Chapter Nine

"Yingyue—" The moment the door opened, Yingyue fell into a warm embrace. Yu Wenxi's eyes brimmed with love and longing as he kissed the smooth strands of her hair. His arms held her tightly, as if by doing so he could hide the deep unease in his heart.

A jolt of electricity shot through her heart as she suddenly remembered—there was someone else in the room...

"Dear, who is it?" Arthur stepped out of the bathroom, wearing Yingyue's small bathrobe, towel in hand as he dried his hair and walked over to her side. Water droplets slid from his hair down his exposed, alluring chest, making his fair skin appear even more luminous.

Ignoring Yu Wenxi's presence, Arthur effortlessly pulled Yingyue from his arms and encircled her in his own. Leaning close to her ear, he spoke with affectionate playfulness, "Little mommy, the game is getting more and more interesting." He kissed her earlobe, his smile dark and full of meaning. Yingyue looked at Yu Wenxi in terror.

Yu Wenxi's smile froze, his face full of shock and pain. "What... what is going on?"

"Hi, I'm Arthur Rivers," Arthur replied, then turned to look at Yingyue with deep affection. "Her fiancé." With that, he began changing his clothes right there in the living room.

Yingyue stared at Arthur in disbelief, desperate to see through him, to know what he was thinking. But she could neither see it nor guess.

She turned to Yu Wenxi again. His face had gone pale. From the agony in his eyes, she knew she had hurt him—and hurt him deeply. Suddenly, she felt that something had changed, that Yu Wenxi was drifting away from her...

Yu Wenxi's lips moved, but in the end, he couldn’t bring himself to ask anything. He gazed deeply at Yingyue one last time, then turned and walked away.

His lonely figure, footsteps unsteady as if he might collapse at any moment, slowly faded from Yingyue’s sight.

"Xi—" Yingyue tried to chase after him, but Arthur grabbed her arm. "Little mommy!" The words struck her like a bolt of lightning. Yingyue froze where she stood, her face ashen. Slowly but resolutely, she raised her left hand and brushed Arthur’s hand away, then hurried after Yu Wenxi.

Arthur watched her disappear, blue eyes glinting with unreadable light, half-hidden behind his hair. Who knew what he was thinking? His lips curled habitually into a faint smile, his tall figure swallowed by the shadows.

Yu Wenxi walked the city streets alone, lonely and desolate. In that moment, he wanted desperately to rush at that man named Rivers, to beat him senseless and throw him somewhere he'd never be seen again. He wanted to shake Yingyue, demand to know what her relationship with Rivers was, how they could possibly be engaged. He wanted to ask where he stood in her heart, what their days together had meant—had he only been filling the emptiness left by an absent fiancé? Was she toying with his feelings?

A bitter smile tugged at his lips. So, he was already poisoned...

He remembered it all: their dramatic first encounter, the inexplicable longing after their parting, their reunion, and how deeply he fell. Everything had felt so natural, so inevitable.

He had never believed in love at first sight, but from that night on, his heart had belonged to her, never to be reclaimed. Yu Wenxi was no longer the bystander to his own life. He could no longer feign indifference.

So this is what it means to love someone deeply. Yet he felt so cowardly. He couldn't bring himself to speak; even in that moment, he couldn't bear to question her harshly. Seeing her so frail, not a single cruel word would leave his mouth. He could only turn away in silence. Perhaps, deep down, he was afraid—afraid to hear the answer from her own lips, knowing that if he did, he would break.

So this is love...

In love, the one who falls first is destined to be hurt first. The one who loves more always tastes heartache sooner.

Under the bright streetlights, Yu Wenxi tilted his head back slightly, eyes tightly closed and trembling. His dark lashes glistened with unshed tears.

———Author's Note———

All the male leads have appeared. Can you guess who the true male lead is? Readers who enjoy tangled love stories, you definitely won’t want to miss this!