Meng Ya stood frozen as if somebody just cast a freeze spell on her. She stared at him as if he saw a ghost.

  "Y-you you…" she stumbled back and gasped in shock. "D-Do demons who can shapeshift really exist in this world? I thought it was only fantasy!"

  "……"

  Fu Renshu was speechless.

  Why is this woman's brain always filled with nonsense!?

  Somehow he imagined her to be all teary and emotional, but reality was far from different. Like always.

  "Rest assured, I am human. Hao Ziruo was my disguise."

  Meng Ya looked at him up and down and at the mask in his hand. At first, her brain was too overwhelmed to digest this.

  "S-so this whole time……in college, in classes…"

  "It was me only. There is no Hao Ziruo."

  "……"

  The first things that came to her mind were how she cursed Fu Renshu in front of "Hao Ziruo."

  "……"

  So it was him who was listening to me all this time! The hooligan himself!

  She didn't know where to hide her face.

  That meant her whole plan of making him feel jealous and the fake boyfriend act was meaningless from the beginning. No wonder Ziruo wasn't present when Fu Renshu was there. And Fu Renshu couldn't be in the club tonight when Hao Ziruo was with her.

  She glared at him. "I see. Good, very good! You fooled me once again! Twice now! So did you enjoy seeing me make a fool out of myself? Just like you did when you kidnapped me?" She didn't know why her eyes teared up. "Why are you so mean!?"

  She wondered why Fu Renshu had suddenly stopped contacting her. At first, he was desperate for her forgiveness. But then all his messages and calls just got cut off. She couldn't help but get afraid that she was acting too pushy, and he got tired of her. So he stopped bothering her. The fake boyfriend act was all just to make him not forget her.

  But it made sense now. He was already with her as Hao Ziruo. Why would he call her when he was by her side all the time?

  Fu Renshu gently pulled her and wiped her cheeks. "Don't cry."

  "S-shut up! Don't talk to me!" She felt extremely aggrieved.

  "I wasn't doing this to have fun," he pursed his lips. "I really wanted your forgiveness. But then you said you wanted to make me jealous. And I did get jealous."

  "You liar! The plan was useless. You already knew everything. Why would it affect you?"

  Fu Renshu pinched her cheeks hard. "Silly woman. Of course, I was jealous. Thankfully, it was me. But if it had been really some different guy, then I would have killed him. If you had met some other guy instead of me and hung arm in arm with him in front of me acting all lovey-dovey, I would have shot him on the spot. I got angry thinking of you acting intimate with another guy even if it was fake."

  She stared at him, stunned. Then her face turned bright red.

  He sighed. "I thought that if I rejected your plan, then you might find some other guy to act as your fake boyfriend. So, I didn't have a choice and went along with it. I had no intention of bullying you at all. I just want you to forgive me for lying to you about my sister. She is very playful, but I should have been more fierce in rejecting her stupid plan…"

  Meng Ya suddenly didn't know what to say. His apology felt sincere.

  "You…… really mean it?"

  He pulled her face and softly kissed her lips. He withdrew and nodded. "Yes. I am sorry for hurting your feelings. Even now, I didn't mean to fool you with my disguise. I had no choice because of Boss."

  "Boss?" She widened her eyes. "Jiang Wei?"

  Then realization dawned on her and her jaw dropped in shock. "T-that H-Huang Liangshi-"

  "Is none other than Boss. It was him who wanted to be near Madam Lihua. I was here for damage control. You know how Boss is……But then I thought it was a good idea for me too. To stay beside you as Hao Ziruo. You refused to see Fu Renshu, so I thought I could at least meet you as Hao Ziruo."

  Her heart skipped several beats, and she looked away, blushing. But then her expression turned solemn.

  "Your Boss……he is fooling her yet again…" she pressed her brows. "You know Lihua doesn't want to see him. They are even divorced now. There is no point in dragging this out and hurting their feelings again, especially Lihua who is pregnant!"

  Fu Renshu smiled. "You have no idea how much Boss loves her. He is willing to do anything for her. You don't know how he looked those days after their divorce. He was like a ghost. But ever since he met her again as a student, he finally found the colors he felt he had lost. Being with her is as if he could breathe again."

  She was silent. "Lihua…… didn't cry any less. She has steeled herself only because of her child, and she doesn't want to harm him out of her stress. Otherwise……she would have broken down long ago," Meng quietly cried. "It's not like she doesn't want him. She is still affected the most whenever she hears his name. It's like……her eyes shine for a moment before the light dies down."

  Her gaze flashed with a hint of anger. "But he killed sis Jia. No matter how they feel for each other, there can be no future for them together anymore. Lihua can never forgive him. Some crimes cannot be forgiven."——

  "Careful!" Wei pulled her back, seeing her standing so close to the terrace railing.

  Lihua said, "I am not going to jump. Why are you so worried?"

  He pursed his lips. "One must be careful at the edge…"

  A cool, pleasant wind brushed past them…… Lihua stared at him. "Liangshi, why do you care about me so much?"