Lu Shuyan said that in the aristocratic circles of City B, there was not just one Lu family.
There were two Lu families one barely squeezed into the aristocratic circle, while the other stood at the top of the pyramid.
One family had strict discipline, demanding excellence from their children from an early age in academics, character, and social interactions, allowing no room for error.
The other indulged its children in extravagance and recklessness, solving any trouble with money.
The two Lu families were not the same.
Si Nian stared blankly at Lu Shuyan as he explained the difference between the two Lu families.
Back then, she was just an ordinary student struggling with part-time jobs to pay for tuition.
When she first heard the rumors about the “Lu family’s young master” in City B and realized that “Lu family’s young master” was right by her side, she naturally assumed they were the same person.
She never thought to look deeper, nor did she have the means to verify how many Lu families existed in City B or what the differences between them were.
It wasn’t even a particularly rare surname.
A sudden realization washed over her.
No wonder.
Suddenly, many things that had puzzled her before now made perfect sense.
Why did Lu Shuyan, at the beginning, seem so inexperienced?
How could the rumored playboy behave like that?
And why did a short-term job she took to make quick money end up lasting not just three months but five years?
“……”
Si Nian once again felt like her world had collapsed.
She couldn’t even bring herself to think about what the man had just admitted.
All she knew was that from the very beginning, she had gotten it all wrong.
Something so important had gone terribly wrong.
She had unknowingly wasted years of her life on the wrong person, only to find out the truth now, from the very man himself.
Tears unknowingly rolled down her cheeks.
“Lu Shuyan, do you think telling me this now is funny?”
“Fine.
So my whole plan from the beginning was based on the wrong person.
I brought this upon myself.
Are you satisfied now?”
“Were you laughing at me behind my back?
Would that have been enough?
Then why did you have to come and tell me, just to humiliate me even more?”
“I’m going to fight you!”
Si Nian, crying, grabbed the small dining knife on the table.
Lu Shuyan immediately seized her wrist, his brows furrowed tightly.
“Who’s laughing at you?”
Si Nian snapped back.
“Then why are you telling me this now?
Isn’t it just to mock me?”
Lu Shuyan slowly lowered her hand, loosening her grip on the knife.
“I just thought there were some things you should know.”
Si Nian knew that mutual destruction was only a fantasy.
She wiped her face with the back of her other hand.
“Okay, now I know.
So what now?”
Lu Shuyan didn’t respond immediately.
He looked at Si Nian, who was in tears after realizing she had mistaken the wrong person all along.
A mix of emotions that had been building in his chest recently began to surface again.
At that moment, Lu Shuyan finally understood what those emotions were.
He closed his eyes briefly, feeling the weight of his emotions.
From the initial anger of realizing he had been deceived all along, to the helplessness of seeing Si Nian walk away so decisively.
Then, to the growing awareness that over the past five years, Si Nian had never truly liked him.
If he really hadn’t cared much for Si Nian as he once believed, then when he had read that online diary of hers, he wouldn’t have been so furious.
In fact, after a brief moment of anger, he should have felt relieved.
After all, he had already planned to break up with her.
Knowing she had only come to him for money would have made things easier.
He could have simply given her a lot of money and walked away without a second thought.
But reality wasn’t that simple.
The truth was
He liked Si Nian.
He still liked Si Nian.
That was why he couldn’t accept every word written in her online diary.
He couldn’t accept that she would go on dates with someone else and enter a relationship with them.
Even handing her checks now wasn’t just an act of generosity it was his last desperate attempt.
He was trying to convince himself that it didn’t matter, that he didn’t truly care for her.
But he had failed completely.
Lu Shuyan finally understood why he had wanted to break up.
Because the Si Nian he had known in recent years had become more and more like a beautiful, flawless puppet without life or soul.
He couldn’t feel any real connection with her anymore.
And he couldn’t figure out why.
Si Nian waited for a long time, but Lu Shuyan still didn’t continue speaking.
Her overwhelming emotions had somewhat settled.
The tear tracks on her face had dried, though her breathing was still slightly uneven from her earlier sobs.
She wasn’t sure if Lu Shuyan would continue speaking, so she urged him impatiently.
“And then?
You didn’t just come here to mock me, right?
So what now?”
Lu Shuyan looked at Si Nian, who was waiting for his answer.
He lowered his gaze and spoke in a quiet voice.
“I’m sorry.”
Si Nian frowned.
“Hm?”
She wondered if she had heard wrong.
Lu Shuyan recalled the moment in the restaurant when he had read that online diary.
The absurdity and anger he had felt.
The way Si Nian had chased after him, hugging his waist, tears in her eyes, asking him for five million yuan.
He had been too angry.
Lu Shuyan swallowed and finally asked the question he had been holding back.
“Are you short on money?”
Si Nian was stunned.
“…Huh?”
Si Nian: “……”
She suddenly had the urge to crack open his head to see if something was broken inside.
“I need money every single day of the year.
All twenty-four hours.
But I don’t need your card.”