Xin Jiaer accompanied Su Ding as they watched television when there was a knock on the door.
Su Ding got up to open it. Jiang Chu stood outside, smiling, "I knew you'd be here."
"Are you looking for me?"
Jiang Chu shook his head, "About what happened earlier, I think I owe you an apology."
Su Ding recalled him putting his arm around her in front of Jin Ye and declaring their relationship.
However, she didn't take it to heart, "It's fine, I should thank you."
"That's good. I hope you're not upset. If you need company, just call me."
Jiang Chu looked into Su Ding's eyes, appearing like a shy teenager facing a girl he liked, his nervousness palpable.
Su Ding smiled, "Okay."
Jiang Chu heard movement from inside the room, sensing someone's presence, his expression shifted slightly, "Is there someone in there?"
Su Ding nodded, "Yes, I have a friend here."
Jiang Chu's mind immediately went to Jin Ye.
His heated thoughts cooled down as he carefully chose his words, "Is it..."
Su Ding sensed his odd reaction and quickly corrected herself, "Ah, no, it's my best friend."
"Oh, I see."
Jiang Chu's tense expression suddenly relaxed, replaced by an embarrassed smile, "My apologies."
Su Ding looked at him and offered a polite smile.
At that moment, Jin Ye emerged from the elevator and strode towards them with long strides.
He was overwhelmed with emotion, driven by impulse.
They shouldn't hurt each other; they should speak calmly. As long as they could return to how things were, he was willing to let bygones be bygones!
He kept rehearsing scenarios in his mind...
But until he saw the scene—
"Su Ding!"
Jin Ye stared intently at the man and woman talking and laughing ahead, his chest filled with rage.
Veins bulged on his arm, his eyes sharp and menacing.
So his own complex and painful emotions were just a joke in her eyes!
Su Ding felt his furious emotions and trembled slightly. She had never seen Jin Ye look at her with such an expression.
That overwhelming disappointment, that bone-deep hatred.
It felt like unseen blades were cruelly piercing her, eager to finish her off.
Jiang Chu saw Jin Ye approaching with ill intent and instinctively moved to block Su Ding.
Jin Ye advanced swiftly and landed a hard blow to his face, followed by a second punch!
He was hitting him directly!
Jiang Chu hadn't reacted at first, pain forcing him back against the doorframe.
Blood trickled from his nose, his head buzzing. The long-dormant fighting spirit within him was strongly ignited.
He retaliated, aiming a punch at Jin Ye's jaw!
Jin Ye recoiled violently but paid no mind to the pain, like a raging beast fighting an enemy.
"Stop fighting! Stop fighting!"
Su Ding tried to separate them, but they were two grown men, both driven by a desire to win.
Neither gained an advantage.
Seeing both of them bruised and swollen, they separated slightly. Seizing the opportunity, Su Ding pulled Jiang Chu back.
Jiang Chu, seeing Su Ding shielding him, flashed a provocative smile at Jin Ye.
Jin Ye's anger was stoked again, and he gritted his teeth, "Jiang Chu!"
He lunged forward, intending to punch him again, but a small hand slapped him across the face.
A sharp crack echoed!
Jin Ye looked at Su Ding in disbelief, his lips trembling with anger.
She had actually struck him for another man.
This was the second time she had hit him!
Like a noble lion king whose status had been repeatedly challenged, he furiously grabbed Su Ding by the neck and pulled her violently towards him.
"You dare hit me?"
Jin Ye's voice, laced with icy coldness, was squeezed through his teeth.
Su Ding was forced to look up, feeling her breath constrict, but she chose not to struggle. Instead, she gazed at the man before her with a calm and indifferent expression.
She remained silent.
Jiang Chu shouted angrily, "Let her go!"
Jin Ye seemed not to hear, his gaze fixed on the woman he had deeply loved, "Speak."
Su Ding remained silent.
Her silence conveyed that she would accept whatever fate befell her.
"I told you to speak!"
Jin Ye roared in exasperation, a loss of composure he had never shown before.
Su Ding finally smiled, "Yes, I hit you. I hit you for another man."
"You dare!"
Jin Ye tightened his grip, his eyes blazing with a bloodthirsty impulse.
Su Ding felt an overwhelming suffocation, her brow furrowed in discomfort, but she refused to speak or beg for mercy.
"Jin Ye!"
Xin Jiaer emerged and saw the situation, charging forward to shove Jin Ye in anger.
Jin Ye loosened his grip as a result.
Jiang Chu immediately embraced Su Ding's weakened body, steadying her.
Xin Jiaer glared at Jin Ye.
Jin Ye looked at them as if he were their adversary, a stumbling block in their path.
His cold gaze fell on Su Ding's face.
Xin Jiaer immediately jumped in, "Enough! Jin Ye, you are truly despicable!"
"You just slept with Shao Lin and now you've come to hurt our Su Ding. Have you no conscience at all!"
She trembled with anger. Initially, she had tried to convince herself that perhaps things weren't as they seemed.
But now?
Jin Ye was about to kill Su Ding!
Hearing Xin Jiaer, Su Ding's eyes widened slightly in confusion, "Jiaer, what did you say?"
"I said, Jin Ye, that scumbag just slept with Shao Lin!" Xin Jiaer said angrily. "Didn't you see he changed his suit?"
Seeing Su Ding looking bewildered and lost, she anxiously took out her phone.
She opened the video.
Su Ding clearly saw Jin Ye intimately supporting Shao Lin back to her room.
Her heart felt as though it instantly became hollow.
Empty, filled with a ridiculous pain and confusion.