Chapter 4 | You’re Starting a New Life, While I’m Stuck Here Going Mad

Wen Yan agreed to be with Lin Yu on a very ordinary afternoon.

No roses. No confessions.

Just outside the library, he asked,

“Do you want to try?”

She was silent for a few seconds, then said,

“Okay.”

At that moment, there was no excitement in her chest, no fluttering heartbeat.

Only exhaustion.

Exhaustion that made her want an escape, even if it wasn’t the path she truly wished to take.

Lin Yu was delighted, openly so.

When he held her hand, he did it gently, afraid she might break.

Wen Yan didn’t pull away.

But her hand was ice-cold.

Word spread quickly: Wen Yan and Lin Yu were together.

Shen Che was the last to know.

That day, he saw them on the playground.

The sun was low, the wind soft.

Lin Yu shielded her from the breeze.

She looked up at him, relaxed in a way Shen Che hadn’t seen in a long time.

Shen Che stood in the distance, his throat tight, as if something had lodged there.

He didn’t remember how he walked over.

He only remembered stopping in front of her, voice low and trembling near the edge of control.

“Wen Yan.”

She turned, slightly startled.

“Something wrong?” Her tone was distant.

Shen Che’s eyes fell on their intertwined hands.

His fingers clenched violently.

“You’re with him?”

Lin Yu instinctively stepped back, putting her behind him.

“We’re together.” Wen Yan spoke for him.

Those words hit Shen Che like a punch to the chest.

“You’re serious?” He stared at her.

“Yes.” She answered quickly.

Too quickly to feel like herself.

Shen Che laughed suddenly.

A laugh without warmth.

“Do you know what you’re doing?”

“Of course I do.”

She looked at him, eyes clear but merciless.

“I’m starting a new life.”

“What about before? What was that?”

He blurted out.

The air froze instantly.

Wen Yan’s face paled.

She smiled slowly, eyes red-rimmed.

“Call it my foolish affection.”

The words were for him. And for herself.

Lin Yu sensed the tension and whispered, “Shall we go?”

She nodded.

As she turned, Shen Che suddenly grabbed her wrist.

Hard.

“Let go of her.” Lin Yu frowned.

Wen Yan looked down at Shen Che’s hand. Her voice barely moved.

“Let go.”

He didn’t.

His eyes were red, terrifyingly so, as if he had finally reached the edge of losing control.

“You can’t do this.”

He said.

“Do what?” She asked.

“You can’t just leave me like this.”

The words shocked even him as they left his mouth.

Wen Yan stared at him, truly seeing him for the first time.

“Shen Che,” she said slowly and clearly,

“You were the one who let go first.

Now, what right do you have to come back and claim me?”

Shen Che’s hand finally loosened.

She pulled Lin Yu along and walked away without looking back.

Shen Che stood there, the world eerily quiet.

That night, he went mad searching for her.

Message after message:

Are you doing this on purpose?

Are you trying to push me?

Wen Yan, come back!

Don’t do this to me!

She didn’t reply to a single one.

The last time his phone lit up, it was her message:

Shen Che, you once told me to stay away.

Now I’ve done exactly that.

Please, don’t come near me again.

At that moment, Shen Che finally realized—

She wasn’t testing him.

She had made a real, irreversible choice.

And he had completely lost control.