Just as she was wallowing in self-pity, someone suddenly pulled away the comforter she was tightly clutching.

She looked up, her eyes still teary, stunned to see a pair of deep, endless eyes staring back at her.

“You—how did you get in?” 

Although he was invited tonight, he had only come with the legislator and a stranger wouldn’t have been allowed into her private room by the household staff.

He silently pointed to the window.

She gasped in disbelief, staring at him wide-eyed.

He climbed in through the window? From the first floor to the second?!

“It’s nothing for me,” he explained淡淡地. “I used to climb up and down like this all the time.”

Why? She wanted to ask him, but her voice broke in her throat.

Just like her broken heart.

“You don’t need to be so sad,” he said, sitting on the edge of her bed. “Speaking in public is never easy.”

“You don’t understand!” she protested, choked with emotion. “For the Yin family, it’s instinctive. My brother and my three cousins, they have been representing the school in speeches, readings, and debates since they were young; it’s only me, only…”

“Only you who gets so nervous on stage that you can’t say a word.” He quietly interjected. “So what?”

“So what?” She rubbed her eyes. Did that even need to be asked? She had embarrassed the Yin family!

“Are the Yin family that impressive? Are you all superior to everyone in everything you do?” There was an underlying sting in his indifferent voice.

She froze, looking at his mocking expression. “That’s not what I meant.”

“I know that’s not what you meant.” He relaxed his tense expression and smiled faintly. “I just want to tell you, you’re not the only one afraid of speaking in public; many people have this issue, and it’s normal.”

“Do you?”

“I used to stutter when I spoke.” He laughed at himself. “It took a long time for me to change that.”

“Really?” She was somewhat incredulous.

“Really.” He nodded firmly. “Trust me, public speaking can be trained. With more practice, you can overcome your shyness. I will help you.”

“You want to help me?”

“Mm.” He smiled at her, his gaze gentle.

She suddenly felt a rush of shyness, involuntarily lowering her head.

“Alright, stop crying.” He moved closer to her, gently wrapping an arm around her, his warm breath tickling her sensitive ear. “You know what? You play the piano beautifully. What piece was that? Can you play it for me next time…?”

______

That was Liszt’s “Liebestraum.”

Later, she played it countless times for him.

It was also on that night that she suddenly realized she was deeply in love with this man and could unreservedly love him for a lifetime.

She was willing to give everything to love him, regardless of whether he could reciprocate her feelings.

He didn’t have to repay her, nor did she ask for it, because he treated her well enough.

After the show ended, Yin Tianyu chatted with the host for a while before stepping out of the radio station building and into the clear moonlight.

A cool breeze playfully tugged at her fine hair, and she stood in the wind, waiting for her driver to pick her up.

But the person who arrived was someone she didn’t expect.

She looked in surprise at the deep blue Mercedes parked by the street, watching as the dark window slid down to reveal a handsome face.

“Bo Chun? What are you doing here?”

He didn’t answer, just quietly gazed at her with an inscrutable look in his eyes that seemed to draw her heart off tune.

Then, he opened the door, stepped out, and walked toward her.

“I came to pick you up,” he murmured, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and guiding her into the car.

“You said you would be in a meeting late tonight?” She looked at him in confusion as he sat beside her.

“Mm, it ended early.” He didn’t look at her, starting the engine.

The deep blue car faded in and out of the night like a montage.

All the way, Lu Bochun remained silent, and Yin Tianyu sensed the strange atmosphere, feeling equally dumbfounded.

He seemed off.

Yin Tianyu peeked at her husband’s profile. His gloomy expression felt like the sharpest bow, pulling at her tender heartstrings.

Was he… trying to say something to her but hesitated?

She knew he wasn’t in a meeting tonight; in the afternoon, she had called his assistant, skillfully probing to find out he had arranged a private appointment.

What this private appointment was, the assistant didn’t know, but she could guess.

He went to see Li Xiangsi.

She had a premonition that something must have happened between him and Li Xiangsi tonight, and his heart had been shaken, perhaps even considering making some kind of decision.

What decision could it be?

She vaguely sensed it but didn’t dare to delve deeper, hurriedly turning her head to count the streetlights passing by.

Time crept by in a torturous slowness. Finally, they arrived at the upscale apartment located in the city.

As she was taking off her earrings in front of the vanity mirror, he said he wanted to take a shower first. She nodded, watching him remove his shirt and enter the bathroom through the mirror.

He had something to say.

She thought, her heart racing.

She stood up, absently picking up the shirt and tie he had thrown on the bed, just as she was about to toss them into the laundry basket when she caught a glimpse of a faint red stain in the corner of her eye.

What was that? 

She instinctively checked and flipped open the collar of her shirt.

On the inner edge of the back collar, a clear lip print was left behind.

Her breath stopped for a moment.

Yin Tianyu stared at that blood-red lipstick mark, her heart felt as though it had been sliced open by a sharp blade.

It was a lip print left by Li Xiangsi.

On the inner edge of the back collar, a place where a lip print should almost never appear; she couldn’t imagine what circumstances would allow that woman to inadvertently leave behind evidence of an affair here.

Unless it was deliberately branded while Bai Chen wasn’t paying attention.

This lip print was a challenge from Li Xiangsi to her, a cold display from a mistress to a wife!

The crisis was imminent; she could no longer avoid it or pretend Bai Chen had no affair.

She had to face it, she had no choice but to face it…