Lin Yehan couldn't sleep despite feeling at home at his third brother's place. He felt restless. If his second brother wasn't so strict about their health, then Lin Yehan would probably have looked for a cigarette to smoke right now in an attempt to relax. It was already past midnight. Living in a farm trained him to sleep early and to rise early. But sleep was proving to be elusive tonight. Sighing, he tossed the covers away and climbed off the bed.

Then he started walking around the dimly-lit hallways, hoping that by tiring himself, he would be able to sleep. His third brother's mansion was huge but he knew its layout like the back of his hand. All of them brothers treated each other's homes like an extension of their own homes. Just as all his brothers were welcome at his home, he was also welcome in theirs. They were family, after all.

His mind drifted to different kinds of thoughts but most of them were about Jiang Ying Yue's custody battle for her son Little Jun against her ex, Long Hui, and of course, the cheating allegations between him and her. The stress was getting to him, so he could only imagine what Jiang Ying Yue was going through. The woman must be suffering. Lin Yehan thought that a man who could hurt his lover, ex or not, like that wasn't a real man at all.

'This isn't working at all. I won't be able to sleep if I keep thinking like this. I need to clear and relax my mind.'

Wanting to do just that, he planned on stepping outside in the hopes that the cold late autumn weather could blast the stressful thoughts out of his mind. But when he stepped outside the nearest balcony at the end of the hallway, someone was already occupying the place.

"Mr. Lin," Jiang Ying Yue greeted him in a surprised tone.

"Miss Jiang," he replied with a nod.

"I didn't know that you're here."

"I arrived late in the evening with Fourth Brother Mo. Xiulan said that you were already asleep."

She nodded but didn't reply. Instead, she returned to looking at the dark, hazy, night sky.

Lin Yehan couldn't see her clearly in the dark. Only the dim lights from the hallway illuminated the balcony. The moon and the stars were hiding behind thick, dark clouds. Wanting to take a closer look at her to see if she was alright, he headed to where she was and stood beside her in front of the ornate balustrade. He noticed her stiffening when he got close to her but felt relieved when she didn't move away. They didn't speak to each other but just stood there, gazing at nothing in front of them. The silence was awkward at first but as minutes ticked by, it gradually felt comfortable until they felt themselves relaxing bit by bit.

"I came because I wanted to see if you're okay," Lin Yehan said, breaking the silence first.

Jiang Ying Yue didn't reply immediately because she didn't know which words were the most appropriate to say. "I…thank you, Mr. Lin. I'm…I'm okay—"

"Don't lie, please. Anyone who goes through what you're going through right now certainly won't feel okay."

[This novel is a contracted work with W e b n o v e l . c o m (remove spaces). If you're not reading this chapter on W e b n o v e l, it has been stolen. It's very discouraging to see thieves profitting from my hard work. Please read this novel on W e b n o v e l. Thank you! -Arria]

Her breath hitched and her lips trembled a little. There was now a watery shine in her eyes which shimmered even in the darkness. She tried to blink the tears away to prevent them from falling. On the way home from the courthouse earlier, she felt numb and exhausted. But after waking up from a dreamless and restless sleep, she began feeling the emotions again. The heartache was there but it had now changed from a hopeless, yearning hurt to an enraged one from the total destruction of her first love.

"You're right, Mr. Lin. I'm…not okay," she finally admitted with a shaky voice laced with anger. Her hands gripped the balustrades in front of her, channeling her angry heartache into the inanimate object. "I have to…to apologize to you, Mr. Lin. I just saw that our photos have been shown on the news—"

"Don't apologize. It's not your fault. Not mine either. It's not our fault. There's nothing we should feel sorry about."

She finally faced him. "But because of me, you got into this mess—"

"I told you it's not your fault. We met at the mall by coincidence. It's nobody's fault, except for the malicious people who took the photos and video and intended to frame the two of us as a cheating couple. It's their fault. But the biggest fault lies in…in the person you love who's using those misleading evidence to hurt you and to destroy both of our reputation."

"I don't love that person anymore!"

He studied her face. His eyes had already adjusted to the darkness so he could now see her expression. "Are you sure?"

"Y-yes... Yes! He hurt me so much that all my love for him has been battered out of me! How…how could he do this to me?! Even if he stopped l-loving me and doesn't want…to be with me anymore, why does he need to hurt me this much?! He could just...leave me, but why do this?! Why, Mr. Lin?!! WHY?!!!"

Lin Yehan pulled her to his embrace. The front of his shirt got soaked immediately from her angry, gushing tears. Then she started beating his chest in her current emotional state. As a muscular and physically strong woman, all of her hits packed a hard, solid punch, making him wince in pain, but he did his best not to groan or complain. Instead, he tightened his arms around her and pulled her closer. His chest might be bruised black and blue but his heart felt more painful as it squeezed in response to her sorrowful sobs. He didn't say anything, just allowed her to cry her heart out in his arms.

While he comforted her with his silent warmth, his cold eyes glinted in the darkness with a fury that he was barely able to control.

'I'll never treat my woman like this. Never destroy her like this.'

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