Cheng Ye looked at her, waiting for her to continue.

"Because he and I were never divorced!"

Zhu Qianying thought she would see surprise, or even astonishment, in Cheng Ye's eyes.

However, Cheng Ye's eyes remained calm, as if everything was within his expectations.

Then, the two looked at each other for a while before Cheng Ye spoke.

"I know!"

When he first met Yan Shao, Yan Shao said that he and Zhu Qianying had never divorced.

However, Cheng Ye didn't believe it at the time.

He thought it was just something Yan Shao used to scare and deceive him.

But after overhearing their conversation at the restaurant that day, and now with Zhu Qianying's words, he was basically certain that Yan Shao's initial statement that he had "never been divorced" was true.

However, whether they are divorced or remarried is not important. What is important is that Zhu Qianying has no feelings for Yan Shao!

This is what Cheng Ye cares about.

You can get divorced after marriage, and you can get back together after divorce, but once the feelings are gone, it's not so easy to rebuild them!

"Shadow, in about six months, I will shift my work focus back to China. Then, we can fight side by side again, just like before!"

Cheng Ye did not intend to expose the sham marriage between Zhu Qianying and Yan Shao. He only wanted to tell Zhu Qianying one fact: no matter where she went, he would follow her.

Then, although he felt offended, he mustered up his courage, took her hand into his palm, and wrapped his hands together, tightly enveloping Zhu Qianying's hand.

Zhu Qianying's attention immediately returned to her hand. After casually responding to him, she pulled hard twice and finally managed to pull her hand away from his.

Whether you call her chaste or conservative, she has never been comfortable with such intimate and ambiguous contact with men.

Even though she used to hang out with Xing Bolun and the others, she would at most put her arm around their shoulder occasionally, but she would never hold hands with them.

Xing Bailun and the others clearly understood her bottom line. They had always respected her, even when they were having fun together. No matter how close they were, they always respected that boundary and would never cross it rashly.

Cheng Ye, however, has clearly crossed the line.

"Cheng, we've always been on the same page when it comes to work."

Zhu Qianying held the cup with both hands, looking back at Cheng Ye with a determined gaze.

Cheng Ye nodded, "I know!"

"But I also want you to know that my stance towards you isn't just professional; emotionally, I'll always be on your side!"

These words weren't particularly obvious, and Zhu Qianying could have easily pretended not to understand, but in this matter, she didn't want to play dumb.

“Cheng, I am very grateful for your kindness and care over the years, but what you want, I really can’t give you.”

In matters of the heart, ambiguity is often more hurtful than a clean break.

Cheng Ye understood her meaning, and his thoughtful gaze swept over her empty ring finger once more.

"You couldn't give me a shadow, but you didn't give it to him either, did you?"

In that case, his situation is actually the same as Yan Shao's.

"I don't expect you to promise me anything, but I hope that I can have the same right to compete as Young Master Yan!"

Before Zhu Qianying could say anything more, the sound of musical instruments playing came from the small stage directly opposite her and Cheng Ye.

As Cheng Ye looked at the stage, he suddenly jumped down from the stilts, jogged to the front of the stage, supported himself on the stage with one hand, and with a push of his feet, gracefully leaped onto the stage.

Under Zhu Qianying's astonished gaze, Cheng Ye took the microphone down from the microphone stand.

"Tonight, I want to dedicate a song to the woman I love. My singing may not be beautiful, or even crack, but the lyrics are true, just like my heart for her!"

A burst of enthusiastic applause and cheers erupted from the audience!

Amid cheers and playful banter from colleagues, one colleague shouted, "Shadow, say yes to the boss!"

In that instant, Zhu Qianying understood why the bar was so deserted tonight.

It wasn't because of any accident or mishap; it was because Cheng Ye had booked the entire venue!

The prelude began slowly amidst cheers and applause, and Cheng Ye's slightly hoarse voice rang out with the music.

The song is a classic love song. As he said, his singing voice is not particularly beautiful, and he even cracked his voice in several high notes, but he sang it with great passion and sincerity.

It would be a lie to say I wasn't moved.

But aside from being moved, Zhu Qianying could not offer any further response.

She knew very well that what Cheng Ye wanted was not just a simple feeling of being moved.

"Shadow, isn't the boss handsome?!"

Suddenly someone rushed up behind him, leaned on the table, and stared at Cheng Ye on the stage with his hands supporting his chin, looking completely infatuated.

She is one of Zhu Qianying's assistants, a young woman in her early twenties.

Zhu Qianying patted her head and laughed, "If he's handsome, go after him!"

The assistant turned to her and smiled, "Shadow, some people are only meant to be admired from afar. We all know that the boss's heart belongs to you."

Zhu Qianying gave her a somewhat strained smile, picked up her wine glass, and took a sip.

Cheng Ye's heart belongs to her.

Where is her heart?

Where are they now?

In truth, she had the answer.

Or perhaps she always knew the answer, but simply didn't want to face it!

When the song ended, Cheng Ye didn't continue singing. He put the microphone back on the microphone stand and walked off the stage.

Zhu Qianying's assistant had already discreetly slipped away. Cheng Ye sat back down, first taking a sip of wine before staring at her and asking.

"Does it sound good?"

Zhu Qianying clapped her hands, "That sounds great!"

Cheng Ye winked at her, "That's it?"

Zhu Qianying shrugged and nodded. "Yeah, that's all!"

Cheng Ye didn't show much disappointment, but just sighed softly, "Shadow, I'm not forcing you. I just hope you understand that my love has always been there."

Zhu Qianying could no longer maintain her playful demeanor towards him. She paused for a moment before looking at him and saying this.

"Cheng, I'm not worthy. Even without Yan Han and everyone else, you and I are only suitable to be good friends and good partners."

After listening to the song, the emotion remained, but Zhu Qianying remained as resolute as ever!

When it comes to matters of the heart, there's no such thing as who owes whom.

Zhu Qianying only hoped that Cheng Ye would stop having unfounded expectations of her.

Emotions are like kites, and expectations are the kite strings.

The higher the expectations, the higher the kite will fly.

But when one day, expectation turns into disappointment, the string breaks, and the kite falls.

She knew better than anyone how painful it was to fall from a great height and be shattered to pieces!

She never wanted to experience that again in her life, and she didn't want Cheng Ye to experience it either!

She couldn't give him much; all she could do was try to snap the string while his kite was still hovering low in the sky.