Pei Yan had a headache. Dealing with Li Yueting alone was already exhausting enough, and now Fu Huaizhou had shown up too.
Just as she stood up, Li Yueting turned with a darkened expression and locked the office door from the inside.
At the sound of the click, Fu Huaizhou paused mid-step.
He Tiantian retreated half a step, frightened by his suddenly icy demeanor.
They were right at the door, and she was certain Pei Yan had heard her.
After Fu Huaizhou’s previous visit, while the rest of the studio might not have known, He Tiantian, who followed Pei Yan daily, was naturally aware. Though all she knew was his surname was Fu.
When she had tried to stop him earlier, she had deliberately raised her voice to alert Pei Yan inside that there was a visitor.
Unexpectedly, the door had been locked from the inside.
Pei Yan walked over and asked, “Li Yueting, what are you doing?”
Li Yueting grabbed her arm and pinned her against the wall behind the chair.
Pei Yan’s office door was quite distinctive: one side was made of retro black-and-white patterned glass, opaque to both light and view, while the other side was plain glass, allowing visibility from both inside and out.
From Pei Yan’s office, one could see the entire design department.
Fu Huaizhou watched as Li Yueting pressed Pei Yan against the wall. Instinctively, he gripped the door handle, twisting it twice without success.
“Mr. Fu…”
He Tiantian was on the verge of tears.
Other staff members, noticing the scene, whispered among themselves—
“I thought Sister Yan broke up with Young Master Li? Why are they hugging again?”
“Who knows? Maybe they got back together?”
“Possibly. They are childhood sweethearts, after all, and dated for years.”
“…”
Fu Huaizhou’s fingers stiffened. After a dazed moment, he released the door handle.
Pei Yan struggled against his grip, but her strength was no match for Li Yueting’s.
“Xiao Yan, stay still and behave. I just want to ask you a few questions.”
Pei Yan said, “Let me go first.”
Li Yueting didn’t release her. Instead, he moved closer. Pei Yan turned her head away and said coldly, “What do you want to ask?”
“Why were you with Fu Huaizhou?”
Unable to break free, Pei Yan had no choice but to answer, “We ran into each other.”
Li Yueting’s gaze fell on her lips. “Then why were there such ambiguous photos? And why was he holding your chin?”
Pei Yan replied, “…I bit my tongue.”
Li Yueting’s eyes darkened abruptly. “So, you let him look?”
Pei Yan had had enough. She turned and snapped, “Are you fucking insane? I’ve already broken up with you. Even if I slept with him, it’s none of your business.”
“Pei Yan!” Li Yueting roared. “Have you fucking fallen for him?”
Pei Yan shut her eyes tightly. “Let me go.”
Li Yueting insisted stubbornly, “Answer me first.”
Pei Yan warned, “If you don’t let me go now, I’ll call the police.”
“Have you fallen for him?” Li Yueting seemed unable to hear her, shaking her shoulders as he yelled.
The image of Pei Yan and Fu Huaizhou in that photo kept replaying in his mind.
Li Yueting realized with despair that he couldn’t bear it.
He couldn’t bear the thought of Pei Yan’s affectionate gaze vanishing, nor could he stand the idea of her being touched by another man.
She was supposed to be his.
As a child, she would follow him around, calling him “Brother Ting.” As an adult, she would wait obediently for him.
She would cook for him, encourage him, and comfort him, telling him it was okay to just be Li Yueting.
Why had everything changed?
“Yan, I know it’s my fault. I promise I won’t go to those places anymore, and I’ll cut all ties with those women completely.”
“Yan, look at me. Just one more look, please?”
Li Yueting pleaded desperately.
Pei Yan remained silent, even relaxing her entire body.
Seeing this, Li Yueting felt a surge of hope and instinctively loosened his grip slightly.
Seizing the opportunity, Pei Yan broke free and slapped him across the face: “Get out.”
Fu Huaizhou’s pupils trembled. He abruptly turned to He Tiantian and asked, “Do you have a spare key?”
He Tiantian looked confused: “Huh? What do you need a spare key for?”
Fu Huaizhou sensed something was wrong inside, especially after Pei Yan had slapped Li Yueting.
“Go get the spare key.”
He Tiantian was about to say it wasn’t necessary, but Fu Huaizhou gave her a calm glance.
Intimidated, He Tiantian immediately went to fetch the spare key.
Pei Yan’s office contained many important manuscripts, so the door was always locked after work hours.
To preserve the aesthetic of Pei Yan’s vintage-style door, no digital keypad had been installed, which was why He Tiantian indeed had a spare key.
Naturally, only she and Pei Yan knew about it.
After a brief standoff with Pei Yan, Li Yueting’s resentment began to sprout like bamboo shoots after rain.
“Pei Yan, tell me honestly. Have you been secretly involved with him all along?”
“Using this video incident as an excuse to completely break things off with me?”
“You’ve never acted like this before, Pei Yan. Tell me, is that what’s happening?”
Pei Yan had no desire to explain. She raised her hand to strike again, but Li Yueting grabbed her wrist and pinned her against the wall once more.
He leaned in close, looking down at her: “If you won’t say, I won’t force you. You always used to complain that I never wanted to kiss you, right? Today, I’ll prove it to you.”
Seeing him about to kiss her, Pei Yan felt both furious and helpless, her eyes suddenly reddening.
How could he humiliate her like this?
“Li Yueting!”
Her voice was filled with hatred.
Li Yueting froze, but before he could respond, someone yanked hard on his collar, sending him stumbling into the office desk and chairs.
A sharp pain shot through his lower back. He stiffly turned his head and met Fu Huaizhou’s dark, intense gaze.
Pei Yan breathed a sigh of relief. Noticing her trembling from the corner of his eye, Fu Huaizhou quickly reached out to support her arm.
Hell-level battleground.
He Tiantian hurriedly closed the blinds on the glass door, blocking the curious stares from outside.
Then she quietly exited the office herself.
Fu Huaizhou’s gaze fell on the photo on the desk, his eyes darkening slightly. He said to Li Yueting:
“I was dragged out to dinner by Gu Jingyi and happened to run into Miss Pei and her friend, who I believe is surnamed Xia.”
Li Yueting was momentarily dazed: “What do you mean?”
Although Fu Huaizhou wished Pei Yan would sever all ties with Li Yueting forever, he couldn’t stand to see her wrongly accused.
Fu Huaizhou: “What I mean is, there were four of us there, yet the paparazzi specifically chose to send you photos of just the two of us. What does that tell you? If I’m not mistaken, those paparazzi were following Gu Jingyi but accidentally captured photos of me and Pei Yan.”
Li Yueting pressed his lips together silently, his eyes still fixed on the photo.
Fu Huaizhou continued: “I have a younger cousin. My uncle and aunt are often away conducting research, so I’ve spent a lot of time looking after her. That day, Miss Pei bit her tongue, and I instinctively glanced over because of that.”
Li Yueting naturally knew about his cousin Fu Shuyue, as she was good friends with his own sister Li Jialin.
This explanation indeed made sense.
Li Yueting looked at Fu Huaizhou: “Then what’s the meaning of your visit today?”
Fu Huaizhou: “I took Miss Pei home last night, and her earring fell off in my car. Since I have a dinner engagement tonight, I dropped by to return it.”
Li Yueting’s lips trembled slightly. So he had just suspected Pei Yan and Fu Huaizhou of sneaking around behind his back?
Didn’t that indirectly imply that Pei Yan had cheated first?
A wave of regret washed over Li Yueting. Subconsciously, he turned to Pei Yan and reached out his hand: “Xiao Yan.”
Pei Yan’s fingertips trembled slightly as she tugged at the fabric of Fu Huaizhou’s sleeve near his elbow, pulling him a step to the right.
Fu Huaizhou instinctively followed her movement, shifting half a step sideways until he stood completely between her and Li Yueting.