Chapter Fifteen: A Certain Method

Tao Ranming's brows were tightly knit, his expression tormented. He stepped forward, reaching for Du Zhiye’s hand, but she jerked back abruptly. Seeing her reaction, Tao Ranming’s eyes gradually reddened. He said, “No, that’s not it.”

He wasn’t protecting the person inside; he was afraid Du Zhiye would get hurt.

When Tao Ranming failed to speak for a long moment, Du Zhiye’s voice turned cold. “If there’s nothing else, I’m leaving.”

Pulled from his memories, Tao Ranming reached out to stop her. “Zhiye.”

Lowering her gaze, Du Zhiye fixed her sharp eyes on his hand. Her stare was so piercing that Tao Ranming had no choice but to let go. “Zhiye, what will it take for you to forgive me?” he asked.

She found it laughable. Did Tao Ranming even realize how his betrayal had ruined her life?

She smiled, then tugged down her collar to reveal fresh marks on her skin. Looking straight into his eyes, she said, “Tao Ranming, I’ve been with another man.”

She saw Tao Ranming stumble, shock flooding his face.

There was no satisfaction in Du Zhiye’s heart—only pain, sharp and suffocating. Yet she still forced a smile through her tears. “And I was the one who initiated it. I seduced him.”

She asked Tao Ranming, “Can you forgive me? …A woman who has betrayed you?”

Tears burned in Tao Ranming’s eyes. He stepped forward, paying no heed to her resistance as he drew her into his arms. He cried, his voice choked. “Zhiye, don’t say that. It hurts me.”

Jiang Yingnan withdrew his gaze coolly, then turned to Du Xin beside him. “Your family is quite a mess.”

Du Xin felt a pang of anxiety; Jiang Yingnan’s words made her question her own judgment.

Both times she’d met Jiang Yingnan, she had run into Du Zhiye as well.

If anyone told her there was nothing between Du Zhiye and Jiang Yingnan, she would never believe it.

But just now, Jiang Yingnan’s teasing tone seemed to suggest he truly had nothing to do with Du Zhiye.

At least, not in the way she had imagined.

Du Xin forced a smile, her eyes flickering. “My sister has always been strong-willed. She can’t stand being wronged.”

Her words were deftly chosen—on the surface, she spoke of Du Zhiye’s character, but in truth she was hinting to Jiang Yingnan that, even if something had happened between him and Du Zhiye, it was merely her sister’s way of getting back at Tao Ranming.

Jiang Yingnan, in that case, was simply someone used for revenge.

Jiang Yingnan gave a cold snort, glancing at his watch. “I have a meeting soon. Tell your father for me.”

His tone was light, betraying no hint of anger.

Du Xin’s smile grew strained. “I’ll see you out.”

Meanwhile, Du Zhiye was weeping as well, pounding Tao Ranming’s chest as she sobbed, “Why did you cheat on me? Why? If you’d fallen for someone else, you should have told me! If I, Du Zhiye, ever clung to you, I wouldn’t deserve my own name.”

“I’m sorry, Zhiye, I’m so sorry.” Tao Ranming held her tightly, his heart aching for her.

After crying for a while, Du Zhiye pulled away from his embrace. There was nothing left to say; she and Tao Ranming could never go back.

But there was one thing she wanted to know. “Can you tell me who she is?”

Tao Ranming’s face went pale. After a few seconds, he shook his head. “I’m sorry.”

Du Zhiye laughed bitterly. “Is ‘I’m sorry’ all you know how to say?”

Tao Ranming opened his mouth, but in the end, said nothing, his features twisted in anguish.

Du Zhiye felt her heart die. She wiped away her tears. “Tao Ranming, I forgive you.”

Hope flickered in Tao Ranming’s eyes, but in the next moment, Du Zhiye added, “Let’s just be friends from now on.”

She locked eyes with him. “I don’t hate you, I won’t blame you, and I won’t ask who she is. We can still greet each other if we meet, but as for marriage—that’s over.”