"Why are you here? Why now? Where were you when… when…" Yang Ruqin couldn't say it. Her eyes reddened as she harshly wiped her tears away. She wanted to ask where he was when the incident with Mu Ting went down, but of course, that was a foolish question. She already knew where he was — warming the bed of other women. She bitterly laughed at herself for feeling so emotional yet so angry towards him. 'When was he not entertaining other women?'

Yu Pingluo swallowed hard and hung his head low in shame. He had only shown up because he felt that his presence in her life was being threatened. He felt their future was being threatened by another man.

He wanted to give her time and space to heal, but in the process, he was also attempting to mend his broken heart. It was through unorthodox methods of drinking liquor like water and finding himself with a new arm candy every night but not a single woman could replace Yang Ruqin.

"Did you hear about the blind date? Is that it?" Yang Ruqin glared at him as if he was scum. Her pounding heart was screaming at her to shut the hell up and hug him. Her brain knew better. She refused to allow herself to get hurt again.

She realized he was still holding her. Using all of her might, she pushed him away and stood on her own two feet, creating distance between the two of them.

"Will you just let me explain what happened that night?" Yu Pingluo pleaded with a desperate look in his eyes. He had a haggard look to him, his tense shoulders dropping.

Yang Ruqin had never seen him beg like this. He was always a proud man whose ego often got the better of him. He knew he was beneath her in terms of rank, but he would never let that idea get to him. Perhaps that was why she was so in love with him. He was different from all of the other men she encountered. In the world of elites, many men were disgruntled to hear their woman was clearly out of their league financially and status-wise.

Yu Pingluo took her silence as a 'yes.'"That night, I indeed had a mission to go to and it was one that would go against your morals and boundaries." He ran a hand through his hair and kept his eyes on the rug.

"My mission was to seduce and sleep with that woman, so we can lure her husband by using a photo that we took of her. The picture was taken on purpose. He would then storm into the hotel in a fit of rage knowing that his wife was cheating on him in the very hotel he owned."

His voice changed a bit. "I didn't sleep with her." He licked his lips and scratched the back of his head. "Yes, my clothes were off. Yes, hers were also off. But we never slept together. It was only play-acting in bed." He began to find the patterns on the rugs to be more interesting than ever.

Yang Ruqin's face turned cold. She might've behaved like a ditz for half of her life, but she actually graduated with a degree in Psychology at the top of her class. Her research paper for a Ph.D. was framed in the University that she attended and she even received awards for the paper she wrote. Did this fool think he could easily trick her like this?

The first sign of a liar was their inability to make eye-contact. The second was that he was giving too many details. He would've kept it simple. Granted, he could be nervous, but she knew when he was lying. He was good at fooling others, but when it came to her, he could never get anything past her.

"Get out."

"What?" Yu Pingluo's head snapped up. "Do you still don't believe me? I didn't sleep with her!"

"Really now?" Yang Ruqin's fingers dug into her palm.

She ground her teeth. "You had a final chance to tell me the truth today and you chose to lie to me? Do you think I'm that stupid?" She harshly said, "Blatantly lying to my face and not admitting it is the most disrespect anyone can give me."

She pointed towards the door. "Leave. I don't want to see you ever again."

Yu Pingluo's heart shattered. "You've changed."

"I have always been like this." She crossed her arms, her eyes darkening. "You just never realized it because you were too caught up in your little fantasy to care."

'No, no, no.' Her heart was telling her to shut up but her brain was egging her to go on.

"I want you to think loud and clear about what truly happened that day. Then maybe you can tell me the truth. But even if you do, we'll never be the same. We will never get back together. We will never start that picture-perfect happy family you've always wanted. You will never get to see me in a white dress, walking down the aisle towards you." She pitied him with her sympathetic smile.

"You had your final chance today. And you ruined it." Yang Ruqin slowly shook her head, disappointed in him and herself.

"I was drunk."

"I know." She quietly said. "A drunk heart speaks a sober mind." She took a final look towards him and glanced at the button on her landline. "I believe it's time for you to go." Her voice was soft and gentle. "Do not, under any circumstances, come between me and my future. Who I chose to date will have nothing to do with you. If I find you have been spying on me like you did when I was at the hospital, there will be severe consequences."

- - - - -

Zhao Lifei sat in silence. She tried to digest the events that Yang Ruqin told her. "Wow." Was the only thing she could say. "That just emphasizes how amazing you are." She said, grabbing Yang Ruqin's hand. "I'm so proud of you, Qinqin."

Yang Ruqin sucked in a breath of air and stared down at their hands. No one had ever told her that they were proud of her. Tears pricked her eyes and she bobbed her head, feeling emotional all of the sudden. "Really?" She squeaked out, wanting to throw herself onto her Feifei.

"Yes, of course." Zhao Lifei answered in a heartbeat. "You need someone that will truly treasure you Qinqin. Every part of you." She whispered the last part, tucking strands of hair behind Yang Ruqin's ears.

"He was a mistake I should've never made." Yang Ruqin bit out, angrily glaring at the ground.

"Some of the harshest mistakes are the greatest lessons." Zhao Lifei responded with a calm smile on her face. Her words struck a chord in Yang Ruqin's broken heartstrings. Instead of building another wall around it, she began to pick up the pieces and learn to mend them herself…

- - - - -

Instead of going home to take a break and sleep off her emotions, Yang Ruqin went back to her studio. Zhao Lifei saw her off at the front entrance, then made her way up the stairs in an incredibly slow speed.

"Stupid rabbit in heat." Zhao Lifei mumbled to herself, hating how every step bothered her extremely sore thighs. She finally made her way upstairs and collapsed on her bed, her eyes slowly closing and soon, she fell asleep again.

The hours trickled by and eventually, working hours were slowly ending. At exactly six-thirty, Yang Feng came home from an exhausting day of work. He bristled past the employees lined up outside. He sped-walked up the stairs, eager and excited to see his woman.

Yang Feng sighed in relief when he saw she was lying in their bed, asleep. Then he frowned. She was curled up in a ball and was simply on top of the blankets. Foolish woman.

Why did she fall asleep in that position? She could have caught a cold. What if the lowered temperature interfered with the chances of a bun rising?

He trudged to her and helped her under the blankets. She stirred in her sleep, her eyes opening the slightest bit. "Hm...Yang Feng?" Her voice was thick with exhaustion. She was very groggy and her body felt heavy.

Yang Feng's frown lifted into the smallest smile. He curled his finger and stroked her face. "Sleep a little longer, my love." He whispered, placing an arm on the bed and kissing her on the forehead. "I'll wake you up after I finish cooking dinner."

Zhao Lifei didn't need to be told twice. She closed her eyes and pretended to sleep while he began to undress. He placed his phone on the nightstand and changed his clothes into something more comfortable. Then he went downstairs to cook her a nutritious dinner to help her heal better.

No less than five minutes after he was gone, she sat up and took his phone from the nightstand. Locked. Of course, it was. She nervously bit her bottom lip and decided accessing it without his permission would be rude. But she wanted to meet that person in secret without his knowledge… she planned on telling him about it afterward.

"What is it?"

She shrieked, placing a hand on her shaking heart. My goodness, that freaked her out.

Yang Feng had come back upstairs after realizing he left his phone on the nightstand. To his surprise, he found his lovely wife wide awake and attempting to snoop on his phone.

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