Derailed - Chapter 8
Shen Yilin settled into the firm quickly. Apart from his first-day mishap, he made no further trouble.
Before long, the weekend arrived.
Yu Huan had a wedding to attend: Liang Shiyun’s, the former CEO of Lida Real Estate, a company her firm worked with.
The groom was a celebrated architectural designer and the bride’s university classmate. They had been each other’s first loves and found their way back together after many twists and turns. Their story could have outdone a romance novel.
Gao Yan attended too—as a groomsman.
His suit matched the groom’s in color, but he wore a tie instead of a bow tie.
Fortunately, the groom was handsome as well. Otherwise, Gao Yan’s commanding presence and exceptional looks would inevitably have made him the center of attention.
From her distant seat among the guests, Yu Huan watched people gather around him to talk and offer toasts.
She had to admire him. Whatever the social circle, he moved through it with complete ease. The sight inevitably brought back memories of high school.
Only when the wedding began, and the simple ceremony gave way to speeches from friends and family, did she return to the present.
“It’s an honor to be a groomsman at this wedding. I’m Gao Yan, the groom’s university roommate and the bride’s classmate.” On the red-carpeted platform, he accepted the microphone and turned toward the handsome couple. “As you can see, they went to university together. But if you ask how they got together, I think I deserve a little credit…”
He began telling their story: how he had urged the groom to enter a competition that caught the bride’s attention; how they fell in love and secretly dated without telling their classmates; how distance separated them, and how, years later, one of his projects brought them together again.
“It’s been ten years. I’ve witnessed their difficulties and their determination along the way. At last, they’re husband and wife.”
He nodded to them with a sincere smile, then turned to the guests.
“Let’s wish them every happiness.”
He was a natural leader. Whatever he said, he made people feel it. The room burst into applause as he finished.
But amid the clapping and cheerful congratulations, Yu Huan overheard some gossip.
“Great speech. It would’ve been even better if he’d included the part where he pursued the bride himself.”
“Ha! Can you stop being so mean?”
“Seriously, I really admire him. He made such a big show of chasing Liang Shiyun back then, and now she’s marrying Chu Xia, he’s actually a groomsman. Does he think all our classmates have forgotten?”
“That’s why he’s going places. As long as he isn’t embarrassed, everyone else can be.”
They laughed.
The two men nearby spoke with a distinctly sour edge.
Their apparent praise barely concealed mockery, and the jealousy beneath it was obvious.
That didn’t surprise Yu Huan. What surprised her was the content: Gao Yan had once pursued Liang Shiyun.
She looked at the bride on the platform.
Liang Shiyun wore a beautifully fitted white wedding dress that showed her alluring collarbones, with a fresh, elegant veil. She looked like a lily still wet with dew: graceful and lovely.
From their previous dealings, Yu Huan knew she possessed not only beauty but excellent character and considerable talent.
Even Yu Huan, a woman herself, found her appealing.
But just as Shen Yilin had said that Yu Huan didn’t look like someone who wrote love letters, Gao Yan didn’t look like someone who actively pursued women.
From the schoolgirls writing him letters to the women she’d seen scheming to get close to him in recent years, he’d never lacked attention. Yet he never showed anyone particular favor or concern.
His high-school girlfriend had pursued him first. So had the woman he broke up with a couple of years earlier.
Before Yu Huan and Gao Yan became friends with benefits, she’d accidentally witnessed his former girlfriend ending their relationship.
The woman accused him of seeming like a competent boyfriend—considerate, accommodating, preparing gifts and surprises for special occasions—while always lacking a little initiative, a little genuine investment.
“Do you really care about me? Why does it feel like what you care about is the word ‘girlfriend’? Whoever has that title gets your attention. There’s nothing special about me. You could replace me whenever you like.”
Those were her exact words.
Yu Huan found it hard to imagine what someone like Gao Yan would be like when he truly liked someone and tried to win her over.
She looked away and sent him a message.
*Nice wedding speech. I hear the bride was your dream girl. If you need to cry, you can come to me.*
Gao Yan was still on the platform, taking the final group photographs with the newlyweds and their friends and family. He took out his phone, glanced at it, then suddenly looked toward the audience.
His gaze moved across the tables, pausing ever so slightly at hers. It looked almost accidental.
But Yu Huan knew he’d seen her. There was a hint of displeasure and warning in his eyes.
Perhaps she shouldn’t have made that joke.
She lowered her head. Her phone vibrated softly with his reply.
*Cry against your chest?*
She had nothing to say to that.
She really shouldn’t have made the joke. Frowning, she hadn’t yet replied when her phone vibrated again.
Another message from Gao Yan: four digits that looked like a room number, followed by one instruction.
*Come over in five minutes.*
