100 Days with the Contract Lover

Yu Nuanxin was jolted awake by the blaring horn, frowning as she opened her eyes. Liang Jingtang’s heart skipped a beat, and he quickly settled back into his seat, forehead glistening with cold sweat. For the first time, he felt like a thief, so guilty that his shirt was damp.

“So noisy…” she murmured, complaining softly. “What happened?”

Just as she asked, the car across from them turned off its lights, and the horn stopped blaring.

“Nothing, you’re home!” Liang Jingtang tried to keep his voice steady, but a hint of nervousness slipped through.

Yu Nuanxin noticed his tense posture and the awkward look on his face, not daring to turn back to her. It was odd. “What’s wrong with you? You’re sweating.” Without thinking much, she pulled out a tissue to wipe his face, which only added fuel to the fire. Liang Jingtang’s face flushed all the way to his ears, and he quickly took the tissue from her. “I’ll do it myself…”

“Oh…” Even he seemed a bit off.

Looking around, she realized they were back “home.”

“Thanks for dinner. I’ll head home now. Next time, it’s my treat!” She smiled playfully, and Liang Jingtang couldn’t help but be a little mesmerized. “Alright! Be careful on your way!”

…

Yu Nuanxin waved goodbye to Liang Jingtang, letting out a sigh of relief. As she rummaged through her bag for enough money to catch a cab, she headed towards the bus stop, only to bump into a wall of a person. The aura was cold and all too familiar!

She froze for a moment, a sense of foreboding washing over her. It couldn’t be…

Looking up, she met Nangong Yao’s ever-icy expression. He said nothing, his face taut, looking down at her with a gaze that trapped her in a small space, as if ready to settle scores.

Alarm bells went off-danger, danger-

“What are you doing here?” Had he seen something? His lips remained sealed, his gaze growing darker and colder, prompting her to swallow nervously. “What a coincidence, maybe I could catch a ride with you? I’m a bit short on cash…” She laughed awkwardly, trying to lighten the mood. “Where’s your car?”

Nangong Yao grabbed her arm, his lips moving like ice blades. “Quite the coincidence! Every time you’re sneaking around, I catch you!”

So, he really did see?

“Yu Nuanxin, your tricks are endless. With Wu Lian, it’s the lakeside cabin. With Liang Jingtang, you pretend this is your home. What, don’t want him to find out you’re already married? I thought your feelings were deep, that he didn’t mind you being a married woman. Turns out, he’s just another one of your prey.”

When mocking her, his words flowed smoothly, hitting where it hurt most.

“Liang Jingtang and I are just friends!”

“I’ve heard that excuse too many times.” Nangong Yao’s eyes were filled with disdain and weariness. The more she denied and defended herself, the more he found her detestable. If she didn’t want him to see her as a fickle woman, she should have been more careful. Why did she always act like she was being wronged, as if he was falsely accusing her?

Yu Nuanxin was utterly speechless. He claimed to be tired of her explanations? Well, she was tired of explaining too! Who was it that kept clinging to this issue, insisting on accusing her of “cheating”? If he truly believed that, then why did he keep coming to her, forcing her to explain? And whenever she did, it only invited more of his vile insults.

“What? Nothing left to say?” Nangong Yao sneered at her coldly. Her attempts to defend herself only fueled his desire to mock her further. Yet when she remained silent, he would fly into a rage, assuming she was tacitly admitting guilt.

“What do you expect me to say? I’m just a person having dinner with a friend, which is perfectly normal. You’re the one stalking me, accusing me falsely, leaving me speechless.”

“Dinner with a friend is normal, and kissing is normal too, right? I shouldn’t have turned on the car lights and interrupted your little rendezvous!” The thought of that scene made Nangong Yao’s eyes sting. If he hadn’t intervened, would they have kissed? And then, straight to the bedroom?

Or perhaps they had already been to bed together! For a woman like her, sleeping with other men was probably no big deal.

There were several nights she hadn’t come home, right? She must have been lying in the arms of her lover.

“Kissing?” Yu Nuanxin was truly impressed by his imagination and ability to accuse, “What nonsense are you talking about? I was asleep!”

“Really asleep, or pretending to be asleep so he could kiss you? Playing hard to get, you’re quite skilled at it!” Nangong Yao remarked bitterly. “When he leaned in to kiss you, I should have fulfilled my duty as a husband, turning a blind eye and letting you ‘cheat’!”

“He kissed me? How could that be! It was so dark, you must have seen wrong!”

“I saw wrong? Yu Nuanxin, do you take me for a blind man or a fool? That close, could I possibly see wrong?”

“I…” Yu Nuanxin was thoroughly speechless. Nangong Yao, with his stubbornness and arrogance, was only interested in humiliating her, not in hearing her explanations.

She had suffered enough losses to know better than to try defending herself.

Ever since joining Global, she had been working beyond her limits every day, exhausted to the point of collapse, unable to deal with his unreasonable antics and verbal assaults.

“If you have any more insults for me, just get them over with. I’m really tired and want to go home! I’m begging you!” She softened, pleading with him, her eyes dim and slightly moist, like a child who had been wronged, stirring a hint of compassion in Nangong Yao’s heart.

He didn’t want to argue either, didn’t want to become sharp-tongued. But every time something like this happened, he couldn’t control his emotions and wanted to fight with her. Even though arguing didn’t make him feel any better, it only made his anger worse.

He didn’t want to look at her anymore, releasing her hand and getting into the car. Seeing her still standing there, head lowered, he impatiently honked a few times, urging her. “Do you plan to stay here all night?”

Yu Nuanxin silently got into the car, fastening her seatbelt.

His face was cold, the car filled with a heavy atmosphere, the pressure low. Both of their hearts were overwhelmed by a suffocating feeling, unable to breathe.

Yu Nuanxin opened the window, the wind howling past her ears, but it still didn’t make her feel any better.

She suddenly felt that this life was exhausting, like being trapped in a bottomless abyss. The whole world was dark, with no hope in sight.

She really wondered what the point of living like this was.