Chapter 346 No Regrets
“Do you really have to know?”
But… why didn’t she regret it?
Aubrey lowered her lashes, chewing the noodles slowly. She had asked herself this question before.
When she was reborn, why had it been at eighteen? Why not earlier–early enough to change everything?
She had never understood. Until last night, when those words had slipped from her lips, and she finally realized.
If the Moon Goddess had sent her back according to her deepest obsession, then maybe, deep inside, she had never wanted to change meeting Alpha Henry—or falling in love with him.
Yet Henry was still pressing, relentless. “Why?”
He wanted to force her to face what was between them. He had already tripped over every minefield in her heart; one more didn’t matter. Maybe if he set them off enough times, she’d stop flinching.
Aubrey shot him a glance, retreating slightly, weary.
“I just think… liking you was the happiest thing in my childhood, my teen years, and even my adulthood. That’s why I don’t regret it.”
Henry’s eyes flared, the violet in them deepening, dazzling in its intensity.
He swallowed back the surge in his chest, voice low. “Even though back then I never gave you any response, you still… don’t regret it?”
Aubrey rolled her eyes at him. But maybe because he had risked his life to save her yesterday, the knot in her heart felt looser. Her resentment toward him had faded a little.
Being with him now felt lighter than before.
“I was foolish then. Even if you ignored me, doing anything for you–brewing wine, packing lunches–as long as it was for someone I liked, it made me happy. So no, I don’t regret it.”
Each word landed clear and firm. Henry’s lips curled high, eyes glowing with unreadable thoughts.
The air seemed to spark between them, light and buoyant. Aubrey finished the last bite and was just about to dismiss him when Henry suddenly cupped her face and kissed her hard.
“Aubrey, you’re right. Doing anything for the one you like, even without a response, still feels good.”
Forced to meet his bright eyes, Aubrey’s heart stumbled faster.
Henry smiled. “Of course, I’m greedier than you. If the one I like accepts my feelings, I’ll be even happier.”
“Aubrey.”
Her name rolled from his tongue.
“I won’t stop pursuing you. Do you feel more troubled–or more happy?”
“Troubled, obviously!” Aubrey shot back without thinking.
But Henry pressed a hand to her chest, feeling the thundering beat beneath his palm. Meeting her wide eyes, he said with solemn conviction, “But your heart’s racing. You’re lying.”
Aubrey gasped, slapping her hand over her chest, glaring.
“Shameless!”
Henry only smirked, unbothered. He had already figured out how he would chase her.
“You’ll learn what real shamelessness is… in bed.”
Then he swooped in for another kiss, voice dropping to a husky whisper against her ear, each word deliberate, teasing.
“You’re mine sooner or later. When that time comes, I’ll kiss you everywhere. Slowly.”
With that, he strode out like a man walking away from victory.
Aubrey scrubbed at her lips with her bandaged hands, again and again. If not for the wrappings hiding her face, he would have seen it–her cheeks burning red.