She wandered aimlessly along the edge of the road.
Images kept flashing through her mind. Xie Yuqi looking down on her from a high and mighty position, uttering that sentence with complete indifference. Xie Yuqi sitting coldly on the sofa, casting an icy gaze in her direction.
These two frames replayed on a loop, cycling relentlessly, filling her entire consciousness.
And those two statements felt like two knives, stabbing into her heart over and over again.
“Ning Che, look at my status, and look at yours. Do you really think you’re worthy of proposing to me?”
“Ning Che, you have deeply disappointed me.”
Her lonely shadow stretched out long and thin behind her.
After an unknown amount of time, she suddenly stumbled.
At that exact moment, she could no longer hold it in. Staggering, she rushed into a nearby corner between the walls.
Sinking down onto the ground, she buried her head in her arms.
Yet those images and voices still forced their way into her mind with a vengeance.
She curled her body tighter and tighter, blocking her face with her arms.
Amidst her heavy, stifled breathing, a sob that had been suppressed to the absolute limit finally leaked from her throat.
Her feet pressed against the base of the wall, moving out of control.
Kicking, scraping back and forth.
Two long footprints appeared in the dirt, digging deeper and deeper.
As the sky began to pale, a pedestrian walked past and cast a casual glance toward the corner.
“Huh?” The pedestrian muttered in surprise, before hurriedly walking away.
Ning Che jolted awake as if from a dream. Looking outward in a daze, a sliver of dawn flooded her vision.
As if stung by the light, she scrambled to her feet.
Soon, more early rising pedestrians passed by.
Panicking, she turned her back to them and pressed her face flat against the wall.
“Who is that?” “No idea, probably a beggar.”
She didn’t dare move an inch, shrinking back into the corner.
She listened intently for a while until no one else passed by.
Quickly brushing off her clothes, she kept her head low and stepped out of the corner.
She had no idea where to go.
She just walked aimlessly.
Involuntarily, she began to recall the words Xie Yuqi had spoken.
Those two sentences had repeatedly stabbed at her all night.
Thinking about them now, the pain wasn’t as sharp anymore.
Or rather, the pain was no longer fresh, it had turned into a dull, throbbing ache.
She began to recall the other things Xie Yuqi had said.
Over and over again, she pondered them.
As she thought, Xie Yuqi’s expressions, eyes, and demeanor came back to life, and even the rise and fall of her tone became vivid.
Anxiously and hesitantly, she analyzed the demeanor and movements behind those words, trying to deduce her thoughts.
After thinking for a long time, she still couldn’t quite understand.
But she suddenly hit upon a crucial point. “Yuqi was furious, but she never brought up breaking up!”
This thought felt like a life-saving straw to grasp. Her wretchedness, humiliation, and inferiority were all driven away by a newly surging wave of courage.
She suddenly burst into a sprint, running toward the apartment.
Running into the elevator in one breath, she impatiently pressed the button for the top floor.
When the elevator doors opened, she was still panting heavily.
Walking up to the entrance door, she tried hard to control her breathing, attempting to calm herself down.
Just as she was about to press the doorbell, it suddenly occurred to her that Xie Yuqi was highly likely still asleep at this hour.
She froze.
She stood silently before the door, motionless.
After a moment, the door suddenly opened.
The housekeeper appeared at the doorway. The moment she saw Ning Che’s appearance, her eyes widened slightly. There were several mud stains on Ning Che’s pants, and her hair was a tangled mess.
The housekeeper maintained excellent composure, saying politely, “Miss Ning, please come in.”
Ning Che walked inside.
Rounding the entryway, she saw that two assistants and the security captain were all present.
Meanwhile, Xie Yuqi was sitting on the sofa, wearing a dressing gown.
Her face was exceptionally calm.
Ning Che called out softly, “Yuqi.”
Xie Yuqi nodded toward the security captain. “All of you, step out.”
The security captain glanced at Ning Che, then opened the door and left. The assistants and the housekeeper followed suit.
The house fell completely quiet, leaving only Ning Che and Xie Yuqi.
Ning Che took two more steps into the living room but did not approach any closer.
Knowing her current appearance was terrible, she didn’t dare get too close. Instead, she stopped beside the sofa opposite Xie Yuqi, looking at her uneasily.
Xie Yuqi also stared back at her in silence.
This silence made Ning Che increasingly anxious. She spoke up cautiously, “Yuqi, it’s my fault for waking you up so early.”
In reality, she had no idea that after she stormed out of the apartment last night, Xie Yuqi had already arranged for two security guards to tail her.
They had monitored her the entire night. The moment they noticed her returning to the apartment, they immediately notified Xie Yuqi.
And it was precisely because she had returned to the apartment that the security captain was standing by Xie Yuqi’s side.
They were worried Ning Che would lose control and commit extreme actions against Xie Yuqi.
They were also worried she might do something reckless to herself, creating headlines that would negatively impact the Xie family.
In short, they were here to clean up the mess and make her behave.
The security captain’s recommendation had been to ban Ning Che from seeing the Eldest Miss ever again.
But Xie Yuqi had rejected it. She felt she could make Ning Che listen to her submissively.
Hearing Ning Che’s words now, Xie Yuqi felt her judgment was correct. Ning Che was controllable.
She gave a lukewarm, indifferent “Mm.”
This single “Mm” immediately gave Ning Che a bit of momentum. Her expression turned solemn, and she looked at Xie Yuqi earnestly. “Yuqi, it was wrong of me to plan a proposal behind your back without consulting you first.”
Xie Yuqi’s gaze flickered slightly. As expected, she nodded and said in a completely flat tone, “It is good that you recognize your mistake.”
Ning Che had already prepared herself mentally to admit her fault. Yet seeing this completely entitled attitude, her heart still stung slightly. She felt that her genuine sincerity had not been acknowledged at all; Xie Yuqi only saw her mistake and offered no response to her genuine feelings.
Her emotions suffered in silence, yet she felt a slight sense of relief that the matter was being brought into the open.
It was as if a massive boulder weighing on her had finally dropped.
She felt that she and Xie Yuqi could still go back to how they were before.
This feeling gave her a modicum of encouragement, and the sense of humiliation from having her dignity trampled upon lessened a bit. However, a deep sense of grievance still lingered at the bottom of her heart.
Looking at Xie Yuqi, she couldn’t help but say in a cautious, vulnerable tone, “Yuqi, I know I did wrong. But we are lovers, after all. When you said those things to me in front of so many people, it made my heart ache terribly.”
When she said this, her voice was quite low, devoid of any obvious resentment. It lacked any real confidence.
It sounded much more like a plea for sympathy.
In truth, she had always lacked confidence in front of her.
However, Xie Yuqi’s expression shifted, and her face turned cold.
From childhood to adulthood, who had ever dared to scold her, blame her, or express dissatisfaction with any of her words or actions?
Even if she truly hurt someone, so what?
If you feel aggrieved, suffer through it yourself. If you are sad, keep it to yourself.
Even if you want to cry, do not cry in front of her.
She had absolutely no patience for coaxing anyone, let alone providing emotional value.
Merely granting someone the opportunity to please her was already her best attitude!
“Ning Che, even at this point, do you still not understand?”
Ning Che truly did not understand. She stared blankly at Xie Yuqi and asked with extreme caution, “Yuqi, what do you mean?”
Xie Yuqi stared at her with a piercing gaze.
“Ning Che, you are a commoner from the bottom of society, while I am the heir to a trillion dollar conglomerate. Between us lies an astronomical chasm.”
“From the very beginning, we were completely impossible.”
“Is it because I treated you too well, or are you truly that naive to actually harbor the delusional hope that I would marry you?”
Ning Che’s eyes slowly widened as she stared at her in utter shock.
“To me, your proposal was not only ridiculous and laughable, but it also felt like a pipe dream. We are both adults. If you had exercised even a shred of serious thought, you wouldn’t have done something so brainless.”
“Do you know? I always thought you were someone who kept to your place, well-behaved and sensible, someone who knew her own true weight. That is the fundamental reason we were able to be together for four years.”
“But I never expected you to actually harbor such delusional thoughts all along.”
“I misjudged you. You aren’t as honest and dutiful as you appear on the surface. You’ve had hidden motives all along, and that is the real reason I am truly disappointed in you!”
Ning Che suddenly gripped the back of the leather sofa, her fingertips scraping against it with a sharp, harsh sound.
She herself was entirely oblivious to it, as if she had received a massive shock. She mumbled to herself, “An astronomical chasm… completely impossible… delusional thoughts…”
When she murmured to this point, her whole body seemed unable to bear the sudden impact, and she violently stumbled.
Her eyes remained wide, staring at Xie Yuqi without blinking.
She couldn’t believe that those words had come from her mouth.
Her brain simply couldn’t process such a massive upheaval, but her heart felt as if it were being seared by fire. She said in bewilderment, “But aren’t we lovers?”
As if questioning Xie Yuqi, yet also murmuring to herself, she continued, “We’ve been together for four years, and our relationship has always been wonderful. Isn’t it only natural that I would want to marry you?”
As she said this, she finally began to break down under the weight of the blow, the rims of her eyes rapidly turning red.
She looked at Xie Yuqi relentlessly, repeating, “We are lovers, aren’t we?”
Seeing her in this state, Xie Yuqi felt an inexplicable discomfort in her chest. She couldn’t tell what kind of feeling it was, but she knew that at this very moment, she absolutely could not waver, let alone be influenced.
She could never allow a commoner from the bottom of society to harbor delusional thoughts about her.
She met Ning Che’s gaze directly without flinching, replying coldly, “You are absolutely right. We are lovers, but only lovers.”
Ning Che grew even more incredulous. She opened her mouth but found herself momentarily struck dumb. It took a few agonizing seconds before she could force the words out in a panic.
“But, but… we…” She racked her brain, desperately searching for reasons. “We’ve been together for four years. I thought everything was wonderful, that we would get married and spend our whole lives together…”
By the time she said this, her emotions suddenly turned volatile. The depths of her eyes were filled with a desperate plea to hold on. “I always thought we were doing so well, that we would grow old together for the rest of our lives. Didn’t you think the same way?”