He handed me a bank card. “The money here is yours, returned… Thank you for doing so much for me.”
“I should thank you. I’m the one who wronged you, yet you still helped me hide things from my father…”
Before I could finish, Yin Zhongtian suddenly hugged me. “I’m sorry, Xiao Bing. Let me hug you one last time, like a brother.”
I hesitated because Ye Zhengchen was watching, but just as I was about to push him away, I heard him say, “Ye Zhengchen already told me. He said you were trying to save me, which is why he insulted you… He agreed to marry you for my future…”
“What?!” I pushed Yin Zhongtian away. Why would Ye Zhengchen say this, knowing it would hurt Yin Zhongtian?
“Xiao Bing, you’re too naive,” Yin Zhongtian said. “I never embezzled a single cent or committed any crime. I cooperated with the investigation team, revealing everything I knew. Even without Ye Zhengchen’s help, I wouldn’t have gone to jail. The death penalty was a rumor he spread to deceive you.”
My head buzzed, and the world spun.
I turned back to look at Ye Zhengchen, still sitting in the car, his expression unreadable in the sunlight.
“All of this was planned by him… including this case.”
“Case?” I shook my head in disbelief. “Impossible.”
“You’d never guess that the person in charge is Zheng Wei, Ye Zhengchen’s best friend. He knows every detail from the beginning.”
I wondered what I had done in a past life for fate to be so cruel. Just when happiness seemed close, it was snatched away.
“Why are you telling me this?”
“You have the right to know the truth.”
Truth?! I used to crave it, but now I wanted nothing more than to live in blissful ignorance. I would rather be deceived by Ye Zhengchen than confront the ugly reality.
I looked at Yin Zhongtian expressionlessly. “Don’t tell me… breaking up with me was also forced by him!”
“Xiao Bing, I had no choice. I have responsibilities and can’t go to jail. You don’t really love me; you still care for him.”
I nodded, understanding everything. Using a woman who doesn’t love you to save oneself is a choice any man would make.
If he were willing to go to jail to be with me, he would definitely be mentally ill.
“Are you done?” I asked.
“I’m leaving. Take care of yourself.”
“Zhongtian…” I called out to Yin Zhongtian, who was about to leave. “That day, when you spoke to my father… was it Ye Zhengchen who told you to say those things?”
Yin Zhongtian hesitated, then nodded.
Now I understood that Yin Zhongtian was never like Ye Zhengchen; he couldn’t fabricate lies filled with love, just as he couldn’t deceive with kindness.
Ye Zhengchen walked down from the car and stood behind me.
“You know everything now,” he said.
“Why did you have to use such despicable means?”
“Because I know you. Unless Yin Zhongtian gives up on you, you won’t betray him.”
“You want him to abandon me; it’s simple. Why tell him that I slept with you to save him? I said I was willing…”
Ye Zhengchen said in a low voice: “He hit you! I want him to feel remorse, guilt; I want him to remember that he wronged you!”
“You!” I was speechless, trembling with anger, yet wanting to rush into his arms and tell him: I love him, love him to the point of madness!
“Darling, I was wrong,” Ye Zhengchen hugged me. “This is the last time. I promise I won’t lie to you again.”
Hatred to the extreme, love to the extreme, I angrily pushed his chest.
If I had known… I would never have pushed him.
If I had known…
I pushed him away, and Ye Zhengchen bit his lip, leaning down and breathing heavily, pressing his chest. I felt compelled to intervene.
“Senior…” In an instant, my resentment faded, and I reached for his chest. “What’s wrong?!”
“It’s nothing.” He shook his head, his face frighteningly pale.
I unbuttoned his clothes to reveal a newly sutured scar, hideous as a centipede.
“You?!” I should have noticed his distress. That night, I sensed something was off but thought he was just busy.
“Don’t worry.” He managed a painful smile. “Just a small injury, almost healed.”
Yin Zhongtian sensed there was more to the situation. Suppressing his anger, he half-joked, “You can’t know her better than me, right?”
“Perhaps in some aspects, I do.”
Yin Zhongtian felt his anger surface with the alcohol and grabbed Ye Zhengchen’s collar, roaring, “What do you want?”
“Don’t be impulsive. We’re both men of status; why be crude?” Ye Zhengchen smiled faintly and gently pressed Yin Zhongtian’s hand.
With a slight force, excruciating pain spread from Yin Zhongtian’s thumb through his arm, forcing him to let go.
Looking at the man surrounded by brilliant lights, Yin Zhongtian felt a sense of defeat, as if cold water had been poured over him.
He gritted his teeth angrily: “Ye Zhengchen, don’t think you can do whatever you want just because you have power and money, coveting someone else’s fiancée. Don’t forget, you still have a military tribunal.”
Though he said this, Yin Zhongtian knew it was no threat to Ye Zhengchen. Powerful men could do as they pleased, trampling on others’ dignity. Even if she were a wife, Ye Zhengchen could obtain her if he wanted.
Ye Zhengchen paid no attention to the threat, simply adjusting his collar. “Secretary Yin just said at the dinner table that for you, nothing is more important than the woman by your side. I want to ask, what if you were not who you are now?”
“What do you mean?”
“For me, Bao Bing is more important than anything, both past and present. As long as she returns to my side, I don’t care what price I pay.” Ye Zhengchen paused, then continued: “You should understand my meaning.”
“Stop your delusions. She will never return to your side,” Yin Zhongtian said firmly.
“I don’t know what history you have, but she said you’re not worth her love!”
What made him unbearable was the sentence: “Only by doing it with a man you like can you be happy…” For several months of their engagement, she had refused even tentative touches, let alone further intimacy. He loved her, respected her, and was willing to patiently wait until their wedding night. But he knew there was an essential difference between a woman doing something in a passionate moment and doing something under duress.
He was unwilling to give up easily. After waiting three years, he could finally put the diamond ring on her finger, and he couldn’t bring himself to let go. He deceived himself, thinking maybe Ye Zhengchen was wishful thinking or had done something unforgivable, causing her to leave him. Perhaps she didn’t want to be with Ye Zhengchen anymore and was just unable to let go of the past. Watching Yin Zhongtian leave in anger, Ye Zhengchen realized his self-control was getting worse.
With his future gone and self-esteem shattered, Yin Zhongtian thought he still had the woman he deeply loved, who would surely give him comfort when he needed it most. He believed that as long as Bao Bing was by his side and hadn’t left him, he hadn’t completely lost. However, he was wrong.
When the morning-after pill fell from Bao Bing’s bag, he recognized the absurdity of his self-deceptive thoughts. He recalled Ye Zhengchen’s words and felt a surge of anger, irrationally raising his hand. When he saw Bao Bing fall and bleed from her forehead, he realized the irreversible damage he had done, akin to the morning-after pill—an act that couldn’t be undone.
All night, Yin Zhongtian sat on a bench outside the hospital, burying his hands in his thick black hair. He had lost everything, with his beloved woman choosing another. Anger, hatred, and grief consumed him. He felt on the verge of collapse.
