The pounding of his heart echoed constantly in her ears. Just as Lu Luochen had said, it was beating for her.
Yun Chutong tilted her head back and managed to wriggle out of his domineering embrace.
"We both need to calm down."
Yun Chutong hailed a taxi and left without looking back, leaving Lu Luochen alone in the same spot.
As the taxi drove on, Yun Chutong glanced back. His figure gradually shrank into a tiny black dot and finally disappeared into the night.
She took out her phone and blocked Lu Luochen on both phone calls and WeChat.
Lu Luochen dejectedly withdrew his gaze and got into his car like a walking corpse. Staring blankly ahead, his mind was filled with Yun Chutong's words.
Searching his pockets, Lu Luochen dialed Yun Chutong's number as if grasping at the last straw.
"The number you dialed is turned off..."
Lu Luochen listened to the automated message over and over again.
The dark clouds seemed to sense the sorrowful atmosphere and gathered in the sky. With the help of the wind, they covered the sky, devouring all the light.
Thunder rumbled, a flash of white light streaked across the sky, and bean-sized raindrops came pouring down. The rain grew heavier and battered the car windows mercilessly.
The rainwater trickled down the glass, gradually obscuring the view ahead. Lu Luochen stared out of the window with a gloomy face and stepped on the accelerator.
The tires splashed through the puddles, sending water spraying towards the flower beds by the roadside.
In front of the tall apartment building, the car's headlights illuminated the wall. A few seconds later, the surroundings dimmed, leaving only the weak light from the street lamps.
Lu Luochen picked up the phone on the passenger seat. The call ended just like before, with the official message followed by a series of beeps.
He looked up at the floor where Yun Chutong lived, opened the car door, and walked into the rain. He entered the apartment building and took the elevator straight to the top floor.
Ding dong~
The elevator doors opened.
Lu Luochen stepped out of the elevator, his back to the light and facing the cold door.
Hearing the knocking, Yun Chutong on the sofa turned her head. She haughtily smoothed out the wrinkles on her facial mask and lounged on the sofa, leisurely munching on the fruit platter.
The knocking didn't stop for a few seconds. Lu Luochen's palms gradually turned red, and he didn't just limit himself to knocking on the door.
A gust of wind blew, and the door behind Lu Luochen opened.
A woman poked her head out of the room and happened to meet Lu Luochen's gaze. After a brief eye contact, she retracted her head and closed the door.
The corridor fell into silence again. Lu Luochen slumped dejectedly on the ground. It seemed as if time had gone back to when Yun Chutong was about to go abroad. Back then, he couldn't stop the old man, nor could he persuade Yun Chutong. He could only watch helplessly as she left his side.
For a whole year, he had been working hard to find a way to bring her back. Unexpectedly, the opportunity turned out to be his engagement to Wen Sining. As a stopgap measure, he had no choice but to agree. But now, he didn't know how to handle the issues between the two of them.
The phone call in the afternoon was initiated by Yun Chutong, simply because he had sent her a text message when he went to see Aitong in the afternoon.
Lu Luochen turned to face the closed door and took out his phone, looking at the wallpaper of the two of them.
"Chutong, please open the door. Let's have a good talk."
His voice was soft, but Yun Chutong inside the room could hear it clearly.
She had already removed the facial mask from her face. She walked to the door and looked through the peephole at the dejected Lu Luochen outside. Everything was going according to her plan, but Yun Chutong still didn't respond.
As time passed by, the heavy rain outside the window gradually stopped. The rainwater on the glass slid down the surface and gradually gathered into a water droplet, which then fell into the crack.
Creak~
Yun Chutong opened the door, but Lu Luochen, who was supposed to be sitting on the ground, was nowhere to be seen.
Damn it! He had actually left!
In the past, Lu Luochen could wait for her outside the door all night. Now, was he just putting on a show?
Yun Chutong went back to the balcony and looked down. The Maybach parked downstairs had already left. She kicked the railing in dissatisfaction and pounded her fist hard.
...
Amid the noisy music and swaying figures, Lu Luochen lay among the wine bottles, isolated from the outside world.
"Chutong, you can't... can't leave me..."
His body was lying on the side of the sofa, curled up between the coffee table and the sofa. Lu Luochen mumbled Yun Chutong's name in his daze, and the darkness was filled with sorrow.
Feng Jingcheng waded through the crowd and walked in from outside in a hurry. His wrinkled brows scanned the booths, looking for Lu Luochen's figure.
He quickened his pace and was shocked by the wine bottles on the floor. He quickly helped Lu Luochen up and thoughtfully undid the buttons on his collar. "Why did you drink so much?"
"Chutong!" Lu Luochen's vision was blurry. Vaguely sensing someone, he grabbed onto Feng Jingcheng like a life-saving straw.
Feng Jingcheng bent down and leaned closer, putting his ear to Lu Luochen's lips. "What? Say it again?"
Suddenly, Lu Luochen sat up straight and hugged Feng Jingcheng. Rubbing his cheek against Feng Jingcheng's, he unconsciously assumed that the person in front of him was Yun Chutong.
"Don't leave me..."
The overly intimate gesture really scared Feng Jingcheng. He yanked Lu Luochen away and pushed him back onto the sofa. As their bodies separated, he also heard what Lu Luochen had said.
It seemed that he was upset because of Yun Chutong again!
Lu Luochen struggled to open his eyes and vaguely saw the serious man opposite him.
Feng Jingcheng loosened his tie and sat down beside him, bending over. He glanced at Lu Luochen helplessly. "You've just got your heart set on Yun Chutong. That's why you've been manipulated by her."
Lu Luochen blinked his eyes. His whole body was limp, and he couldn't hear a word the person beside him was saying.
"You should toughen up. If she wants to break up with you, just go along with it. You two have been through so much together. You should have a clear judgment about your future." After Feng Jingcheng finished speaking, he turned his head and saw that Lu Luochen had already fallen asleep.
All his words were in vain!
Feng Jingcheng picked up the wine bottles on the floor and neatly arranged them on the table.
Regarding the relationship between Lu Luochen and Yun Chutong, Feng Jingcheng had always maintained an objective view. Sometimes, he even sided with the old man and agreed with his ideas.
The entertainment industry wasn't as glamorous as it seemed. It was like an abyss, and people who got involved in it were easily influenced and might forget their initial aspirations.
Every time he saw Yun Chutong throwing tantrums and making a fuss with Lu Luochen, he felt it was really not worth it for Lu Luochen. It had always been Lu Luochen who had been giving unilaterally, while the other person had never done anything in return.
"Other than getting drunk, you don't have anything else to do." Feng Jingcheng sighed and helped Lu Luochen up from the sofa.
Along the way, Feng Jingcheng listened to Lu Luochen's confessions of love for Yun Chutong.
The car stopped at the entrance of the Lu family mansion, and they happened to run into Wen Sining in the courtyard.
"Please open the door." Feng Jingcheng mistook Wen Sining for a servant in the family.
Wen Sining looked back and found that she was the only one there.