Chapter 28

Wei Xuan’s smile abruptly chilled. “You think you can just say it’s over and that’s it? Did I ever agree to this? One day we were out on a date, and the next, you suddenly sent a text telling me we were breaking up. Then I couldn’t reach you at all. I thought something terrible had happened to you, only to see you again constantly at Shen Yibai’s side, treating me like a total stranger. Mingyue, do you really not intend to give me an explanation?”

Ning Mingyue’s expression flickered with a hint of unease, but she quickly composed herself.

“I’m sorry about the way I handled the breakup, but when feelings are gone, they’re gone. Since you’re participating in this variety show with Sheshe, you should think more about her feelings. She really likes you…”

“Then why didn’t you think about her feelings when you promised to be with me?”

Ning Mingyue’s face stiffened almost imperceptibly.

The smile at the corners of Wei Xuan’s mouth deepened. “Admit it. Admit that you never really cared about Sheshe as a friend. Admit your selfishness. Admit your hypocrisy. We’re the same kind of people-cold-hearted enough to use others, yet too stingy to ever give of ourselves…”

“Enough!” Ning Mingyue interrupted him angrily. “Don’t go too far!”

“Am I really the one going too far?” Wei Xuan let out a noncommittal, mocking laugh.

His usually clean-cut and gentle face now carried a faint trace of malice and madness.

“Back then, I was going to tell Sheshe that we were together, but you were the one who insisted on keeping it a secret. Or was Sheshe just a cover? Did you actually prefer the thrill of sneaking around?” Wei Xuan leaned in, looking at Ning Mingyue.

They were only inches apart.

Even the air they exhaled seemed to carry a hint of ambiguity.

Ning Mingyue’s heart stirred.

When they were abroad, Wei Xuan was handsome and brilliant. He had founded his own company at a young age and was seen by everyone as a golden boy.

Even the little princess of the Jiang Family, Jiang Sheshe, had harbored a secret crush on him for years.

Yet, such an outstanding man had only eyes for her.

Ning Mingyue had undoubtedly been smug about it. In a moment of impulsiveness, she had even accepted Wei Xuan’s pursuit and carried on a secret relationship right under Jiang Sheshe’s nose.

But-

No matter how capable Wei Xuan was, he would never become the richest man in Xiangcheng. More importantly, he would never be like the Shen Yibai of her previous life, who had held Ning Xi in the palm of his hand and pampered her for a lifetime!

Whenever she thought of the scenes of Shen Yibai and Ning Xi’s deep affection in her past life, Ning Mingyue’s heart felt as if it were soaking in harsh liquor, torn and burning.

Why!

Ning Xi was nothing more than an adopted daughter of the Ning Family, yet she ended up living a happier life than the eldest daughter of the family!

And a man as cold as Shen Yibai had actually loved Ning Xi like a precious treasure for his entire life!

On the day she died in the hospital from a severe illness, she had even heard people speaking enviously about how Shen Yibai had set off fireworks all night to celebrate his wife’s birthday and had transferred his hundred-billion-dollar fortune to her name…

All of that should have been hers!

Before Shen Yibai’s mother passed away, she had clearly wanted her and Shen Yibai to get engaged!

Ning Mingyue had breathed her last breath filled with such resentment and regret.

But when she opened her eyes again, she found she had been reborn at the age of twenty-one.

This was the year Ning Xi and Shen Yibai had not yet married; even their relationship as lovers existed in name only.

Ecstatic, Ning Mingyue had broken up with Wei Xuan without hesitation and returned to the country to get close to Shen Yibai, determined to take back everything that rightfully belonged to her.

And she had truly succeeded.

Thinking of the favoritism Shen Yibai now showed her, the look in Ning Mingyue’s eyes as she watched Wei Xuan became even more disgusted.

“Wei Xuan, let’s just part on good terms. Don’t make me regret ever being with you.”

Watching Ning Mingyue’s cold and ruthless face, a storm began to brew in the depths of Wei Xuan’s eyes.

He took a deep breath, suppressing his emotions. “You think the Shen Yibai you chose is perfect? Do you have any idea that he also…”
“I don’t care!” Ning Mingyue lifted her chin. “I like Shen Yibai! No matter what he’s like, I like him!”

Wei Xuan stared at Ning Mingyue’s face for a long while. At last, he loosened his grip on her.

“Let’s go. If we stay here too long, the netizens will start suspecting something.”

Watching Wei Xuan suddenly act as if nothing had happened, Ning Mingyue finally let out the breath she’d been holding. Yet a vague, unnameable sense of loss rose up all the same.

“Wei Xuan, don’t make me look down on you.”

After throwing out that line, Ning Mingyue left with a cold face.

In the empty room, Wei Xuan stared in the direction she’d gone, his voice low.

“Shen Yibai still likes Ning Xi. At the barbecue last night, Shen Yibai kept looking at Ning Xi’s shadow on the lawn.”

“Mingyue, he’s never looked at you like that.”

Those were the words he’d meant to use as a warning.

But when he saw how stubbornly obsessed Ning Mingyue was with Shen Yibai, Wei Xuan changed his mind.

He wanted to watch her smash herself bloody against reality, until she completely gave up on Shen Yibai. Only then-

-would Ning Mingyue come back to him forever.

Meanwhile, the moment Ning Mingyue stepped out of the storage room and saw the figure standing not far away, she froze as if struck by lightning.

“Fu Zhi… y-you-why are you on the third floor?” she asked, forcing a stiff smile.

“I didn’t see anyone downstairs, so I figured I’d come up and see if anyone was here.” Fu Zhi shrugged. “But you-what were you doing in the storage room?”

The heavy stone in Ning Mingyue’s chest finally dropped. “I came to look for balloons. I wanted to decorate the living room…”

Halfway through, she realized she’d rushed out empty-handed and forgotten to bring the balloons.

A rare flicker of panic flashed through Ning Mingyue’s eyes.

The next second, the storage room door opened from the inside.

“Found the balloons and the pump,” Wei Xuan said. “They were a bit dusty, so I wiped them down.”

His smile was light, and he was once again that gentle, harmless, model-good-man version of himself.

Fu Zhi raised an eyebrow, but didn’t ask anything else.

Seeing that Fu Zhi looked perfectly normal, Ning Mingyue finally relaxed.

Looks like Fu Zhi hadn’t heard what she and Wei Xuan said.

When the three of them returned to the living room, Shen Yibai had just rushed back from the company as well.

Just then, their phones received a message from the Program Team.

[Youai Butler: The seventh new guest has arrived, and has already met and interacted with one of the female guests in the villa ahead of time.]

“Seems like the new guest is a guy,” Ning Mingyue guessed.

“Met ahead of time? With who?” Fu Zhi asked, his voice carrying a trace of urgency he couldn’t quite hide.

“Who still hasn’t come back yet?” Wei Xuan said, analyzing calmly.

Shen Yibai’s gaze swept lightly across the living room. Not seeing a certain figure, his eyes cooled by a degree.

“Could it be Sheshe? I remember she said she’d come back early today, but I still haven’t seen her,” Ning Mingyue said.

Wei Xuan frowned and instinctively reached for his phone to message Jiang Sheshe.

But he quickly remembered the Program Team didn’t allow private messages-only group chat.

Wei Xuan: “@Sheshe Why aren’t you back yet? Want me to come pick you up?”

No reply came for a long time.

The smile on Wei Xuan’s face faded a little.

[Oh? Oh? Oh?]

[I used to think Wei Xuan treated Jiang Sheshe as just a friend, but now it’s looking kinda different]

[You’re overthinking it. If you know your friend still isn’t back, of course you’d worry and ask]

Watching Wei Xuan like this, Ning Mingyue unconsciously clenched her hand-then quickly loosened it.

She’d dated Wei Xuan before. No one knew better than her that what he felt for Jiang Sheshe was just friendship.

This was just an act. He was doing it on purpose, trying to make her misunderstand.

“It’s Ning Xi! It has to be Ning Xi!” Fu Zhi suddenly snapped, irritably.