Chapter 9 — I Won't Wait for You to Return

Call this chasing clout? This is clearly a long-hidden, devoted wife being kept in the shadows!

Seven years together, repaid with a casual claim of being just normal friends. The scheming behind that move by Ze Yu was so loud I could hear the abacus clicking from outer space.

A PhD from a top business university with such low moral character? Taking money and enjoying the care of a partner to finish a degree, only to turn around and bring a junior student home to meet the parents—absolutely magnificent.

Public opinion shifted completely. I sat at the reception desk, watching the flurry of messages pouring in. There was no sense of vengeful satisfaction, only an overwhelming sense of exhaustion. Suddenly, a message from an unexpected sender appeared. The profile picture showed the girl who had stood, blushing, on the broadcast during the Dragon Boat Festival. It was Lin Wei, the fiancee Ze Yu had officially introduced to the world.

Ms. Tan, hello. I am Lin Wei. May I ask if what you posted on the social media platform... is the truth? Ze Yu and I have only been dating for half a year. He told me he had always been single.

Staring at the screen, my palms turned cold and damp. She wasn't hurling insults; her tone was filled with a bewildered, panicked disbelief. I replied, It is the truth. Seven years, without a single day missing.

Ha Nhan also received a friend request from the junior student. No sooner had she accepted than the girl sent a long, frantic string of apologies.

Sister Ha Nhan, I am so sorry. I truly did not know that Brother Chu had a girlfriend. When he took me home to meet his parents, his mother and father never mentioned you at all.

Ha Nhan replied with a single sentence: The fault is not yours. Do not blame yourself for his actions.

Two women, equally innocent. Our existence was merely a testament to the betrayal perpetrated by these two men. We did not set out to tear apart their new relationships, for the one truly deserving of judgment was the man who kept everyone trapped in the dark. Eventually, the two men could no longer sit still. Realizing that pinning the label of clout-chasing on us had failed, they scrambled to pivot the narrative toward the messy complications of ending a relationship. Ze Yu personally posted a statement:

Relationships are filled with regrets and missed connections. I acknowledge that I had a past relationship, but due to many circumstances, we could not reach the end together. I never intended to hurt anyone, and I hope for everyone's mercy.

Chu Yan also posted a status update on his private feed, restricted to three-day visibility: Eight years of companionship, I am very grateful. But feelings cannot be forced. Over these eight years, I believe I have acted with a clear conscience. I wish everyone peace.

Ha Nhan stared at those words—acted with a clear conscience—and laughed out of sheer fury.

A clear conscience, she repeated through gritted teeth.

I opened the second folder on my computer, my gaze turning icy. Since they want to act so dignified, then let us release the second wave of evidence and strip away their masks once and for all.

Seven

Listen to the voice memo he sent me the day before yesterday.

Ha Nhan turned the volume on her phone to its maximum. Chu Yan’s soft, gentle voice echoed across the quiet courtyard.

Nhan, I am heading back to my hometown next week. Could you help me pick out two gift sets for my parents? You have such good taste; when you eventually walk through our front door, my mother will surely love you.

This message had been sent exactly one week before Chu Yan took the junior student to meet those very same parents.

He was asking me to buy gifts for his parents on one hand, while openly bringing another woman to cross that same threshold on the other, Ha Nhan sneered. She recorded the screen, capturing that message, and uploaded it to the internet without hesitation. I clicked open my second folder. It contained the chat history from the night before the Dragon Boat Festival show. Ze Yu had messaged me, whispering sweet words of devotion: