Chased by My Heartless Ex - Chapter 54

The word “landlord” exploded in Xu You’s mind like a thunderclap. When she had signed the rental agreement, both the agent and the landlord had been present. It hadn’t occurred to her to ask for the property deed at a legitimate real estate agency.

After all that hassle, the apartment actually belonged to Zhou Siyu?

She quickly shut the narrow gap in the security door, her gaze fixed on Xu Tian with a deepening frown. After a moment of internal chaos, she reached a conclusion: if someone had signed on behalf of the landlord, the contract was invalid. Zhou Siyu was the one who had breached the agreement, giving Xu You every right to terminate it legally.

“Miss Xu, miss, could you please open the door?” The security guard’s deep voice, mixed with urgent knocking, echoed from the entrance.

Xu Tian peeked through the peephole. A middle-aged guard with bulging muscles stood outside, holding their bubble tea in one hand while pounding the door with the other. Zhou Siyu stood slightly behind him, only half of her delicate profile visible in the narrow field of view.

“Sis, should I open the door?” Xu Tian whispered as she retreated to Xu You’s side.

Xu You’s brow remained furrowed, the noise making her temples throb.

She lifted her eyelids and spat out a single word: “Open.”

Of course she would open it. She needed to confront them, to vent her anger, to stop the security guard from disturbing the residents.

“Go back to your room. I’ll handle this,” she signaled to Xu Tian with her eyes.

Xu Tian didn’t want to leave. She and her sister were united against their enemy. With that scumbag right outside, she wanted to stand by her side. But the authority in Xu You’s eyes was undeniable. Sharing the same bloodline, she instinctively submitted without question, deflating as she trudged toward her room.

Once Xu Tian’s figure disappeared behind the doorframe, Xu You arranged her face into an expression of weary annoyance and pulled the door open.

Her sudden movement left the guard’s raised hand hanging mid-air, unsure whether to complete the knock or withdraw. After an awkward pause, he loosely clenched his fist and let it drop to his side, aligning with the sharp crease of his uniform pants.

“Hello, Miss Xu. The delivery driver mentioned you were in danger earlier, but I’ve just learned that this lady is the owner of this unit. Perhaps there’s been some misunderstanding?” He looked genuinely confused.

Xu You stood guard at the door, refusing to look at Zhou Siyu. “Just because she claims to be the owner, you believed her so easily? Didn’t it occur to you she might be lying? And even if she is the owner, if she intended to harm us, could you take responsibility?”

The guard’s righteous expression faded, replaced by confusion and panic.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t think it through properly.”

Before he could finish his apology, Xu You unusually interrupted him rudely, redirecting her fury toward Zhou Siyu: “Do you have to haunt us like this?”

“Give me the bubble tea. Next time, make sure you fully understand the situation before pounding on residents’ doors. As property management, your responsibility isn’t just to the owners but to the tenants too. Please leave now.” Unaccustomed to focusing her fire on one target, Xu You turned her verbal guns on the guard and issued her dismissal.

Dazed by the confrontation, the guard instinctively handed her the takeout bag with their bubble tea. He took two steps before pausing. “I’m truly sorry. I just started the job the day before yesterday. Are you sure you don’t want me to stay? If you don’t trust me, I can call my colleagues to ensure your safety. You can file a complaint afterward.”

“No need.”

So many new hires these days. If they actually got hurt due to negligence, a flimsy “I’m new” would be worthless, less than a fart, really. At least a fart made a sound. Claiming to be new was insignificant and didn’t deserve forgiveness.

The security guard trudged away, his heavy steps echoing his dejection. Though a man in his thirties or forties felt embarrassed being criticized by a young woman, the main reason for his gloom was knowing he had neglected his duties.

Watching the elevator he had taken slowly descend, Xu You crossed her arms and glared at Zhou Siyu.

“Zhou Siyu, can you stop disrupting my life like a madwoman over and over again?” With only two households sharing the elevator, Xu You kept her voice low to avoid disturbing the neighbors, ensuring only the two of them could hear.

Zhou Siyu stood stiffly, looking somewhat pitiful and at a loss.

Her fingers clenched and unclenched, trembling faintly. “It’s cold in the hallway. Do you want to put on a coat?”

“Pfft.” Xu You spat the sound loudly, the sharp, clear noise reverberating between their doors. She quickly glanced at the tightly shut door across from them.

Zhou Siyu pressed her lips together. “I bought that one too.”

Hearing this, Xu You instantly flared up.

What privacy did she even have left in front of Zhou Siyu?

Zhou Siyu could find out where she was whenever she wanted, showing up at her doorstep without even a phone call. Her words could shatter the marble floor at the entrance and blow Xu You’s mind to pieces.

“Do you have to drive me away to feel at ease? Do you find it amusing to watch me suffer? Do I look especially foolish from your god-like perspective?” Xu You no longer held back, shouting at her in fury.

“I don’t,” Zhou Siyu replied, her brow twitching. She wanted to embrace Xu You, to soothe her as she used to, but Xu You’s defenses were up, not just against her, but against herself as well. Zhou Siyu didn’t dare make a move.

“You don’t?” Xu You sneered. “How can you even say that?”

“Have you ever respected me? Honestly, even just once?”

“You made that kind of request the first time we met. From the moment you laid eyes on me, I became a labeled commodity. Back then, I didn’t understand. I was foolish, hopelessly infatuated with you, recklessly followed you to Beicheng to endure humiliation, and thought I was mature enough to endure it silently. Looking back now, your friends weren’t wrong about me. Your attitude made it clear, why should they be friendly to a mistress?”

“But we have nothing to do with each other now. Everything you’re doing to me is harassment. You know it, how could you not know?”

Xu You’s rapid-fire words pelted Zhou Siyu without pause. Zhou Siyu had thought she was being considerate, lowering her pride, but in Xu You’s eyes, it had all turned into heavy stones suffocating her, shackles binding her, and forces pushing her away.

Zhou Siyu had no grounds to refute her. The more she listened, the more she felt she had acted inhumanely.

“You’re so impressive. If you say this apartment is yours, it’s yours. Teach me, how did you manage that?” Xu You vented her anger, but her body felt weak, as if half her strength had been drained.

She uncrossed her arms and leaned one hand against the doorframe, supporting her faltering stance.

The sleeve of her nightgown slipped down, revealing a bracelet that swayed with the trembling of her body.

Zhou Siyu glanced at it before looking away, her tone serious as she explained carefully.

“The day you moved out of the hotel, I guessed you’d rent a place. If you were planning to live with Yu Yao, there would’ve been no need to book a hotel, you could’ve gone straight to her place after landing.”

Her gaze was cautious. “I didn’t know your sister was there at the time. I just contacted the top-ranked agency in Beicheng on a whim.” She paused, as if struggling, her eyes dropping to the slender, pale curve of Xu You’s calf beneath her white nightgown. “I gave them some of your information and listed all my properties. If you went looking, I told them to show you those houses.”

Xu You fell silent after hearing this.

No wonder when she had contacted the agency, they immediately pulled up over a dozen high-quality listings. She had thought the rent and deposit were steep, but upon comparison, they were actually more favorable than other options in the area.

At the time, she thought she had gotten a good deal and encountered a kind landlord. Now, it seemed more like a trap set by a cunning fox, no pleasantries, just a direct snare.

Foolish as she was, she had happily leaped into the trap, nearly becoming prey on her plate.

Zhou Siyu keenly noticed only dress shoes and sneakers at the doorway and was about to ask if something had happened between her and Yu Yao when Xu You’s words drifted to her ears.

“You’re really clever, you know.”

It didn’t sound like a compliment. Zhou Siyu looked up, her heart pounding.

“You’re too smart. We can’t compete with you. We’ll leave, alright?” Xu You’s hand slipped from the doorframe as she steadied herself, gripping the doorknob. Unwilling to say more, she made to close the door.

Zhou Siyu’s instinct was to block it.

She habitually reached out with her left hand to grab the door, the half-wrapped splint and glaring bandage a stark reminder. The pain from the fractured bone shot up her arm to her heart, but she gritted her teeth and refused to let go.

“I know I was wrong. We can discuss the house, if it’s you, I’ll transfer the ownership directly.”

Xu You let out a sudden cold laugh, a chill running down her spine. “Don’t joke. Do you think I care?”

Zhou Siyu’s mind went blank for a moment, and Xu You seized the opportunity to pull harder on the doorknob, engaging in a tug-of-war.

Regaining her composure, Zhou Siyu quickly planted her foot against the doorframe to block it and hurriedly stated her purpose for coming.

“You may not care about these things, but I know what you do care about.”

“Youyou, you’re the famous Esme, aren’t you?”

It was a statement, not a question.

The revelation of her identity caught Xu You completely off guard. Stunned, she couldn’t figure out where she had slipped up. Following Zhou Siyu’s gaze to her own wrist, she realized the bracelet was hidden under her sleeve. She instinctively moved her hand behind her back.

It was too obvious, a clear case of “protesting too much.” She reassured herself that a bracelet alone couldn’t prove anything and feigned calm as she brought her hand back out.

“I don’t know what nonsense you’re spouting. I’m Xu You, not some Esme.”

“You are.”

Zhou Siyu was firm, her gaze piercing.

Though panicked inside, Xu You remained outwardly composed.

“Do you have any proof that I’m her?”

She recalled that only the birthday post had revealed a glimpse of her personal life, everything else was related to her work. If Zhou Siyu tried to use that as evidence, she could easily deny it.

With that thought, she let out a long breath and resumed her aloof, distant expression.

Zhou Siyu stared at her for a few seconds, then took the bag from her shoulder and pulled out the materials she had collected and organized over the past two days, placing them in front of Xu You.

Xu You nearly laughed in disbelief. Had she actually put together a folder?

Skeptical, she took it and flipped through the contents. Aside from the bracelet, everything else could be dismissed as mere coincidence. She began drafting her rebuttal in her mind.

Zhou Siyu knew her too well, so she laid her cards on the table.

“You can say it’s fake, I truly don’t have the means to gather more convincing evidence. You heard about the company’s design department recruitment at the university the other day. We’re in urgent need of talent. While Esme’s reputation is certainly something we desire…”

“If it were you, your abilities are equally what we’re seeking.”

Her words pulled Xu You back to the winter of four years ago.

After throwing herself into work, life had become much simpler and more enjoyable. Later, when she learned that the characters she designed were loved by many, she had felt happy about it, even her younger sister’s recent praise made her feel that her work during that period wasn’t entirely bleak.

But none of that was enough to convince her to return to YUYOO as Zhou Siyu’s subordinate, seeing her day in and day out, tormenting herself with disgust.

“I won’t accept it.”

Zhou Siyu wasn’t surprised.

She ran her tongue over her sharp teeth, her red lips parting slightly. “Don’t be so quick to refuse me. Yu Yao’s tech company must be struggling to recruit, right? YUYOO was built from the ground up by me. I know how difficult it is to start a company and how much effort it demands. Without talent to sustain it, it’s just an empty shell destined to collapse sooner or later.”

“I have a few uncles working in research institutes. If you’re willing, I can help connect you with them.”