100 Days with the Contract Lover - Chapter 127
Without a second thought, Yu Nuanxin flatly refused, “Who-who wants to shower with you!”
“What’s there to be afraid of? It’s not like I haven’t seen it before,” Nangong Yao’s smile was teasingly charming, but Yu Nuanxin had no time to appreciate it. Her mind was already in chaos, completely shutting down!
Even by dinner, she was still tangled up in the question of whether or not they had ‘done it.’
Nangong Yao watched her muttering to herself, lost in her thoughts, and couldn’t help but chuckle. “We’re married, is there really a need to be so hung up on this?” He seemed relaxed, not bothered at all, and even found the mood to tease her.
“Of course, there is!” Yu Nuanxin shot back, glaring at him angrily. “You said it yourself, we’re just married in name. Why should I let you take advantage of me!”
“Shouldn’t you be the one taking advantage? I don’t just sleep with any woman,” Nangong Yao replied with a hint of his characteristic arrogance.
The way he said it, it was as if she should be grateful and honored.
“Are you saying I’m the kind of woman who sleeps around?”
“Those are your words…”
“You…” Talking to him was like asking for trouble, so Yu Nuanxin decided to ignore him. But after a few minutes, driven mad by her own spiraling thoughts, she couldn’t help but ask, “Last night… did anything really happen?”
Nangong Yao stifled a laugh. Was there anyone more gullible than her? If he said something happened, did she really have no sense of it herself?
Last night, she was so drunk she threw up all over herself and him in the middle of the night. He only took off their clothes because of that. But with a drunk person, what desire could he possibly have?
Still, teasing her was quite entertaining, and he wasn’t tired of it yet. So, with a mischievous heart, he pretended to answer seriously, “You figure it out yourself!” Then he got up and left, leaving Yu Nuanxin to stew in her own confusion.
…
The next morning, as soon as she arrived at the office, Chen Ran hurried over and said, “Lawyer Liang is resigning!”
Yu Nuanxin’s face turned pale. She had called him several times yesterday, but he hadn’t answered. She had a feeling this was coming.
“Did you two have a fight? Why else would he suddenly resign?” Seeing her still standing there in a daze, Chen Ran quickly urged her. “Go talk to him!”
Liang Jingtang had just come out of Yu Linglong’s office. He glanced at Yu Nuanxin and then returned to his desk to pack his things. Colleagues were trying to persuade him to stay, but he just smiled and said nothing.
Yu Nuanxin knew she had no face to confront him, but Chen Ran pushed her forward, forcing her to speak with difficulty, “You’re-you’re resigning?”
“Yes,” Liang Jingtang replied, keeping his head down as he packed, not looking at her. Despite his efforts to tidy up, he still looked worn out, his spirits low, with noticeable dark circles under his eyes.
“Say something, say something,” Chen Ran whispered in her ear.
Yu Nuanxin had a thousand things to say, but at this point, what could she say? She really had no face or right to persuade him anymore. “Well… good luck…”
Chen Ran and the other colleagues were speechless. Wasn’t she supposed to persuade him? How could she just watch him leave?
Liang Jingtang felt a pang of disappointment but forced a smile. “Thank you!”
Yu Nuanxin practically fled back to her desk, unable to watch Liang Jingtang being surrounded by colleagues as he left. Her nose tingled, her heart ached, filled with guilt. She was the root cause of this mess, yet she could do nothing about it. She hated herself for it.
“Nuanxin, how could you, how could you let Lawyer Liang leave like that?” Chen Ran was both anxious and angry.
“He’s already made his decision. I don’t know what else to say.”
“At the very least, you should have seen him off! He’s been so good to you! You can’t be so heartless.”
This struck a chord with Yu Nuanxin. Indeed, he had been so good to her, yet she didn’t even have the courage to see him off. Her avoidance had hurt Liang Jingtang once already. This time, she couldn’t run away. So she dashed out, catching up with Liang Jingtang at the company entrance.
“Wait!”
Liang Jingtang paused but didn’t turn around, trying to keep his voice calm and steady. “Is there something you need?”
“I have something to say to you…” Yu Nuanxin clenched her fists, summoning her courage. “I’m sorry!”
It turned out all she owed him was an apology. Liang Jingtang gave a bitter smile. At this point, what was he still hoping for? How ridiculous!
He didn’t even bother to respond, simply walked away.
“I’m not finished… Please, let me finish, okay? I know you must hate me now, maybe even despise me, but I never intended to hurt you. I admit, this whole thing was my fault from the start. I shouldn’t have hidden the fact that I was married from you. I don’t even know what I was thinking at the time. But I can assure you, I didn’t do it to deceive your feelings.”
“I never imagined you would fall for me. I just wanted to focus on my work, and my personal life seemed unrelated, so…”
“So it’s my fault? I shouldn’t have fallen for you?” His usually gentle demeanor was pierced by sharp words for the first time, turning to look at her with hurt and anger, “Did I bring this upon myself?”
“No, that’s not what I meant!”
“Fine! I can understand you not knowing my feelings at first and hiding it from me. But what about later? I gave you time and opportunities to be honest with me. Why did you still choose to hide?”
“I… You were so good to me. I didn’t want to hurt you, so I didn’t have the courage to speak up.”
“But did you ever consider that this was an even greater hurt to me?”
“…” Yu Nuanxin was silent, at a loss for words. What was there to explain? The fault was entirely hers; her cowardice and incompetence had hurt him. “I’m sorry…”
Apart from apologizing over and over, she didn’t know what else to say. Even if she laid her heart bare for him now, he wouldn’t believe it, would he?
Were they back to square one, with just “I’m sorry” between them?