After I Found Out My Boyfriend Was Pretending to Be Poor - Chapter 7

Ignoring the tension between them, I grabbed my pajamas and escaped into the bathroom.

When I came out, Huo Yanchuan was hand-washing the underwear I’d taken off, without being asked.

His face was still stormy. After a moment’s hesitation, I walked over and wrapped my arms around his waist.

“I’m sorry. I promised I’d make him get over me. I didn’t expect him to go this far for me. Next time, I’ll push him away right away.”

Conflict flashed in Huo Yanchuan’s eyes. In the end, he only gave an indistinct grunt of agreement.

Once the laundry was finished, he lay down with the same cold expression and went straight to sleep.

After making sure he was asleep, I tried my old trick again.

“I actually lied to you. Zhou Xinglan and I never had a baby. I only wanted to get closer to you. Doesn’t that make me awful? Wicked?”

“Now that you know the truth, you’ll hate me, won’t you? Maybe you’ll never want to see me again.”

Then I changed tack, quietly shedding tears.

“But what did Lan do wrong? It’s all my fault. I’m too cowardly.”

“He loves me so much, and I’ve let him down.”

“Maybe I should give up my feelings for you and try to accept him.”

I carefully kissed the corner of Huo Yanchuan’s mouth.

“Let this be my last goodbye.”

I’d barely brushed his lips and started to pull back when he caught the back of my head and kissed me himself.

He had no experience. His movements were clumsy and impatient, leaving me tingling.

I pushed him away in a fluster, playing the girl whose secret crush had just been exposed.

“Y-you weren’t asleep?”

His voice was hoarse. He started playing dumb too.

“You stole a kiss.”

Still trying to argue with me, huh?

“Yes. I kissed you.”

As if staking everything on one last chance, I leaned down and kissed him again.

He stiffened for a moment, then began responding as I coaxed him along.

Only when I’d kissed him breathless did I push him away and say quietly, “Actually, Zhou Xinglan and I got back together.”

His eyes instantly reddened. He looked at me through gritted teeth.

“Then what am I to you?”

“What have I been to you all these days?”

Oh, please. Zhou Xinglan had beaten him hard enough, and now I’d provoked him into getting possessive over me.

Why pretend it was some great love?

I shook my head helplessly.

“I don’t know. I don’t know how things got like this.”

“Yan, what should I do?”

He fell silent at once.

See? Give him a difficult question, and suddenly he had nothing to say.

If I got back together with Zhou Xinglan, all the suffering he’d endured lately would have been for nothing. He’d be a complete joke.

But if he really chose to be with me, the agonizing conflict started all over again.

I was his best friend’s girlfriend. Wouldn’t that prove every accusation Zhou Xinglan had made against him?

Tormented, Huo Yanchuan went out to clear his head.

He’d barely left before Zhou Xinglan sneaked into the bed.

How had I never noticed he had such a talent for being the other man?

The next day, Huo Yanchuan casually handed me a check for ten million yuan. His voice was steady and cool.

“If ten million yuan and Zhou Xinglan fell into the water at the same time, which would you save?”

Honestly, man. If you’d asked that sooner, why would you have put yourself through all this romantic misery?

I understood immediately. He didn’t want to steal his best friend’s girlfriend outright. But once Zhou Xinglan and I split up for good, he wouldn’t have that concern.

I sneered inwardly. Idiot.

Zhou Xinglan and I hadn’t got back together at all. He was still hoping to win me back by being the other man.

Seeing me hesitate, Huo Yanchuan hurried to add, “If you really can’t choose, let me remind you that Zhou Xinglan is a swimming champion…”

“The ten million,” I answered before he’d finished.

Huo Yanchuan had just breathed a sigh of relief when Zhou Xinglan sprang out.

He lost it completely.

“And you said you weren’t after her! What the hell are you doing, then? No wonder you told me to pretend I was broke to test her. You wanted to seduce her with your money all along, didn’t you? I trusted you like a brother! Is this how you repay me?”

Afraid Huo Yanchuan might change his mind and take back the ten million, I immediately stepped in.

“Don’t fall out with your best friend over me. I’ll just use his money to support you. You’ll have to settle for being my bit on the side, though.”

To his shame, Zhou Xinglan was tempted.

This time, he would win back his place and reclaim everything that belonged to him.

Huo Yanchuan struggled for a long time, then went silent again.

I didn’t mind. You could never have too many servants.

And if all else failed, I could always take the twenty million they’d given me and run.