8
I stopped pressuring him.
And so it went on until the end of the semester.
During winter break, something major happened in my family.
While filming, Trần Gia Nghi fell down a flight of stairs. It wasn’t until she was rushed to the hospital that they discovered she was pregnant—and that the baby couldn’t be saved.
The whole family was thrown into chaos.
The older members of the family took turns confronting her, demanding to know who the father of Trần Gia Nghi’s baby was, but she wouldn’t say a word.
When I went to visit her at the hospital, she was propped up in bed, pale and staring blankly. Her eyes were vacant and lifeless. She was like a flower that had bloomed only to wither, dry up, and crumble, robbed of all vitality.
I talked with her for a while, then, unable to shake my doubts, finally asked, “Was the baby Cố Tu Trạch’s?”
Cố Tu Trạch was the college student Trần Gia Nghi had kept as a lover. He was handsome, aloof, and arrogant. Trần Gia Nghi had gone to great lengths to win him over, even throwing money around like water. For a time, she’d been crazy about him.
But then, for some reason, the two of them suddenly split up.
Later, sometime before I went to the movies with Lâm Chi Việt, I happened to see Trần Gia Nghi and Cố Tu Trạch together. But I was busy with school and my relationship then, and never found the chance to talk with her.
I never expected that the next time I saw Trần Gia Nghi, she’d have become such a pitiful mess.
Trần Gia Nghi gave a self-mocking laugh. “I knew I couldn’t hide it from you.”
As it turned out, Cố Tu Trạch felt that Trần Gia Nghi had trampled on his dignity by keeping him as a lover back then.
When they met again, the Trần family had fallen into decline, while Cố Tu Trạch had become a rising business tycoon. Trần Gia Nghi needed a powerful backer in the entertainment industry, so Cố Tu Trạch offered her an opportunity.
After she went from an exalted young heiress to his kept woman, he humiliated and trampled on her.
“Did you think I was dead? I’m the heiress of the Giang family, for heaven’s sake. Couldn’t I have been your support?”
My anger rose as I listened. “You threw so much money at him back then. How was that trampling on his dignity?”
Trần Gia Nghi fell silent under my words.
My heart softened. “Sis, I’m not scolding you. I’m just worried about you.”
“I know.” She took my hand, her tone suddenly serious. “Ti Vũ, I’m a cautionary tale. Don’t follow in my footsteps.”
Her words were a wake-up call.
A crack appeared in my love-addled brain, and I slowly came to my senses.
On my way out of the hospital, I sent Lâm Chi Việt one final message: “Going by the novel, after I keep you as a lover, my family will inevitably fall into decline and your career will inevitably take off. When we meet again after all these years, you’ll make me eat my words.”
“Lâm Chi Việt, let’s break up.”
9
I spent seven glorious years reinventing myself.
I went from a lovesick fool to the most levelheaded heiress in high society.
After graduating from college, I stayed in New York and founded a biotech company specializing in high-end medical services for the upper class. In just a few short years, I made quite a name for myself in the industry.
As the business expanded, I returned home.
Trần Gia Nghi met me at the airport and insisted on throwing a welcome-back party. She said Từ Khoảnh Dã had opened an upscale bar with excellent privacy, where people in the industry liked to hang out—and there were plenty of handsome men.
By now, she’d become a top-tier rising star, at the height of her fame, but she and Cố Tu Trạch were still tangled up with each other.
I gave her a cold laugh. “Sounds to me like you’re just horny!”
When people asked me, I said I was too devoted to my career to care about love. After all, men only slowed down my money-making.
The car sped to the bar in the blink of an eye.
The bar was already buzzing, a dazzling whirl of extravagance, full of handsome men and beautiful women.
Từ Khoảnh Dã told us to drink whatever we wanted—his treat. Trần Gia Nghi and I didn’t hold back, ordering the most expensive drinks.
Before long, Trần Gia Nghi got a phone call and had to leave. As she went, she entrusted me to Từ Khoảnh Dã and told him to take good care of me.
Từ Khoảnh Dã had lost his boyish innocence and grown up a lot. He apologized, a little sheepishly. “I’m sorry, Giang Ti Vũ. I only found out afterward about you and Lâm Chi Việt. I was the reason you two broke up.”
I gave him a sidelong glance and said flatly, “It had nothing to do with you. You’re not that important.”
He choked on his words. After a long pause, he said, “Still as sharp-tongued as ever. That’s so you.”
On my way to the restroom, I saw a drunk girl slumped over the toilet tank. I hurried over and patted her. “Are you okay?”
The girl looked up at me. Her eyes were huge and round, and she seemed dazed—so adorable I could’ve died.
She called someone to come get her, so I sat with her in the waiting area.
About ten minutes later, a commotion arose outside.
Someone sounded excited as they said, “The Beijing Crown Prince is here! He’s so handsome!”
I scoffed to myself.
What the hell was a Beijing Crown Prince?
Who came up with that name? It was so ridiculously over-the-top.
As I silently mocked them, footsteps approached. I looked up, and a face both familiar and strange came into view.
Someone, please tell me.
Why was this so-called Beijing Crown Prince none other than Lâm Chi Việt!
10
The girl turned shy the instant she saw Lâm Chi Việt.
She gazed at him hopefully and asked sweetly, “Chi Việt, why did you come to get me? Where’s my brother?”
Lâm Chi Việt kept his eyes fixed on my face but still answered her question. “Your brother had to go pretty far, and I happened to be nearby. He asked me to come get you.”
I looked away from him, lifted my glass, and took a slow sip.
The girl smiled and skipped over to Lâm Chi Việt. Then, as if remembering something, she turned to me. “Thank you, ma’am. My family’s here to get me, so I’ll head home now.”
I smiled and nodded.
Từ Khoảnh Dã appeared out of nowhere and leaned close to whisper, “You were overseas, so I never got a chance to tell you: Lâm Chi Việt was the Lâm family’s lost child from Beijing. He’s been reunited with his family, and he’s now the Lâm family’s only young master.”
The chair of the Lâm family in Beijing had consistently ranked among the top ten on the Forbes list of the wealthiest people.
If the Giang family was an old-money clan, then the Lâm family was fabulously wealthy.
I couldn’t believe I’d actually guessed right.
After we broke up, Lâm Chi Việt had indeed turned into a phoenix.
Feeling troubled and restless, I wanted to leave. I declined Từ Khoảnh Dã’s offer to drive me home and asked Uncle Trương, the driver, to come get me instead.
I’d only just reached the door when someone pulled me into a dimly lit alley nearby.
I nearly screamed, until I recognized Lâm Chi Việt’s handsome face, grown more striking with age.
Before I could say anything, he cupped the back of my head, pressed me against the wall, and kissed me.
The kiss was scorching, blazing hot.
It had the force to crush and melt everything in its path.
I was nearly drowning in that kiss, and through the haze I wondered: how had his kissing gotten so good after just seven years apart?
When I could barely breathe, I started pounding desperately on Lâm Chi Việt’s chest.
His chest was rock-hard, and my hands hurt from pounding on it.
At last, Lâm Chi Việt ended the kiss.
I shoved him away at once and snapped, “Who gave you permission to kiss me?”
Lâm Chi Việt wrapped his arms around me, rested his chin on my shoulder, and choked out in my ear, “I’ve missed you so much.”
His eyes were rimmed red. He looked at me pitifully, like a heartbroken puppy, and said hoarsely, “I never agreed to break up. I didn’t agree seven years ago, either. I searched for you for so, so long. They told me you’d gone overseas, but no one knew where you’d gone. I looked everywhere for you. I even begged Từ Khoảnh Dã, but no matter what, he wouldn’t tell me.”
“Then my cousin, Trần Gia Nghi, told me that if I couldn’t give you a future, I shouldn’t bother you.”
“That’s when I decided I had to work hard—hard enough to make my way to your side.”
Every word he said was sincere.
Once again, he knocked on the door of my heart, silent for seven years.
In the end, this was how I answered him.
“If we began so carelessly the first time, then this time I want to be more careful.”
“Lâm Chi Việt, give me some time to think it over.”