Chapter Sixty-Six: Don't Leave Just Yet

She stared longingly at the watch in Chao Si’s hand. Recently strapped for cash, Shen Lu was still hoping for a chance to save herself. But the boy always gave her a strange feeling, as if he could see through everything. Unwilling to expose any other disgraceful secrets, Shen Lu forced herself to leave quickly, desperate to escape this oppressive place.

Before she left, she cast a deep glance at the youth beneath the tree, his eyes lowered to the watch, beautiful as a painting. Shen Lu gritted her teeth in frustration, regret gnawing at her insides. She must have been blind back then, thinking this boy was just as innocent and naïve as Chao Si, which was why she tried to get close to him. In the end, she gained nothing and only brought trouble upon herself.

Fuming, Shen Lu didn’t even bother with Su Beiru and was about to leave when, just as she was about to pass by Chao Xu, he lightly moved to block her path.

“In such a hurry to leave?” he asked, smiling, but there was no warmth in his eyes—only a chilling cold.

Watching so much money slip from her grasp, Shen Lu’s heart ached with frustration. When Chao Xu called out to her, she turned, frowning, her eyes brimming with tears. Forcing herself to sound pitiful, she whimpered, “Chao, you’ve already taken back your watch, what more do you want?”

She sobbed quietly, her eyes glistening with tears, looking as if she had suffered a great injustice. Inwardly, she clenched her fists, anger burning in her gaze. That was her money—given away for nothing! It was infuriating.

Unconsciously, she had come to regard everything that belonged to Chao Si as something she deserved. Chao Xu slipped the watch into his pocket, a faint, enigmatic smile on his lips. “Let’s not talk about the watch for now. As I recall, my sister lost more than just this one thing. Did you happen to see anything else?”

At his words, Shen Lu’s face turned rigid. Was it still not over?

She was beside herself with regret. If she’d known things would turn out like this, she never would have presumed Chao Si was clueless and tried to assert her presence, only to end up losing everything.

Ignoring Shen Lu’s panicked expression, Chao Xu began to count on his fingers, his long lashes lowered as he spoke to himself. “Let me see—handbag, necklace, handcuffs, lipstick, ring, computer, phone… what else? I can’t recall exactly, but surely there were dozens of items, at least. Right?”

He looked at Shen Lu with a playful gaze that made her feel utterly humiliated. But those things had long since been sold or spent—how could she possibly return them to Chao Si? Even if some remained, she certainly couldn’t afford to give them back now.

Biting her lip, Shen Lu averted her eyes and stammered, “Those things… I haven’t seen them. Maybe some were lent to me, maybe to others. If you want them, you can look for them yourself.”

Her eyes glistened as she wiped away a tear, gazing plaintively at Chao Xu. “Your sister and I are very close. If she were here, she’d never force me to hand anything over.”

Her self-righteous tone twisted the blame onto Chao Xu, as if he were in the wrong.

Chao Xu watched her feigned innocence and sighed in disappointment. Tsk, there it was again—the classic routine of borrowing things.

“‘The things you gave me, I already lent to someone else.’”
“‘It’s just classmates borrowing, what’s the harm?’”
“‘Besides, the things aren’t with me anymore. If you want them, go ask someone else.’”
“‘I don’t have them, so you can’t force me to give them back, can you?’”