Yue Jingchen froze, his pale lips opened and closed repeatedly as he began stuttering. “You’d rather die than get back together with me?”

“Yes!” Yu Zi said without a hint of hesitation.

The “yes” from her seemed to make Yue Jingchen’s soul leave his body. His face turned as white as paper.

“I’ve had enough of you and your constant involvement in my life against my wishes. You’ve repeatedly said that you love me, yet you’re unwilling to let me go and incessantly caused me to suffer and make things difficult for me. I’m fed up with your mother that continuously comes to my company to disturb me at my workplace, soiling my reputation.” Yu Zi grit her teeth. “Now, you’re going so far as to use that life of yours to threaten me. Yue Jingchen, are you really doing this for my sake?

“You said that we’re never breaking up, and everything I said was an assumption, but I don’t agree. Even if we didn’t break up during what was supposed to be our engagement, we would’ve in the future. We’d certainly break up as long as you continuously obey and take advice from your parents, and so long as they continue to exploit me, yet, make my life difficult at the same time. You want me to love you and tolerate your parents but what about you? What have you ever done for me? You said that you’d persuade your parents, but what happened to that? You asked me to be patient and understanding, so I tolerated them time and time again; whenever I give them an inch, they take a yard! You said you’d persuade your parents in the future, but it’s useless now. I’m fed up, of you and your parents. I’m tired of everything. I just want to live a peaceful life.

“Yue Jingchen, I don’t love you anymore. Even if you repeatedly court death, I won’t love you. If you continue to do this, it will only make me hate you. I don’t want us to go down that road, so I’m begging you, don’t make me hate you. Please let me go.”

Yue Jingchen’s gaze fell from her face to her wrist as the blood continued dripping to the floor.

Yan Huaian watched as Yue Jingchen, in spite of everything, still sat there with a stupefied expression on his face. At this moment, Yu Zi’s wrist were still bleeding.

Thus, he suddenly rushed forth with swift strides and gave Yue Jingchen a tight slap. “Is this your so-called love for Yu Zi? She’s injured, yet, you remain unbothered. If you really want to drop dead, you should go on ahead!”

Yan Huaian pointed at Yue Jingchen’s wrist. “Untie that gauze on your wrist and rip those stitches off. Just die right now, and all your troubles will be solved. It’ll save yourself from being entangled with Yu Zi in the future too!”

“What are you doing!? Go away! Scram! It’s our family’s matter, and you’re in no position to speak out!” Pan Yunfeng stepped forward, wanting to pull Yan Huaian away.

Yan Huaian had already felt impatient toward her from the beginning and shook her off with a single shrug.

“Mom!” Yue Jingchen shouted before immediately returning to his docile tone, “Stop talking.”

“Would you really… rather die than see me again?” Yue Jingchen then asked Yu Zi.

If it were the past, then Yu Zi would still be willing to be friends with him.

However, now, she did not dare to make such a promise.

She was afraid that if she agreed, it would give Yue Jingchen hope to continue this endless pursuit.

Not to mention, it was not her style to be messy and indirect.

“Yes!” Therefore, Yu Zi replied in a clear-cut manner.

Yue Jingchen’s heart sank to the pit of his stomach. His tears flooded his eyes as he sobbed uncontrollably.

“Okay…” Yue Jingchen blinked and opened his mouth, gasping slightly for air. His voice trembled as he asked, “Then… I’ll ask you one last question. Can you… answer me honestly?”

Yu Zi did not put the fruit knife down. It was still pressed against her wrist as she stared at him. “Ask then.”

“Do you like him now, Yan Huaian?” Yue Jingchen asked, his eyes filled with tears. It made his eyes so foggy that he could no longer see Yu Zi clearly.

Yan Huaian never expected Yue Jingchen to actually divert the subject to him. He looked in Yu Zi’s direction as his heart leaped into his throat.

Yu Zi did not look back at Yan Huaian. She knew he was looking at her, but she did not return his gaze.

Instead, her slightly paled face started to turn red.

Yue Jingchen saw her reaction and knew the answer right away. He smiled bitterly as he wept.

Afterward, he heard Yu Zi say, “Yes, I do like him.”

As for Yue Jingchen, he would never get back what he had lost.

Even though they had not broken up for long, he had missed the chance of them ever getting back together.

Perhaps Yue Jingchen had not done enough, or maybe Yan Huaian was too outstanding.

In any case, Yu Zi’s heart had been unconsciously drawn to him.

Perhaps, she had a good impression on Yan Huaian from earlier on, but owing to her relationship with Yue Jingchen, and out of fear that she would be tempted by him, she had always kept her distance from him.

Her astuteness was not just out of reverence, but also the fear of being unable to control herself. As a result, she had always maintained some distance between them. She was only courageous enough to interact with him due to work, and even so, she always remained reserved.

Now, Yu Zi was finally able to acknowledge her feelings openly.

As she spoke, Yu Zi heaved a massive sigh of relief. She was finally to admit the emotions that had, until now, been buried in her heart.

Yan Huaian struggled to control himself as he stared at Yu Zi with passion burning in his eyes. There was an inexpressible joy in his heart, and he could no longer maintain his calm demeanor.

The corners of his mouth continued to rise until the upper row of his pearly white teeth could be seen.

He was so happy right now. His heart was continuously drumming as if about to pop out of his chest. At that moment, he wanted to step forward to lift her up and twirl her around in his embrace whilst showering her with kisses.

Nothing he did now could possibly extinguish the burning passion he felt inside his heart.

It was hard for Yu Zi to not look at Yan Huaian now. The smile on his face was so brilliant that it was hard to cover up. The radiance from his beaming face completely replaced the solemn and staid expression he usually wore, making him look like a cheeky young lad instead.

Yu Zi wondered if he was about to jump up and down out of sheer joy.

At the same time, Yue Jingchen felt a bitter taste in his mouth. The tears that had streamed down from his face had entered the corners of his lips, filling his mouth with saltiness.

“I got it,” Yue Jingchen said bitterly, “I won’t bother you anymore. I… I hope you’ll be happy. I’m sorry. That… that I’ve never given you happiness and constantly caused you to suffer. I wanted you to be happy, and I wanted to treat you right. I wanted to give you everything good that I could get in life for you. But in reality, all that I’ve given you was pain. I’m sorry… I…”

Seeing Yue Jingchen this way, she felt discomfort in her heart as her eyes reddened as well.

The pale, weak man lying on the bed in front of her had been so sunny and cheerful when he was with her.

How… did it come to this?

“I won’t pester you anymore. You… please don’t blame me, don’t hate me and don’t be vexed by me, okay? I don’t… don’t want you to hate me after breaking up with me. I can’t bear it, I can’t bear you hating me,” Yue Jingchen said as he sobbed.

He loved her so much, and because of that overwhelming love, he did so many foolish things.

His misinterpretation of Yu Zi and Yan Huaian’s relationship when there had, in fact, been nothing had only served to push Yu Zi toward Yan Huaian instead.

He pestered her because he was unwilling to break ties with her. He could barely even breathe when Yu Zi wanted to break up with him.

This was why he had attempted to take his own life. He simply could not imagine his life without Yu Zi. When he thought about Yu Zi marrying someone else, having a family, and giving her all to someone else, he could not bear it and felt that there was no more meaning to life.

The persecution of his parents made him lose Yu Zi, and his cowardice and indecisiveness could not stop it from happening.

It was not like he was unaware of all this.

It was because he was aware of it, that the more he thought of it, the sadder it felt, and the more unwilling he was to give up. It was hard for him to pull himself out of this pit of suffering, and ultimately, he chose the most radical approach.

He thought that if Yu Zi saw how he was willing to die for her, she could understand how much he loved her.

Never did he expect for her to see his behavior as forceful and coercive.

It was not that Yue Jingchen did not understand. It was because he finally realized that he understood his own weakness so clearly.

It was as if anything he did was wrong, and there was no way for him to get Yu Zi back whatsoever.

It was this weakness that made him shut his eyes tightly.

“You guys may leave now.” Yue Jingchen choked up as he closed his eyes. He did not want to see the interaction between the two.

He did not want to watch as Yan Huaian looked at Yu Zi with such affection, and he could not bear to see Yu Zi blushing in shyness under Yan Huaian’s gaze.

They were the ones who used to be like this.

Yu Zi dropped the fruit knife. Truthfully, the blade had only cut through the outermost layer of her skin. She was bleeding, but the injury was not serious. The group had just been overly nervous about her.

Yu Zi was about to leave with her right hand covering the wound on her left wrist when Pan Yunfeng abruptly stopped her.

She could not care less about her injuries as she pulled at her right arm and said, “You can’t go! You have to stay with Jingchen, you stay with him! He was injured because of you, so how can you leave him!”

Yu Zi’s right arm had been pulled away from the wound on her left wrist, causing blood to immediately drip down to the back of her hand.

“Please let go of me,” Yu Zi said in a cold tone.

“I won’t!” Pan Yunfeng said shrewdly, “I know you’re mad at me. You said you two broke up because of me. Alright, I’ll admit to my mistakes, okay? I will be kind to you in the future and say nothing. After you two get married, you can go out and live outside if you want you. You can do whatever you want for your wedding. I won’t express a single opinion. I won’t make your lives difficult anymore, so just have a good life with Jingchen!”