Reborn: The Return of the Villainous Mr. Liu

Chapter 806  End the friendship

Yating peered into her tense and defeated eyes. "What's wrong, Chyou? What did he say to you?"

His eyes narrowed. "Or my question should be how much did he say to you?"

She shook her head. "It wasn't like that, Yating. But it's understandable if…the pictures upset him. It seems that I keep forgetting that we are in a relationship."

"What? No!" His eyes widened. "That's not how it is and you know that too. It's all the media giving everything a wrong spin. I don't want Cheng Yin to fall for it. If he isn't happy with this, then why did he come forward with the video?"

Chyou looked away. "He trusts me, Yating. That's why-"

"Then why is he not alright? It doesn't make sense to stand up for you when he is wavering himself."

"It's to stop the fans from targeting and insulting me. He does care about me."

"But he doesn't trust you."

Chyou didn't know how to explain. "It's not about trust, Yating. I was with you late at night. As a boyfriend, it's not inconceivable for him to feel a little uncomfortable."

He stared at her in disbelief. "So you are saying you aren't allowed to spend time with your friends anymore? Will you stop doing the things that make you feel happy? In that case, has he also promised to do the same for you?"

His razor sharp question struck her defenseless.

"That's a no then," he bitterly said.

He exhaled a deep breath and asked, "Chyou, I will talk to Cheng Yin if you want. I will clarify the misunderstanding he has."

Her eyes grew wide. "No. Please don't. Y-you don't have to do that."

Yating frowned. "Why? Will he misunderstand again?"

A look of helplessness and exasperation came through her face. "It will all…just become too complicated at this stage. I just want to give Yin and me some time."

Yating remained silent. A strange sense of irritation washed over him looking at Chyou with her lowered gaze. This diffident and collapsed self of hers was far from her cheery and sparkly Queen self.

"Chyou," he quietly whispered. "A relationship is empty without trust."

Her eyelashes trembled.

"You are explaining yourself to him now. Then you will do that again. Then you will keep doing it and you won't even realize that all you are doing is only ever trying to prove yourself innocent to him. If it happens once, it will simply keep happening again."

Chyou parted and closed her lips. "...L-look. I will be honest with you. Maybe it's the past marriage talks that happened between us that bothers him a bit more…"

"So you are sure he won't act this way if you make another male friend tomorrow? Is it just specifically a problem with me?"

Chyou's silence was more than enough of an answer. Yating leaned back on the chair and looked away. The quiet air continued to hang like a discomforting melody.

He asked the inevitable question.

"What do you wish to do then?"

Chyou pressed her lower lip, slightly shivering. She clasped her purse. From a small gap through the zip, the Q pendant's chain lightly shone. That only added to her difficulty.

"...I think we should k-keep some distance…from now on."

As she said that, something somewhere in her heart squeezed so tightly that she felt as if it was bleeding. As if a part of her was shutting down and a piece of the real Chyou was disappearing.

Her eyes ached. "Yin is going through a lot, Yating. F-Fighting addiction is tough but he is doing his best…Only for my sake. Only so that he could stand tall with pride in front of my family. And if he sees something like this happen…then it's not wrong if it affects him. In fact, he might think that I am slipping away from him because of his problems or because I am growing tired of him. He might feel less of himself and I don't want that…"

Yating silently listened to her.

"He is doing a lot for me and now I am feeling that I am just being selfish and always going at my own pace even if it hurts him," the corner of her eyelash became wet with tears. "Maybe the feeling of our relationship didn't sink in me yet, so I kept acting like that."

Chyou's breath remained stuck in her throat as if her own source of life was strangling her. She couldn't meet his eyes, knowing what she had heard last night.

If what Yating said was true, then she was not only unable to return his feelings but was also taking away the friendship they shared. The last semblance of connection they had was also vanishing.

Yating could do nothing about it. He hadn't expected for things to take this turn but now that they had, the only choice was to accept it.

After a long time, he turned his gaze at her with a smile. "I understand, Chyou. We will do what you wish. I only want to see you happy."

Tears slipped down her cheeks despite wanting them not to.

"Heyyyy come on! Don't look like that or Uncle will kill me if he learns about this," he sweated. "Uncle Zhu dotes on you a lot. I wouldn't want to get on his wrong side."

Yating joked, trying to dissipate the grim tension. But it didn't make Chyou smile. Instead, a prickly sensation gripped her heart further.

"I…I am really…sorry-"

"Hey!" He glared at her. "I will seriously scold you if you apologize. There is no place for any apology between us, okay?"

A lump formed in her throat, unable to speak anything.

"Wellll since this could be the last time we are spending time like this together, let's have a hearty lunch. And this time, you are paying, okay? Take this as compensation from my side," he grinned. "You cannot back out, okay?"

Chyou stared at him. "This is too little of a compensation."

He shrugged. "Less or more, you are paying the bill."

A sad, melancholic smile formed on her lips. "Yes...I won't back out....from this."