The Heiress's Game

Zhang Zhuoran was dragged out by force.

Bai Tianyi rarely comes to Dahai City, and he insisted on doing some sightseeing. Zhang Zhuoran had no choice but to drive him from the east to the west of the city, quickly visiting all the must-see tourist spots.

Bai Tianyi was watching intently through the car window, while Zhang Zhuoran was distracted, tapping his fingers absentmindedly on the steering wheel.

"What kind of attitude is this?" Bai Tianyi turned to look at him. "Do you think it was easy for me to come all this way? You practically have 'bored' written all over your face."

"It's pretty boring," Zhang Zhuoran said bluntly. "The places you picked are all tourist traps. I've lived in this city for so many years, and you expect me to accompany you to stroll along the beach?"

Bai Tianyi rolled his eyes, about to retort, when he caught a glimpse of a figure across the street and paused, "Hey, isn't that Pei Yan?"

Zhang Zhuoran followed his gaze.

Across the street was an outdoor seating area for a café, where Pei Yan was sitting.

He was wearing a dark gray shirt, no tie, and the sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, standing next to a round table.

But he wasn't alone—a girl stood in front of him, wearing a floral dress and with her hair tied in a ponytail, looking up at him as she spoke.

The two stood very close, and then the girl reached out and naturally straightened Pei Yan's collar.

That action was so intimate, so intimate that no explanation was needed; anyone could tell at a glance what their relationship was.

Zhang Zhuoran's gaze lingered on the girl's face for two seconds before shifting to Pei Yan's face.

Pei Yan looked down at the girl, a smile playing on his lips. It was a gentle, patient smile, carrying a tacit understanding that only people who have been together for a long time possess.

Zhang Zhuoran's car was parked on the side of the road, the engine still running. His hands were still on the steering wheel, his knuckles slowly tightening.

"Do you know that woman?" Bai Tianyi sensed the awkward atmosphere and dropped his joking tone.

"I don't know him," Zhang Zhuoran said, "but I know that Pei Yan is about to marry Gu Yunjin."

He opened the car door and got out.

"Hey—" Bai Tianyi quickly unbuckled his seatbelt and chased after him, "Don't be impulsive!"

Zhang Zhuoran had already crossed the road.

Then Pei Yan and Zhang Zhuoran's eyes met in mid-air.

"Young Master Zhang," Pei Yan spoke first.

"Young Master Pei is in high spirits," Zhang Zhuoran stopped two steps away from him, his hands in his pockets, and even had a smile on his face.

"Who is this?"

"A friend," Pei Yan said.

"Friends?" Zhang Zhuoran tilted his head and glanced at Jin Wei.

"What kind of friend can help you straighten your collar? Why don't I have a friend like that?"

Pei Yan remained silent. Behind him, Jin Wei clenched her fingers tightly, her face gradually turning pale.

Bai Tianyi caught up, panting, grabbed Zhang Zhuoran's arm, and whispered, "Zhuoran, don't do it on the street—"

"I didn't do anything on the street," Zhang Zhuoran said, shaking off his hand, his gaze never leaving Pei Yan's face.

"Pei Yan, I just want to ask you one thing. Is your marriage to the Gu family about to be finalized?"

Pei Yan paused for two seconds, then said, "Yes."

"Okay," Zhang Zhuoran nodded and questioned.

"So what are you doing now? Yun Jin is about to be your fiancé, and you're here flirting with another woman."

What do you take the Gu family for? What do you take Yun Jin for?

He took a step closer.

"This is my private matter," Pei Yan said. "I will handle it."

"Handle?" Zhang Zhuoran repeated.

"That's a brilliant word, Young Master Pei. 'Handle'... You mean, deal with this person—"

He gestured with his chin towards Jin Wei, "—So you'll 'deal with' her, and then go marry Gu Yunjin cleanly?"

"Do you think I, Zhang Zhuoran, am standing here on Yun Jin's behalf? Yes, I am."

But I find you disgusting. If you have any guts, don't take this marriage. Take your true love and run away.

"If you accept the marriage, don't try to have your cake and eat it too, taking advantage of the Gu family's arranged marriage while keeping a mistress outside. You want to have it both ways? Do you think everyone else is a fool?"

Pei Yan did not refute.

Bai Tianyi clung tightly to Zhang Zhuoran's arm, practically hanging on him, barely managing to hold him back: "That's enough, let's go, let's go—"

"Don't pull me." Zhang Zhuoran shook him off and looked at Pei Yan.

Pei Yan,

"Gu Yunjin is my good friend and my business partner, which you may not know."

She seems indifferent to everything and can handle everything properly, but she is not heartless.

If you can't take responsibility for her, then make it clear as soon as possible. Don't wait until things get out of control before making excuses.

After saying this, he glanced at Jin Wei behind Pei Yan, then turned and left.

Bai Tianyi followed behind him, glancing back at Pei Yan as he walked, his expression complex.

The street returned to silence. Someone peeked out from the café to see what was going on, but quickly shrank back after being glanced at by Pei Yan.

Jin Wei stood behind him the whole time, without saying a word.

When Pei Yan turned around to look at her, her face was as white as paper, her lips were pressed into a thin line, and there was water in her eyes, but she held back her tears.

Her fingertips were trembling.

"Jin Wei—"

"Is everything he said true?"

"Is your marriage proposal about to be finalized?"

Pei Yan looked at her, his throat feeling like it was blocked by something.

He wanted to explain, to say something like "This was arranged by my family" or "I had no choice," but the words lingered on his tongue before he swallowed them back.

Because he knew better than anyone that saying these words at this moment would be the most shameless excuse.

"Yes," he said.

Jin Wei felt as if something had hit her chest hard.

"You said you'd handle it," her voice began to tremble, "handle what? Handle me? Dispose of me like an unsuitable piece of luggage?"

"It's not what you think—"

"What does it look like?" Jin Wei's voice suddenly rose.

"Pei Yan, I've followed you for ten years, ten years. I've never made a single request of you, never."

The last time I came to see you, I told you that I would be willing to be your lover.

Do you know what I told myself after I got back? I told myself, you don't not want me, you have no choice, you are forced by your family, you will find a way sooner or later.

I'm brainwashing myself every day, lying to myself every day.

She smiled, a smile more painful than tears, and finally, tears rolled down her cheeks, falling one by one to the ground.

"It turns out that from beginning to end, I was the only one deceiving myself."

"Jin Wei." Pei Yan reached out and grabbed her wrist.

She dodged it.

She took two steps back, raised her hand to wipe away her tears, then took a deep breath and looked up at him.

"Pei Yan, I have a question for you. Think carefully before you answer, because this might be our only chance."

"Go ahead and ask."

"Could you... perhaps not go through with that arranged marriage?"

Pei Yan's lips moved slightly.

Many images flashed through his mind, including his parents' words, "There's no room for discussion about this."

The Pei family's business empire, the business alliances formed through marriage, and the cautionary tales of those who plummeted because they chose the wrong side.

The house he lives in, every car he can drive on the road, everything that his surname represents when he signs his name.

Jin Wei stood there, looking into Pei Yan's eyes.

"I'm sorry," Pei Yan said.

"Jinwei, I love you. In these ten years, I've only ever loved you. But..."

He paused, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down.

"But I can't let go of what the Pei family gave me—my identity, status, wealth, and everything else that you might think is unimportant but that I grew up with—I can't let go of it."

I've tried to let go; I really have thought about it.

"I'm a coward."

"I understand," Jin Wei said.

Jin Wei turned and left.

After taking a few steps, Pei Yan's voice came from behind: "I'll see you off."

Jin Wei neither turned back nor refused.

She was so tired that she didn't even have the strength to refuse.

Pei Yan's car was parked on the street corner, a silver-gray sports car, the passenger seat she had sat in countless times.

He opened the car door for her, and she got in, leaning back in the seat, feeling completely drained.

The moment the car door closed, most of the sounds outside were shut out, leaving only the familiar scent inside the car—his cologne.

These flavors, mixed together, formed the scene she was most familiar with over the past decade.

Pei Yan got into the driver's seat and started the engine.

He glanced at her, wanting to say something, but ultimately said nothing, shifted gears, and drove into the evening traffic.

The sports car drove onto the winding mountain road leading to the middle of the mountain, with lush trees on one side and the golden sea on the other.

Pei Yan gripped the steering wheel with one hand and rested the other on the car window, his knuckles unconsciously tightening and loosening.

Jin Wei pressed her forehead against the car window; the cool glass against her skin helped her regain some clarity.

She watched as the city outside the window gradually lit up—the lights of office buildings, streetlights, and neon signs across the sea, layer upon layer of light dyeing the night sky a pale orange.

This is Pei Yan's world: glamorous, vast, and indestructible.

She stood on the edge of this world for ten years, allowed to approach, allowed to stay briefly, but never truly allowed to step inside.

She even considered becoming his lover.

lover.

She looked at her blurry reflection in the car window and suddenly smiled.

Jin Wei, are you stupid?

That's really stupid.

Foolish enough to think that love can heal all wounds. Foolish enough to think that as long as I am sensible enough, patient enough, and humble enough, one day I will get a happy ending.

So foolish! Even though you clearly saw the ending, you still lied to yourself and said it didn't matter, as long as he still wanted you, your identity didn't matter.

But does he not want you?

He didn't reject you; he just never truly chose you.

The sports car smoothly turned the corner, and the lights of the hillside villas lit up ahead.

It was a vast expanse of warm, golden light, pouring down from the mountainside, as if another world was looking down upon her.

Jin Wei turned her head and glanced at him.

His eyes were still red, and his knuckles were white as he gripped the steering wheel.

He was sad.

He was genuinely sad.

But he still wanted to drive to that hillside villa, still wanted to go back to being the second young master of the Pei family, and still wanted to marry that woman named Gu Yunjin.

His sadness was real, and so was his choice.

She was weighed on a scale and clearly placed on the "give up" side.

The car stopped in front of the villa.

Jin Wei unbuckled her seatbelt and reached for the car door.

"Jin Wei," Pei Yan called out to her.

Jin Wei closed her eyes briefly, pushed open the car door, and got out.

She didn't turn back. She was afraid that if she did, she would soften her heart again and find a thousand reasons to stay.

Then the headlights went out. The engine restarted, the sports car turned around, and slowly drove down the winding mountain road it had come from.

Jin Wei stood by the window, looking at the sea of ​​light, and suddenly felt very tired.

It wasn't physical fatigue, but a weariness that seeped into her very bones, like carrying a ten-year burden for far too long, only to realize now that the burden was filled with things she had unilaterally imposed upon herself.

She believed Pei Yan was truly in pain.

But his pain and his life can be separated. After the pain subsides, he will still be Pei Yan and will still return to that glamorous world.

Her pain was everything; after the pain subsided, she had nothing left.

She's so silly.

Outside the window, the night view of the city is as dazzling as a galaxy, with countless lights shining in the darkness, each one telling a story.

She suddenly felt that the city was too big, so big that she had been walking around for ten years and still hadn't found a place that truly belonged to her.

And now, she no longer needs to search.