Fickle Hearts

Xing Yue's silence is heartbreaking.

She had heard Housekeeper Li say that hundreds of times.

"The young lady is only 18 years old, please let her have her way."

"The young lady is a very gentle child; she's just still learning how to express herself. Please be accommodating to her."

"Qixi Festival is in two days, please give way to the young lady."

"The young lady is about to shed her skin; she needs you very much. Please don't give her the silent treatment, just let her be."

"..."

Xing Yue was tired of hearing such things. At first, he really tolerated it because of what Housekeeper Li said, that Bu Yao was young.

Later, she discovered that if she tolerated it once, there would always be a next time, with all sorts of excuses. It turned out that she was just like Bu Fu's servant, having to obey the young lady's every word and serve her from morning till night.

*

The car stopped at the intersection, Bai Yulun was still explaining, "Sister Xiaoyue, after I married that woman, we always treated each other with respect and lived separate lives. We didn't live together. We only went back to visit each other during holidays to appease our families. I told her that we would get a divorce sooner or later. We were just husband and wife in name only. We weren't even friends. We were just business partners."

Xing Yue vaguely sensed that Bai Yulun's words were not as simple as they seemed. In general, in cooperative relationships, people are usually quite polite to each other, and may address each other as ladies, young ladies, or wives.

For those with whom you have a closer relationship, it's common to address each other by their first names or nicknames.

Bai Yulun consistently refers to "that woman" as someone else, which has escalated to a level of hatred and weariness, conflicting with his self-proclaimed "cooperative relationship."

Xing Yue didn't expose anything; he simply didn't care.

"Mr. Bai, thank you for bringing me back. Go home and get some rest." She nodded slightly and smiled.

Xing Yue stepped into the alleyway. The streetlights seemed to be broken tonight; they weren't working, and the entire alley was pitch black.

Using the flashlight on her phone, she walked through the alley, reached the first floor, looked back to make sure no one was following her, and then entered the elevator.

Tonight, Xing Yue wore five-centimeter high heels, and walking down that alley made her calves tired. The first thing she did when she got home was to change her shoes in front of the shoe cabinet.

In that brief moment, just as she was closing the door, someone pulled on the doorframe.

Xing Yue was startled, but after seeing the hand clearly, her fear turned into annoyance.

"What are you doing following me?" Xing Yue's expression was not good, his brows furrowed. "How could Miss condescend to come to a small place like mine?"

The house is so small that it doesn't even have a living room. Just around the corner after entering, you'll find the bed. Further in, there's a small balcony leading to the kitchen. The bathroom is combined with the bedroom, and there's not even enough room for a sofa; you can only fit a wooden chair. It's pitifully small.

Bu Yao's high-end evening gown was completely out of place in the single-room rental room, like a princess who had fallen into a dilapidated old tile-roofed house.

The woman glanced around, took off her vintage-style black lace gloves, and placed them on the table. "I have something to make clear to you."

Xing Yue considered it for a moment. They were both adults, and it was indeed necessary to clarify things after a breakup. "Okay."

Bu Yao visibly disliked the chair; it was too small to accommodate her skirt.

In the room, which had an unobstructed view, Bu Yao finally chose to sit on Xing Yue's bed, her puffy skirt almost covering the entire bed. "I'm asking you, did you tell He Zhiwen that you were going to book a room with her?"

Xing Yue explained this issue more than once, "I've told you before, it's because..."

"Never mind the reason, just ask if you said that?" Bu Yao interrupted Xing Yue's attempt to argue. Even with makeup on, she couldn't hide the redness in her eyes, and bringing up old grievances made her nose sting.

Xing Yue did indeed say that, and there was no way to refute it. "Yes."

Bu Yao then asked, "Did you promise to keep your distance from other women while we were at home?"

If Xing Yue denies it, it confirms that she used Bu Yao to save her ex-girlfriend; if she admits it, then she has broken her promise to Bu Yao. Either way, it's her fault...

"Speak!" Bu Yao gritted her teeth, spitting out the two words.

She pressed Xing Yue: "Is that right? Did you say those things? Did you hint to others to go to hotels with you? When I found out, you got angry and threw a tantrum at me. Your ex-girlfriend was in danger, so you shamelessly came to me begging for forgiveness. Once you got what you wanted, you broke up with me. You really know how to play the game, even more so than young girls. Age anxiety doesn't stop you from playing with women."

The harsh words froze Xing Yue's expression; the air itself seemed to hold the sharp edge of a knife.

"I didn't deny my mistakes. The real reason I broke up with you is... Why did you treat me like that?" Xing Yue was utterly powerless; even speaking was excruciatingly painful. She didn't want to recall what happened that day. "Wasn't I the person you loved? Why did you torment me like a slave? Did seeing me submissive, seeing me lying on the ground unable to get up, humiliating me make you feel proud? Is this how you love someone?"

She didn't want this kind of unhealthy relationship.

Bu Yao, who had just been able to control her emotions, was completely enraged by Xing Yue's words. Her tightly clenched lips tasted of rust, and her mouth was filled with a sweet, metallic flavor.

She got up, walked over to the table, looked at the green floral tablecloth and the few sprigs of lisianthus, and like a madwoman, reached out and tore them all off.

"You forced me to do this!" she said, each word choked with emotion, her eyes brimming with tears. Her ruby eyes, misty and clouded through the swirling raindrops, seemed shattered.

"If you hadn't come begging to me for He Zhiwen's sake, how could I have treated you like that? How could He Zhiwen have seen it?" Bu Yao stomped on the fallen flowers on the floor, crushing several lisianthus stems to pieces. "You're overly attached to your ex-girlfriend, unable to forget the past, you're such a scumbag, and you still have the nerve to question me? Why don't you ask yourself why you contacted your ex-girlfriend? Why did you run away after just one text message from her? Why did you keep those twelve thousand photos of you and your ex-girlfriend? Didn't you say you were considering remarrying me? So this is what you were thinking, considering remarrying me while also considering getting back together with your ex-girlfriend? You rotten person! What's the difference between you and a stray dog that goes into heat everywhere? You're all rotten! Utterly rotten!"

What's the difference between Xing Yue and other snakes? They're all essentially promiscuous and fickle. In the world, apart from the Fire Snake, there's no snake that's faithful to one person.

These past few days, she's been foolishly waiting for Xing Yue to realize his mistake and come back to her.

Unexpectedly, in Xing Yue's heart, it was her fault. She was wrong to be jealous, wrong to yell at Xing Yue go to a hotel with another woman, and wrong to lose her temper when Xing Yue begged her for another woman.

Bu Yao couldn't see Xing Yue clearly. She raised her hand to wipe her face, and her fingers and palms were wet with a warm, cool moisture. She didn't know when, but tears were streaming down her face.

Xing Yue's silence is heartbreaking.

"I didn't make you have to be home by 8 PM, I didn't make you available at a moment's notice, reply to messages instantly, or answer calls immediately," Bu Yao recounted the things she used to order Xing Yue to do, complaining softly, "And you didn't reciprocate the feelings I wanted. Instead, you took advantage of me and started having ambiguous relationships with other people."

The year they got married, Xing Yue at least knew not to mess around with other women.

Xing Yue is not as good as he was ten years ago.

Amidst sobs and accusations, Xing Yue opened his lips, took a deep breath, and said, "I didn't have any romantic relationships with anyone..."

"What you said was wrong!" Seeing that Xing Yue still refused to admit his mistake, Bu Yao was about to explode with anger. "That wasn't just something said in anger, it was a sexual innuendo! Wanting to go to a hotel wasn't just something said in anger, it was a sexual innuendo!"

Xing Yue was implying to He Zhiwen that things could develop further. If He Zhiwen hadn't come to him for a reason and embarrassed Xing Yue, Xing Yue slept with him.

Even so, after she found out, Xing Yue could still brazenly say that they weren't together at that time, so what if he really did have a hotel room with He Zhiwen?

They weren't together, but wasn't Xing Yue considering remarrying her? Given this factor, how could Xing Yue do this? How could he consider remarrying her while also getting back together with He Zhiwen?

That sentence became the trigger for their argument, and Xing Yue even came to beg her for He Zhiwen's sake.

She would throw a tantrum and punish Xing Yue, Xing Yue couldn't take it. He would make a scene, threatening to kill himself, sell his house and car, acting like he was being forced into a pitiful state.

It was as if she were the villain who toyed with emotions.

Xing Yue a little tired. He gently pressed his hands against his eye sockets, his voice hoarse. "Don't say anything more. I admit I'm sorry, I acknowledge my mistake, but I don't want to get back together, and I don't want to have any feelings for you. Let's just say we're not compatible, okay?"

"Fine, let's not talk about feelings, let's talk about money," Bu Yao sneered, tears streaming down her face as she laughed. "You owe me nine hundred thousand, pay it back right now. Once you've paid, I'll disappear from your sight immediately."

Why is she the only one sad after the breakup? Is she the only one in love? Is she the only one who invested feelings? Xing Yue seems eager to get rid of this burden.

"That's not how you calculate things," Xing Yue tried to soften his tone as he analyzed with Bu Yao, "I don't owe you a personal debt, I owe New Shadow Entertainment. Even if you're asking for the money, it's not you who should be asking. Besides, I have an agreement with the company to repay in installments, and you know that better than I do."

She knew that Bu Yao got angry, reasoning with her wouldn't work, so she wanted to Bu Yao back first. Before she could even say anything to kick her out, she felt a spasm in her stomach and rushed to the bathroom, where she leaned over the sink and started dry heaving.

Her forehead was covered in cold sweat, her face was ashen, and she knelt helplessly on the floor, her head throbbing with pain.

The long-sealed box of memories was opened, unleashing a torrent of abuse, hysterical breakdowns, and the man sitting upright, seemingly refined and gentlemanly, but in reality devoid of any emotion...

Many years ago, her mother was like this, driven to the point of smashing things, cursing, and asking suffocating questions.

The culprit always has a gentle and refined demeanor, as if they come from a completely different world from the woman who is on the verge of collapse. The more they act this way, the more they drive the woman insane.

Today's familiar scene suddenly made Xing Yue feel as if she had returned to her childhood situation... making her feel so suffocated.