After Redeeming the Female Lead, I Faked My Death and Escaped - Chapter 22

The live broadcast was abruptly cut off.

As Ying Xu removed her earpiece, she heard Shan Qiaoyun’s voice: “Miss Ying, you’ve worked hard.”

Though the words were polite, the tone remained dismissive.

Ying Xu looked up. In Shan Qiaoyun’s eyes, she was just another person separated by an invisible pane of glass.

Those outside the cage believed they had tamed everything, but in Ying Xu’s eyes, weren’t they just a troupe of clowns performing an absurd farce?

She pushed open the door, ignoring Shan Qiaoyun, and instead softly asked Assistant Lu something.

The beta hadn’t expected Ying Xu to speak to her at that moment and fumbled as she handed over the item in her hands.

Gu Qingzhu’s gaze followed the movement.

It was a small handbag, one that had once belonged to her. She couldn’t remember which occasion it was or why she had lost her temper, but she had hurled it at Ying Xu’s face without hesitation.

After that day, she had never seen the bag again, assuming the staff had stored it away. Her walk-in closet was filled with countless bags, and unless she deliberately sought one out, Gu Qingzhu never paid special attention to any of them.

This bag had been in Ying Xu’s possession for some time, yet Gu Qingzhu had never noticed.

She parted her lips but didn’t know what to say.

Ying Xu’s words had been too ruthless, leaving no room for retreat. Though she hadn’t outright announced her withdrawal from the entertainment industry, under the weight of public condemnation, it was only a matter of time.

Two paths one a swift death, the other a slow one.

Yet Ying Xu still hadn’t chosen the former, as if clinging to a sliver of hope.

But if she didn’t leave, what could she possibly do? What future awaited her?

Gu Qingzhu remained silent as the sharp sound of a zipper being pulled open pierced the air.

What was she reaching for? A rope? A knife? A shard of glass?

The next moment, right before Gu Qingzhu’s eyes, those slender fingers retrieved an unopened tube of lip balm.

“Qingzhu.”

The woman’s gentle voice sounded: “It’s too cold. Your lips are a little dry.”

The last time, in the room, Gu Qingzhu had thought those hands would bring violence, but they had only rested tenderly against her forehead.

The warmth of that touch had felt as though it pressed her heart closer to Ying Xu in that moment.

And now, those same fingers lightly brushed her lips, not with any hint of impropriety, but with nothing more than a concerned reminder.

All her wariness and fury dissolved in an instant.

Gu Qingzhu stared at that hand for a long time before finding her own hoarse voice: “Is this all you wanted to say?”

After publicly painting herself as an irredeemable villain, bearing emotions and suffering that weren’t hers to shoulder, Ying Xu still harbored no resentment toward her. Instead, she was only concerned about the one who had pushed her into this whirlwind.

Gu Qingzhu herself.

What was this supposed to mean?

Ying Xu lowered her gaze to the lip balm’s packaging. It wasn’t anything luxurious, just a generic brand bought on a whim, something she used for herself.

The alpha seemed slightly embarrassed and murmured, “I, acted on my own assumptions. Qingzhu must have her own preferred brand. I”

But Gu Qingzhu reached out and took the lip balm, stopping Ying Xu from further self-deprecation.

“I’ll do my best to handle the public backlash. The compensation will also be doubled.”

Fiddling with the packaging, Gu Qingzhu’s voice was quiet.

From the very beginning, she had already decided. No matter what Ying Xu chose, she would end this relationship.

Time marches on relentlessly, and no matter how desperately she yearns, she will always be pushed forward.

There is only one way for someone to remain forever in a single moment.

“Wait here a little longer.”

“Someone will contact you shortly.”

Shan Qiaoyun stood to the side with her arms crossed, observing everything.

Gu Qingzhu’s emotions were often transparent, but in those rare moments of clarity and composure, she became exceptionally restrained, unwilling to reveal anything. Shan Qiaoyun found it difficult to guess the woman’s thoughts.

The polite words exchanged now, in her eyes, were merely Gu Qingzhu seeking a lawyer to revise the agreement. Once it was over, Ying Xu would still return to the mansion with her.

In Shan Qiaoyun’s opinion, giving this money to Ying Xu was somewhat wasteful.

But Ying Xu’s words had been both cutting and beautifully spoken, moving even the onlookers. It was only natural to want to reward her a little.

Feeling reassured, Shan Qiaoyun smiled. “Indeed, Miss Ying, what would you like to eat? I’ll have Xiao Lu order it. You’ve worked hard today”

The conversation sounded to Ying Xu like a well-rehearsed duet, grating on her ears.

“No need, Qingzhu,” she interrupted, cutting Shan Qiaoyun off mid-sentence. The woman’s expression instantly stiffened.

But Ying Xu paid no mind to her reaction. The corners of her eyes curved slightly as she spoke in a clear, gentle voice, “My intention was never to let you be affected. Forcing a change in public perception might still implicate you. So…”

“Let’s end it here.”

“The production team will likely terminate my contract, but this role was only mine because of Qingzhu. Maybe my performance wasn’t the best, but at least. I’m satisfied.”

“I heard Miss Xiang’s words. It’s a shame she isn’t here, or I would have liked to tell her in person that Qingzhu gave me all of this.”

“I don’t mind, and I won’t blame Qingzhu,” Ying Xu said with a smile. “On the contrary, I want to thank her. For giving me a beautiful, joyful time, one I’ll cherish every day for the rest of my life.”

“I won’t blame you.”

The last time Ying Xu had spoken these words voluntarily was right after Gu Qingzhu had nearly killed her.

For a moment, Gu Qingzhu’s mind went blank.

She didn’t even know how to respond, as if all her thoughts had frozen in that instant. Her dark pupils fixed on the Alpha, yet she could only watch helplessly as Ying Xu walked toward the door.

Could such a person truly exist in this world?

Someone who asked no questions, bore no complaints, and no matter how much she hurt them, would still willingly offer an embrace?

It was so unreal, so perfect it felt like a delusion.

So “perfect” it was terrifying.

“Enough with the nonsense,” Gu Qingzhu finally snapped, her voice rising to a pitch that made eardrums ache. “Where do you think you’ll go after this? Who would take you in? Sheng Qiuyu!”

A barrage of questions jolted the stunned onlookers back to reality. Shan Qiaoyun instinctively interjected, “Ying Xu, is there still an issue with the terms? Qinghong can accommodate”

But Ying Xu’s hand was already on the door handle.

She didn’t turn back, only murmuring softly, “Qingzhu, Miss Sheng and I are just friends. There’s nothing more intimate between us. I won’t impose on her, and I hope Qingzhu.”

Her words trailed off, but the implication was clear.

Ying Xu wouldn’t disturb Sheng Qiuyu, and she hoped Gu Qingzhu would no longer disturb her.

She and Sheng Qiuyu were friends. Just friends.

But no matter what the relationship was, it was more open and aboveboard than the one between Gu Qingzhu and Ying Xu.

“Take care of yourself.” Before the door closed, Gu Qingzhu saw Ying Xu glance at her one last time through the gap.

“If possible, I’d still like to see Qingzhu smile more. It looks beautiful on you.”

The damp, cold air filled her lungs. After just a few steps, footsteps sounded behind her.

Ying Xu thought someone had caught up to her.

But whether it was Gu Qingzhu or the prideful Shan Qiaoyun, neither would ever lose composure in front of outsiders over the departure of an Alpha.

They could be willful, arrogant, even reckless, but they would never allow themselves to appear weak or be looked down upon.

It was the hardest temperament to reason with, yet also the easiest flaw to exploit.

But when Ying Xu turned her head, she saw Xiang Ling in a white lab coat following behind.

The woman held a tablet, as if she had just ended a call, and her expression was unusually complicated as she looked at Ying Xu. “Ying Xu.”

“I don’t know much about the entertainment industry,” she said, unusually flustered, “but the things people are saying online are just too vile. If you need it, I can introduce you to a lawyer free of charge to sue them.”

A joke that wasn’t particularly funny.

Still, Ying Xu politely smiled. “Thank you, Miss Xiang. But what they say is their business. I just need to focus on myself.”

Xiang Ling looked incredulous. “Focusing on yourself includes taking all this blame for Gu Qingzhu?”

“I was involved from the start,” Ying Xu denied her implication. “It’s not about taking blame this is my responsibility.”

“You’re really ”

Xiang Ling shook her head in disbelief. “Sometimes, I even wonder if Xu Ying”

“Never mind.” She abruptly cut herself off, pulling a slip of paper from her bag. “Xu Ying once asked me to look after you. I was too busy the past few years to pay much attention, but starting now, it shouldn’t be too late.”

The paper bore only a string of numbers.

Ying Xu neither agreed nor disagreed but took it anyway. Before the elevator doors closed, Xiang Ling made another call.

“Ms. Wei”