Chapter 1460: Chapter 1461: Coming Out for a Breath of Air and Running into a Confession

“When the time comes, you’ll truly become Miss Chu. Do you understand?”

Chu Xi felt a twinge of dislike toward his domineering tone, but remembering that she still needed him for many things, she silently endured it.

“I understand.”

Mr. Chu was very satisfied with her obedience. Thinking about the dazzling fortune that was within his grasp, he glanced again at Chu Xi’s downcast profile, and the corners of his mouth curled up in satisfaction. He raised his hand to stroke his chin and promised, “I’ll deal with Rong Yan for you. Just focus on getting Jiang Chenyue.”

Chu Xi’s expression remained unreadable as she pressed her lips tightly together and responded with a faint “mm.”

The car slowly started moving, heading toward its destination—

*

Rong Yan managed to escape the private room under the guise of needing to use the restroom, just to step outside for some fresh air.

With both hands fanning herself, her face was flushed, and when she glanced at her reflection in the mirror, she could see how red it had become.

Those little pretty boys were way too aggressive, practically forcing drinks on her the entire time. Wang Ying, meanwhile, stood by egging them on, clearly hoping to get her drunk so she would agree to let one of Lemon Studio’s new recruits play the male lead instead.

Rong Yan lingered in the restroom for a while, splashed some cold water on her face, and reapplied her lipstick before getting ready to leave. Just then, a woman’s sweet, girlish voice came from the restroom door.

“I—I—I like you.”

Wait, seriously?

Rong Yan froze in her tracks, realizing it wasn’t a good time to step out.

Was her luck really this “great”—running into a confession while simply cooling her face with cold water?

The confessing girl was bold. Even though she didn’t get a response, she still mustered up the courage to hold up the handmade scarf in her hands. “Your birthday is coming up, right? This is your birthday gift. I spent a long time learning how to make it, and maybe it’s not as good as the ones sold outside, but it’s a token of my feelings. Could you accept it?”

The man, as dazzling as an orchid in a secluded valley, had his back turned to Rong Yan. Her stealthy glances didn’t reveal his face, but judging by his silhouette, he was at least a solid seven out of ten.

She blinked a couple of times and propped her chin on her hand, contemplating how she could leave without feeling awkward.

“Is it that you can’t accept it? Do you… already have someone you like?” The girl blocking the restroom door sounded visibly disheartened, her voice tinged with sadness. “I’ve liked you for a long time. A very, very long time. From the moment I first saw you when I was in middle school, I’ve been smitten. I even secretly wrote you love letters. You probably never noticed them. Thinking about it now, I guess I always knew. Half the girls at school liked you, and the pile of letters under your desk every day was staggering. How would you ever notice who they were from? I… I knew you’d never open them to read, and that’s the only reason I dared to send you one every week. I fantasized that one day you’d see one by chance and just happen to like me too. Then maybe, just maybe, we’d get together, just like in the TV dramas.”

One letter per week… geez, she could probably publish a romance anthology by now.

Rong Yan’s phone suddenly lit up. She fished it out to check, seeing Estelle’s persistent message notifications flashing nonstop. The poor thing must be overwhelmed and was calling her back.

Rong Yan hung up, stuffed the phone into her bag, and took a deep breath. She peeked out at the ongoing confession and decided to pretend she hadn’t heard or seen anything—determined to head out with laser focus and zero hesitation.

“I know my feelings are childish, unrealistic. You wouldn’t like a naive, little girl like me. The type you probably like is someone older than you or someone your age—someone beautiful, highly capable, a strong, independent woman.”

Her voice dimmed with disappointment. “It definitely wouldn’t be someone like me. To you, I must seem laughable, like a silly kid. You must think what I’m doing right now is especially immature.”