp, terrifying word after another flew out of that utterly irrational mouth. Ji Qikun could hardly imagine that such a delusional person existed in this world. Fearing those horrific words would leak through the cracks of the doors and windows, he lunged toward Wei Zhi.
Her subsequent words were smothered in her throat, silenced by Ji Qikun’s right hand clamped firmly over her mouth.
She struggled even more violently, her ten fingernails carving bloody furrows into his neck and face. A searing heat spread from his skin to his heart. For a split second, in his provoked state, a thought flashed through Ji Qikun’s mind: *Just smother her to death and be done with it.*
But reason still held sway. He knew he couldn't do that—at least not right now.
Suddenly, the Wei Zhi struggling in his arms went still.
She stopped screaming. Those eyes, which had been cold and calculating, suddenly flickered with a playful, lighthearted glint. His dry palm felt the warmth of the breath escaping her lips. With a trace of trepidation, he slowly loosened his grip on her cheekbones and face.
Beneath his palm was a bright, nonchalant smile.
"Hubby, I want to tell you a secret," she said mysteriously, as if the previous argument and the shattered porcelain on the floor were all just a mirage.
"...What secret?" Ji Qikun’s heart hammered against his ribs.
"Lean in close."
Ji Qikun hesitated for a moment before reluctantly bringing his ear toward her. Seemingly annoyed by his slowness, she grabbed his ear and yanked him toward her.
In that moment, he almost expected her to suddenly turn on him and bite him hard.
The imagined pain didn't come. Instead, there was only the soft puff of Wei Zhi’s breath as she spoke into his ear.
"Actually, the night I dumped the body, I drove an empty car out of the city."
She said.
He recoiled, staring at her in disbelief. Simultaneously, a bone-chilling cold rose within him, accompanied by a terrifying realization.
Wei Zhi broke into a joyous smile, like a child who had successfully pulled off a prank, her dark eyes sparkling.
"You know, every time I saw you looking at the Mercedes' trunk, I wanted to laugh—"
"Why did you never think to open the trunk of the Bentayga and take a look?"
As Wei Zhi’s voice trailed off, her words seemed to echo through the vast, open-plan luxury flat.
Ji Qikun’s face turned deathly pale. After standing frozen for a moment, he scrambled out the door in a panic. Wei Zhi knew exactly where he was going, so she sat calmly at the messy dining table and continued eating her leftover sandwich.
Ji Qikun didn't know how he made it to the garage. He stared at the black trunk of the Bentayga as if he were staring at the gates of hell. It took a long time before he could force his stiff fingers to press the trunk release on the key fob.
The gates of hell slowly opened.
The corpse, wrapped in plastic film and black activated carbon, appeared before Ji Qikun’s eyes. Because decomposition had set in, the body was slightly more bloated than he remembered, and a faint, unmistakable stench drifted into the air.
Last time, he had dared to peel back the plastic to confirm what was inside. This time, he frantically mashed the button to close the trunk, terrified that the door would take a second too long to descend.
He simply couldn't use normal logic to predict Wei Zhi’s actions.
He couldn't understand the meaning behind her moves no matter how hard he tried. His inability to fathom her next step meant he had lost all control over the situation. A suffocating sensation, like falling beneath ten thousand miles of frozen ice, enveloped his entire body.
For the first time in his life, he felt true despair.
Familiar footsteps approached from behind.
It was the elegant sway of a dolphin’s tail.
"What exactly do you want..."
Ji Qikun spoke in a voice so hoarse it was barely recognizable.
He knew that by asking this question, he was admitting that control of the playground had completely shifted to her. But he asked anyway.
Because he was at his wit's end, driven into a corner.
"Because I love you."
She wrapped her arms around his waist from behind and said wickedly:
"I'm going to be your accomplice for the rest of our lives—"
"So that you can never escape me as long as you live."
***
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When the Dolphin Sinks | Chapter 50 | Lifelong Accomplices | Novela.app | Novela.app
