prove

If he truly had feelings for her, he would have engaged in a normal relationship with her after their reunion, instead of proposing a fake marriage without any prior preparation.

Occasionally, Zhou Ji'an would suspect that Deng Yi saw her standing in the corner, still inconspicuous, in Wei Jinglin's video call, and that it was at that moment that he conceived the plan to use her.

Zhou Ji'an didn't entirely believe that he wanted her to have a fake marriage with him just so she could have a marriage without constraints.

If that's all he wanted, he wouldn't need to go to such lengths to live with her or sleep with her.

In order to live a peaceful life in the future, Zhou Ji'an mustered up his courage and asked directly: "Besides not liking your type, what other reason do you have for asking me to have a fake marriage with you?"

For example, she may be naive and easily manipulated or deceived; she may lack family support and can be treated casually.

As Deng Yi listened to Zhou Ji'an reiterate that he didn't like his type, he recalled the phone call from Wei Jinglin earlier.

That phone call seemed like a harbinger, a premonition that his marriage was about to change before it even began.

He suddenly felt a little unwilling and said in a threatening tone, "This one reason is enough, but no matter how much you dislike my type, you'd better not cheat on me. It's easy to get caught, and once you are caught, the consequences will be more than you can bear."

Zhou Ji'an hates being threatened or intimidated, and immediately retorted: "I'm not a celebrity, and I don't make money off your fame. What's wrong with being photographed?"

With a serious expression, Zhou Ji'an couldn't help but continue, "Besides, many of you male celebrities have cheated on their partners, and some have even done things worse than cheating, yet they're still active in the entertainment industry."

"So you absolutely have to go?" Deng Yi asked, his cheeks clenched.

What's with his question? It's like she's already planning to cheat on him.

"Given how tolerant this society, especially the entertainment industry, is of men, you might be the one who gets married before me," Zhou Ji'an said, pouting slightly, clearly annoyed.

Marriage is indeed complicated. Just a moment ago she was doubting his feelings for her, and now it has immediately become a reality, bringing up the issue of infidelity.

"I'm not that bored." Deng Yi left the dressing room expressionlessly, having failed to hear the answer he wanted.

Zhou Ji'an sensed that Deng Yi seemed angry, but she wasn't sure if it was related to her answer.

He was the one who brought up the topic of cheating!

Zhou Ji'an was unfamiliar with the environment and couldn't settle down to work.

Deng Yi was nowhere to be found in the bedroom, living room, or kitchen.

The interior design of Deng Yi's villa follows a minimalist style, completely different from the haunted houses Zhou Ji'an had seen online before. There are no items used to ward off evil spirits or protect the house.

She carefully observed each piece of furniture, and her fear gradually dissipated.

But when she looked up at the second floor and further away, she still felt that the house was too big.

It seems that even if you live there forever, it's hard to develop feelings for the place.

Just like her and Deng Yi, even if they live together and sleep together every day, they may not necessarily develop feelings for each other.

I still have to go back to the house there.

"I've tidied up the desk, come in and take a look," Deng Yi suddenly appeared and said.

Zhou Ji'an: "No need to pack for me, I'm going back tomorrow, and I don't have to work today."

Deng Yi: "Come in and take a look."

His tone left no room for refusal, which convinced Zhou Ji'an to accept the offer and go in for a look; there was no harm in it.

The study faces the courtyard and has a large floor-to-ceiling window. The shadows of the trees are cast on the floor like bouncing marbles.

Zhou Ji'an, who has always been a renter, doesn't need to know the exact dimensions to know that this study is very large, larger than the best apartment she has ever rented.

"Have you read all these books?" Zhou Ji'an asked incredulously, staring at the bookshelves that reached the ceiling and the neatly arranged books on them.

Zhou Ji'an reads few books, partly because she is too busy with work and has little time; and partly because she moves frequently, has a small living space, and cannot afford to buy paper books. Using an e-reader often would also strain her eyes.

Deng Yi, carrying her laptop bag, said coldly, "Now you not only think I'm artsy, but also a bookworm?"

“I didn’t.” Zhou Ji’an didn’t know why he would make such a assumption. “I just think your collection of books is amazing.”

"Come over and try out the seat to see if it fits." Deng Yi's mood was no longer light and cheerful. He glanced at her and called out indifferently.

Zhou Ji'an approached him while refusing, "Actually, you really don't need to worry about me. I'm already used to my height-adjustable desk. I won't come here again after tomorrow."

Ignoring everything else, Deng Yi took out her computer and placed it next to his own. "Move your height-adjustable desk over here tomorrow, or buy another one just like it and put it here."

"Aren't you going to listen to me?" Zhou Ji'an frowned slightly, gradually becoming impatient.

Deng Yi said firmly, "You can only stay here."

Zhou Ji'an was startled and stared at him blankly.

The day after the wedding, Zhou Ji'an woke up and checked his messages, only to see a message from Wei Jinglin.

"You don't actually think Deng Yi genuinely wants to marry you, do you? With his background, he could marry whoever he wants. He only chose you because you're insignificant, so he can keep you low-cost like an unnoticed sparrow, silencing gossip and dealing with pressure to get married and have children, just like his father did to his mother."

Since Zhou Ji'an disliked Wei Jinglin, she naturally didn't take his words to heart. Furthermore, since Deng Yi hadn't forced her to stay there before, she didn't remember Wei Jinglin's reminder.

Zhou Ji'an pressed his fingers against the silver notebook, swallowed hard, and reminded her, "You said back then that I only needed to stay here tonight."

“That was then, and now is now.” Deng Yi didn’t look at her and casually closed the book he had opened. “I’ve been on set for three months and you haven’t visited me once. Paparazzi have already suspected that we’re having a fake marriage. If we continue to live apart now, it will be news sooner or later. I don’t have that much time to waste explaining things like this.”

Deng Yi paused, then emphasized, "You promised me that you would make everyone believe that we are a real couple, but you failed to do so from the beginning, so don't blame me for going back on my word."

"Even so, I don't have to live here, do I? Can't we live in that house over there?" Zhou Ji'an didn't know why he had to live here. Was it because it was his maternal grandparents' house, and he was used to living there and had developed feelings for it?

"Also, regarding the set visit, you didn't tell me the specific filming location, so I didn't know how to visit the set. How can you say I didn't do something?" Zhou Ji'an's grievances rose and fell, prompting her to stuff her laptop back into her bag as she spoke.

The film set was full of his colleagues, including many celebrities. She had already been treated like a monkey on her wedding day, and she didn't want to offer herself up again and let those people watch her like a monkey.

Deng Yi: "If you didn't know the exact location, you could have asked me. Did you ask me?"

The pen in his hand fell into the pen holder, which was curved like a river, with a muffled thud.

Because Deng Yi's tone was always too calm, Zhou Ji'an would never have realized he was angry unless he made the sound of throwing down his pen.

Zhou Ji'an originally wanted to retort that it was because he hadn't told her the location, but considering that he was angry, he held back.

“I was wrong about visiting you on set,” Zhou Ji’an admitted his mistake, then got back to the most important issue: “The house here is really too big. I’m not used to living here. Sometimes you’re gone for months at a time, and I don’t want to live here alone.”

“I won’t be filming any new movies for the next two years, and I won’t be away for months at a time.” Deng Yi stared at the bag she was already holding, his gaze slowly shifting to her wary face. “If you’re so resistant to me, our marriage probably won’t last six months. Don’t worry about things that far ahead.”

Zhou Ji'an really wanted to ask him why he hadn't filmed any new movies in the past two years, but he was afraid that the answer he would get would be the same as his guess, so he only answered the rest of his sentence, "I didn't reject you."

"Is that so?" Deng Yi's heart skipped a beat.

His expression suddenly brightened, which Zhou Ji'an found very strange, as if the sunlight from outside had pierced through the gloom on his face.

Her lips moved, but before she could think of what to say, she heard him say, "Come over and prove it."

Zhou Ji'an stood on the right side of the desk, while Deng Yi stood slightly to the left of the center of the desk, about a meter apart.

Compared to the distance between them over the years, this one-meter distance is almost negligible.

He let her come over to prove that she didn't reject him.

Zhou Ji'an almost burst into tears.

He actually demanded that she prove through her actions that she wasn't rejecting him; he couldn't see her liking or caring for him at all.

He probably genuinely believed that she agreed to his proposal for a fake marriage because she couldn't resist the allure of his large diamond ring, lavish wedding, and big house.

“You’ve just finished filming your new movie, and you still have a lot of work to do. You’ll probably still need to leave home, right?” Zhou Ji’an wiped away the tears welling up in his eyes and distanced himself from them again.

Deng Yi didn't get the kind of proof she used to get, and his eyes dimmed. "Post-production can be completed in Ji City, but the publicity and distribution will not start for at least three months."

"Can I just come here on weekends?" Zhou Ji'an was not confident that after spending so much time with him, he would still have no expectations for their relationship.

“No.” Deng Yi refused. The name of the person Wei Jinglin had mentioned kept echoing in his ears. That name was like some kind of evil spell, awakening his unease and fear, making him unable to hear her request at all.

Unable to achieve his goal no matter what, Zhou Ji'an grew impatient and asked, "Why do you insist on living here?"

Deng Yi looked up, his gaze fixed on her, and asked, "Why do you insist on living there? The houses there aren't much smaller than this one."

Zhou Ji'an was distracted by Deng Yi's words. Through the open study door, she re-estimated the size of the house before confirming that what Deng Yi said was true.

The size of that river-view apartment is almost the same as the land area of ​​this house.

She continued to live almost the same life in that house, only moving between the kitchen and bedroom, and occasionally using the dining room or living room. She never wondered about or entered the other rooms of the house.

Moving here, she could hardly continue living that kind of life; she would lose the sense of security she had built up over the years.

If one day Deng Yi files for divorce and leaves this house, she may not be able to maintain the nonchalant attitude of simply moving again.