After I Was Gone, Mr. Song Said He Loved Me - Chapter 42 - Song Yu Tells Me He Doesn't Like Me

Song Yu’s gaze made my heart tremble, and I forced a smile, asking, “What’s wrong with me?”

Song Yu opened the newspaper on the table to the front page, where the headline boldly declared: “Zhang Jishu May Step Down as Chairman and President of the Board of Boyang Electronic Technology.”

Though the small print was too dense for me to read, the headline alone was shocking enough.

I had to admit, Zhang Jishu’s wife was truly decisive, stripping him of his executive powers overnight.

“How did you come up with using Zhang Jishu’s wife to counterbalance him?” Song Yu asked with a smile.

I scoffed, replying disdainfully, “Isn’t that what you taught me?”

Song Yu raised an eyebrow, seemingly puzzled by my words.

“A honey trap!” I shrugged self-deprecatingly.

Back when I was used as bait for Wang Li’an, it was to expose his true nature, getting him caught red-handed by the police and pulling him down completely-a classic honey trap scenario.

I simply followed suit, letting Zhang Jishu’s wife catch him in his infidelity. The principle was the same.

Song Yu shook his head with a knowing smile, understanding what I meant.

Yet he ignored my veiled accusations and instead praised me, “Very good. Since you can fully handle this task, go downstairs for breakfast and start working at Huanya from today.”

Finally, he added with a deep meaning, “I hope you achieve even better results.” Then he stood up and walked towards the door.

“President Song!” I called out to him.

Song Yu turned to look at me, “What is it?”

My hands twisted at my sides, and I finally took a deep breath, asking, “Last night… were you…”

“Nothing happened last night.” Song Yu replied coldly, his gaze indifferent, as if the person who lost control last night was someone else.

But I knew it was him, a side of Song Yu I had never seen before.

“Then why… why were you waiting for me outside my building? Why did you care if Zhang Jishu touched me?”

“…You have some feelings for me, don’t you?” I looked at Song Yu intently, my bright eyes reflecting his image, asking cautiously as if afraid to shatter the fantasy that had just risen in my heart.

Song Yu’s deep eyes lingered on my face for a moment, and he said, word by word, “I don’t like you.” With that, he opened the door and left, not even leaving a trace of his presence.

I stared blankly at the closed door, feeling as if all my strength had been drained, swaying slightly, followed by a series of self-deprecating, desolate laughter.

This was the first time Song Yu clearly told me he didn’t like me.

Those three words were like a sharp dagger, piercing my passionately beating heart, leaving it bleeding.

Song Yu had personally killed my longing for love, severing the countless ties between us.

I had always stubbornly deceived myself, pretending not to care, yet constantly finding excuses for Song Yu, unable to completely erase him from my heart.

This time, I had no reason to deceive myself any longer.

Song Yu mercilessly extinguished the last bit of hope I held deep in my heart, making all our past entanglements seem like a ridiculous farce, with only me lost in it, unable to extricate myself.

Tears fell silently to the ground, burying my unfulfilled love along with them.

The dream shattered.

And I awoke.

In the days that followed, Song Yu didn’t contact me directly anymore, not even a phone call. Any personal business was relayed through Luo Yewen. The only time he reached out was to inform me that the residency procedures for the apartment at Yungang Garden were completely finalized, and I could move in anytime. I didn’t refuse. After all, for the sake of that 2 billion city construction project, I nearly lost half my life to Wang Li’an’s schemes, so accepting this apartment felt justified.

To adapt to life without Song Yu, I threw myself into work during the day, clocking in on time every day, never slacking off. Although the employees at Huanya were curious about me, the newcomer parachuted into the Public Relations Department, no one dared to point fingers or criticize, thanks to my title as Song Yu’s personal public relations.

At night, I’d meet different people for drinks, hit the bars, living the extravagant lifestyle I once yearned for. What made me happiest was fulfilling my promise to Jiang Chenyang and the others, saving one hundred thousand each for their drink tabs, as a thank you for telling me about Lu getting beaten up.

People often say the quickest way to forget someone is to fall for someone else. I tried to open up to others, even considering some intimate gestures with those I found appealing. But at the final step, I couldn’t help but think of Song Yu, remembering the moments when he held me and we roamed freely.

My body even reacted with stress; when someone touched or caressed me, I ended up vomiting, my stomach feeling like it was filled with burning coals, causing excruciating pain. The boss pushed me away, called me a drunk, and walked off.

I lay in the private room of the bar, laughing until I cried. What should I do? I still miss Song Yu terribly. I miss him so much. But why won’t he like me even a little? Just a little would be enough.

Clutching my spasming stomach, I curled up, cold sweat pouring down like raindrops. In a panic, I fished out the omeprazole from my pocket, swallowed three pills at once. Lately, my stomach pain had become more frequent. After a hospital check-up, the doctor initially diagnosed it as a stomach ulcer based on my description, but a definitive conclusion required a gastroscopy.

Afraid of undergoing the procedure, I sneaked away and bought some ulcer medication from the pharmacy. After taking it a few times, it seemed to alleviate my stomach pain. I couldn’t help but admire the doctor’s skill, and since then, I’ve kept omeprazole on hand, taking a few pills whenever the pain strikes.

Despite my frequent nights out drinking and clubbing, I’ve never been late for work because of it.

I didn’t want others to think I was Song Yu’s personal public relations, using that as an excuse to ignore company rules. On the contrary, I tried my best to keep a low profile among my colleagues because Huanya was truly a place full of talented people.

I worked on the 26th floor of the Huanya Building in the Public Relations Department. I used to think that in big companies, the young men and women in the PR department were involved in shady dealings.

It wasn’t until I actually joined the PR department that I realized how foolish and laughable my assumptions were.

The PR department of a large company is closely linked with the Legal Department, Marketing Department, Sales Department, and others. Internally, it involves budgeting for various activities, organizing and executing events, coordinating and hosting. Externally, it requires the ability to handle major company incidents and aftermaths, maintaining the company’s image and reputation without any negative impact.

I was a special case in the PR department.

I lacked the ability to plan and coordinate, and I wasn’t skilled in handling PR crises. Being thrown into such a group made me feel like I was sitting on pins and needles. Fortunately, I had a sweet tongue, could read the room, and my clean-cut, handsome appearance helped me get along with my colleagues.

The top boss of the PR department was a woman in her forties from M Country named Lisa. She used to work at the headquarters in M Country and was promoted by Chi Jin’s father, a major shareholder of Huanya. Later, she married her husband from Z Country and returned to Z Country, staying in the Asian branch as the manager of Huanya’s PR department.

Due to her connection with Chi Jin’s father, Lisa naturally treated Chi Jin with great courtesy and care.

Chi Jin worked in the Marketing Department, which was on the same floor as the PR department, so I inevitably encountered him often. However, I always kept my distance from him.

Firstly, because no matter what, I was still Song Yu’s personal public relations, and getting too close to Chi Jin might invite criticism. Secondly, knowing he was sent back to monitor Song Yu, I tried to stay as far away as possible to avoid unnecessary trouble.

But sometimes, certain people or things can’t be avoided just because I want to.

December arrived, and Christmas came as scheduled.

Huanya, being a multinational company with its headquarters in M Country, had many M Country employees in the Asian branch who couldn’t go home for the holidays.

Every Christmas, Huanya hosted an internal staff party with interesting themes.

This allowed foreign employees who couldn’t return home to feel the festive atmosphere and gave local employees a chance to relax from their busy work.

Everyone was looking forward to this year’s Christmas event because the theme was “Costume Party.” Employees could dress up as their favorite characters from movies or anime, and the best King and Queen of the event would be chosen, with generous prizes awarded.

This was my first time participating in a large company event since joining Huanya.

I prepared meticulously for the event and chose an elf prince costume, a character I adored from a Hollywood movie.

The stylist at the cos studio transformed me into the character with silver hair and blue eyes, carefully crafting makeup that suited my bone structure. Finally, she selected an embroidered white robe reminiscent of medieval Europe.

Once everything was complete, the young women at the studio eagerly asked to take photos with me, complimenting my looks, and some even boldly asked for my contact information.

Looking at the vivid “elf prince” in the mirror, I couldn’t help but feel a surge of delight and found myself looking forward to the evening’s masquerade ball.

Though I was reluctant to admit it, I had to acknowledge that my anticipation was largely because Song Yu would be attending the ball as well.

It would be our first meeting in over a month.

Recently, I’ve been listening to this song:

“Lie”

The most naive thought I ever had was to go home with you

But the rain was too heavy that day, and we lost each other

The most moving lie I ever heard was your sweet talk

Didn’t you say you would never leave?

I feel like I’m falling into a bottomless black hole

An irresistible weightlessness

Dreams in the depths of the vortex seep into the night with a dull ache

In your eyes

What category do I belong to?

Forgive me for being unable to save myself

The most naive thought I ever had was to go home with you

But the rain was too heavy that day, and we lost each other

The most moving lie I ever heard was your sweet talk

Didn’t you say you would never leave?

The evening breeze blows away the warmth of the sunset

But it can’t take away the wounds you gave

I’ve thought of a thousand reasons to let go

But I can’t escape the embrace you once gave me

The most naive thought I ever had was to go home with you

But the rain was too heavy that day, and we lost each other

The most moving lie I ever heard was your sweet talk

Didn’t you say you would never leave?

I feel like I’m falling into a bottomless black hole

An irresistible weightlessness

Dreams in the depths of the vortex seep into the night with a dull ache

In your eyes

What category do I belong to?

Forgive me for being unable to save myself

……

The more I listened, the more it reminded me of Bai Yu and Song Yu. Thinking of their ending, my heart was a whirlwind of emotions.