Chapter 7

Chapter 7

I thought that between Gu Yanzhou and me, things would at least progress steadily through this lingering ambiguity.

But once you lose your heart to someone, the thing you fear most is learning the truth.

After the Old City Project reached a critical juncture, Gu Yanzhou became increasingly busy. There were several times I woke up in the middle of the night to find him still on the balcony making phone calls, his silhouette as cold and rigid as a wall.

I knew he was hiding something from me.

But I never expected that what he hid deepest was the very part I cared about most.

That day, I went to the company to drop off some documents for him. Just as I reached the door of the conference room, I heard a lawyer’s voice coming from inside.

“As long as your wife continues to cooperate, once we have the authorization in hand, the Second Young Master won’t be able to turn the tables. Even if the marriage ends then, it won’t affect your control over the project.”

My footsteps froze.

Through the door, Gu Yanzhou remained silent for a few seconds before speaking in a cool, indifferent tone.

“Proceed according to plan for now.”

“And regarding your wife…”

“Don’t let her know.”

Those four short words stabbed into me like a blade.

I stood outside the door, my fingers icy, even breathing becoming painful.

So, Gu Zeqian’s remark about me being a pawn had hit the mark after all.

I returned to my studio alone and forced myself to work on my drawings, but the entire sheet ended up a chaotic mess. When night fell, Gu Zeqian was actually waiting for me downstairs.

Leaning against his car, he smiled triumphantly when he saw my soul-crushed expression.

“You heard?”

I didn’t say a word.

He took a step closer, his voice low and malicious.

“Xu Yutang, I told you long ago-in Gu Yanzhou’s eyes, you’re no different from a project. You think he protects you, kisses you, and coaxes you because of love? Don’t be stupid. He’s just buttering you up until you’re at your most compliant, so he can swallow everything your father left behind in one gulp.”

“Shut up.”

“Why should I shut up?”

Gu Zeqian stared at me, looking like he had finally won a round. “At least with me, there was some actual liking involved. With him, it doesn’t even count as liking. You’re just a tool he’s using to beat me.”

I knew perfectly well that his words weren’t necessarily all true.

But what people fear most isn’t a total lie.

It’s the half-truths that strike exactly where it hurts the most.

When Gu Yanzhou came home that evening, I had already laid the marriage certificate and that agreement on the table.

His expression darkened the moment he walked in and saw them.

“What is the meaning of this?”

“Exactly what it looks like.”

I tried my best to appear calm, but my voice still trembled. “Gu Yanzhou, I will cooperate and finish this act with you for the rest of the year. Once the project is over, we’re getting a divorce.”

Gu Yanzhou stood in the entryway, unmoving.

Yet the atmospheric pressure seemed to drop inch by inch.

“Who told you something?”

“Does it matter?”

I looked up at him, the bridge of my nose stinging. “What matters is that you really were using me from the very beginning, weren’t you?”

He fell silent.

In that single second, my heart went completely cold.

“So it’s true.”

“At the very beginning, yes.”

Gu Yanzhou’s voice was heavy, sounding as if the words were being forced out of his chest.

“I needed a legitimate reason to keep you by my side-and to keep the authorization with me.”

My eyes instantly turned red.

“And later?”

Gu Yanzhou stepped toward me, but I took a step back.

His footsteps halted abruptly, as if stung by my movement.

“Later, I regretted it.”

“But you didn’t say anything.”

“I was waiting for things to conclude.”

“Waiting until you’ve won everything, and then you’ll come tell me that you actually liked me a little?”

I laughed until tears came out.

“Gu Yanzhou, you really are too good at calculating.”

Gu Yanzhou stared at me, the layer of restraint in his eyes finally cracking.

“Xu Yutang, do you think I came home tonight to keep calculating against you?”

“Then why did you come back?”

He crossed the distance between us in a few strides, too forceful for me to retreat further. His palm clamped around my lower back, yanking me into his arms.

“I came back because I wanted to see you.”

He looked down, his eyes bloodshot, his tone bordering on a loss of control.

“I haven’t seen you all day. My mind was full of nothing but you while I was driving back. And now you’re holding a divorce agreement and asking me if I’m using you?”

Being held like this made my heart a mess, and my tears fell even harder.

“But you still lied to me.”

Gu Yanzhou held me, his grip tightening bit by bit, as if he wanted to crush me into his very bones.

“Yes, I lied.”

His voice was incredibly hoarse. “It was my own bastardly fault for scheming against you at the start. But every time I protected you, touched you, and wanted to keep you by my side after that-all of it was real.”

My heart gave a violent tremor.

But the wound had already been torn open; it wasn’t something a few sentences could mend.

I reached up and pushed him away, my vision so blurred by tears I could barely see him.

“Gu Yanzhou, I don’t believe you right now.”

He stood there in silence for a long time. Eventually, he only said one word.

“Fine.”

Then he turned and left.

That night, I thought I had finally preserved my last shred of sanity.

But only after he truly left did I realize that my chest felt as empty as if a piece of me had been carved out alive.