Water and Fire~Chapter 124: We Broke Up

 

Chapter 124: We Broke Up

When Chu Qianmiao heard Tan Shen announce his relationship with Ren Yan, she didn't know whether the world was spinning, or she was.

All her doubts were now explained.

That's why Ren Yan hadn't brought her to his family for so long. Because his family, his grandmother, was Tan Shen's grandmother. That old lady had met her, when she was Tan Shen's girlfriend.

So, when she confessed her feelings to him before, he had rejected her so righteously, but then he came back to her. He pushed her away, then held her, over and over again. Was it because she had once been his brother's girlfriend?

That's why he always kept her from telling Tan Shen that they were together. He was actually afraid that if Tan Shen found out about their relationship, his relationship with Tan Shen would also be exposed, and then things would escalate into the current state.

It turns out that doubt isn't necessarily a bad thing when it's just a doubt. It's when it's resolved that it's truly chilling.

Chu Qianmiao gritted her teeth. A cold sweat formed, and her body temperature dropped.

She wondered what kind of people these two were who could be so closely related, yet so perfectly act like strangers in front of her.

It was truly terrifying.

She turned to look at Ren Yan. She didn't need to say anything; her eyes, her pale face, her terrified expression told him, "Tell me what's going on."

Ren Yan didn't dare meet her gaze.

He turned to Tan Shen and asked him coldly, angrily, "What do you want?"

Tan Shen was irritated by his words.

He almost instantly erupted in rage, pointing at Ren Yan and roaring, "Ask yourself! Didn't you say neither of us would touch her? I promised you, and I did. I haven't looked for her in a while, haven't I? But what have you done? You secretly made her your girlfriend. She, Chu Qianmiao, is mine, my woman." His expression suddenly darkened, his lips curved in a strange, sinister arc, and his voice took on a strange cadence. "Cousin, you wouldn't even bother touching someone who isn't mine, so why are you still touching her?"

At the end of his words, Tan Shen looked at Ren Yan and raised his hand to point at Chu Qianmiao.

"Tan Shen, shut up! Are you really going to say this in front of her?" Ren Yan shouted.

He turned to see the color draining from Chu Qianmiao's face. His heart ached with blood loss.

But he couldn't silence the frantic Tan Shen.

"Why should I shut up? Didn't you say you'd give her to me? Why go back on your word, Ren Yan? You're a treacherous villain!" Tan Shen pointed at Ren Yan, his expression growing increasingly ferocious.

You wouldn't even touch her if she wasn't mine? Didn't you say you'd give her to me? Why go back on your word?

Chu Qianmiao felt like she was about to collapse, even as she held onto the table.

Ren Yan came to help her, then turned to Tan Shen and growled, "Tan Shen, shut up! Get out of here!"

Her head and ears were buzzing. She pushed him away; she didn't need his support.

Was she an object, to be tossed around by these two brothers?

She suddenly remembered how Ren Yan would become so frantic whenever he mentioned Tan Shen. He seemed to be competing with her in bed, exerting so much force that it almost hurt. She'd assumed he was just jealous. But was he really just grappling with his own disdainful principles? Should she be grateful to him because he loved her so much that he'd even given up such a crucial principle?

She gritted her teeth, her throat practically tasting fishy.

Regardless of how far along she and Tan Shen were, on what terms, on what grounds did they gang up on her and put her in this situation? If any of them told her the true nature of their relationship, she would have stayed away from them.

She tried to steady herself, not to faint or fall. She tried to speak, but her voice was almost impossible to utter. It felt like she had used all her strength to tear open her vocal cords, only to utter a raspy sound. She turned to Ren Yan and asked, "Are you cousins? Why did you keep this secret from me? You see me stuck between you two brothers. What am I?" Was it a joke? An object? A joke?

Tan Shen, grinning grimly beside her, told her nonchalantly, "You're the woman we share."

The color drained completely from Chu Qianmiao's face.

Ren Yan rushed forward and punched Tan Shen in the chin. He used his fist to block his hurtful, obscene words. Tan Shen was knocked over, staggering and nearly falling. After regaining his balance, he rushed forward and punched back.

Chu Qianmiao leaned on the table and watched the two brothers tussle.

It was truly ugly.

They looked truly ugly.

At that moment, she suddenly realized something.

Every time he mentioned Tan Shen, Ren Yan desperately wanted her. Even whenever he was with her, he wanted her. This repetition of wanting her was not only a compromise, but also a way to prove that she was completely his, not just a woman shared by the two brothers.

At that moment, Chu Qianmiao felt dizzy, her ears ringing, her mind a tangle of confusion, as if every nerve had been ripped out.

She felt like she couldn't breathe, couldn't think. The table couldn't support her anymore, and she stumbled back two steps, leaning against the wall. She tried hard to calm herself.

She looked at the tussling brothers.

She wondered how they managed it. They were clearly brothers, yet every time they met in front of her, they seemed like strangers. They were terrifying, terrifying. Every time they met, they mentally called each other "brother" or "little brother," while she sat between them, a clueless fool.

A knot of suffocation clung to her chest, and she felt like she was suffocating.

She wondered what kind of perverted tricks these brothers were playing on each other.

A woman shared by brothers.

She truly felt that this world was too ugly.

She swallowed her breath and struggled to open her mouth. She finally found her voice. She felt herself shouting, but she couldn't quite reach the volume she desired. Her voice seemed stuck, and even with all her might, only a thin, hoarse sound came out.

"You two, stop!"

The two men fighting each other stopped and looked at her.

She could hear her voice taking on the tone of an angel from hell: desolate, cold, and sinister.

"So, all this time, you've been treating me like a fool, hiding it from me while I maneuvered between you two?"

She saw the pain on Ren Yan's face. She saw the hesitation on Tan Shen's face.

She looked at Ren Yan and thought, "Okay, just a little more pain, as much as I'm feeling right now, the heart-wrenching pain of being constantly deceived."

She tore her vocal cords, uttering, "Listen, even if I, Chu Qianmiao, have no future, I won't spend my whole life maneuvering between you two, becoming a trophy in your brothers' feuds."

She heard Ren Yan call her Qianmiao and tried to approach her. His mouth cracked.

She shouted at him to stop.

She stared at him, her heart suddenly aching as if pierced by thousands of arrows, a burning pain, a pain like being cut by a thousand knives.

If this was the outcome, why had he come back to her in the first place? Wouldn't it be better to just let them miss each other after her confession was rejected? Why go through so much trouble, only to end up with the same outcome?

"I don't want anything personal to do with either of you anymore."

She pointed at the door and said, "Get out."

He called her "Qian Miao." She could hear the heartbreak in his voice.

That was fine; her heart had already been broken.

Tan Shen called her back. She didn't want to hear it.

"All of you get out," she said again.

Neither of them moved.

She turned away, not wanting to look at them again.

"Get out."

She said softly, yet resolutely.

Chu Qianmiao almost called the police. Before that, she had finally gotten rid of both Ren Yan and Tan Shen.

She blacklisted both their contact information. She sat in the office for a long time. She thought she would cry, cry hysterically, sob until she collapsed. But not a single tear came.

She smiled and wondered, "Is this the greatest sorrow of all? A broken heart?"

She knew Ren Yan hadn't really left. He must still be nearby. She didn't want to face him alone.

She sat trembling in her office.

Then her phone suddenly rang. Gu Miaoyu's name flashed on the caller ID.

Gu Miaoyu's voice was tinged with confusion. "Shuishui, you and Ren Yan had a fight, and he said he'd offended you. He asked if I had time. If I do, I'll pick you up at your office."

Chu Qianmiao thought she was calm. But her voice told her she was lying. Her voice trembled as she told Gu Miaoyu, "We didn't have a fight. We just broke up."

Gu Miaoyu immediately said, "Stay at the office and don't move. I'll pick you up right away."

That night, after Gu Miaoyu took Chu Qianmiao home, she collapsed onto her bed.

Her head was splitting, and she couldn't think.

Deception, betrayal, heartbreak—all the most negative emotions in the world assaulted her.

She took some headache medicine, lay down, and drifted off to sleep. She woke up groggily at some point. She drank some water and porridge, then groggily recounted the evening's events to Gu Miaoyu.

She drifted off to sleep again, under Gu Miaoyu's shocked and distressed gaze.

Before falling asleep, she heard Gu Miaoyu caressing her head and saying bitterly, "Is this family insane? They're so dramatic with each other, but why would they drag you into this? Damn, all men are pigs! Shuishui, you're right. Their family is such a mess. You should break up and stay away from them. There are plenty of good men in the world."

Hearing Gu Miaoyu's words, the corners of her mouth curled up, a curve that made her heart ache.

She thought she had to fall asleep quickly; if she did, she would know nothing.

She thought "sleep" was wonderful. It was like a castle, a place where those who wished to forget their worries could hide, resting in peace and tranquility.

But after all, one couldn't sleep forever.

The next morning, Chu Qianmiao woke up as usual.

She opened the curtains, and the sun rose outside the window as usual. The earth hadn't been destroyed overnight by someone's heartbreak.

She still had work to do and a family to support. The project application was imminent. It turned out that she only had time for one night of grief.

She left the room.

Gu Miaoyu had already prepared breakfast and was hesitant to speak to her.

She asked what was wrong, what had happened.

Gu Miaoyu hesitated for a moment and said, "Nothing. I went downstairs to get breakfast this morning and saw Ren Yan. He'd been downstairs all night. Seeing me, he asked, 'How are you? Are you okay?'" "

She uttered a faint "hmm" and went to the bathroom to wash up.

Looking up, she saw herself in the mirror. Her eyes were swollen. She thought, how strange! Could it be that she had cried in a dream?

During the day, Chu Qianmiao was in the conference room, reviewing the application materials as usual. She wondered how she had managed to do it, as if the events of the previous evening had never happened.

During the meeting, she saw Ren Yan walk past the glass wall outside the conference room and head for his office.

He had arrived at the company.

So, during a break in the meeting, she knocked on his office door, walked in, and greeted him with a confident, businesslike smile.

She saw his brows furrowed tightly, and for a moment, he seemed to be unable to breathe.

She felt a wave of suffocation as she thought about every word the two brothers had said last night. She thought, after all, sadness is fair; she wasn't the only one suffering.

She smiled and said to him, "Mr. Ren, after I finish this project for Jeheng Group, I plan to resign. Just letting you know." After all, it was her own project, so she had to finish it.

He looked at her, staring deep into her eyes. He asked hoarsely, "Is there no way we can salvage this?"

She smiled at him, "Yes. There's no way we can salvage this." Then she reminded him, "Mr. Ren, it's not appropriate for us to discuss personal matters during work hours." "

How can they redeem themselves?

Forgive his deception and continue to be the woman they share? Even if she wasn't, in the darkest corners of his heart, he must have thought she was. Otherwise, why would Tan Shen's name be so unmentionable?

So how can they redeem themselves? She can't throw away her dignity for love.

Her resolute attitude brought back that heartbroken look in his eyes.

Before she could no longer bear that look and turned away, he had fortunately turned away first.

He turned his face toward the window.

His Adam's apple rose and fell. His hands, resting on the table, clenched into fists and trembled slightly.

After a moment of his Adam's apple moving, he turned back.

He seemed to calm down and said to her, "You don't have to leave, I'll go."