Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
The fact of the matter was that Xie Zhuojun already knew the true face of Shangguan Rouxue and was struggling to get away from her.
He was just finding it difficult to let go because Shangguan Rouxue was so tricky and he himself was so fickle.
Shangguan Ning didn’t feel sorry for him. He had been so sure of his choice when he had decided to choose Shangguan Rouxue over her, all those years ago. He had been so determined to end their engagement back then. He didn’t care about anyone else’s feelings and he behaved as if he would not be able to live if Shangguan Rouxue wasn’t with him.
Cut to the present, he was already regretting his decision. All this even after he had gotten what he wanted!
Xie Zhuojun felt dizzy at the sight of Shangguan Ning’s pretty face. She was flawless, in character and in her looks. How had he not noticed all this before? Was it because Shangguan Ning was like a pearl that was covered in dust back then or was it because he was just blinded by his own selfish motives?
She had blossomed into a confident young woman. She was no longer the immature teenager that she used to be. Her true personality had begun to emerge. She was unstoppable.
Here was an amazing woman, he had pushed away from himself, on his own accord.
Xie Zhuojun found it very difficult to get over the bitterness that stirred inside his heart.
Seeing that he was staring at her in silence, she couldn’t help but frown as she asked calmly, “Mr. Xie,is there anything you want to tell me? I am a busy woman and I have no time to watch you staring at me. I hope that this is the last time that you will visit this place.”
Mr. Xie…
Hope that this is the last time …
Her words and her tone wounded him further. She sounded so distant and she looked so indifferent. She was telling him in clear words that she didn’t want him here.
Xie Zhuojun mumbled, “Ning, I… am sorry… that I misunderstood you before!”
After Shangguan Ning had slapped Xie Zhuojun,the last time he visited her at Jingsheng, she felt no anger or resentment towards him. All she felt was indifference.
Shangguan Ning didn’t feel it worth her while, to be angry with a man like Xie Zhuojun.
Therefore, she didn’t feel any sense of achievement or happiness, when she heard him repenting.
“You have apologized to me before and you don’t need to apologize any more. If you are here just to say sorry to me, then you can leave because I have already heard you.”
Shangguan Ning didn’t sound emotional or unsure. She didn’t sound furious or relieved, as Xie Zhuojun had imagined her to be.
Didn’t she care anything about him anymore? Didn’t she care about how he felt?
“Ning, don’t you like me? Because it seems as if you don’t care about me at all…”
Shangguan Ning didn’t expect him to ask such a question. Had he lost the plot after being tricked by Shangguan Rouxue?
She said coldly, “Xie Zhuojun, you give yourself too much importance. I am telling you today, in simple words, that I don’t like you. I was forced to get engaged with you, because your parents and my good father threatened me and my uncle. They said that if I didn’t marry you, they would falsely implicate my uncle and send him into prison, under charges of fraud.”
Xie Zhuojun was appalled.
So that was the truth of everything!
He had never known that Shangguan Ning had agreed to get engaged with him, because of this terrible reason.
His mother had always maintained that Shangguan Ning got engaged with him and took care of him, because she liked him.
How could this be possible? Why was everyone lying to him? Why was he always the last one to learn the truth!
He felt as if he was stuck in this horrible web of lies, spun by all his dear ones, ever since he had recovered from his coma, four years ago.
Xie Zhuojun had no courage to ask Ning what he was about to ask her now, but he simply had to know. “Weren’t you heart-broken after I broke off our engagement? If you didn’t like me, how could you have felt so much pain that you even left home to stay abroad for four years, so that you could get over me?”
“Besides, going abroad for studies wasn’t something that I intended to do. It was Shangguan Rouxue who made it all happen. She kneeled down in front of your parents and begged me to leave! She had even got my plane tickets ready for me. Honestly, I was actually quite happy to leave. You two disgusted me and I didn’t care about my family, who were equally ruthless. So now you know, I went abroad not because I couldn’t get over you but because the circumstances were such.”
Xie Zhuojun knees gave way and he collapsed onto the sofa in distress.
He wasn’t sure how any more such truths had Shangguan Rouxue concealed from him. The closer he got to the truth, the more pain he felt at being cheated.
Everything was changing. Shangguan Rouxue was changing, and so was Shangguan Ning.
Some things once lost, were gone forever. One such thing was Shangguan Ning’s love for him. She used to care about him and take care of him. She had put him on a pedestal and worshipped him. She put him before her, always, but now all that was gone.
Shangguan Ning didn’t feel good either, when Xie Zhuojun spoke of the past.
Every time she met Xie Zhuojun, she was reminded of what a pushover she had been. How she had been treated like a doormat by those who were the most dear to her. No one noticed how much she cared about them or how much she had invested into the relationship. In this regard, Xie Zhuojun had been the most ruthless.
In fact, how he behaved right now only made Shangguan Ning think even less of him!
Wasn’t he deeply in love with Shangguan Rouxue? And weren’t they kneeling down in front of her, holding hands, begging her to approve of their love?
She did approve of their love, and now he was sorry?
Nothing came easily!
“Also, congratulations to you. You are going to be a father soon. You’d better go back and take care of the pregnant woman, otherwise she will have to find other means to earn her living. You are so irresponsible that you are ok with letting a pregnant woman, who is already unwell, beg and plead for a role in a movie. If this were to become public knowledge, people would assume that Family Xie are too poor to be able to fend for their own child.”
Shangguan Ning went on to provide all details of what had transpired between both the sisters, that morning. She told him about how Shangguan Rouxue was trying to manipulate her way into the film industry. She had correctly guessed that Xie Zhuojun would not know about all this.
When Shangguan Ning had expressed her desire of working towards being a professional tennis player to Xie Zhoujun’s parents, four years ago, they had disapproved. They had thought that Ning was too outgoing to be a good wife. That Shangguan Rouxue wanted to get into the entertainment industry was definitely something that they wouldn’t approve of.
Till Shangguan Ning was engaged to Xie Zhoujun, Wang Lu was very nice to her and even treated Ning like her own daughter, but after Xie Zhuojun broke off the engagement with her, she was a completely different person.
Shangguan Ning had gauged her correctly. When Xie Zhuojun stopped caring about Shangguan Rouxue, Wang Lu would’ve stopped being nice to her too.
Xie Zhuojun looked up in surprise,”Sorry? What did you just say? Xue on movie set? That is impossible. She had promised us that she was never going to be associated with the entertainment industry.”
“Oh, then that is good. Since you aren’t alright with her being a part of the entertainment industry, then my actions have helped your cause. I have not only ensured that she doesn’t work in any movie henceforth, I have also had her fired from her current job of a television presenter.
The channel has asked her to take a year’s sabbatical. Now, she can be Mrs. Xie, wholeheartedly and take care of you for the rest of your life.”
Shangguan Ning had just gone on to describe Xue’s worst nightmare, in a very calm voice.
He sprang up from the sofa all of a sudden and jumped to Xue’s defence. “What did you do to Xue?”– he asked.
Shangguan Ning smiled. “Want to hear more stories of how vicious I am? Then ask your fiancée! She will give you all the details. Hopefully then, you will be able to tell the difference between who is right and who is wrong. Who is lying and who is speaking the truth.”
It was as if Shangguan Ning was sure that Shangguan Rouxue would portray her to be the villain. Shangguan Ning didn’t want to waste time and energy explaining anything to Xie Zhuojun, because no matter what she said, he would definitely defend Shangguan Rouxue. He would always think that everyone had taken advantage of his darling Xue.
