Yan sat in an empty room at the ramen restaurant all day. She made countless mistakes that day—from taking the wrong order to serving the wrong customer. The more she tried to help, the more of a mess she made. The workers at the restaurant could not bear to watch her any longer. They grouped up and brought her to a vacant private room on the second floor to let her rest.
Once Yan sat down, she stayed sprawled over the table and was completely out of it. She felt her belly every now and then while having an empty look in her eyes. How could this happen at a time like this? If I had known about it sooner, I wouldn’t be stuck in this situation here right now.
She became more torn up the more she thought about it. Although she had no intention of falling asleep, her eyelids felt heavy from not getting any sleep the night before. Whenever she closed her eyes, she would hear in her mind, Xu Yanwan is Han Qing’s fiancée. You’re the third person! It kept her awake the whole time. Nonetheless, she was pregnant and she had stayed up many nights before that, which made her exhausted.
Alas, Yan finally fell asleep on the table, but she had a nightmare. In her nightmare, Xu Yanwan forced her against a wall and snapped, “I’m the one who should be by his side. I’m his fiancée. Who do you think you are? You’re just the third person. Do you think you even have a fighting chance?”
Then, all the workers at the Han Group pointed at her and mocked her.
“Oh my gosh! She’s so shameless to get involved in someone else’s love affair. Is it nice being a mistress? How can a girl do something like that? She has no shame or dignity!”
“You’re right. She comes to the company every day to send him soup too. Is that how she wins guys over? There’s nothing good about women like that. She will get abandoned sooner or later.”
“That’s why she’s just a homewrecker. Homewreckers will never win.”
“You disgusting homewrecker. Can you get the hell out of the Han Group? Don’t ever come to our company again. Just seeing you makes me feel sick!”
In her dream, she saw people whom she had met before and some that she had not. All of them were looking at her with animosity and accusing her. She kept backing away from their overwhelming accusations until she bumped into someone behind her. When she looked up, she met Han Qing’s chilling gaze. He looked at her coldly and uttered, “Stop pestering me from now on.”
N-No, this is not right. I didn’t mean to do this. If I knew he had a fiancée, how could I still have stayed close to him? I wouldn’t do that. She kept shaking her head in denial while stepping back anxiously. At some point, she stepped into air and tumbled down the stairs.
“Ah!” Yan awoke from her scream. She clutched onto her belly and felt her racing heart almost beat out of her chest. After falling down the stairs in her dream, she saw blood trickle down her legs and felt a sharp pain in her belly.
Is it because the dream felt too real? She started to feel a blunt pain growing in her belly. Beads of cold sweat from her forehead fell on the table. Before she could calm herself down, the door behind her flung open. Luo Huimei ran over in a panic and bent down next to her. “What’s wrong Yan?”
Upon seeing Luo Huimei, Yan immediately peeled her hands away from her belly. She took a few deep breaths then shook her head. “I’m fine, Mom.”
“How are you fine when you screamed so loudly just now? Look at you; you even broke into a cold sweat.” Luo Huimei felt her heart ache and wiped off the sweat on Yan’s forehead with a piece of tissue paper.
“I’m really fine.” Yan pushed her hand away and plopped back down on the table. “I just had a nightmare. I wouldn’t scream so loudly for no reason and worry you.” She took another deep breath and continued, “Mom, I want to leave for a bit.”
Luo Huimei immediately responded, “Where to? I’ll come with you.”
Yan shook her head. “I don’t mean anywhere nearby, but outside of this city by myself where I can take a breather and let off some steam.” She could not stay here any longer. Since Han Qing was here, she wanted to go to another city for a while and let things get better with time.
“Outside of this city?” Luo Huimei’s expression did not look good. “How can I rest assured letting you go off on your own in the state that you’re in now?”
“Why not?” Yan pursed her lips and smiled, “I’m an adult now. I’m not trying to kill myself and I won’t get kidnapped either. I just want to let off some steam. Don’t worry, Mom, I will be back as soon as I feel better. I just need you and Dad to look after the shop while I’m away. But if you’re tired, we can just close the shop for now.” She did not have any more energy left to look after her shop. She did not mind even if she failed to live up to Lin Xuzheng’s expectations. I’ll just let him take me as someone who goes back on her words and who is irresponsible. With that, she closed her eyes wearily.
…
Yan moved into action right away once she made her decision. She planned to start packing as soon as she returned home that day, but who knew she would see Han Qing’s car and Han Qing himself outside her house? When she spotted him, she did not know how long he had been waiting for. But she took the chance before he noticed her to quickly move forward and make her way upstairs while keeping out of his line of vision. At the moment, she did not want to meet him or speak to him.
Regardless of how fast she walked, however, he still had longer legs than her. He caught up to her in a second and blocked her path.
“Let me pass. I don’t want to say a word to you.”
Seeing her hostility, Han Qing walked toward her with a heavy heart. “Can’t you try to calm down and talk to me?”
Talk? About what? Yan wanted to laugh at his question. Talk about how I became a homewrecker? She was especially sensitive about the topic. When she thought about how everyone, except her, knew that Xu Yanwan was Han Qing’s fiancée, she felt faint.
“Excuse me, sir. I think I made myself very clear to you last night. We broke up. Moreover, I definitely can’t be friends with you. We’re just strangers now. Why are you blocking my path? If you don’t want me to call the police, then please get out of my way right now.”
His frown deepened after hearing her words. I didn’t think she would be so resolute this time and go to such extremes. How badly did I hurt her? “Yesterday—”
“That’s enough! I don’t want to hear it!” She covered her ears and shook her head violently as she stepped back. “I don’t want to hear anything you have to say. Get out of my way. Now!”
She thought of the people in her dream scorning her and the burden she felt from their spiteful gazes. She knew that she could not overcome all of that. The moment she got agitated, she started to feel a blunt pain growing in her belly again and supported herself against the wall as her face became pale.
