"Rest assured, I have no interest in him."
"No interest? Then why are you dressed like this? Don't think that I don't know what you're up to." Wen Ting'er's expression broke into an icy smile. "Li Shengxia, everyone knows that your family has never-ending needs. You want to appear before Tangyi in such a dismal state so that he'll help you fill those holes that can never be filled, right?"
"Miss Wen, you're overthinking this. I'll feel sick if I take back what I've already thrown away."
Li Shengxia had not finished speaking when she saw Yin Tangyi walking towards her. He happened to hear what she had just said, and his expression stiffened for an instant. Then he walked to Wen Ting'er's side as if nothing had happened, putting his arm around her waist.
This was the first time Yin Tangyi had made the first move. Wen Ting'er was secretly overjoyed and immediately shot a provocative look at Li Shengxia, smiling triumphantly.
Li Shengxia saw that she was no longer the one standing next to the person she had once loved. The place that was once hers had been seized and conquered by someone else. She could not stop her heart from aching.
His eyes seemed to be layered with ice, burying his former tenderness under a frigid layer of frost.
What she had thrown away…
Yes, he was something that she had thrown away…
Yin Tangyi's gaze passed over her body, noticing her loose, disheveled hair that hid half of her face. Although she was not wearing makeup, her beauty was still undeniable. It was just that one shoulder strap of her aqua blue dress had snapped, and she was barefoot on the deck with one shoe dangling from her hand. She looked forlorn indeed.
He had actually hoped that she came here to crash the party, but seeing her in this state made him wonder if she still had feelings for him.
Yin Tangyi's mother, Qiu Haitang, heard the commotion and walked over. At a glance, she noticed Li Shengxia in the crowd, and she could not conceal the revulsion in her eyes…
What was this woman doing here!
Qiu Haitang parted the crowd and came before Li Shengxia, her loathing clearly displayed on her face. "Miss Li, I wonder what purpose you have in coming here today without being invited?"
Qiu Haitang's hostile, derisive expression would make anyone uncomfortable.
Li Shengxia forced herself to calmly say two words: "Passing by."
"Passing by? You'd better just be passing by." The contempt in Qiu Haitang's eyes did not diminish, and her voice dripped with scorn, as if Li Shengxia was a sticky piece of candy that had gotten stuck and could not be shaken off.
This woman had taken the money and left Qiu Haitang's son, promising not to hurt him ever again. Now she showed up here. How could she just be passing by?
It looked like Li Shengxia had not given up on her son!
Naturally, Li Shengxia could understand what was being implied. She would rather have shown up here dressed splendidly. At least she would not be so humiliated. She really was just passing by, but she could not convince anyone. No one believed that she did not have an ulterior motive.
"Look at what you're wearing. Even if you're just passing by, at least dress more appropriately!"
Qiu Haitang saw that Li Shengxia did not speak, and added on irritably. Her eyes did not hide the scorn she evidently felt. There was no doubt that she meant Li Shengxia looked like a vixen.
Li Shengxia clenched her fists tightly. She respected Qiu Haitang as an elder, more so as Yin Tangyi's mother, so she had never spoken a harsh word to Qiu Haitang. However, Qiu Haitang found fault with Li Shengxia at every turn, as if she would not give up until "utter disgrace" was written all over Li Shengxia's face.
Li Shengxia's body trembled slightly. With so many people around, so many pairs of eyes had turned to Li Shengxia because of Qiu Haitang's words. Their various looks of contempt, doubt, and suspicion were suffocating her!
However, just then, Yin Tangyi walked up to her and said, "Let's get you a change of clothes."
Yin Tangyi actually stood up for her? Li Shengxia stared at him in bewilderment. She wondered if this was an act of kindness towards a stranger or an act of nostalgia for a past lover.
The circumstances of their breakup were so bitter, still burning vividly in her mind. Such intense love-hate had shattered everything that was good between them. Why was he not ignoring her completely?
She came to her senses and refused him in a faint voice. "That's not necessary."
Nonetheless, he acted as if he did not hear her. Extending his hand in an expectant manner, he gently took her by her fair wrist and repeated, "Let's go."
Li Shengxia watched as his lanky figure shrouded her. In his seemingly unruffled gaze, there was a loneliness that could not be concealed.
Her body suddenly trembled slightly. He was still the same as before, but she was not. Her Ah Yi was no longer hers, and she had lost the right to his tenderness.
She broke free of his grasp and told him, "I can walk by myself."
His empty fingers felt unusually cool, and his gaze at her revealed a subtle restlessness. How he wished she had come here just for him, to see if he still had any lingering regrets. In that case, he would boldly take her hand and run away with her to the ends of the earth. Wherever she went, he would follow!
However… Her eyes showed nothing but clear indifference. When she looked at him, she seemed to be looking at a stranger.
She even said the words he did not want to hear at all.
"It's your engagement banquet today. Your fiancée is right beside you."
Yin Tangyi looked at her and said steadily, "I'll stop the engagement for you."
He said it so matter-of-factly that Wen Ting'er was stunned! Naturally, Qiu Haitang's expression turned sour as well! She had gone to such trouble to get her son engaged — how could it be broken off just like that!
Li Shengxia breezily spat out a few words. "I'm sorry, but I'm already married."
His expression froze for an instant, and he could barely choke out, "Married? How's that possible?" He was still waiting for her to change her mind. How could she be married?
Wen Ting'er immediately looked delighted, 'A few days ago, I heard that her stepmother wanted to marry her off to a man she'd never met. Marry off — more like sell off. To think that it's actually true? Looks like Li Shengxia is being tormented by that person?'
"Since you've gotten married, we wish you well," Wen Ting'er said out loud. 'Tangyi, don't you agree?"
Yin Tangyi paid no mind to Wen Ting'er at all, and neither did Li Shengxia. This embarrassed Wen Ting'er to no end and she unconsciously balled her hands into fists.
Yin Tangyi looked a little jittery as he stared at Li Shengxia. "Shengxia, since you've come, this means you still care about me…"
Still, Li Shengxia gazed back at him serenely. "I didn't come here to see you, and I don't regret the decision I made back then."
His face stiffened. He could only stare at her dazedly as if this was all just a dream.
Li Shengxia's heart clenched brutally. She knew that he might be waiting for her to turn back, but in some matters, there was no turning back once a choice had been made.
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