Push it open completely
The busy tone after the call ended was like a cold awl, continuously drilling into Lin Tingyue's eardrums and her heart.
She remained crouched on the ground for a long time without moving.
The only sounds in the living room were the faint hum of the air conditioner and her own somewhat disordered breathing.
Xia Xiaoran squatted down beside her, at a loss for words, wanting to comfort her but not knowing where to begin: "Yueyue... are you alright? Um... maybe Chi Zhuo was just saying that in a fit of anger? Someone like him shouldn't be so easily..."
Lin Tingyue slowly raised her head, her face pale, but her eyes were slightly red.
She shook her head, her voice hoarse: "No, he wasn't just saying that out of anger."
His final, almost indifferent tone, and the phrase "It seems I was overthinking things," were not out of spite, but rather a kind of detachment and abandonment based on rational judgment.
He may have genuinely tried to express "other possibilities," but her fear, her wariness, and her constant preconceived notions of pushing him into the position of "retribution" eventually exhausted his patience, or... interest.
“He’s right,” Lin Tingyue forced a smile that looked more like a grimace. “From the very beginning, I’ve already condemned him in my heart.”
No matter what he does, I'll always question his motives. He probably gets bored of it too.
Yes, if we put ourselves in Chi Zhuo's shoes, and we condescended to do these things, only to be met with the other party's trembling suspicion and resistance, we would also find it pointless and want to cut our losses in time.
But... why does my heart feel so heavy? It feels like something has ripped a piece out of me, leaving an empty, bitter ache.
This pain was far clearer and sharper than the fear of his retaliation that I had felt before.
Seeing her distraught state, Xia Xiaoran sighed, "So... what are you planning to do now? That bracelet..."
Lin Tingyue's gaze fell on the still exquisite paper bag on the sofa, but she quickly looked away as if she had been burned.
“I don’t know…” she murmured, “He said… if you don’t like it, just throw it away.”
But how could she possibly throw it away?
That was not just a priceless bracelet, but also his first almost straightforward expression of...
Although she messed it up.
That night, Lin Tingyue suffered even more from insomnia. Every word Chi Zhuo said on the phone kept replaying in her mind, especially his cold tone at the end.
Every time I recall it, my heart feels like it's being tightened by a thin thread, making it hard to breathe.
She had to admit that, without realizing it, that strong, unpredictable man, who occasionally revealed a subtle tenderness, had already occupied too much space in her heart.
Her emotions had long been firmly controlled by him.
The fear I felt before was real, and the disappointment and heartache I feel now are also real.
The next day, two days, three days... a whole week passed.
There has been no further news of Chi Zhuo.
There were no summons that promised to be available at any time, no cryptic text messages, and no unexpected phone calls.
That number lay quietly in her phone, like a phantom that had never existed.
The world seemed to suddenly become quiet.
Lin Tingyue did not feel relieved at all; on the contrary, she felt that the emptiness in her heart was growing bigger and bigger.
Going to get off work and coming home, eating and drawing—life seems to have returned to normal, but there's always a sense of dull silence about it.
She would still unconsciously check her phone, but every time the screen lit up, it wasn't that name.
The accumulation of disappointments made her realize more clearly that she seemed to be expecting something.
She even began to regret that phone call that night. If she hadn't been so direct, if she had been more tactful, or simply played dumb, would things have turned out differently?
She locked that diamond bracelet in the deepest part of the drawer, afraid to look at it again.
On Friday evening, she accompanied her mother to a small birthday party hosted by a family friend of the Lin family.
The banquet was small in scale and the atmosphere was relaxed.
However, just as she was absentmindedly eating her dessert, a slight commotion came from the entrance.
She instinctively looked up, and her heart suddenly stopped.
Chi Zhuo has arrived.
He remained the center of attention, dressed in a dark gray suit, his upright posture making him stand out among the guests.
He was accompanied by Lu Tingyuan, who was shaking hands and exchanging pleasantries with the host of the banquet, a kind old man.
Lin Tingyue froze instantly, and the dessert spoon in her hand fell into the plate with a "clatter," attracting the attention of the people next to her.
How did he end up here?
Such a small-scale private banquet shouldn't be able to invite such a big shot like him.
Her gaze was drawn to him as if by a magnet, unable to look away.
After a week apart, he seemed to have lost some weight, his jawline was more defined, and his expression remained as cold and indifferent as ever, revealing no emotion whatsoever.
He seemed not to notice her, or rather, he did notice her but completely ignored her.
After exchanging pleasantries, he spoke quietly with his host, his gaze never once glancing in her direction again.
This complete disregard made Lin Tingyue feel more uncomfortable than any previous coercion or probing.
It was as if she had truly become an insignificant, discarded thing of the past.
The mother also saw Chi Zhuo and whispered in surprise to her:
"Oh? Mr. Chi is here too? That's rare."
She seemed to want to take Lin Tingyue over to say hello, but seeing Chi Zhuo's aura of keeping strangers at bay, she hesitated.
Lin Tingyue held her mother's hand tightly, pleading in a low voice, "Mom, don't go..."
She was afraid.
I was afraid that if I went over to him, I would only receive a colder, polite but distant treatment.
That would be worse than killing him.
Throughout the entire banquet, Lin Tingyue felt extremely uncomfortable.
She forced herself not to look at Chi Zhuo, but her senses became unusually sharp, and she could always catch sounds and movements coming from his direction.
She could hear his steady voice as he spoke with several elders, his calm response when others flattered him, and even faintly smell the familiar scent of cedar on him, lingering in the air.
She went to get a drink halfway through and almost bumped into someone. When she looked up, she was surprised to see Lu Tingyuan.
"Miss Lin." Lu Tingyuan clearly recognized her as well, nodding politely in greeting with a professional smile on his face, showing no sign of anything amiss.
“Mr. Lu,” Lin Tingyue responded nervously, her gaze instinctively shifting to the direction behind him. Chi Zhuo was speaking to someone with his back to them.
"How have you been lately, Miss Lin?" Lu Tingyuan asked casually.
"It's...it's alright..." Lin Tingyue's heart was pounding, and she couldn't help but ask tentatively, "Mr. Chi...he's been very busy lately, hasn't he?"
She regretted asking the question as soon as she did; it was too obvious.
Lu Tingyuan's smile remained unchanged, and his tone was natural: "President Chi has always been very busy."
He paused, as if suddenly remembering something, and added in a lower voice, "However, I did take half a day off a few days ago and went to an auction, it seems, just to pick out that bracelet for you, Miss Lin."
It seems it was never actually sent out?
After saying that, he seemed to have just casually shared some unimportant information, nodded politely to Lin Tingyue again, and then turned to walk towards Chi Zhuo.
Lin Tingyue was stunned, as if struck by lightning, her blood seemingly frozen in place.
An auction? You set aside half a day? Did you pick it out especially for her?
So... it wasn't something you "saw while passing by" at all, but something you prepared carefully?
So... he really... put his heart into it back then?
Was this thoughtful gift rejected by her with such fear and skepticism?
Lu Tingyuan's words were like the final piece of the puzzle, completely confirming what Chi Zhuo had said on the phone: "What I've shown has been obvious enough."
This also made her realize more clearly that she might have... really misunderstood him, and might have missed something because of it.
Overwhelmed by immense regret and sorrow, she was instantly engulfed.
She returned to her seat, distraught, no longer able to feign composure.
As the banquet drew to a close, Chi Zhuo seemed to be preparing to leave early.
The host and several guests saw him to the door.
Lin Tingyue stood up as if possessed and quietly followed, hiding in the shadow of the pillar.
She saw Chi Zhuo saying goodbye to his master at the door, his demeanor still composed and dignified.
Just as he turned to get into the car, his gaze seemed to inadvertently sweep in her direction.
Their gazes met briefly, separated by a short distance, in the dim light of the night.
Lin Tingyue's heart jumped into her throat.
However, Chi Zhuo's gaze did not linger or waver, as if he were merely glancing at an unfamiliar object, and then indifferently looked away in less than a second.
Then, he bent down and got into the car.
The black sedan silently glided into the night and disappeared without a trace.
It was as if she had never existed in his eyes.
Lin Tingyue leaned against the cold pillar, watching the direction the car had disappeared in. The evening breeze blew, and she felt a bone-chilling cold and a clear pain.
It seems she... really pushed him away.
The feeling of being completely ignored and abandoned by him was a thousand times more painful than I had imagined.
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