Chapter 122
I will leave you, with both hatred and love.
The next day.
There is one day left until the Lin Group goes public.
As dawn broke and the sky began to lighten, Cheng Sangluo emerged from her guest room.
Tormented by nightmares all night, her face was etched with an indelible weariness, and she looked as listless as a withered tree, which only added to the somber and desolate atmosphere of the room.
She glanced sideways at the master bedroom with the door tightly shut, and unconsciously let out a sigh of unbearable discomfort, but still habitually went into the kitchen to prepare breakfast.
At this moment, she was like a walking corpse, with little energy to think, and she acted on instinct.
Holding the groceries she had taken from the refrigerator, she turned and stood in front of the stove, lost in thought for a long, long time. The world behind her was quiet, as if she was waiting for nothing, leaving her feeling empty inside.
Cheng Sangluo never told Lin Jin that every time she was busy in the kitchen, she secretly hoped that her beloved would sneak up behind her. The sudden hug felt like a loving sneak attack, and the initial panic in her heart would be replaced by a sense of security. It was like riding a roller coaster and then being thrilled to the point of crashing into a ball of cotton, which felt very comfortable and reassuring.
Another sigh of frustration escaped her lips, but she couldn't expel the breath that was stuck in her heart. Cheng Sangluo reached out and rubbed her temples, trying to relieve the soreness from being furrowed for too long.
She silently warned herself not to have any expectations, not to be soft-hearted anymore. Since they had already reached the point of sleeping in the same bed but dreaming different dreams, after one night of sleeping in separate rooms, everything would return to the starting point, back to that starting point filled with suspicion.
Lin Jin waited anxiously on the cold double bed all night, tossing and turning until he couldn't sleep at all, but in the end, he still couldn't get Cheng Sangluo's heart to soften.
She dragged her weary steps to the living room, stood in front of the dining table, and stared blankly at the figure in the kitchen.
Just seeing that familiar figure would bring an uncontrollable pang of sorrow to her nose. The urge to cry but being unable to was more painful than heartbreak. The pent-up emotions were tearing at her nerves, creating a restless anxiety.
She looked around at the unfamiliar surroundings and felt a sense of helplessness and bewilderment. This place should have been a brand new and wonderful beginning. The new home was exactly what they had always dreamed of. When they wanted to see each other, they only needed to lift their eyelids and the person they missed would appear in their eyes and fill the void of longing.
Now all those beautiful memories have vanished like bubbles. Lin Jin is so afraid that she doesn't dare to blink, fearing that the person she loves so deeply will disappear from her world in the next second.
When Lin Jin looked back at the kitchen, a glimmer of light flashed in her dim eyes, because the person who had been staring blankly was holding the ingredients, his gaze cold but all his attention was focused on her.
Lin Jin hesitated, wanting to say something, even just a "good morning," but words stuck in her throat, as if nothing she said could change the fact that they were growing apart.
"Go wash up, breakfast will be ready soon." Cheng Sangluo still gave her the same instructions as usual in the morning, but her tone was too indifferent, lacking the usual enthusiasm and intimacy, as if everything had changed.
"Hmm." Lin Jin nodded in response, but remained standing in place. After a moment's hesitation, she asked calmly, "What are your plans for today?"
"Move." Cheng Sangluo uttered two cold words resolutely, then turned around and continued making breakfast.
These words sounded so light, yet they felt like a boulder crashing into Lin Jin's heart, splashing water and creating ripples before finally returning to a deathly stillness.
Her hand, hanging by the hem of her nightgown, suddenly gripped the fabric tightly. She struggled to suppress the other person's indifference, and the words of agreement circled in her mouth before finally turning into a refusal: "You can't move yet. You have to wait until Lin Sheng's matter is resolved before making any plans. Actually, it's only a few days. I can promise you that."
Lin Jin's voice wasn't loud, but it was just enough to reach Cheng Sangluo's ears.
Cheng Sangluo tightened her grip on the two eggs, then slumped weakly onto the table. After a moment of silence, she replied, "Okay, if there's anything you need me to do for the plan, just let me know."
"Spend some time with me today, I'll do anything. Even if it's goodbye, we should part amicably, right?" Lin Jin didn't know how much effort she had to put in to say these words about the end of a relationship.
Feeling extremely unwell, she placed her hands on the dining table to support her utterly weak body and continued to give instructions for the upcoming arrangements: "Tomorrow is the day the Lin Group goes public. We don't need to do anything; we can just observe and wait. The day after tomorrow, I will go to the Lin family's ancestral home. You don't need to come with me then. Take the case files to Ji Nanxing, and we will split up."
Lin Jin turned her gaze to Cheng Sangluo, secretly praying that the person with a heart of stone could soften her heart for her one more time, even if it was only for today.
She waited anxiously, each second feeling like an eternity, until despair overwhelmed her, and finally the person hidden in her eyes turned around.
Cheng Sangluo turned around and leaned against the table, surprisingly not refusing the other party's request: "Okay, I'll accompany you today. I'll take you back to the rented house again, and I'll tell you everything that happened along the way. Unlike you, I don't hide anything from you. I admit what I did, and I've explained everything that needs to be explained. At least I won't feel sorry for you anymore."
After he finished speaking, only the steamer on the stove remained in the house. The rising heat could not warm the lifeless atmosphere, leaving only a sense of sorrow.
The two stood a short distance apart, gazing at each other after their conversation ended. Their eyes, locked in a distant gaze, held a complex mix of emotions, a deep and unyielding affection, tinged with a profound sorrow.
Although neither of them explicitly said the words "break up," their conversation was filled with themes of separation.
......
Lin Jin never imagined that she would reappear in a narrow, damp alley so soon.
Her gaze was fixed on Cheng Sangluo's back, so engrossed that she couldn't help but reach out and grab the hem of his clothes.
Cheng Sangluo felt the drape of her clothes and slowed her pace. Although her attitude was cold and her tone was full of aloofness, her actions did not lie.
She cared a lot, worried that if she walked too fast, Lin Jin would not be able to keep up, after all, it was just an injured foot that had been treading on her heart.
The two hadn't spoken a word on their way to their new home; the lifeless atmosphere was suffocating.
Cheng Sangluo did not shake off the hand gripping her hem, letting the person behind her hold on tightly.
She suddenly felt that this narrow road was very long, so long that it seemed like it would take a lifetime to walk out of it.
For a moment, she wished this road would never end, so that they would never face separation.
She was distracted, recalling the first time she brought Lin Jin into this alley more than half a year ago. Back then, she always liked to call Lin Jin a crazy woman. No matter how much she disliked her, she felt that such a noble person was not suitable to be in such a place.
Thinking of this, Cheng Sangluo paused and turned to look at the absent-minded Lin Jin.
Lin Jin stared at her blankly, puzzled, "What's wrong?"
Cheng Sangluo didn't know why she had stopped. Staring at the other person, speechless, she shook her head and said, "It's nothing."
"Oh, Xiao Cheng is here! It's been a while!" The landlord's greeting from the entrance of the grocery store brought Cheng Sangluo back to her senses.
Cheng Sangluo wasn't in the mood for small talk. After politely greeting the landlord, she quickly turned and walked into the stairwell.
When she pushed open the dilapidated wooden door again, she walked to the table with practiced ease and lit the candles.
In the dimly lit rented room, the air was murky, thick with the smell of dust, accompanied by the pain of reopening old wounds.
Cheng Sangluo leaned against the table, with a meticulously planned relationship diagram behind her.
She looked at Lin Jin and said calmly, "You can ask me any questions you have. I will answer them to the best of my ability."
Lin Jin refused to look at the wall any longer, because every glance would pierce her eyes and heart. Every stroke on it told her that Cheng Sangluo had been using her from beginning to end.
She stepped forward, raised her hand, hesitated for a few seconds, and finally stubbornly took Cheng Sangluo's hand. "Actually, I don't want to ask anything. I even hope you hide these facts and lie to me for the rest of your life."
Cheng Sangluo felt the cool temperature of his fingertips, and with a touch of longing, he held on to them again, but under the guidance of reason, he reluctantly pulled away.
She ignored Lin Jin's words and continued to recall the past: "Do you remember the scene when we met for the second time at the club? You were leaning on the waterbed and you trampled my dignity to pieces with just one foot."
People around me laughed at me, saying I was framing them, and all I could do was offer feeble explanations. All I could think about was the scene in the courtroom back then, the feeling of being falsely accused and unable to defend myself.
Looking back now, it seems you actually knew me long before I was released from prison. I'm really curious why you would provoke me in this way.
Perhaps this is the perverse pleasure of you rich people—standing on your cloud, looking down on everything, despising all living things as mere ants.
Cheng Sangluo looked sorrowful, unable to understand why Lin Jin had devised such a method to humiliate her.
She turned away, unwilling to meet Lin Jin's gaze, and laughed while shrugging her shoulders: "We've gone off-topic. Today we should talk about myself. Actually, I already knew you were Lin Sheng's sister the day you brought me back to Linxi Terrace after I was released from prison."
At first, I didn't intend to take advantage of you, until in the club's parking garage, I stared at the room key that had fallen to the ground, and your words "stepping stone" made everything clear to me.
I suddenly realized something: if I wanted to reopen old cases, I had to cross class boundaries to bring down Lin Sheng, and I had no choice but to rely on your influence.
Of course, this choice was painful. I struggled for a long, long time in the parking garage before finally picking up the room key.
I want to take advantage of your power, but I refuse to sleep with you. How can I settle this score with my head held high?
Since then, I've tried every means to get close to you. I worked as a high-rise cleaner at Sen Yiu Building and unexpectedly met you at a yacht party. Until you paid off Cheng Xing's debt for me in 17 Hong Kong, we ended up together in a daze.
I hated you, I loathed you, but one day, those negative emotions suddenly turned into love. I don't understand why I became like this, that I actually fell in love with the person who repeatedly humiliated and bullied me.
But love never follows reason.
It came on strong, disrupting all my plans and plunging me into bliss, almost making me forget what I was supposed to be doing in the first place.
Lin Jin gently stroked Cheng Sangluo's face, unable to bear seeing her smiling face from that day, and felt saddened.
Her eyes revealed immense heartache, and she soothed her, saying, "I don't blame you. Even though I know you used me, I never really thought of blaming you."
It was my fault. I hid too much. I didn't know how to truly love someone. I did so many things that hurt you, just because I wanted to keep you by my side.
You are my selfish side. Keeping you and possessing you is because I am too afraid of losing you, because I love you too much.
I'm not afraid of anything, except you leaving me.
Cheng Sangluo closed her eyes, moved and saddened, quietly feeling the warmth from Lin Jin's palm.
She gasped for breath in the murky, chilly air, her brow furrowing tightly, and finally couldn't help but hug the person she both loved and hated.
She buried her face deeply in Lin Jin's neck, taking greedy deep breaths, constantly trying to remember the familiar scent, until that comforting aroma was etched into her very bones.
Cheng Sangluo sobbed, her voice muffled and trembling, until the dampness soaked through Lin Jin's collar.
This stubborn person, who would never easily show tears to others, buried his face in Lin Jin's neck for the first time, crying calmly yet heartbrokenly.
"Lin Jin, I'm sorry."
"When everything returns to calm, I will still leave you."
"With hatred, and with love."
Meanwhile, on the other side...
Lin Sheng was waiting for Sheng He to arrive in the villa garden early in the morning.
Seeing the approaching figure in the distance, he put down his cutlery, clapped his hands and exclaimed, "Well done! The effect is indeed very satisfactory. I didn't expect Cheng Sangluo to be so easily swayed by her emotions. Lin Jin must be feeling very bad right now."
As he spoke, he beckoned to the bodyguard behind him to present the agreement, "Take a look at this equity transfer agreement. I mean what I say. As long as the result satisfies me, I will definitely satisfy you with the five percent equity."
Sheng He showed no intention of taking a seat. He took the agreement and carefully read through the details until he confirmed that Lin Sheng’s signature and seal were in the signature column of Party A. Only then did he jokingly say, “President Lin has always been generous. It seems that I have chosen the right side in this matter.”
"Since I'm being so sincere, you should reveal the second reliable piece of information to me." Lin Sheng appeared calm on the surface, but in reality, he was more anxious than anyone else. He knew that simply disrupting the relationship between Lin Jin and Cheng Sangluo was far from achieving his goal, so he wanted to take the opportunity to add fuel to the fire.
Sheng He didn't keep them in suspense. He put the agreement into his briefcase and explained, "In order to win the betting agreement, Lin Jin merged a technology company that had never been publicly disclosed into Senyao Group."
"A tech company that hasn't been publicly disclosed?" Lin Sheng cut a sunny-side-up egg with a knife and fork, the cutlery making a soft, chewing sound on the plate, indicating his keen interest in the new information being revealed. "So, according to you, this company is extremely valuable, and it's her last trump card in this betting agreement?"
"The reason Lin Jin hasn't brought this company under Senyao's umbrella is to keep things under wraps, or more accurately, to avoid your attention," Sheng He explained, picking up a cherry tomato from the plate and chewing it slowly.
Lin Sheng, growing impatient, pressed on in a deep voice, "Don't keep me in suspense. Explain yourself clearly. What's so special about this company?"
“Zhongyao Technology’s partner is the military. Although the content of its research and development is classified, it is related to combat and belongs to the category of military technology. Merging such a company into Senyao Group will not only significantly boost Senyao’s stock price, but once the good news of the cooperation and merger is released, the stock will hit the daily limit for several days at the opening. She is confident of winning the betting agreement. Most importantly, with the military backing her up, do you dare to touch her?”
'Clang—' Lin Sheng's rage came swiftly; in the blink of an eye, he swept all the tableware on the table onto the lawn.
He pointed at Sheng He's nose and berated him: "You revealed such important news way too late!!!"
“I told you, the information I revealed is very valuable.” Sheng He tilted his head and sneered, “It’s because you don’t trust me. If you had agreed to give me the shares earlier, you wouldn’t have waited until now to find out, right? You originally thought that by taking advantage of Lin’s listing, you could win this battle of the betting agreement, but you didn’t expect Lin Jin to have such a backup plan, did you?”
Faced with Sheng He's repeated provocations, Lin Sheng finally revealed his true, ugly face.
He raised his eyebrows and let out a strange laugh, accompanied by Sheng He's teasing, before picking up the napkin covering his knees and wiping his fingertips.
His gaze as he stared at Sheng He was sinister, like a black hole that would devour people without spitting out their bones. Suddenly, he changed the subject: "Do you know... how Xu Songheng died that night?"
Upon hearing this, Sheng He chuckled, but before he could speak, a bodyguard suddenly appeared behind him and put a thin cable tie around his neck.
With quick reflexes, Sheng He grabbed a spoon from the table and wedged it under the cable tie before it tightened completely, thus giving himself a chance to breathe.
Sheng He was skilled in martial arts and was quite agile.
He braced himself on the table and nimbly flipped to the side, kicking the bodyguard who had committed the attack to the ground. He then turned to look at Lin Sheng, who remained motionless, with surprise.
The man's smile was sinister, and his eyes revealed immense excitement, as if he hoped that Sheng He wouldn't die too soon, otherwise the scene wouldn't be very exciting.
'Woof woof—woof woof—'
'Woof woof—woof woof—'
'Woof woof—woof woof—'
The sudden barking of dogs rose and fell, but no one could be seen, causing Sheng He to immediately turn his gaze away.
He thought for only a moment before alarm bells went off in his head, and he was focused on only one thing: he had to find a way to escape.
He quickly grabbed a chair and threw it at Lin Sheng, drawing everyone's attention to the boss and creating an opportunity for himself to escape.
[Author's Note]
1. My pre-order novel, "The Sinful Lover," is available for collection.
2. The story ends with one-third of its content remaining.
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