He lured her deep into his trap, using both overt and covert methods to seduce her.

When Zhou Yan came out after changing his clothes, he found the living room empty, and his face instantly darkened.

He walked quickly to the window and saw Wei Yinuo's slender figure hurriedly walk out of the apartment building and quickly disappear around the street corner.

He took out his phone, but stopped in front of his contacts.

He then realized that he didn't have her new number at all.

His slender fingers hovered in mid-air before finally pressing the lock screen button heavily.

The sun was still shining brightly, but the temperature inside the apartment seemed to have suddenly dropped.

Zhou Yan stood by the window, his gaze falling on the glass of milk on the dining table that Wei Yinuo had barely touched.

After running out of the residential area, Wei Yinuo leaned against a sycamore tree by the roadside, panting heavily.

The September sunlight filtered through the leaves and fell on her face, casting dappled shadows that revealed her slightly reddened eyes.

She took out her phone to call a car, and the moment the screen lit up, more than thirty unread messages popped up one after another.

She immediately swiped away Xu Ning's chat window. After seeing the message from Song Zhi, she quickly replied, then hailed a taxi and kept her forehead pressed against the cold car window the entire time.

Half an hour later, the taxi came to a smooth stop at the entrance of the residential area.

"arrive."

The driver's voice startled her awake.

When Wei Yinuo got out of the car after paying the fare, she noticed that her palms had been pinched by fingernails, leaving four crescent-shaped red marks.

She took out her phone to call her mother, but out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of a familiar figure standing under the camphor tree in front of the apartment building.

Xu Ning's white shirt billowed in the wind.

The moment he saw her, his dull eyes suddenly lit up.

Wei Yinuo paused in her steps.

Xu Ning walked quickly toward her.

"Nono."

"Is something wrong?"

Her voice was calmer than I had imagined.

Xu Ning's Adam's apple bobbed a few times: "I'm sorry."

“No need,” Wei Yinuo interrupted him. “Enough with the apologies.”

"Can we...not break up?"

Xu Ning felt empty inside whenever she thought about breaking up with Wei Yinuo.

Looking at the boy who had once stirred her heart, Wei Yinuo suddenly noticed that the dark circles under his eyes were even deeper than when they last met.

“Xu Ning,” she said softly, “I gave you a chance.”

These words were like a blunt knife, and Xu Ning's face instantly turned deathly pale.

Of course he remembered that Wei Yinuo had reminded him when they had a video call before.

But at the time, he was hoping for the best, thinking that Wei Yinuo was abroad and wouldn't be able to find out.

"But I really only like you!" Xu Ning suddenly grabbed her wrist. "I've already broken up with her, please give me a chance."

"I don't like you anymore."

Wei Yinuo broke free from his hand.

Xu Ning staggered back half a step, then suddenly burst into a nervous laugh.

"You don't like me? Then who do you like?"

His gaze sharpened. "My cousin? Zhou Yan?"

Wei Yinuo turned to leave, but Xu Ning suddenly pulled her back.

The boy's gentle features were now twisted horribly: "You were at his house last night, weren't you? I saw my brother's post on WeChat Moments."

Wei Yinuo asked in confusion, "What WeChat Moments?"

"At 2 a.m., you were eating noodles at his house, and he posted it on his WeChat Moments."

Wei Yinuo paused for a moment, then remained silent.

Zhou Yan scoffed coldly: "So, you admit it?"

Wei Yinuo frowned: "What do I admit? Let go."

"Zhou Yan has a thing about emotional purity; do you think he'd want someone like that..."

Before he could finish speaking, Wei Yinuo raised her other hand and slapped him.

A crisp slap sounded.

Xu Ning tilted her head, and a red mark quickly appeared on her left cheek.

He slowly raised his hand and touched his cheek, as if he couldn't believe he had been hit.

"Xu Ning," Wei Yinuo shook her numb right hand, "don't ruin the last bit of beauty."

She turned and walked towards the building entrance, ignoring Xu Ning.

Back home, Wei Yinuo slumped onto the sofa, the leather creaking softly.

Xu Ning's phrase "emotional fastidiousness" was like a sharp icicle, chiseling at her heart again and again.

Suddenly, my phone vibrated.

Wei Yinuo glanced at it; it was a text message from Xu Ning.

Nono, I'm sorry.

Wei Yinuo's finger trembled slightly as it hovered above the screen before finally swiping to open the delete option.

The moment she clicked confirm, she felt a strange sense of relief.

As if possessed, she opened WeChat and found Zhou Yan's number in the blacklist.

After removing him from the blacklist, open Zhou Yan's Moments.

He posted an update at 2 a.m. last night.

A photo of myself eating noodles, without showing my face.

A text message was edited onto the photo.

The children are back, and the house feels warm and welcoming again.

Upon seeing this post on WeChat Moments, Wei Yinuo felt a lump in her throat, and tears uncontrollably streamed down her face, landing heavily on her phone screen.

So sad.

It felt like I was suffocating.

Wei Yinuo curled up on the sofa.

She was sobbing softly.

Until the sun set outside the window.

Wei Yinuo slowly sat up straight and picked up her phone to call her mother.

"Mom, I want to go back."

She spoke directly after the call connected, her voice as dry as the wind in the desert.

"So fast?" Fu Ya's voice was filled with surprise. "Your grandfather said he wanted to..."

"Please apologize to Grandpa for me," Wei Yinuo interrupted her mother, her nails unconsciously digging into the seam of the sofa. "The plane tickets are booked; I'm leaving right away."

There was a few seconds of silence on the other end of the phone before someone spoke: "Does Xu Ning know?"

“He knows.”

"Why are you in such a hurry? Are you with your mother?"

"I want to go back to class."

"But your mother is worried about you being alone."

"It's okay, I can take care of myself."

Fu Ya sighed: "Then you should tell your uncle and aunt."

"Well, I will."

"Send me your plane ticket, and let me know you arrived safely."

"it is good."

After hanging up the phone, Wei Yinuo immediately booked the earliest flight, took a screenshot of the ticket, opened WeChat, and sent it to Fu Ya.

After seeing Zhou Yan's WeChat message, Wei Yinuo paused for a moment, opened it, and then exited.

Half an hour later, Wei Yinuo arrived at the airport.

A gentle female voice was announcing boarding information over the airport's public address system.

Wei Yinuo stood in the security check line, her phone screen lighting up and then going dark.

When the security personnel gestured for her to come forward, she suddenly started typing rapidly.

Zhou Yan, I'm leaving.

The moment I clicked send, I switched to airplane mode, as if afraid I'd regret it.

The clouds outside the porthole were dyed golden red by the setting sun, and Wei Yinuo stared blankly into the distance.

The flight attendant was demonstrating safety instructions, her fingers unconsciously rubbing the edge of her phone.

"Excuse me, may I pass?"

When the deep male voice sounded beside her, Wei Yinuo subconsciously moved closer.

She only turned her head sharply when that familiar, chilling aura invaded her senses.

"You." Wei Yinuo's voice caught in her throat, and the boarding pass in her hand fell to the ground at her feet.

Zhou Yan reached out and picked it up.

He waved his two boarding passes, which were for adjacent seats, a glint of light in his eyes. "What a coincidence, looks like we'll be neighbors for seven hours."

Wei Yinuo's ear tips turned red at a visible speed: "How could you...?"

"Someone left without saying goodbye," Zhou Yan said slowly, unbuttoning his cufflinks, "and then turned off their phone after sending the message."

He suddenly leaned closer. "Tell me," he said, "how should I punish this little runaway?"

Warm breath brushed past her ear, and Wei Yinuo froze in her seat.

As the plane began to taxi, Wei Yinuo secretly glanced at the person next to her out of the corner of her eye.

Zhou Yan was resting with his eyes closed, his eyelashes casting tiny shadows under his eyes.

She quietly placed her hand on the armrest between the two of them, and the next second her hand was completely enveloped by a warm palm.

"Got you."

Zhou Yan kept his eyes closed, but his thumb gently rubbed her wrist bone. "Don't even think about sneaking away this time."

Outside the window, the last ray of sunlight pierced through the clouds, gilding the clasped hands with gold.

【End of full text】