Lu Shiyu was neither surprised nor angry. He did not even frown.
He simply looked at her quietly, as if he were looking at a question whose answer he already knew.
The ring was still held between his fingers. The diamond sparkled in the afternoon sunlight, its fragmented light reflected against the back of his hand like a tear that had not yet dried.
“Why?” he asked.
Su Tao lowered her eyes and recited the lines she had prepared long ago.
“I don’t want to live a hard life with you anymore.”
Her voice trembled, but she did not stop.
“Last time, Ren Jia and I went shopping together. When her boyfriend bought her a bag, he didn’t even blink.”
“And you? What can you give me?”
“Being waited on in a villa, luxury cars, haute couture, jewelry… That’s the kind of life I want.”
Lu Shiyu said nothing. His deep black eyes were as still as a stagnant pool.
Su Tao dug her fingernails into her palm.
“But if I stay with you, I’ll never be able to live that kind of life.”
Her voice was not loud, but the room was too quiet. Every word was perfectly clear.
“Just thinking about spending the rest of my life with a poor guy like you makes it hard for me to breathe.”
She paused, then said the cruelest words.
“I only got together with you because I thought you were handsome. But being handsome can’t put food on the table. Once the lights are off, it’s all the same.”
She stared at her toes, her lips trembling.
“Let’s end things here, Lu Shiyu.”
She had rehearsed these words countless times in her head. Every word had been carefully designed by the system, precise and cutting.
Then she fell silent and waited.
She waited for him to get angry, to call her materialistic, to accuse her of being vain and ungrateful.
But he did not.
After a long silence, her hand was gently taken.
His palm was large, dry, and warm.
He held her hand and placed a bank card in her palm.
“There are three million yuan here. It’s the money left from selling my patent. The password is your birthday.”
“I know this money is still far from enough for the life you want, but I won’t make you wait too long.”
He released her hand and instead cupped her face. There was no anger, resentment, or grievance in his distinctly black and white eyes. There was only a stubborn seriousness.
He looked at her and said each word slowly.
“I’ll give you the life you want.”
Su Tao lowered her eyes and stared blankly at the bank card in her palm.
No.
The plot wasn’t supposed to go like this.
He was supposed to get angry, call her unworthy, and tell her to get out.
Then he was supposed to make a comeback and embark on the glorious path the plot had planned for him.
But he had turned the thing he cherished most into a cold bank card and placed it in her palm.
【Plot deviation detected…】
Fachai’s voice rang out.
【Host, please carry out the mission immediately. Otherwise, the mission will be deemed a failure!】
If the mission failed, she would die.
Su Tao gripped the card and suddenly came to her senses.
She abruptly shoved the card back into Lu Shiyu’s hand and took a step backward.
“This, this isn’t about money.”
Lu Shiyu did not take the card. He let it fall to the floor, his dark eyes seeming to see straight through her.
“Then what is the problem?”
He took one step forward, then another.
He slowly approached her. He was neither hurried nor impatient.
Su Tao did not dare look into his eyes.
She lowered her head and stared at the top button of his shirt, at the small shadow cast by his collarbone, at anything that could keep her from looking into those eyes.
She stepped backward until her calf hit the edge of the coffee table.
Crash!
The plastic bag on the coffee table was knocked to the floor. Colorful little boxes spilled from the opening and scattered everywhere.
They landed by her feet and by his.
Su Tao stared blankly at the condoms scattered across the floor.
Lu Shiyu did not let her off. He took another step forward, leaving her nowhere to retreat.
“Tell me. What is the problem?”
Su Tao dug her fingernails into her palm. She heard her own trembling voice.
“I, I cheated on you.”
Lu Shiyu curled his lips into a smile without the slightest trace of anger.
“Cheated?”
“You were just a fish I kept. I’m tired of you now. I want to break up with you, Lu Shiyu.”
She spoke quickly, afraid that if she paused, she would not be able to continue. Yet her eyes reddened uncontrollably, and her voice trembled.
She desperately widened her eyes, afraid her tears would fall.
Lu Shiyu’s gaze moved from her reddened eyes to her trembling lips, then finally to her fingers clenched so tightly that they had gone pale.
Then he smiled.
It was an extremely soft smile, almost like a sigh.
“Taotao, you really don’t know how to lie.”
Su Tao trembled as she stubbornly continued the act.
“I’m not lying.”
Lu Shiyu moved another step closer.
“Look into my eyes and say it.”
Su Tao raised her eyes and met those unfathomably dark pupils. Within them, she saw herself crying uncontrollably, her lips trembling.
Everything collapsed.
All the lines she had memorized and all the cruel words the system had carefully designed suddenly seemed like a joke.
She did not know what Lu Shiyu thought, or whether he believed her.
But she still had to grit her teeth and continue acting.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry for what I did to you. Forget me.”
He gently wiped the tears from her cheek. His movements were slow and tender.
After a long silence, he suddenly smiled.
“Okay.”
Su Tao froze.
Lu Shiyu withdrew his hand and took a step backward.
“I agree. Let’s break up.”
Su Tao seemed unable to react.
Lu Shiyu continued, “Before we break up, can you take a photo with me here? You know I don’t have any family. This month we’ve spent together has been the happiest time of my life.”
Su Tao thought of his tragic upbringing. She opened her mouth, but she could not bring herself to refuse.
“…Okay.”
“I haven’t had time to buy chairs yet. There’s a beanbag in the study. Sit there for a while and wait for me, okay? I’ll go get the camera.”
Su Tao nodded and followed him into the study.
The so-called study had actually been converted from the second bedroom.
This room should have had a window, but for some reason, it was very dark inside.
Lu Shiyu turned on the light.
Only then did Su Tao see that all four walls were covered with dark gray acoustic foam panels, completely blocking the windows.
Su Tao asked, “Why did you cover all the windows?”
Lu Shiyu replied, “I like it quiet when I work.”
Su Tao nodded and said nothing.
After all, it would have nothing to do with her anymore.
She looked around the room.
Several cardboard boxes were neatly stacked on the floor.
A computer tower stood against the wall. It had not been installed yet, but the cables were bundled neatly.
There was a green velvet beanbag in the corner.
While she was looking around the room, Lu Shiyu took a bottle of sparkling water from the small mini-fridge in the corner and handed it to her.
It was peach-flavored, her favorite. Lu Shiyu had already opened it for her. He was always this considerate.
Su Tao sat on the beanbag and took small sips of the sparkling water. Her attention was drawn to a huge abstract painting on the wall.
Lu Shiyu’s breathing grew heavier.
Only then did Su Tao notice that Lu Shiyu had not left yet.
He stood in front of the beanbag, looking down at her.
When he saw her look over, he smiled.
“Wait here for a moment.”
Su Tao nodded and got up to examine the abstract painting.
The door gently closed behind her.
She wanted to move closer to look at it, but she tripped over a cardboard box on the floor. Instinctively, she reached out to steady herself against the painting, but her fingers went straight through the canvas.
Rip!
The canvas tore open with a jagged rip.
Su Tao fell heavily to the floor. Her palm scraped against the cold surface, and her knee struck the floor painfully.
She raised her head.
There was no wall behind the canvas.
There was a hidden room.
The light was dim, making it impossible to see what was inside.
Su Tao pushed herself up from the floor and cautiously took a step forward. Her foot stepped on a metal object.
She kicked it aside and felt around the wall for a long time. Finally, her fingers found a switch.
Click.
A red light came on, illuminating the scene inside.
At that moment, Su Tao felt as though her blood had frozen.