Chapter 43

◎When did you find out?◎

Chen Yi spotted the message while cradling a small bouquet of roses in her arms, waiting for the perfume shop staff to wrap her gift.

“Are you heading out on a date?” the employee asked curiously.

Chen Yi smiled. “Yes, to meet my girlfriend.”

“Wow—blessings!”

Her phone buzzed. Chen Yi shifted the flowers to her left hand and pulled out her phone.

The message from her girlfriend stared back at her.

How had Fade gotten here so quickly?

Was the trip from the airport really that fast?

Chen Yi had planned to buy everything ahead of time, arrive early at the café, order coffee and dessert, and wait calmly for Fade to appear. She never imagined Fade would beat her there. Did that mean she was going to be late?

As if anticipating her reaction, Fade sent another message.

“No rush. Take your time. I got here too early.”

But how could Chen Yi not be in a rush? How could she possibly slow down?

She turned to the employee in a hurry. “Sorry, could you wrap it up a bit faster? I’m running short on time.”

The employee grinned. “No problem at all.”

The young woman, who had been humming a tune moments before, fell silent and packaged the perfume in record time. This was a boutique specializing in unique, street-style custom perfumes. Chen Yi and Yu You’an had spotted it a couple of days earlier while passing by.

With Xu Yan’s permission, the two of them had slipped inside for a quick browse.

Chen Yi had fallen in love with the perfume she was now buying for Fade right away.

She didn’t usually wear fragrance and knew little about perfumes, but the moment she caught a whiff of this one, she thought of her girlfriend.

Subtle and gentle, with an understated elegance.

Just like Fade.

The staff had explained that it blended milky wood notes with the herbal tang of angelica, giving it a fresh, dewy greenness. The first sniff brought a faint bitterness, but once you got used to it, the underlying sweetness emerged.

For some inexplicable reason, Chen Yi had known it was Fade’s scent.

Now, she had finally bought it and was about to present it to her.

The perfume shop wasn’t far from the café. Afraid of wasting any time, Chen Yi hailed a cab.

The elderly driver, like the shop assistant, noticed her getup and smiled. “Off to a date?”

Chen Yi nodded. “Yes, to see my girlfriend.”

“Oh! Wishing you both happiness.”

Chen Yi thanked her with a smile.

She felt enveloped in a cloud of pink bubbles, the kind that trailed behind her with every step, infecting everyone she met with the vibe. Was the aura of new love really that obvious?

Seated in the cab, she texted Fade: Almost there.

As the café drew nearer, Chen Yi’s heart pounded wildly, accelerating beyond her control.

She could hardly catch her breath.

She glanced at her reflection in her phone screen. She looked fine—put-together, at least.

To ease her nerves, she messaged Yu You’an and Su Dai.

“About to meet her!!”

Yu You’an replied: Go get her—

Su Dai: Sister, good luck.

The driver peeked in the rearview mirror and offered a kind reassurance. “Don’t worry, dear.”

Chen Yi gave a wry smile. “I’m still a little nervous. This is our first time meeting in person.”

“Entre deux cœurs qui s’aiment, nul besoin de paroles.”

After reciting the French, the old woman translated into English: “It’s a line from one of our poets.”

“Two hearts in love need no words.”

“Darling, you just need to walk in and see her.”

As Chen Yi stepped out, the driver blew her a kiss, wishing her a successful date.

Chen Yi gazed at the café ahead: a cozy brown-toned building nestled beside a grassy lawn, with outdoor tables under a sunshade awning. It wasn’t crowded; the patrons lounged leisurely.

Fade had said she was in a private room on the second floor.

The door marker was a rose.

Chen Yi took a deep breath and headed inside. At the counter, her first stop was to check her small bag.

She stowed away the scarf Xu Yan had given her, thanked the front desk staff, and climbed the stairs. With every step, her heartbeat quickened.

They were really about to meet…

In her right hand, Chen Yi clutched the roses—a modest little bouquet, nothing extravagant. The French favored single stems, so she’d chosen five. Delicate wrapping paper and ribbons bound them, and Chen Yi had used the shop’s water pen to sketch two chibi figures on the tag: her and Fade’s avatars from their game.

In her left hand dangled the gift bag with the perfume.

The 100ml bottle wasn’t heavy, but in Chen Yi’s grip, it felt laden with significance.

She knew it was all in her head.

Chen Yi proceeded inside and found the room Fade had described. She paused at the door. A sudden urge to scream welled up within her. This door felt perilously dangerous, like Pandora’s box. Opening it might unleash something utterly unforeseen.

She shook her head, jogged in place a couple of times, drew a deep breath, and raised her hand to knock.

A voice called from within: “Please come in.”

The sound hit her ears, and her first thought was how familiar it was.

She quickly rationalized it: Of course it was familiar—she heard Fade’s voice over the phone every day.

Hand on the doorknob, Chen Yi forced a natural smile and pushed the door open. What met her eyes was the last person she expected.

Xu Yan sat on the small sofa by the coffee table, two cups of coffee steaming before her. A full Opera cake sat proudly in the center.

Xu Yan had changed outfits—not the casual ensemble from their earlier hotel encounter. Now she wore a sleek suit: a black pencil skirt hugging her legs, partially concealing sheer black stockings.

The attire could have been stiff, but Xu Yan made it stylish. A subtle slit ran up the skirt; her blouse and jacket were cleverly tailored. A moon-shaped brooch on her lapel caught the light with its blue gem.

Her long hair cascaded freely.

Chen Yi locked eyes with Xu Yan, her mind going blank. Her instinct was to bow in apology. “Sorry, I must have the wrong room.”

What on earth?!

Why was Xu Yan here?!

Chen Yi grumbled inwardly, backing out and craning her neck to check the door marker.

It was definitely a rose.

Bewildered, she scanned left and right, wondering if all the doors were roses. Were they all marked the same?

After careful inspection, she confirmed otherwise.

Her brain hadn’t pieced it together yet, hadn’t deduced the real reason for Xu Yan’s presence—or rather, she instinctively shrank from that truth… Her mind was a white haze, but her body reacted first. She spun on her heel and bolted.

“Why are you running?” Xu Yan called after her.

Of course—

That familiar voice wasn’t from countless phone calls.

It was because she heard it nearly every day in real life, that commanding tone laced with unmistakable authority.

Chen Yi knew she really ought to run.

She didn’t want to stay and face whatever came next.

Yet her legs wouldn’t obey, rooted to the spot.

She still stood with her back turned.

Xu Yan spoke again.

“Why are you running?”

“Am I no longer your beloved big sister? Or your wife? Oh—” She paused, letting out a soft chuckle that set Chen Yi’s heart ablaze. “Running makes sense. After all, I’m the super-villain boss who grinds her subordinates into the dust every day.”

Chen Yi knew those words all too well.

They were straight from the rant she’d shared with her girlfriend just a couple of days ago.

During this France business trip, Xu Yan had been swamped, and so had Chen Yi and Yu You’an. They’d been stretched so thin they felt split into three. Xu Yan never pulled punches when delegating—scheduling with zero regard for breathing room.

Chen Yi had vented to Fade during one chat: her boss was merciless.

Fade had even soothed her: “Bullying you like that? Want me to beat her up for you?”

Who could have guessed—

Chen Yi’s mind turned to mush. Panic hit first, the kind a subordinate feels facing the boss after badmouthing her. She itched to explain it away. Then her heart clenched, breath stilled, and the truth she’d dreaded crashed over her like a tidal wave.

Xu Yan was Fade.

Fade was Xu Yan.

The roses and gift in her hands suddenly felt weightless, though she still held them tight.

She turned around to face Xu Yan.

The woman lounged there, utterly at ease.

How ridiculous.

Chen Yi had been so nervous on the way, hesitating at the door. But Xu Yan? She’d known all along. She’d seen her back at the hotel.

Or rather—

“When did you find out?” Chen Yi asked flatly.

Xu Yan tilted her head, glancing past Chen Yi at the approaching staff member who murmured “excuse me.”

“Why don’t you come in first?”

Chen Yi tamped down the storm in her chest and managed a apologetic smile for the staff. She stepped inside and closed the door behind her.

Now, the private room held only the two of them.

The coffee shop’s decor was stylish and atmospheric, with fresh flowers and cute, delicate sculptures artfully placed around the interior. Outside the window stretched a lovely lawn, where the ginkgo trees of golden autumn had draped the green grass in a fresh layer of fallen leaves. Next month was Halloween, and over at Graffiti Park on the far side of the lawn, young people were goofing around with spray paint.

If the person sitting across from her weren’t Xu Yan, Chen Yi might have been in the mood to settle in and savor the scene.

But it was Xu Yan.

She said nothing, just stared at her.

The eyes that were usually so gentle had turned icy cold.

It was the first time Xu Yan had seen Chen Yi like this.

She tamped down her rising panic and summoned her best adult composure, feigning nonchalance as she asked, “What do you know?”

Chen Yi couldn’t hold back any longer.

“Xu Yan, don’t play dumb with me.”

The rose she had once cradled so preciously was now clutched upside down in a white-knuckled grip. Her palm squeezed tight, the flowers rubbed together with a faint rustle, and soft petals drifted to the floor.

“I’m asking you one last time,” Chen Yi said, her voice tight with suppressed emotion, each word deliberate. “When did you find out?”

She couldn’t understand why she was so fixated on this question.

It was almost as if, should Xu Yan name a time she could accept, it might stop her from being this furious right now.

…Was it fury?

Chen Yi stared into Xu Yan’s eyes. They remained calm and composed, utterly unmoved.

What did she look like to Xu Yan?

A joke?

Xu Yan’s lips pressed together, and for a moment she nearly flinched away from Chen Yi’s gaze. In the end, though, she met it squarely and gave her answer. “The earliest.”

She continued, “I knew from the very first day.”

Chen Yi fell silent, standing perfectly still.

Xu Yan hurried to add, “I can explain…”

But before she could get another word out, Chen Yi turned on her heel and strode for the door. The reaction caught Xu Yan off guard. She froze for a split second, then jumped up to follow—only to crash into the coffee table. Coffee splashed everywhere, the dessert turned into a ruined mess, and porcelain shattered on the floor.

“Chen Yi…”

Chen Yi didn’t look back.

Bang—

She slammed the door behind her.