Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Disappointment pooled in her chest, heavy and unspoken. Xia Wanzhi pulled her hand back, stood up, and walked to the door. She pulled it open, her tone brook no argument. “You should go. I’ll go back tonight to explain the cancellation of the engagement to your parents. At the latest, I’ll be moved out by tomorrow evening.”

From now on, they would go their separate ways, their paths never to cross again.

Zhou Yu’s hands hung limp at his sides. It took a long while before he slowly stood up, his voice strained and thick. “Do you really have to be this heartless?”

Xia Wanzhi remained silent. The standoff was exceptionally quiet.

“I’ve liked you since we were kids,” Zhou Yu said, a bitter laugh escaping him. In his disheveled state, he looked particularly pathetic. “We’ve been engaged for nearly three months, and I’ve always followed your pace. Ask yourself-does this even feel like a relationship?”

“Every time I want to get close to you, you pull away. Your eyes are only on your Studio and your clients. When have you ever cared about me as your fiancé?”

“Xia Wanzhi, have you ever actually liked me?”

Zhou Yu pressed her, his eyes rimmed with red. He was terrified; he couldn’t bear the consequences of Xia Wanzhi leaving him.

His entire life had revolved around her. Now that things had come to this, he was unwilling to let go-deeply, desperately unwilling.

Xia Wanzhi closed her eyes, suppressing the bitterness in her heart. Her voice was very soft. “I did.”

Zhou Yu snapped his head up, his pupils shrinking as he stared at her in disbelief. A surge of joy momentarily eclipsed his complex emotions. He took a step forward, only to see Xia Wanzhi take a large step back.

“But the person I liked was that spirited, high-flying teenager from years ago,” Xia Wanzhi said, her hands clenched, her throat tightening. “Not the Zhou Yu who later put business interests above all else. And certainly not the Zhou Yu standing here now, who clearly did something wrong yet has the nerve to blame and question me just to cover up his own mistakes!”

She had agreed to the engagement because of the ‘older brother filter’ she had for the person who had protected her since childhood. But when she actually tried to be with him as a fiancée, she realized she couldn’t adapt to the shift in their relationship.

Both she and Zhou Yu had changed.

Everything that happened after the Xia Family went bankrupt, along with the change in his family’s attitude toward her, meant that they were destined to drift apart one day.

“Let’s end the engagement, Zhou Yu.” The look in Xia Wanzhi’s eyes was full of detachment.

To Zhou Yu, that look was utterly foreign.

He knew she wasn’t joking, nor was she speaking out of anger.

Between him and Xia Wanzhi, there was no longer any room for reconciliation.

Their argument ended there. Zhuzi, who had overheard everything from the painting room, marched out indignantly after Zhou Yu left to vent on Xia Wanzhi’s behalf. “What an ungrateful jerk. He’s got the face of a refined gentleman, but he’s rotten to the core.”

Xia Wanzhi let out a soft sigh, rubbing her temples as she sat down. She poured a cup of hot tea and sipped it slowly, letting out a faint, self-deprecating laugh at the comment. “People change.”

The old Zhou Yu had been disciplined and respectful.

Zhuzi huffed, her cheeks puffing out in frustration before she began to worry for Xia Wanzhi. “Can this engagement really be called off smoothly? He looked like he won’t let go easily. And where are you going to live after you move out of the Zhou Family home?”

The variables had shifted too quickly. Not just for Zhuzi, but even Xia Wanzhi herself hadn’t seen this coming.

She didn’t have any plans.

Zhuzi paced around anxiously, hands on her hips as she began to mutter, “Where on earth did your parents go? How could they bear to leave you all alone? If only they were here…”

Xia Wanzhi rested her chin in her hand and sighed inwardly.

She really was a bit broke right now.
The pathetic state she was in now was likely exactly what the old man back in the UK wanted to see.

If she made even a single phone call to them, she would lose.

“If it really comes down to it, I’ll just live in the Studio. This place is my home,” Xia Wanzhi said, her attitude remaining optimistic.

Zhuzi pulled a long face. “Have you forgotten that we’re currently being exploited and evicted by a capitalist? This place won’t be your home for much longer.”

Xia Wanzhi: “…”

Heaven truly wanted her dead.

While she was wallowing in her private sorrow, a group of people suddenly swarmed the entrance of the Studio. Leading them was Yu Fei, a man who had left a deep impression on Xia Wanzhi.

He was the kind of subordinate who could act as a bodyguard to protect a capitalist’s safety one moment and serve as a driver or secretary by his side the next.

Proficient in both the pen and the sword-a true talent.

Xia Wanzhi and Zhuzi watched them closely. They expected the group to barge in like last time, throwing down a contract for an exorbitant compensation fee and forcing her to sign it before kicking her out. To their surprise, the group only glanced inside as they passed by, disappearing after a quick inspection of the premises.

Xia Wanzhi and Zhuzi exchanged looks.

Zhuzi swallowed hard. “Does this mean your ‘home’ is safe?”

Xia Wanzhi gave a dry laugh. “If it were that easy, I’d call that man named Xie ‘Daddy.'”

A man like Xie Qiyan wouldn’t show kindness so easily.

Furthermore, their relationship wasn’t nearly good enough for that.

After a while, Yu Fei returned after finishing his inspection. He knocked on the door politely and waved a greeting through the glass.

Even though he knew Xia Wanzhi didn’t welcome him, he still had to come in to complete the task assigned by his boss.

“Miss Xia, President Xie said he will grant you one final month’s grace period.” Yu Fei handed over a new contract. The compensation amount for the breach of contract had been modified, increased by half on top of the original figure. The string of numbers following it was glaringly obvious.

The breach of contract compensation: 12.5 million.

What a lovely ‘250’ that was.

If Xia Wanzhi agreed to sign and move out, the compensation plus the returned rent would total over 15 million. This sum was more than enough to solve her current cash flow problems.

“Tell him to come and talk to me himself.” Xia Wanzhi pushed the contract back to Yu Fei with a calm expression. Since things had already reached this point, she wasn’t afraid of offending Xie Qiyan further. Every day she struggled was another day gained.

If Xie Qiyan refused to let her go, then she wouldn’t let him go either. They would see who lost patience first, and who could outlast the other.

Xia Wanzhi was determined to fight this hard battle.

Of the Thirty-Six Stratagems, if all else failed, she would resort to the ‘honey trap.’

Yu Fei cleared his throat. He didn’t linger, tucking the contract back into his briefcase and bidding a polite farewell. “I will be sure to pass along your message, Miss Xia.”

Xia Wanzhi watched him leave.

Zhuzi’s expression was somewhat complicated. “I get the feeling the purpose of his visit wasn’t actually to get you to sign that contract.”

“Yeah. He was sent by that wicked capitalist to enjoy the spectacle of my misery.” Filled with resentment, Xia Wanzhi slammed her glass onto the table. She stood up, walked into the painting room, mixed a bucket of pigment, and hurled it violently at a 1.5-meter-tall canvas.

Zhuzi swallowed hard.

It had been a long time since she had seen Xia Wanzhi create art in such a brutal fashion.

By evening, the painting was finished. Zhuzi’s brow twitched as she looked at the abstract portrait of Xie Qiyan.

This painting absolutely could not be discovered by that wicked capitalist.

Otherwise, forget 12.5 million-she wouldn’t even get a lousy 250.

Everyone knew capitalists held grudges and their methods were ruthless enough to match.