After Marrying the Cold Omega in Secret - Chapter 82

Seeing those two lines of text felt like a skipped heartbeat.

She couldn’t believe it and took a closer look for several seconds.

There was no mistake.

Not just the name even the handwriting carried a familiar warmth from the past.

Chu Jin hastily placed the picture frame on the desk and sank weakly into the chair.

Memories she had long sealed away now surged forth like a flood. Countless images flashed through her mind, instantly overwhelming her.

The nights she returned from class, quietly turning on the desk lamp to write letters; the mornings she rushed to the school mailroom after breakfast, hoping for a reply.

And… the day she mustered the courage to send a letter inviting him to meet, only to wait alone at the designated spot from dawn till dusk.

That day, her joy and anticipation slowly eroded into self-doubt with every passing minute, until an unexpected downpour drenched her fervent heart, leaving it cold and desolate.

After that day, Chu Jin buried the hazy romance of her youth.

A one-sided crush that never truly began, yet ended without closure.

She had moved on, leaving the past behind.

But now, she was being told that the past and the present were the same person.

And Chi Ye seemed to have known all along.

She knew Chu Jin’s past, her pain, yet when she reappeared under a new identity, she pretended ignorance.

Chu Jin suddenly felt like a fool being toyed with.

Was this why Chi Ye sought her out for the contract? To make up for standing her up four years ago?

Her thoughts were in chaos. She didn’t want to dwell on it, didn’t dare to.

It all felt absurd and exhausting.

Just then, footsteps sounded outside the room, and in the next moment, Chi Ye walked in.

Chu Jin could no longer pretend. She couldn’t act as if nothing had happened.

But she didn’t know what to say, either.

So she remained seated at the desk in silence.

Her gaze was unreadable, lips pressed into a thin line.

Chi Ye had steadied her emotions before entering.

Faced with Wan Qing’s sudden return, she was still hesitant about whether to tell Chu Jin.

Chi Ye knew how much Wan Qing’s affairs weighed on Chu Jin, so she had to tread carefully whenever the topic arose.

And Wan Qing, Chi Ye knew all too well was a genuine madman, dangerously unpredictable. She couldn’t let Chu Jin get entangled in that.

Entering the study, Chi Ye spotted Chu Jin and asked, “How’s it going, sweetheart?”

Her tone was as calm as ever, laced with tenderness.

But Chu Jin didn’t move or respond.

Chi Ye sensed the shift in the air.

Her chest tightened. After a brief hesitation, she stepped closer.

“What are you looking at so intently. ”

Her words cut off abruptly when her eyes landed on the frame on the desk.

Chi Ye froze mid-step, her expression stiffening.

This time, it was Chu Jin who spoke. Slowly lifting her gaze, she turned to look at Chi Ye.

“Did you draw this?”

Chi Ye didn’t answer.

“Are you Y?”

Chu Jin pressed on, her voice weary.

“You knew all along, didn’t you?”

Three questions hung in the air, unanswered.

Silence stretched between them deceptively still, yet charged with tension.

Chi Ye’s eyes darkened slightly.

Finally, she gave a faint nod.

“Yeah.”

Upon receiving the answer, a tumult of emotions instantly overwhelmed Chu Jin.

She couldn’t tell whether she was happy or angry only that her chest felt stifled and heavy.

She needed to calm down.

Chu Jin stood up and walked toward the door.

As she passed Chi Ye, he suddenly grabbed her hand.

“Where are you going?”

“I don’t know.” Her voice was weak, but she pulled free from his grasp.

At this moment, she truly had no idea where to go.

It seemed her world had become inextricably tied to Chi Ye, leaving her directionless.

Yet she knew one thing clearly she needed to find a place without him to collect her thoughts.

Even if it just meant leaving this place, nothing more.

“I’ll have the driver take you home,” Chi Ye said, catching up to her.

“No need.”

Chu Jin didn’t stop walking, her reply firm.

Chi Ye’s lips parted slightly, but he said nothing more.

Silently, he followed her downstairs.

After bidding farewell to Grandma and Chi Ye’s mother, Chu Jin left alone.

She walked quickly, aimlessly.

Exiting the neighborhood, she continued forward until she reached an intersection then her phone rang.

She thought it might be Chi Ye, but when she checked, it was Jiang Xu calling.

Jiang Xu didn’t explain the reason for the call, only saying she had something important to give Chu Jin.

Chu Jin didn’t want to meet, but Jiang Xu was insistent.

She told her she had to come.

“I thought about it for a long time before deciding to return these to you.” Jiang Xu’s voice was faint. She glanced at Chu Jin before lowering her gaze, then took a small pouch from her bag.

Chu Jin had been somewhat distracted, but at Jiang Xu’s words, her focus sharpened.

She looked at the paper bag on the table.

After a long pause, she reached for it.

Inside were two envelopes.

Chu Jin froze.

Her pupils contracted sharply.

She stared at Jiang Xu in disbelief before hurriedly pulling out the envelopes. They had yellowed with age, the handwriting on them bearing the marks of time.

The recipients were labeled: “Jin Jin” and “Y.”

These were two letters Chu Jin had never received nor sent.

“I’m sorry.”

Jiang Xu’s voice was barely louder than a whisper, her gaze dropping to the coffee cup on the table.

“You…” Chu Jin’s eyes shimmered with fragmented light, confusion and bewilderment swirling in them. “How did you…?”

But in the next moment, the confusion vanished.

She remembered.

Remembered that day.

When Chu Jin had just started university, Jiang Xu was still in Linhe.

Back then, she would visit Chu Jin’s campus every few days.

During those years, they had been in contact so frequently that it nearly surpassed even Song Xunyu’s interactions with Chu Jin, prompting no shortage of jealous remarks from Song Xunyu.

So it was during that time that Jiang Xu had learned of Y’s existence.

At first, Chu Jin had been a little embarrassed, but under Jiang Xu’s persistent questioning, she eventually explained everything.

In the days that followed, Chu Jin often confided in her, occasionally revealing hints of her unrequited feelings for Y.

Jiang Xu had always been perceptive. She had long sensed Chu Jin’s emotions, which was why she had been the one to encourage Chu Jin to take the initiative and ask Chi Ye to meet.

That was why Chu Jin had written that letter.

And on that day, too timid to send it herself, she had asked Jiang Xu to mail it for her.

Now, that very letter had been returned to her untouched.

Back then, she had assumed Y had ignored it that he had despised her for her greed, for wanting more than she deserved.

Yet she never imagined that the person lying to her was the one closest to her at the time.

“I’d already fallen for you back then,” Jiang Xu confessed openly, laying bare all her past emotions.

“But you kept talking about her. Every time I heard it, it broke my heart, yet I was powerless because I truly felt unworthy of you.”

“So I could only listen.” Jiang Xu’s emotions also spiraled out of control. She paused, suppressing the rising feelings before continuing calmly, “But I couldn’t accept it. I refused to let your relationship with her develop further.”

“If it was always going to be an intangible connection, then keeping it at that stage should have been enough.”

Chu Jin’s heart was in turmoil, waves of emotion crashing within her. She struggled to suppress the most overwhelming one, anger.

“So you stole the letter she wrote me.” Chu Jin’s voice was icy, so cold it seemed to freeze upon hitting the ground. “And this letter contained her invitation to meet.”

“You didn’t dare show it to me. Didn’t dare let me know.”

Chu Jin stared straight at Jiang Xu, as if trying to see through her entire soul, from the surface to the core.

Everything made sense now.

“You wanted us to completely miss each other.” A faint smile touched Chu Jin’s lips, but her eyes held no warmth only a chilling coldness. “That’s why you encouraged me to propose meeting first.”

“And made sure I chose a date different from the one she’d set.”

“So we both ended up waiting on our eagerly anticipated days, only to leave disappointed and defeated.”

After speaking, Chu Jin couldn’t help but take a deep breath.

Finally, she asked, “So did you know Chi Ye was Y?”

Only then did Jiang Xu slowly raise her eyes, her deep pupils now as unfathomable as the night sky.

She nodded. “Yes.”

Because she had gone to the meeting spot at the time Chi Ye had specified.

She had seen with her own eyes how Chi Ye had waited all day in the thunderstorm too.

“That’s why you rushed back after Chi Ye and I appeared on the dating show,” Chu Jin said.

Now all the pieces fell into place.

“I’m sorry,” Jiang Xu said again. “I don’t expect your forgiveness. I just wanted you to know the truth.”

“Chi Ye, she deserves how well you treat her.”

After hearing Jiang Xu out, Chu Jin placed the letter back into the envelope and looked up at her.

“You’re right. She does deserve it.”

Then she stood up, pausing before leaving to say one last thing.

“Thank you for bringing this to me today.”

After leaving the café, Chu Jin hurried back the way she came.

Since the meeting spot with Jiang Xu wasn’t far from Chi Ye’s place, Chu Jin ran the entire way on foot.

Only half an hour had passed since she’d left Chi Ye’s home.

Chi Ye probably hadn’t left yet.

Chu Jin pulled out her phone, about to call Chi Ye.

But then Song Xunyu’s call came through.

She answered, slowing her pace as she continued toward the intersection.

“Hello, what’s up?” Chu Jin asked.

The voice on the other end was urgent, tinged with panic.

“I just heard that Wan Qing is back!”

Chu Jin’s steps faltered at the sudden mention of that long-buried name, leaving her momentarily dazed.

Before she could connect this news to Chi Ye’s earlier reaction, her peripheral vision caught sight of a car speeding toward her from the right.

It was moving dangerously fast and accelerating straight in her direction.

At the same time, Chu Jin heard Chi Ye’s voice ringing in her ears again.

“Chu Jin! Get out of the way!!”

“Move now!!”

Chu Jin wanted to turn back to look at Chi Ye and quickly move aside.

But it seemed everything was already too late.

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