In a corner of the restaurant.
Although a set meal for two had been ordered, the man hadn’t touched a bite.
Ning Xi ate her Western food in gentle, small bites, but her gaze kept darting toward the man across from her.
“Yanli, won’t you have some?”
Impatience was written all over Qi Yanli’s face. He said in a low voice, ”Hurry up.”
“Actually, Miss Wen had every right to be angry today. I’m really sorry for causing you two to fight…”
The man leaned back, silent.
He seemed too lazy to even spare Ning Xi another glance.
Getting no response, Ning Xi refused to give up and continued, “Miss Wen should trust you. She shouldn’t have misunderstood things between you and me. I could explain it to her.”
It was clearly an attempt to sow discord.
She wanted to paint Wen Lanyue as a spoiled, unreasonable, immature woman.
Qi Yanli remained expressionless, his deep, husky voice slowly speaking: ”Stop causing me trouble.”
“……” Ning Xi’s expression turned ugly.
Just then, the man’s phone screen lit up, as if a message had come in.
But Ning Xi immediately saw the lock screen wallpaper—a photo of Qi Yanli and Wen Lanyue together, so intimate.
In an instant, the jealousy in her heart flooded over like an overflowing river.
He clearly didn’t love Wen Lanyue, so why put on an act of being a loving couple?
……
Hotel room.
After hesitating for a long time, Wen Lanyue decided to stay at a hotel.
Ever since their engagement two years ago, she had been sleeping with Qi Yanli.
But now that they’d torn off the masks, going back was impossible.
She didn’t want to go home and worry her mother either.
In the bathroom, she stood under the shower, letting the warm water pour down over her head.
That way, it could hide her pathetic tears.
Her mind was filled with images of Qi Yanli and Ning Xi…
This man had no heart at all—he was a cold-blooded animal.
Four years together, and when she proposed breaking up, he didn’t even try to keep her.
He even couldn’t wait to take his first love out for French dinner that very night.
Was he celebrating their love finally coming to fruition?
Heartless, ungrateful man. He wasn’t worth another thought.
Half an hour later, Wen Lanyue came out of the bathroom and lay on the hotel bed, staring blankly.
Suddenly, her phone chimed with a WeChat message.
Wen Lanyue swiped open the screen and saw a message from Jiang Huai, their class monitor: [We’re planning a road trip. Come with us—think of it as a graduation trip. We won’t have many chances to see each other after this.]
She didn’t want to go at first.
But being alone, whenever things got quiet, she would feel an emptiness inside.
So she replied: [Okay.]
……
Over the next half month, Wen Lanyue went on a road trip with a few classmates.
It really did lift her spirits a lot—she had no time to think about anything else each day.
But tomorrow they were going to climb a snow mountain.
Wen Lanyue had some altitude sickness, so she decided to opt out.
Tonight’s dinner was a farewell for her.
Everyone chatted and laughed together, and she had a few drinks, ending up slightly tipsy.
For some reason, they started playing Truth or Dare again.
“Haha! Lanyue, you lost again! What do you choose this time—truth or dare?”
Wen Lanyue was laughing happily: “Dare.”
“Then do you dare take a photo with any guy here and post it on Moments announcing you’re dating?”
As soon as those words came out, everyone at the table was stunned.
This was the fiancée of the crown prince of the capital’s elite circle—who would dare make such an outrageous request?
“Let’s pick something else. Lanyue has a fiancé…”
Wen Lanyue, emboldened by the alcohol, said with complete composure, “Nope, I broke up with him. I’m single now. I can post whatever I want on Moments and no one can stop me. But then—any gentleman here willing to lend me a hand?”
The moment her words fell, everyone at the table was dumbfounded.
Before anyone could react, Jiang Huai spoke up. “I’ll do it.”
“Thanks, Class Monitor.”
Wen Lanyue took out her phone and snapped a photo with Jiang Huai, then posted it to her Moments: [New Boyfriend]
…
Capital International Airport.
An international flight from the US touched down slowly.
Qi Yanli walked out of the airport, bodyguards and assistant trailing behind him.
His driver was already waiting at the exit and opened the car door.
Once inside, he looked out the window and said in a low voice, “Tell Wen Lanyue to wait for me at home.”
The bodyguard beside him made a call, then turned to him with an odd expression.
“Young Master, the housekeeper says Miss Wen hasn’t been home in half a month.”
Qi Yanli’s dark eyes froze for a moment, a flicker of surprise crossing his handsome face.
She hadn’t been home in half a month?
Had her temper gotten this bad?
He took out his phone and dialed Wen Lanyue’s number, only to find it wouldn’t go through.
He opened WeChat and sent a message: [Where are you?]
The result showed a red exclamation mark, along with a notice: Message sent but rejected by the recipient.
Qi Yanli was so angry he actually laughed.
She’d blocked him.
His fury was fully ignited.
His face darkening, Qi Yanli looked at the bodyguard. “Find out Wen Lanyue’s whereabouts. Her exact location.”
“Yes, sir.”
Suddenly, a WeChat notification sounded.
Impatiently, he swiped open the screen and opened the brothers’ group chat.
Xie Jun: [@Qi Yanli Is your backyard on fire? What’s going on? Why did your wife just announce a new relationship on Moments?]
Mu Chennian: [Tsk… Qi San, you got dumped??]
He tapped open the screenshot of the Moments post Xie Jun had sent.
It was a photo of Wen Lanyue with some man, captioned “New Boyfriend.”
Damn…
His backyard really was on fire.
Qi Yanli’s handsome face was taut, his expression ugly beyond words. His fists were clenched so tightly his knuckles cracked.
He snatched the bodyguard’s phone and dialed Wen Lanyue’s number.
After a few rings, the call connected.
“Wen Lanyue! Delete that Moments post right now!”
On the other end came a soft, sweet voice tinged with drunkenness. “Mm… who is this? Since when do you get to control me? I’ll post whatever I want. I’m single…”
She even dared to drink while he was away?
The audacity.
“Where are you?” The man was struggling to contain his rage, practically grinding his teeth.
“Me… uh… I’m at Qinglong Snow Mountain.”
“When are you coming back?”
On the other end, Wen Lanyue sounded like a drunken cat, her voice soft and limp. “Tomorrow.”
With that, Qi Yanli hung up.
Fine. He’d settle the score when she got back.
An hour later, the car slowly pulled into the villa’s garage.
The first thing Qi Yanli did when he got home was go to the study.
He opened his computer, remotely hacked into Wen Lanyue’s WeChat account, and deleted that Moments post without hesitation.
Then he posted a photo of himself and Wen Lanyue in its place.
And removed his name from her blacklist.
Only after all this did the man’s expression finally soften a little.
He leaned back, admiring his masterpiece, the corner of his lips curving into a smile.