CC’s helplessness in this incident made me even more anxious. In my anxiety, I lit a cigarette, yet I was no longer willing to leave the restaurant and return to that old house.
At this moment, my phone suddenly rang. Instinctively, I glanced at the caller ID, only to find it was Mi Cai calling. She had finally returned my call, but my mood had already undergone a drastic change. I watched the lit phone screen, hesitating to answer. I felt I couldn’t face her. If I were really dragged into Yue Yao’s whirlpool in the entertainment industry, it would inevitably hurt Mi Cai’s public image, although she wasn’t in the entertainment industry herself, she was still the chairman of a group.
CC asked me, “Is it Mi Cai’s call?”
I nodded.
“Just answer it. You have to face it eventually.”
I took a deep puff of my cigarette, steeled myself, and finally answered the call. But I couldn’t greet her or crack a joke like usual. I just remained silent.
Mi Cai apologized somewhat, saying, “I’ve been on the phone with the person in charge in Nanjing just now. I remember the plan to go to Xuzhou tomorrow morning, and now I’m going home to rest.”
I was silent again. “Drive safely on your way back.”
“Okay, do you want any midnight snack? I can bring it back for you.”
“No need.”
…
That’s how the call with Mi Cai ended. Although she was still unaware of the news that had broken today due to her busy work, my mood did not relax even a bit. My chest felt as if it was weighed down by a huge stone, my breath filled with panic and unease.
CC asked me, “Does Mi Cai still not know about this?”
“Yeah… but I can’t bring myself to tell her. It feels like I’ve destroyed this hard-won relationship with my own hands!”
“Then are you going to keep dragging this on until one day she finds out and confronts you in an emotional breakdown?”
I remained silent, my heart struggling violently inside…
“Just go back. Tell Mi Cai honestly everything that happened between you and Yue Yao. After all, it’s something from the past. Perhaps by being honest, you still have a chance to earn her understanding.”
I didn’t hear CC’s words very clearly. My mind wandered back to Yue Yao again. If she had really been pregnant with my child back then, I would have betrayed her completely—worse than a beast!
On this helpless night, how I wished for a city with no panic, no worries… a place where one glance could illuminate the entirety of life, free from lurking dangers…
…
Mi Cai and I almost returned to the old house at the same time. I got out of the taxi, and after she parked her car, we met at the stairwell entrance. She asked me somewhat surprisedly, “Why did you come back so late too?”
I replied somewhat hesitantly, “Well… I had a few drinks with Roben at the restaurant, and later… I ran into CC.”
“Oh,” Mi Cai responded, then grabbed my hand, and we walked upstairs together. Holding hands had become a habit only a few days ago between us.
In front of the mailbox outside the house, Mi Cai stopped, I knew she was going to get the latest finance magazine. I waited beside her. After she closed the mailbox, she held an additional envelope and asked me, “Zhaoyang, is this yours?”
My mind was very scattered, so I answered, “No.”
Mi Cai looked at the envelope with confusion. At this moment, a strong sense of unease surged in me. The envelope’s appearance was too coincidental; it must contain a secret capable of ruining me completely.
I wanted to take the envelope back from Mi Cai’s hands, but eventually gave up. If this incident was indeed orchestrated by someone behind the scenes, then this envelope wouldn’t be the only one. Perhaps tomorrow morning, an identical envelope would also arrive at Mi Cai’s office, and Mi Cai would eventually learn everything.
Back inside the house, I sat on the sofa. Mi Cai placed the stack of finance magazines on the coffee table, then picked up the envelope again, and finally tore it open. At this moment, I felt like a lamb placed on the chopping block awaiting slaughter.
Mi Cai took out a stack of photos and an A4 sheet from the envelope. I could vaguely see several rows of typewritten text on the paper.
Mi Cai’s brows gradually furrowed, then she put down the items in her hands and stared at me with icy eyes…
I picked up the A4 paper and glanced at it. It was actually a record of all my hotel stays more than a year ago, along with photos of me hanging out with some women in nightclubs. Among them, the most frequent appearances were with Yue Yao. There were even screenshots from surveillance cameras taken a few months ago when I went to Beijing, carrying Yue Yao out of the apartment late at night to go to the hospital.
“Zhaoyang, what should I say at this moment? Or will you explain something to me?”
I was silent for a while, my heart feeling as if it had turned to ash as I told Mi Cai, “I have nothing to explain. These hotel records are true. Back then… my private life was very messy!”
Mi Cai tried her best to control herself, but her body was trembling slightly. My answer had struck the most fragile nerve in her. Finally, with tears in her eyes, she asked me, “So it’s true that Yue Yao was pregnant with your child?”
We had a relationship, and the child could be mine, but I’m not sure… but those were things from the past. I’ve long since left that lifestyle behind…
“The past doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.”
“But you should know that I had a disgraceful past.”
Mi Cai shook her head painfully, “Zhaoyang, when all these evidential materials appear before me like this, I can’t face it, let alone accept it!”
“Please forgive my past, okay?… All these are fabricated by someone with ulterior motives to break us apart. You know that, don’t you?”
“If… if you were clean and innocent, no one could do such things. I really can’t accept it, really can’t… Suppose now someone shows you photos and tells you that I once had a messy past in America and was pregnant for another man, Zhaoyang, could you accept it? Even if it was my past…”
“You didn’t do that. You’re still the pure and true you!”
“But you did…”
Looking at Mi Cai’s expression, I knew this time she was truly hurt. These wounds were inflicted by my past upon her. Suddenly, I extremely disliked myself, but there was nothing I could do to change anything. I had personally driven our love into a dead end… my heart was writhing in pain, yet I… still didn’t want to let go!
…
Late at night, Mi Cai had already left. The old house was left with only me, smoking alone. Looking at the emptiness all around, I suddenly didn’t know how I should continue my tomorrow…
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