Chapter 2 — The Wrong Ring, The Right Deception

The other end of the line fell silent for a few moments.

Taking a trip to clear your mind is a good idea. Spend a few extra days, and take that supplementary credit card with me—buy whatever your heart desires.

I cannot accompany you this time, as an urgent project has landed on my desk. I will travel with you the next time.

The moment the words faded, a notification flashed across his social media feed. It was a post uploaded by Tran Vu Han. The attached photograph captured Chu Yen Thoi standing in a pharmacy queue, waiting to collect medicine.

It was merely a common cold, yet he abandoned an ongoing project negotiation and personally escorted me straight to the hospital.

A sudden memory pierced through my mind. Years ago, when I suffered from a scorching fever hitting forty degrees Celsius, I called him in a delirious haze. He told me that his new secretary was handling her very first report and he had to supervise the process, urging me to push through the agony. I never dared to disturb him again, enduring the journey to the hospital entirely alone. It turns out that from that exact moment onward, his attention had long since ceased to linger upon me.

After the call disconnected, Chu Yen Thoi continued to feel an inexplicable void gnawing at his chest. He booked a first-class ticket and forwarded the flight details to my phone. One minute passed, then five, then ten. Not a single reply came. Chu Yen Thoi frowned. In the past, whenever he sent a message, my response would arrive almost instantaneously. This uncharacteristic silence, devoid of any discernible reason, began to unnerve him. Before he could process the sensation, Tran Vu Han emerged from the consultation room. Chu Yen Thoi wordlessly took the bags from her hands.

Let us go, I will take you home.

Tran Vu Han instantly wrapped her arm around Chu Yen Thoi, speaking in a spoiled, whining tone.

Yen Thoi, would it be alright if I stayed at your place?

The doctor said I need to soak in more sunlight, and I noticed your master bedroom receives the most magnificent morning light.

A flash of irritation crossed Chu Yen Thoi features.

Tran Vu Han, have I perhaps spoiled you beyond reason? Do not assume I am unaware of what is running through your mind.

I have stated this before, the mistress of the Chu household can only ever be An Vi. If you cannot master the basic etiquette of being a mistress, then get lost.

Seeing the rims of Tran Vu Han eyes turn red, Chu Yen Thoi voice softened despite himself.

I have purchased a brand-new apartment for you.

Pack your things and move there.

At that precise second, a notification chime broke the tension on Chu Yen Thoi phone.

Friendly reminder: The flight to your previously booked destination on June twenty-seventh has been modified, and the arrival city has been changed to France.

Chu Yen Thoi froze. He could not comprehend why the final destination of the itinerary had morphed into France. A desperate urge to uncover the truth gripped him, yet when he attempted to call back, an automated voice declared that the recipient phone was turned off. An unnamed terror coiled tightly around his heart. In a panic, he whipped his body around to stride toward the exit, but the moment he took a step forward, a hand caught his sleeve. Tran Vu Han looked up at him, her eyes brimming with pitiful tears.

Yen Thoi, where are you rushing off to? The doctor explicitly stated that my constitution is fragile right now and I need my family by my side.

Can you stay with me?

Previously, the mere flutter of her eyelashes would be enough to catapult her to the absolute top of his priorities. It was a tactic she had tested on him a hundred times with a hundred percent success rate. Yet tonight, Chu Yen Thoi impatiently shook her hand off his arm.

Take a taxi back by yourself, I have an emergency to attend to.

Hurling those words behind him, he sprinted frantically toward the airport, as though sheer velocity alone could somehow halt my departure. If he could simply lay eyes on me, his racing soul would finally find peace. After blowing through three consecutive red lights in his wild dash to the terminal, a commercial aircraft roared directly overhead. At that exact moment, his close friend placed a call to him. Chu Yen Thoi beat him to the punch, his voice laced with aggressive interrogation.

What on earth is Shen An Vi trying to pull?

She mentioned wanting to travel abroad to decompress, so I arranged a ticket to New Zealand for her, yet she arbitrarily changed her destination at the last second.

How much further does she intend to push this childish rebellion?

The friend let out a series of cold, mocking laughs.

Chu Yen Thoi, do you honestly still believe she is throwing a tantrum?

You fundamentally remain blind to the true reason she had to leave.

Drive back to the house; the answer is waiting for you there.

The line clicked dead. Driving back with breakneck speed, Chu Yen Thoi burst through the front door, his eyes instantly locking onto a single envelope resting atop the glass coffee table. Tearing it open, he found only two brief lines inscribed inside.

You once declared that mountain birds and deep-sea fish belong to entirely different worlds, so from this day onward, may our paths never cross again across rivers and mountains.

Farewell, the lover of seven years past.

Throughout these past seven years, I genuinely believed I was walking a path toward ultimate happiness. Never did I imagine that my life would culminate in a pathetic farce witnessed by the rest of the world. The hand gripping the sheet of paper began to tremble uncontrollably. I had once mentioned an aspiration to study abroad, casually noting that I possessed a command of the French language. Deep down, he had never believed me; feeling that I lacked the youthful radiance of Tran Vu Han, he assumed I could never conquer a language as impossibly difficult as French, and so he had simply brushed it off with a casual remark. It turns out it was never a matter of me failing to understand. An ungrounded panic surged within his chest. Could I... could I actually have abandoned him for good? At that exact moment, the front door swung wide open. When Chu Yen Thoi turned to see Tran Vu Han standing on the threshold, the corners of his mouth hardened into a glacial line.

Why are you here?

Tran Vu Han scanned the interior, the outer corners of her eyes lifting slightly.

You ignored my calls, and I was consumed with worry, so I followed you here.

She blinked rapidly as her eyes reddened.

If Sister An Vi harbors such distaste for my presence, she only needs to voice it, and I would gladly pack my bags and banish myself from this city and out of your life entirely.

Yet she chose to vanish without uttering a single word, leaving you in such agonizing distress over her disappearance.

Could she... could she possibly be using this extreme method merely to recapture your attention?

Chu Yen Thoi stood paralyzed. Indeed, we had spent seven glorious years intertwined, weathering countless storms side by side.