In a prestigious nightclub exclusive to the socialites of the elite, a silent woman sat by the counters, aloof and unapproachable. Her back faced the glamorous clamor.

A famous trio of pretty girls performed on the stage, two playing the instruments while one sang a song. Waiters skipped here and there holding trays of expensive drinks. Golden lights danced, and outgoing people grabbed their partners and engaged in formal, romantic dances at the center.

The majority, however, busied itself in socializing, and discussing the latest gossip and scandals in the city, whilst forming fruitful business links via these associations. That was what this nightclub was famous for.

Yet the woman at the counter picked up her glass and sipped silently. She had no interest in those materialistic associations occurring under the cover of a night out at the club.

Her hair was let down freely, unlike the trendy shortcut common in the club, rich brown in color, natural and illustrious as they extended all the way to her hips.

Her style was unlike the up-to-date and expensive attires of other females at the party. She didn't mix in well. Yet, there was a certain charm in her, a pure aloof natural air.

"Just who is she? I have been observing that girl for a while." It was a matter of time a group of guys noticed her. A dainty guy said, his arm hovering over a woman while the other hand held onto some drink. 

"Looks rather crass to me. I mean just have a look at her dress. I bet a cheap replica." The woman by his side made a face.

The dainty guy laughed and grabbed the women's chin. "Is my Mi'er jealous? Don't worry, this brother won't ignore you." And he leaned in muttering silent whispers about something, making the woman's face flush red and making her giggle.

"Now that you have said it, she looks rather interesting. What do you think, Fu Jianguo?" Another guy perked up. He didn't have a woman company so he thought 'why not go for that woman'.

"Ah, don't play with him." The dainty guy let out a hearty laugh after flirting with the girl. "He is not like us, a free spirit. Now that he has finalized his engagement with Chen Ying, would he still dare to appreciate another beauty?"

"Don't joke, Long Yunru, Chen Ying is not like this. She is not the jealous type." Fu Jianguo jumped in her defense quickly.

"You don't waste a second in defending her, aren't you two too deeply in love? Careful you gonna make my girl jealous here." Long Yunru joked.

"A woman is either hot but whores around guys or chaste but unattractive. I say Fu Jianguo is lucky, he got two in one, Chen Ying is a perfect wife material while looking better than those models out there. He doesn't need to be looking for pretty girls." A guy chimed in.

"Well, you better hold onto Chen Ying. A woman like this doesn't come knocking at everyone's door." Long Yunru winked. 

Whilst Fu Jianguo laughed and joked around, he casually glanced in the direction of the bar.

At the same time, Chen Yi happened to lift her drink and brought it to her lips. Doing so, a few strands of hair obscuring her face slipped away, revealing a face that stunned everyone in her proximity.

"Woah, that chick really is something, ain't her?" Long Yunru was smitten, discarding the woman at hand, he was ready to go for Chen Yi. But stopped before enquiring. "Tell me Liao Aiguo, I have not seen her here before. Is she from some prominent family? Would it be okay if I took liberties?"

"What are you planning? Are you going to ignore Mie'er? Long Yunru, you should not be hasty. This one is mine."

While the guys in the group battled, no one noticed how Fu Jianguo had fallen silent. As he watched them fight to be the one to approach Chen Yi, his expression turned uglier. Without explaining anything, he stood first and headed for the bar. 

Chen Yi's thick eyelashes lifted, and big brown orbs revealed, clear and limpid, reflecting the multicolored light like some piece of gem. 

Sensing someone walking in her direction, she tilted her head. At once, an exasperated sigh escaped her lips. "Of all the days, why does he have to be here this day?" With a sharp sneer as she went back to her drink, sipping in rather huge mouthfuls.

Fu Jianguo stood a few steps away from her. He watched her silently as if waiting for her to take the initiative to greet him. When she didn't, in a tone that conveyed his displeasure, he demanded. "What are you doing here?"

Of course, Chen Yi thought.

That was how he used to talk to her. 

She enabled him with her never-ending surveillance and desperate attempts to charm him. After all, he once told her he liked a traditional, submissive, no-questions type of woman. And she would do anything for the one she thought she loved. 

But times change, people change, and their respective behaviors change.

Chen Yi let her lips tilt into a light smile and continued to sip away her drink.

Being snubbed like this didn't sit well with Fu Jianguo. Especially coming from a woman he used to walk all over and with his friends not far, in the listening range. His tone rose a few notes.

"Did you not hear me?"

No response.

Just another silent sip. Elegant and unrushed. As if there wasn't a man standing by her side, turning red with anger and ready to lash at her any moment.

Blood rushed to Fu Jianguo's face. He never expected such a response from Chen Yi. It had only been a few months since she begged him to take her back. How could a person change so much?

However, now with his friends watching, he could not just turn around and leave. That would be embarrassing. Especially when his friends were drooling all over her, he wanted to show them that this was the woman he had rejected. It would be even better if she apologized like before in front of them. 

He took a few deep breaths to calm himself and said.

"Alright, you must be angry because of what happened between us. I understand this." His tone, though a few notes quieter now, still came out defensive and accusative as he lectured. "But you have to accept what happened and move on. After what happened, it was already taking it too far for me not to report you to the authorities."

"Your point?" Chen Yi cut him short.

Baffled, Fu Jianguo observed how Chen Yi didn't even look at him once. That was so different from the dreamy eyes that used to swoon all over him and the face that used to listen to his each and every word with rapt attention, making him feel like he was the most important man in the world. 

Now, the woman before him who could not wait for him to finish felt so different. And for some reason, it made Fu Jianguuo uncomfortable. 

"Yi'er, despite everything that happened we..."

Hearing the word 'Yi'er', Chen Yi's eyebrows furrowed. Maybe it was a twinge of hurt or a twinge of disgust or both that prompted her to say. "You are not allowed to call me that. Let's stay formal Mr. Fu. We have no relation. I think the day I was kicked out of the Chen family you made that clear."

Fu Jianguo was, once again, left speechless. 

Anger streamed forth, this time stronger than before.

He was considering talking to her nicely. But that whore didn't deserve it. He claimed the stool beside her. Indignant, he grabbed her elbow and jerked her in his direction, making her face him.

"Listen here, if not for my mother I would not even spit at you."

Chen Yi was not surprised at his actions. She tried to free her arm, yet his grip was hard and painful. "What do you want?" She snapped, angry.

A rush of fear enveloped her heart. Events of the past replayed in her head. Her heart thumped against her chest. 

But she was not the Chen Yi of the past, she reminded herself. The man before her didn't deserve her fear. That day her world shattered, she had already sworn not to get them to her heart.

She glared fiercely at Fu Jianguo, surprising him. 

"You have grown some guts." Fu Jianguo commented with a smirk. 

In the past, whenever Fu Jianguo showed the slightest inclination towards being angry, she would shiver and give way. 

"Let go of me." She enunciated each word; very clearly and forcefully while looking him straight in the eye. 

"After what you have done, do you have any right to behave in this way?" His hold over her arm tightened, more painful. "Where is the crybaby who could not even attend a public gathering without shivering like a bumpkin? You really think I would believe this... this act of yours?!" Fu Jianguo's lips twisted into a nasty smirk. "I remember praising Chen Ying for her confidence one time before you. Now is this your idea? Putting on airs and acting like you are all changed and shits?"

Chen Yi was speechless. 

"Shocked? Mimicking Chen Ying, that's what you have been doing all your life. Do you think no one would notice anything?"

With a jerk, Chen Yi freed her arm. Glaring red marks appeared. Her eyes stung with tears but she never let them fall. 

No, the day she was abandoned was the last time they would see her cry.

She promised herself and she was going to keep her promise. 

Her lips tilted into a scornful sneer, hiding the pain under a charming smile. "I do not give a flying fuck how a self-absorbed narcissist views me." Her tone was purposely loud; Fu Jianguo's friends, not far, heard everything. 

If Fu Jianguo was angry before, now he was furious. 

"Learned a few things in the past few months, I see." He fumed. "But your actions betray you."

"What do you mean?"

"You put your life in line to help Fu Liling at the party." Fu Jianguo appeared as if he got his hands on some incontrovertible evidence. His tone, likewise, was louder. Now that his friends at a distance had probably guessed Chen Yi's identity as his ex-fiancee, he didn't want to lose face. "Last I remembered, you didn't have the courage to cross a road. But you helped my sister and that, too, on my engagement day?"

Once again, Chen Yi was not surprised.

This man... had some issues. Chen Yi had already accepted that a long time ago.

"And let me guess, you are under the assumption I helped Fu Liling to get in your good graces? Oh, and you might also believe that it was me who had put Fu Liling in a dangerous situation in the first place and 'staged' saving her - just to make you view me in a better way?" 

"Putting it this way wouldn't change a thing." Fu Jianguo's face turned a bit red. Whatever Chen Yi said was what he had unconsciously believed. But now that Chen Yi had said everything in words, it did sound a bit.... far stretched making him feel embarrassed for believing such absurd things.

Anyhow, he still reasoned, leveling his eyes with Chen Yi in a battle stance. "You seem to have forgotten how you tried to kill her not far ago. Now you are willing to put your life in danger to save her. This makes one speculate." His nose was high as if he was in right. "You took the blame at that time, would you say that never happened, now?"

If Chen Yi had any hopes, with his response now, they were gone. This person was useless, there was no point in talking with him. 

"Anyway, I'm not here to argue with you." 

"Then, why are you here? Just say it and let us both have some peace." Chen Yi went back to her drink, too fed up to be wanting to converse with him any longer. 

Fu Jianguo pursed his lips, glaring at Chen Yi as if she was a stain he despised before speaking. 

"I might know your true colors but my mother doesn't." He said. "You disappeared after that day. My mother had been nagging me for a long time, asking me to find you and apologize to you and thank you. Apologizing, that is not happening because we both know who is at fault here. The one in my heart is Chen Ying and you tried to harm her on countless occasions, the best I can do is to let bygones be bygones and not hold a grudge anymore. But that's just how far my generosity goes, don't take a mile when I give you an inch. I won't hold the past against you but I dislike you. My heart only goes out only for Chen Ying." 

"Is that all? Fine, you are free to leave."

"Chen Yi!"

"What the fuck do you want from me now?!" 

Fu Jianguo didn't know it himself. He just felt himself filling up to the brim with irrational anger. Chen Yi's dismissive attitude was like a thorn stuck in his throat.

Maybe it was his expectations getting shattered that got him at edge; expectations that once he gave an inch, Chen Yi would be on her knees, filled to the brim with gratitude and falling all over him. That there might spark a glimmer of hope in her pretty eyes; a spark he would enjoy playing around and crushing.

But none of that happened. 

"If you are not leaving then I'll leave." Chen Yi couldn't stand his presence anymore. 

She put down her drink with a 'clank', stood up, shot him an impassive smile, and made her way out. 

Her fleeting smile was like a hard slap to Fu Jianguo. To see Chen Yi walk away so freely, ignited a suffocating fire in his chest.

No, he wasn't going to let her go like this. 

Clenching his fists in irrational anger, he kicked away the stool and followed behind Chen Yi.

Chen Yi scurried through the crowd, her heels hitting the marble. Despite the alcohol in her system, her steps were balanced.

She had come out to have a good time, but all had gone to waste because of one nasty person. 

"Chen Yi, stop right there!" Outside the club, while Chen Yi headed for the pavement to hail a cab, Fu Jianguo approached her. "Did it burn you? Did it burn that I said my heart goes out only for Chen Ying? Is that why you are behaving this way?"

Chen Yi could not believe that he was chasing after her. Despite her better judgment, her steps slowed down and she turned around, facing him. 

"I sincerely intended to convey my family's goodwill; I was even willing to put down my grudges and be on talking terms with you. But your response is making me rethink my decisions."

Chen Yi took in a deep breath, the rush of chilly air in her chest cleared her head. "You can take your so-called goodwill and shove it up your ass!"

Fu Jianguo was stumped for words.

"My response is making me rethink your decision. I ask you this, how did you want me to behave? Kowtow before you for your greatness; make a temple out of your kindness, worship you day and night for your benevolence?" Chen Yi's glare was too intense as she said her piece.

"Listen clearly because I'm going to tell you this only once." Her eyes glinted dangerously as she stepped towards him almost scaring him with her cold aura, forcing him to step back. "I do not have any feelings for you. I don't care who you fuck, I don't care who you hold a grudge with and I don't - for God's sake - care how you view me. So for the love of God, let me be and do not approach me again."

Fu Jianguo was so shocked, no words came out of his mouth. He opened his lips, stumbled for words but closed his mouth unable to say anything. This happened a few times before he finally shook his head. 

"No, I do not believe this." Fu Jianguo suddenly said after gritting his teeth, the rims of his eyes were red.

"That's your problem, not mine."

"Stop trying to avoid me." Chen Yi's attitude was so aggravating, Fu Jianguo could not endure it. It filled his chest with a feeling of loss. The suffocating feeling prompted him to say. "If that's how things are then why are you sucking up to my mother all the time?" Fu Jianguo sounded accusative as if it was a great crime that Chen Yi associated with his mother.

"She is not just your Mother. She is Aunt Fu to me; I have known her my whole life. My relationship with her has nothing to do with you. She has always been caring towards me, even after everything that happened." Chen Yi trailed off. She matched his gaze with her strong one. "You know all that."

"That's your excuse?" Fu Jianguo sneered. "Then what's your excuse for littering around my office, what's your excuse for trying to manipulate my family against Chen Ying, what's your excuse when Chen Ying spotted you late at night outside our apartment? Mother and Fu Liling might be fooled by you but I know you are a person with deep thoughts. You are slowly trying to get close to them, poison their mind against Chen Ying, and fight your position back to my fiancee but let me tell you that's never happening!"

With a string of accusations launched at her, Chen Yi could not defend against all of them. And she didn't intend to either.

"Your fiancee's position?" Chen Yi laughed humourlessly. "Alright, so, your point is I'm still in love with you, correct?"

Fu Jianguo smirked with an expression 'I've got you' 

"I know you, Yi'er. So many coincidences are not possible. You haven't gotten a man by now, what more proof there could be?"

This late at night, the pavement was almost empty. Obscured in the dark, not far, just a man stood growing through something in his phone with a frown.

In her attempts to get away from Fu Jianguo, they had come quite far away from the nightclub. She would need to wait a long time before a cab passed by.

"Of course, there is nothing stopping me from getting a man." She smiled and glanced at Fu Jianguo; something felt off. 

"What are you going to do?"

Chen Yi turned around, walked towards the stranger, grabbed his collar, pulled his face down, and kissed the hell out of him.

Oh well, she could always blame it on the alcohol later.