Chapter 12
Chapter 12
The public was in an uproar after the video was released.
The footage was simply too complete and too clear.
Soon after, Zhou Jinyan stepped forward and admitted that he was indeed in a relationship with me back when he was with Lu Sisi.
In other words, Lu Sisi was the mistress who had usurped the position, and now she was trying to play the victim and frame me.
Her reputation plummeted instantly. Her film contracts and commercial endorsements were all terminated.
As for Zhou Jinyan’s company, its stock price crashed.
He didn’t seem to care. In the middle of the night, he called me. “Ah Ning, how else do you want to vent your anger? Or… why don’t you just do everything to me that I once did to you?”
I gave a soft laugh. “Let’s not.”
“The thought of having any contact with you now just feels dirty.”
He didn’t seem to care about my mockery at all.
The next day at the research institute, my supervisor told me that the funding for the biological project I was leading had doubled. The source was a private donation from Zhou Jinyan.
Just as I was about to refuse, my supervisor winked at me.
“Since it’s funding, you have total control over how it’s spent. Besides, this is Mr. Zhou’s support for our scientific research project; it has nothing to do with personal feelings.”
Old fox.
I smiled and accepted the proposal.
Zhou Jinyan began driving over every day, waiting at the entrance of the institute. He didn’t seem to mind being ignored by me.
That afternoon, he even called over his old group of friends.
A few wealthy-looking men stood at the entrance, bowing to me and apologizing.
I was already in a bad mood because of an error in the experimental data these past few days. The curious glances from passing colleagues and pedestrians made me feel even more embarrassed.
I finally couldn’t hold back my anger. “Zhou Jinyan, are you out of your mind?”
He looked at me with a pained expression. “Ah Ning, I just want to apologize for my past behavior.”
“There’s no need.”
I looked at him expressionlessly. “I have my own life and work now. Just stop disturbing me. Also, keep Lu Sisi under control. Whatever relationship issues you two have, solve them yourselves.”
Zhou Jinyan didn’t truly love me.
It was nothing more than the fact that I had jumped into the sea right in front of him and survived. I had become an obsession to him-as if by winning me back, he could prove something.
Just like Lu Sisi had been to him back then.
My gaze swept over him and his friends, and I suddenly said, “Do you remember? Back then, when I went to the bar to pick you up and take you home, your friends blocked my way and insisted I perform a demonstration of my research project.”
“I heard from Professor Xu that you donated the funds for my current project.”
“In that case, you and your friends are welcome to come and tour the lab. You can see exactly how I record data and advance the project’s progress.”
Eight years later, I finally threw their mockery back at them, openly and with dignity.
Zhou Jinyan looked at me in agony, his eyelashes trembling. He was almost speechless.
At dusk, the glow on the horizon gradually faded.
The autumn wind blew fallen leaves, sending them swirling between us.
I stood face-to-face with Zhou Jinyan, no longer in the humble, pleading posture of the past.
He took a deep breath and asked with some difficulty, “If, from the very beginning when we first met, I had treated you with equality and respect… if I had lent you the money when you needed it and didn’t stop you from pursuing your graduate studies… would it have been possible for you to fall in love with me?”
Without hesitation, I said, “I would have been very grateful to you. I would have paid you back as soon as possible and helped you in any way I could in the future.”
As for love?
That was never an option in my life.