novelraw Let's talk about it in Chapter 27.
Let's talk about it in Chapter 27.
On the way back, the carriage was deathly silent.
Gu Yanshen pressed his lips into a cold, straight line and drove without saying a word.
Lu Xiran also turned her head to look at the neon lights rushing past the window, her heart filled with a jumble of emotions.
She wanted to ask him,
Who is Song Zhihe?
Why did you go to see her last night?
—What did you do?
But the words caught in her throat, swallowed back by overwhelming cowardice and fear. She was afraid to hear the answer she couldn't bear, afraid that even this false peace would be shattered.
"Why are you looking for him?" Gu Yanshen suddenly asked.
"What?" Lu Xiran didn't react.
"Why did you contact Xie Si'an first after the accident?" The car stopped at a red light. Gu Yanshen turned his head, his gaze fixed on her with a deep intensity she couldn't decipher. "Not me?"
Lu Xiran was baffled by his question, and even a little absurd: "Why would I want to find you?"
"You're my fiancée," Gu Yanshen emphasized each word, "and when you run into trouble, you don't think of me?"
"We're just in a contractual relationship, aren't we?" Lu Xiran finally couldn't hold back any longer and poured out the grievances she had been holding in all day, her eyes slightly red.
No?
Otherwise, why would you have abandoned me under those circumstances last night?
"Contract." Gu Yanshen repeated the word, as if stung by something. He abruptly turned around, slammed on the gas, and the car lurched out of control. He sneered, a laugh tinged with a frustration and anger he himself was unaware of. "Ha, yes, it's a contract. So, Lu Xiran, you'd better watch your step in the future!"
He paused, as if using all his self-control, before squeezing out the rest of his words through clenched teeth—stiff, awkward, even hurtful: "Don't get involved with other men!"
Don't look at people like that.
Don't smile like that at other people.
The fire in his heart burned so fiercely that it hurt his internal organs, but when he spoke, it completely changed its meaning.
Lu Xiran was completely enraged by his unreasonable accusations and rude attitude. Her voice trembled with grievance and anger: "What do you mean by 'pulling and tugging'? Gu Yanshen, do you have any sense of reason? Si'an and I were just visiting Ling Xue together! We didn't do anything!"
Are you allowed to pick up other women in the middle of the night and not come home all night without even an explanation, but I'm not allowed to have a late-night snack with my brother whom I grew up with?
"Just what?" Gu Yanshen's hands gripping the steering wheel gleamed with veins, his tone sharp. "What if I hadn't shown up? He just said he loved me to my face! Is that 'just what'?"
"Yes! So what if he said it?" Lu Xiran shouted, cornered by him, tears welling in her eyes. "Gu Yanshen, just because you don't like me doesn't mean no one else in the world likes me! It doesn't mean I have to abide by all those ridiculous rules you set!"
The car braked suddenly to a stop in the parking space.
Lu Xiran couldn't stay any longer. She pushed open the car door forcefully and rushed into the elevator without looking back.
When Gu Yanshen parked his car and caught up, he only saw the elevator doors slowly closing in front of him, and the slender figure inside stubbornly turned her back to him, not even giving him a glance.
"bite--"
The elevator is going up.
Gu Yanshen slammed his fist hard against the cold metal door frame, his knuckles instantly turning red.
The pent-up frustration and sharp bitterness in his chest almost overwhelmed him. He didn't mean it that way… he just…
Inside the elevator, Lu Xiran leaned against the wall and slowly slid down to the floor, burying her face in her knees.
How could he bully people like that?
He repeatedly reminded her that she was his fiancée, using that status to bind her.
What about him?
Are the things he did things that a fiancé should do?
Hot tears finally fell in large drops onto the gleaming elevator floor.
Lu Xiran locked herself in her room. Gu Yanshen stood outside the door, the cold corridor light casting a shadow of his stern yet slightly dejected profile. The words he had just blurted out sounded sharp and grating to his own ears. He realized something was wrong; his chest felt like it was stuffed with a wad of waterlogged cotton, heavy and suffocating, with a strange, subtle, and persistent pain.
He just... hasn't learned how to apologize or how to show weakness yet.
The phone screen was still showing the chat interface with Lu Xiran, with Lin Chen's detailed information about Xie Si'an displayed at the top. He skimmed through it—a graduate of an Ivy League university, the undisputed heir to the Xie Group, and already making a name for himself in the financial world at a young age. More importantly, there were the photos and descriptions interspersed throughout the resume: childhood photos with Lu Xiran, their figures side by side as teenagers, the close family ties between the two families, and the Xie family elders' doting affection for Lu Xiran as if she were their own daughter…
Childhood sweethearts, well-matched in social standing, with bright futures ahead, and deep affection.
Every word was like a fine needle, gently pricking the most hidden corner of Gu Yanshen's heart. If he were just an outsider, he would also feel that Xie Si'an was the perfect, flawless "best choice" to match Lu Xiran.
And him? A relationship that began with an agreement, a man burdened by family secrets and the shadows of his past. The stark contrast brings a sense of defeat bordering on self-loathing and...unspeakable pressure.
His fingertip hovered over Lu Xiran's smiling profile picture for a long time, and in his turmoil, he accidentally clicked it.
The screen jumped to a pop-up—[Gu Yanshen gently rubbed Lu Xiran's soft and adorable little face].
It was childish, and carried a touch of inappropriate intimacy.
Gu Yan took a deep breath and stared at the sudden message. There was silence on the other end.
Lu Xiran saw the message notification, her gaze lingered on it for a second, her heart felt like it had been gently bumped, and then she was overwhelmed by a deeper sense of grievance.
She pursed her lips and did not reply.
Time ticked by, but the chat window remained silent. Gu Yanshen had never felt such agonizing waiting. Finally, he walked to her door, bent his finger, and gently knocked.
"What is it?" came her muffled voice from behind the door, with a nasal tone.
"Let's talk." His voice was lower and hoarse than usual.
The door lock clicked softly, and Lu Xiran opened it. She had removed her makeup, and her clean face, under the warm yellow corridor light, was fair and radiant. Her eyes were still slightly red, making her appear even more like a lotus emerging from clear water, charming and captivating.
Gu Yanshen's Adam's apple bobbed slightly, but he couldn't bring himself to utter the "sorry" that was swirling on his tongue.