Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The driver didn’t want any trouble.

He sat rigidly in the driver’s seat, tense all over.

I sighed.

Under Shi Yan’s gaze, which brooked no refusal, I could only steel myself and get out of the car.

Some things had to be made clear.

When Shi Yan grabbed my wrist, his touch was a little cold.

His jaw was taut, his profile sharply defined and strikingly handsome.

Several rich young men behind him came out to watch the show.

“So this is the girl Shi Yan’s been hiding at home?”

“She really is pretty.”

One of the voices, rough and smoky, sounded especially familiar.

It carried a careless drawl.

“Tch, stop staring. Careful, or that bastard will get jealous again.”

His name was Lu Ye.

He was Shi Yan’s friend.

I had met him before.

One week after Shi Yan and I confirmed our relationship.

Shi Yan and I hadn’t started out as a couple.

I was just a strange girl he had taken in.

I made up a backstory for myself.

A really tragic one.

So tragic that every time I got frustrated and made a fuss about leaving, he would say coldly, “Do you not want to save your gambling-addict father, your seriously ill mother, and your little sister who’s still in school?”

Shi Yan might have been a little sexually indifferent.

But even if he had to work more than a dozen jobs a day, he still transferred ten thousand yuan to me every month.

Other than that, though…

We slept in separate rooms.

He did all the housework.

He wouldn’t hug me.

He wouldn’t kiss me.

He even avoided eye contact.

He gave me no opportunity to make a move at all.

So, with tears in my eyes, I asked him, “What exactly am I to you?”

He said, “My little sister.”

I nodded in understanding.

So I was his little sister.

And here I thought I was the emperor.

Shi Yan had always kept his gentlemanly side.

The umbrella in his hand was always tilted toward me.

That was why his shoulder and back were always soaked.

Now, I pushed the umbrella handle away.

“I don’t need you to hold an umbrella for me anymore.”

Actually, the reason I had chosen Shi Yan as my material in the first place was because of his face.

He had the kind of face that looked like it would constantly attract girlfriends, but never keep one long-term.

And the System had rules.

Once the thesis was finished, the host had to erase all intimate relationships.

I thought breaking up with Shi Yan should be pretty easy.

He was so proud.

When we broke up, he definitely wouldn’t lower himself to cling to me.

I had a rough idea of how this would go.

So when I faced him, I wasn’t quite as scared anymore.

Shi Yan curved his lips. “Where are you planning to go?”

I didn’t want to reveal my whereabouts.

“Somewhere very far away.”

“Will you come back?”

“No.”

Shi Yan gave a soft laugh and said unhurriedly, “I’ll ask you one more time. This time, I hope you give me the correct answer.”

He was clearly smiling, but his pupils were very dark. Fine strands of rain fell around us, and a few droplets clung to the hair at his forehead.

He looked like a trapped beast deep in the forest.

As if, the moment I gave the wrong answer, he would tear into my throat.

I swallowed.

Shivering, I took a step back, only to end up pressed against the taxi.

Shi Yan took the opportunity to brace one arm against the car.

He caged me in completely.

“You want to break up with me?”

I still nodded.

“Yes.”

I pressed my lips together, then continued, “It was my fault for not making things clear before, but I truly want to break up.”

Shi Yan nodded as if he understood.

“All right.”

I let out a breath of relief.

But something sour and aching bubbled up in my chest.

Still, I smiled and wished him well. “I hope you find true love someday.”

Shi Yan didn’t speak.

He slipped a hand into the pocket of his black trench coat.

I turned to get into the car.

But then a broad shoulder leaned in against my back.

An unfamiliar scent forced its way into my nose.

Before my consciousness vanished completely, I heard Lu Ye snap, “Shi Yan, are you insane?”

Shi Yan hooked an arm around my waist.

My body had gone utterly limp.

He whispered beside my ear, “You think you can come when you want and leave when you want?”

“Shen You, do you really take me for some kind of good man?”

“Besides, weren’t you the one who came to provoke me first?”