Yu Sheng’s breath hitched as she looked up at Wen Yan.
For a brief second, her ears rang. It took a moment for Wen Yan’s words to register before she remembered that she had taken the day off today, so Jiang Qiu must have gone to the office. But that didn’t matter. Yu Sheng stared at Wen Yan for a long while before uncomfortably casting her eyes downward.
None of the scenarios she had envisioned had come to pass. Wen Yan’s appearance had caught her completely off guard.
“No need,” Yu Sheng heard her own voice raspy and strained. “Since the clothes have been returned, I don’t have any other business here.”
If Jiang Qiu was already cohabiting with Wen Yan, what right did she have to barge in?
Even if she wanted to demand an answer from Jiang Qiu as soon as possible, she didn’t want to ask it right in front of Wen Yan. Yu Sheng swallowed the bitterness rising in her throat. She avoided Wen Yan’s gaze, turned around as soon as she finished speaking, and tried to quickly leave this place that made it hard for her to breathe.
But Wen Yan instinctively grabbed her hand. “Miss Yu, you came specifically to look for her, didn’t you?”
Having her thoughts laid bare, Yu Sheng’s smile froze on her face. She turned back slowly, terrified that Wen Yan would see through her hidden panic and wretchedness. Forcing herself to appear composed, she said.
“No, Miss Wen. It’s late. I won’t disturb your rest.”
As if realizing something, Wen Yan stepped out of the apartment. “Miss Yu, I think… you might have misunderstood.”
Yu Sheng didn’t see what left there was to misunderstand.
“I haven’t. I really just came to return the clothes. Miss Wen, please tell her ‘thank you’ for me.” Yu Sheng offered a bitter smile, trying to pull her hand from Wen Yan’s grasp.
Wen Yan tightened her grip instead and said hurriedly, “We aren’t cohabiting.”
As she tried to explain further, Wen Yan realized that even if one lived in the master bedroom and the other in the guest bedroom, it was still practically living together. Her voice trailed off, at a loss for how to clarify.
Yu Sheng said, “Miss Wen, you and President Jiang are engaged. It’s only natural for you to live together.”
Saying these words, however, only stabbed her own heart.
Because it was perfectly natural, she had no right to question it, nor any reason to feel jealous.
“It’s not like that. I sleep in the guest bedroom, not in the same room as her… We are just temporarily.” Wen Yan stopped halfway. Feeling that the explanation wasn’t coming out right, she gave up on explaining further and instead tried to usher Yu Sheng inside. “Miss Yu, why don’t you come in and wait for a bit?”
Unable to withstand Wen Yan’s insistence, Yu Sheng was ultimately pulled inside. In the blink of an eye, she found herself sitting on the living room sofa. Wen Yan poured her a glass of warm water, placing the coat beside her.
Yu Sheng quietly took in Jiang Qiu’s home.
Sitting across from her, Wen Yan asked solicitously, “Are you feeling better? Yesterday, you seemed very unwell.”
“Much better, thank you,” Yu Sheng replied.
Wen Yan nodded, appearing somewhat hesitant to speak. The atmosphere grew incredibly awkward. Yu Sheng felt every passing minute stretch into an eternity. She had no intention of catching up with Jiang Qiu in front of Wen Yan, waiting here was absolute torture.
Just as she was about to excuse herself again, Wen Yan seemed to reach a decision. She spoke up once more, “Miss Yu, regarding you and her… May I ask, do you still love her?”
Yu Sheng hadn’t expected Wen Yan to ask this. She looked up in astonishment. The woman before her showed no animosity, appearing entirely unbothered by what lay between Yu Sheng and Jiang Qiu.
“You…” Yu Sheng parted her lips, but the question caught in her throat.
She had assumed Wen Yan would reject her presence.
At least during their previous encounters, Wen Yan’s demeanor hadn’t been particularly warm.
“I mean no ill intent. I just wanted to say, if you…”
Meeting Yu Sheng’s bewildered gaze, Wen Yan offered a timid smile. Before she could finish her sentence, she was interrupted by the sound of Jiang Qiu unlocking the door. Both of them turned toward the entryway simultaneously. As Jiang Qiu walked past the foyer and caught sight of Yu Sheng, she visibly froze.
Frowning, Jiang Qiu asked Yu Sheng, “What are you doing here?”
“Your coat. It’s been sent to the dry cleaners.” Yu Sheng stood up. Pushing aside her initial shock at Wen Yan’s reaction, the Omega felt instantly flustered upon meeting Jiang Qiu’s eyes.
The questions she wanted to ask were on the tip of her tongue, yet she couldn’t bring herself to voice them.
Lowering her head, Yu Sheng backed down again. Taking two steps forward, she said, “There’s nothing else.”
“I just remembered I need to buy something,” Wen Yan interjected, sensing Yu Sheng’s discomfort in her presence. “I’ll head out for a bit.”
Before either could react, Wen Yan threw on her coat and walked out.
Jiang Qiu called out her name, but the Omega’s figure had already vanished, leaving Yu Sheng standing frozen in place. She could neither leave nor stay.
Jiang Qiu looked back at Yu Sheng. “How did you get my address?”
“I… asked around,” Yu Sheng said.
She didn’t want to deliberately lie, but if she mentioned Meng Yueyu, would Jiang Qiu misunderstand and think they were close?
Jiang Qiu assumed she meant Yu Kunian but didn’t press the matter. She simply asked again, “Is there anything else?”
The carefully rehearsed words vanished from her mind in an instant. Yu Sheng had no idea how to ask. Her breathing turned erratic, and she wanted nothing more than to flee. Yet the emotions running deep within her chest pinned her feet to the floor.
“Does your wound hurt?” Seeing her stand in silence with her head bowed, Jiang Qiu assumed the injury on her calf had flared up again.
When Yu Sheng still didn’t reply, Jiang Qiu sighed. “Come with me.”
Jiang Qiu walked toward the master bedroom. Yu Sheng stood in place for a few seconds before lifting her feet to follow. The Alpha’s bedroom was nothing unusual, clean and simple. Yu Sheng stopped at the doorway, watching Jiang Qiu crouch down to pull open the bottom drawer of the nightstand.
Yu Sheng saw a first-aid kit inside, and right beside it lay a small, exquisite ring box that she recognized all too well.
The Omega’s blood seemed to freeze instantly.
Without even needing to ask, she had her answer.
The drawer clicked shut. Jiang Qiu picked up the first-aid kit and stood straight, looking at Yu Sheng. Seeing her lost in thought, she said, “What are you standing there for? Come here. Let me check if your injury has worsened.”
Yu Sheng’s eyes brimmed with tears, a piercing ache rising in her nose. When she spoke, her voice trembled so violently she could barely hold a note. “It hasn’t.”
At this moment, the Omega’s heart hammered wildly, her emotions threatening to submerge her like a tidal wave.
The anxiety from moments ago deepened, overtaken by sheer disbelief, followed by a swift flash of joy, yet accompanied by an inexplicable sorrow. Her brows knitted slightly, and her lips trembled as she looked at Jiang Qiu, momentarily speechless.
Jiang Qiu still had feelings for her, didn’t she?
Even if it was just a tiny shred.
“You don’t look like you’re fine.” Jiang Qiu didn’t quite understand why Yu Sheng suddenly looked so miserable, it hadn’t even hurt this much when she first got injured yesterday.
With that, the Alpha lifted the medical kit. “Let’s go to the living room.”
She had only taken two steps when Yu Sheng asked tentatively, “The ring… the proposal ring, why do you still keep it?”
The Omega’s voice was soft, laced with a sudden, inexplicable fear.
The Alpha froze, stunned by her words. Jiang Qiu first met her gaze, then looked back at the closed drawer, her heart missing a violent beat.
“You saw wrong,” Jiang Qiu stated flatly.
Yu Sheng took half a step closer. “I saw it very clearly. That’s the ring you were going to use to propose to me two years ago.”
Yet Jiang Qiu repeated firmly, “You saw wrong, Yu Sheng.”
“Why? Why won’t you admit it?” The joy Yu Sheng had felt turned into a near-breakdown.
What she feared most was Jiang Qiu’s denial.
Silence stretched in the room for several seconds. Yu Sheng lowered her gaze, wanting to speak again, but her lower lip trembled so hard she had to tighten her jaw to compose herself, forcing out a ragged breath.
Jiang Qiu avoided looking at her, setting the medical kit aside. She suddenly regretted interfering with Yu Sheng’s injury.
And yet, she couldn’t bring herself to unsee it.
After a long sigh, knowing she couldn’t brush Yu Sheng off, the Alpha countered, “What do you want me to admit?”
Yu Sheng said, “You still love me, don’t you?”
“What makes you think that?” Jiang Qiu rejected the notion.
Yu Sheng: “Then why have you kept the ring until now?”
Jiang Qiu: “I just forgot to throw it away. What does that prove?”
“You brought it all the way from New York to Lihua City. It’s still here. It could only mean you kept it intentionally.”
“You’re overthinking.”
“…I hit the mark.”
“Yu Sheng, don’t be presumptuous. This ring means absolutely nothing to me.”
“If it’s not important, you’ve had plenty of time to throw it away every single day since you arrived in Lihua City.”
Jiang Qiu let out a bitter laugh, saying carelessly, “That’s because it still has a use.”
“What else do you want to do with it?” Yu Sheng asked softly. “Propose to Miss Wen?”
“Yu Sheng, that is none of your business,” Jiang Qiu said, her gaze fixing on her once more.
Tears spilled over the Omega’s eyelids. Her interrogation turned into a powerless, desperate plea:
“You clearly still love me, so why? What happened in the past was my fault. I’ve apologized… I don’t know what else to do to earn your forgiveness. You don’t even want me near you. I’m at my wits’ end. I have no options left.”
“I don’t need them.”
“Why won’t you just admit it?” Yu Sheng stepped closer, her hands lifting helplessly in the air before dropping back down. She turned her head in anguish, brushing away the tears overflowing from her eyes. “Can you stop denying it… It’s not like I refuse to admit my mistakes and change. Can’t you just give me a chance?”
What was the difference between an unacknowledged remnant of affection and having no feelings at all?
Yu Sheng had thought that since Jiang Qiu still loved her, she wouldn’t be entirely heartless. But now, seeing the Alpha completely unmoved, a profound sense of helplessness washed over her.
“What kind of chance do you want?” Jiang Qiu deliberately injected a chill into her tone. “Yu Sheng, I don’t love you anymore.”
“But you still…”
“If you’re so fixated on a ring, if you came all this way just to ask if I still have feelings for you because of it…” Jiang Qiu cut her off, bending down to yank open the drawer. She fished out the ring box, her gaze darkening before she turned and decisively hurled it into the nearby trash can.