The days after their confrontation felt like a blur. The tension between Su Nian and Lu Cheng hung in the air, thick and suffocating. Every time they crossed paths, a quiet, invisible wall seemed to rise between them. The bond that once felt so unbreakable now appeared fragile, as if it could shatter with the slightest touch.
Su Nian didn't know how to feel anymore. She had asked for the truth from Lu Cheng, and now that she had it, she wasn't sure she could bear it. The image of Mei Ling, elegant and poised, standing beside Lu Cheng, haunted her every time she closed her eyes. The past, so carefully tucked away, had risen like a storm, flooding everything in its path.
It had been three days since their argument, and despite the distance, she could still feel the echo of his words reverberating in her heart.
"I can't lose you, NianNian."
But how could she trust him again? How could she trust someone who had kept so much hidden from her? The foundation they had built felt shaky, and she wondered if it would ever be solid again.
The academy had been a welcome distraction, but even there, Su Nian couldn't escape the swirl of emotions that threatened to consume her. She buried herself in her sketches, working late into the night on her designs, pushing herself harder than ever. Each stitch in her work felt like a way to stitch her fractured heart back together, but nothing seemed to fill the emptiness that had opened up inside of her.
That evening, as she was leaving the academy, her phone buzzed with a message from Lu Cheng.
"Can we talk? Please. I need you to listen."
Her fingers hovered over the screen, torn between answering and walking away. Part of her wanted to hear him out, to give him the chance to explain, to fix things. But another part of her—the part that had been hurt so deeply—wanted to push him away. To protect herself from the pain she knew was inevitable.
With a sigh, she set the phone down on the table and walked out of the academy without replying.