CTS 33

The smile that Ji An’an usually wore on her face had completely vanished, replaced by a hollow and almost numb expression. Her eyes stared straight at Zhou Yang.

Zhou Yang couldn’t even meet her gaze. He blurted out, “An’an…”

Shen Mo pushed him aside and said, “An’an, you’ve misunderstood. Actually… I got a text message…”

His mind was in chaos. He felt like some lousy male lead in a cheesy romance drama, left to spout flimsy lines in a weak attempt to defend himself.

Ji An’an didn’t believe him.

“No need to say anything.” She removed a small earpiece from her ear and said, “I heard everything.”

Shen Mo froze for a moment, then quickly understood. There must have been some kind of listening device hidden in the room. Maybe even a pinhole camera.

And this entire setup was likely Zhou Chu’s doing.

He had gone through all this trouble to trick Zhou Yang and Shen Mo into being alone together, just so Ji An’an could find out the truth. For someone who had only recently been acknowledged as a legitimate son, life in the Zhou family probably wasn’t easy. But if he could destroy the engagement between the Zhou and Ji families, cutting Zhou Yang off from the Ji family’s support, his situation would change entirely.

Sure enough, Ji An’an said next, “At first, I didn’t believe what your brother told me. But I didn’t expect… Zhou Yang, was everything you just said true?”

She stepped forward and stood face to face with him. “Have you been lying to me this whole time?”

Zhou Yang didn’t answer right away.

Not until she asked again did he finally let out a long sigh. He reached up and took off his glasses, gently rubbing his brow. He had always been conscious of his image, and even now, he made sure to put his glasses back on properly before looking at Ji An’an and saying quietly, “Yes.”

Ji An’an’s body swayed violently. All the color drained from her face in an instant.

Zhou Yang saw it, but he continued speaking anyway. “I, Zhou Yang, never loved Ji An’an.”

The moment he finished speaking, a fist landed squarely on his face.

It was Shen Mo who had thrown the punch. He shook out his right hand, realizing for the first time how satisfying it was to hit someone. Maybe he should have beaten Zhou Yang up a long time ago.

Ignoring Zhou Yang’s groan of pain, he turned to take Ji An’an’s hand and said, “An’an, this is a lot to explain. Let’s go somewhere else and talk.”

Ji An’an shook her head and continued looking at Zhou Yang, now with a swollen eye. “Why did you lie to me?”

Zhou Yang let out a cold laugh, covering his eyes as he said, “You should ask your dear brother that. If it hadn’t been for his threats and manipulation, if he hadn’t used every possible trick, do you really think I would have ended up with you? Or that I would have… broken things off with Shen Mo?”

Ji An’an trembled all over. Only then did she look at Shen Mo and ask, “Brother Shen, you and my brother… was that fake too?”

Shen Mo didn’t know how to answer. All he could say was, “Mr. Ji is already on his way. Let’s wait for him to explain everything when he arrives.”

But Ji An’an wasn’t letting him off the hook. She stubbornly asked, “So you and Zhou Yang were the real couple, weren’t you?”

At this point, Shen Mo couldn’t bring himself to lie anymore. After a long pause, he said, “That was in the past.”

Ji An’an blinked once, and a tear slipped from her right eye, trailing all the way down to her cheek. Then she forced a pale smile and whispered, “I understand.”

“An’an…” Shen Mo called out, anxious.

Ji An’an brushed off his hand. Her dark eyes stared blankly ahead, and she murmured, “So everything was a lie…”

She turned and stumbled out the door as she spoke.

Shen Mo saw something wasn’t right and wanted to follow her, but Zhou Yang grabbed his wrist.

Shen Mo turned back, glaring at him. “Why did you have to talk to her like that?”

Zhou Yang’s glasses were knocked crooked, and he looked quite pitiful. He gave a bitter smile and said, “With things the way they are, do you really think I could keep pretending? She was going to find out sooner or later. Better now than a lifetime of lies.”

Shen Mo was so angry he wanted to punch him again, but he was too worried about Ji An’an to waste any more time. He yanked his arm free and walked quickly toward the door.

But in his haste, he ran right into someone coming in.

Shen Mo looked up and saw that it was Ji Mingxuan.

Even though he had been expecting him, seeing him in person still stirred a mess of emotions inside. Shen Mo couldn’t speak for a moment.

Ji Mingxuan’s breathing was slightly uneven, possibly from rushing up to the sixth floor. He glanced at Shen Mo, then looked into the room at Zhou Yang. He was clearly surprised, but his face remained calm as he asked, “Where’s An’an?”

Shen Mo didn’t try to hide anything. “Miss Ji heard everything.”

“Heard what?”

“About me and Zhou Yang.”

Ji Mingxuan’s face went pale. “Where is she now?”

“She just ran out.”

Ji Mingxuan turned at once and went after her.

Just as he reached the door, Shen Mo couldn’t stop himself from asking, “Mr. Ji, back then, was it you who told the Zhou family about my relationship with Zhou Yang?”

Ji Mingxuan’s steps paused, but he gave no answer. Without turning back, he hurried out of the room.

Shen Mo had wanted to follow, but suddenly, he couldn’t bring himself to move.

Was he afraid of hearing the answer?

Now that things had unraveled like this, what was left between him and Ji Mingxuan?

Shen Mo leaned against the doorframe, his mind in a haze. Just then, he heard Ji Mingxuan’s voice shouting from outside.

“An’an!”