Fell Deeply In Love With My Ex-Husband's Fiancé - Chapter 38

Chapter 38: The Real Noen: If Lance goes crazy, at least it means…

Lu Feiran stayed at Zhou Zihua’s place for more than two hours. By the time he finished confessing everything to Zhou Zihua, both of them were sweating profusely.

No one expected such a truth to be hidden behind the story.

Zhou Zihua’s first reaction was anger. He told Lu Feiran to break up immediately.

“I support the breakup! We’re not going to deal with a liar, and everyone knows Lance has mental issues. Who knows what his goal is?”

“So? Should I call him right now to break up?”

But Lu Feiran said: “…Lance drove me here, and he’s coming to pick me up tonight. It’s not that easy to break up.”

He was still wearing his thick jacket, sweat beading on his forehead. After emotionally recounting the whole story, he sipped from a cup of hot water.

Zhou Zihua was taken aback. He couldn’t decipher Lu Feiran’s expression, but remembering a time when they talked in the dorm, Lu Feiran had constantly defended Lance, saying he was in the dark, saying he was a good person, Zhou Zihua could understand.

When Lu Feiran had the accident, Lance was more anxious than anyone, barely sleeping for days, and personally investigated the cause of the accident. It looked as if he would tear apart the murderer if he found that someone had deliberately harmed Lu Feiran.

These actions couldn’t be faked.

He knew Lu Feiran was confused, unsure of the next step, and that Lu Feiran definitely had deep feelings for Lance.

Zhou Zihua immediately shut his mouth and stopped advising him.

“How about going to see Noen? Go to the person involved and try to understand everything. What if there’s a misunderstanding?” Zhou Zihua had a sudden idea and suggested.

Lu Feiran’s eyes instantly lit up: “You know where he is?”

“A University. I heard about it from my dad chatting with other old guys.”

Before leaving, Lu Feiran deliberately took off the watch and placed it on the coffee table.

Zhou Zihua went to the university forum beforehand, pretending to be an admiring junior, and got Noen’s class schedule. Together, they sat on a long bench in the first-floor lobby of the academic building, waiting for Noen to come out.

Everyone in their family had striking looks; they could be spotted instantly.

Lu Feiran wore a wine-red scarf around his neck. The scarf was large and soft, almost hiding half his face, and the red finally brought some color back to his pallor.

Five seconds after the class bell rang, a person rushed out of the teaching building.

Wearing a baseball jacket, casual pants, familiar basketball shoes, tall and strong, with bright blonde hair, he zoomed toward the door like a little whirlwind.

With a glance, Noen saw two people sitting on the bench. One looked a bit miserable, with a bandage on his head and a cast on his left arm, but upon closer inspection, he had dark hair and fair skin, was very handsome, and was staring at him!

Wait! Noen slammed to a stop, staring blankly at the bench.

Isn’t that Lu Feiran! How did he find this place!

He immediately accelerated, trying to dash out of the building instantly.

If Lu Feiran saw him, what would happen?

“Wait!”

Lu Feiran chased after him, but he couldn’t run as fast as Noen. Not only was his left arm broken and in a cast, but his whole body felt weak. His scarf fell to the ground and was stepped on. He stumbled a few steps, about to fall.

Noen quickly spun around and rushed back, firmly supporting Lu Feiran. He bent down, picked up the scarf, and draped it around his neck. Then, he put his hands together in a prayer gesture and said, “You didn’t fall, okay? You didn’t fall because you were chasing me. Don’t tell on me when you go back, okay!”

Lu Feiran took the opportunity to grab Noen’s hand. Noen’s body hair stood on end, utterly panicked.

“If I can find you myself, who would I tell on?”

“You guys…”

Lu Feiran nodded: “We’re about to break up. It’s all your fault.”

Noen: What! How can I shoulder such a big blame?

Noen was aghast: “Don’t talk nonsense! I don’t even know you!”

Lu Feiran smiled slightly, the pallor of his illness immediately erased by the grin. He looked into Noen’s bright blue eyes and said word by word: “But I’m very familiar with you. I call your name every day, Noen?”

When he spoke “Noen,” it was with a slight nasal sound, his voice soft, like a gentle wisp of cotton.

Noen suddenly felt that a kilogram of cotton was heavier than a kilogram of iron. He was left dizzy.

Many students had already come down and were watching Noen and Lu Feiran confront each other by the door, all casting curious glances.

Although Noen was low-key and never told his classmates about his family background, his foreign face, handsome and tall, made him recognizable to almost every student.

Seeing him seemingly arguing with an injured, handsome man, everyone was eager to catch some gossip.

Noen’s face turned green. He didn’t want any inappropriate rumors to start with Lu Feiran, so he lowered his voice: “Let’s talk outside the school. Get out of here quickly.”

He turned to leave. Lu Feiran and Zhou Zihua exchanged a smile and followed him.

Lu Feiran looked down at Noen’s shoes, realizing that these eye-catching, limited-edition basketball shoes were the ones he had seen at Lance’s house.

Noen was there at the time. No wonder Lance had to hide Noen.

They sat down on the second floor of a less crowded coffee shop. Noen looked at Zhou Zihua: “Who is he?”

Zhou Zihua put his hands on his hips: “Who cares who I am? I’m Ranran’s family!”

Noen saw how intimate the two were and felt a sense of crisis for Lance.

Lu Feiran ordered three drinks. While waiting for the waiter to bring them, he looked at the patch of hair shaved off the back of Noen’s head and asked, “Are you hurt? How did you get injured?”

Noen choked. He grabbed the drink the waiter brought and chugged the whole cup in a few seconds.

“Someone hit me on the head with a brick…” His voice trailed off because he knew the culprit was Lu Feiran’s younger brother and didn’t dare to complain.

“It was Lu Xingli, wasn’t it?” Lu Feiran said sincerely, “He is half my younger brother. It’s indeed ill-mannered for him to do such a thing, and he deserves a lesson. I apologize to you on his behalf first.”

Noen quickly raised his hand to stop Lu Feiran: “I’ve already taught him a lesson. His dad also apologized with him. You don’t need to apologize. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

Lu Feiran smiled: “I’m partly to blame. If I hadn’t intentionally provoked him by telling him Zhai Qiance would marry you after divorcing me, he wouldn’t have been so impulsive.”

Noen awkwardly touched his face. He lowered his head, trying to pretend to drink, but the cup was empty, and the straw made a slurping noise, making it even more embarrassing.

“So, what is going on with you guys? Can you tell me, Noen?”

Lu Feiran’s tone was very gentle, carrying the unique tolerance of an older brother, making Noen involuntarily want to follow his lead.

He steeled himself. Forget it. They’ve found me here. A little more won’t hurt!

“This is the situation. My family really wanted me to marry Zhai Qiance, but I didn’t want to. I don’t want to marry an old divorced man, and I’m not gay!” Noen spilled the beans completely. “Lance happened to be back in the country. He contacted me, and I told him about it. He happened to be bored and suggested he step in to help me decline. But, I don’t know how…”

“Bored?” Lu Feiran rested his chin on his hand. “This all started because he was bored. That night, did he send me home because he was bored and wanted to kill time?”

“So, Zhai Qiance also didn’t know the person meeting him wasn’t you.” Lu Feiran summarized. “I saw Zhai Qiance texting someone constantly on his phone. Was that…”

“That was me! That was me!” Noen interjected, he didn’t want Lu Feiran to misunderstand Lance in any way. “Lance and Zhai Qiance have no relationship other than business. Their meetings were just about business. I was the one doing all the texting, and I sent the ambiguous texts, too.”

Hearing “ambiguous texts,” Zhou Zihua could barely stay seated.

How can this Noen endure this? Doesn’t he feel disgusted sending those things to Zhai Qiance?

Lu Feiran nodded, scanned the QR code to order Noen another drink, and asked casually: “Aren’t you afraid your family will find out about all this?”

“No one found out at first, but later my grandfather, who is Lance’s dad, found out.” Noen rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, smiling like a sunny Golden Retriever. “But he implicitly allowed it. He wanted to use the opportunity to get Lance to agree to take over the company. Lance was absolutely against it at first, but I don’t know what happened. He actually agreed recently. It’s so weird.”

Lu Feiran’s eyes lifted slightly, ignoring the implication behind that statement, and asked the last crucial question: “So, Lance doesn’t know I’m divorced. How did you manage to hide it from him?”

Noen told Lu Feiran that his grandfather helped, but he didn’t dare elaborate on what reasons he used to persuade Lance.

Lu Feiran placed the newly ordered drink in front of Noen, looked into his eyes, and said solemnly and sincerely: “If possible, please help me keep it a secret for a while longer. I don’t want him to know I’m divorced.”

Noen nearly knocked over the cup. Even Zhou Zihua looked confused: “Why?”

Lu Feiran smiled: “He lied to me before. Can’t I lie to him too?”

Noen, however, felt uneasy. If anyone dared to play Lance, he would make sure that person suffered for life. But… what if that person was Lu Feiran?

Lance didn’t know Lu Feiran was divorced but was still with him. How could Lance willingly be someone without a title?

The overwhelming tension made Noen feel suffocated. He regretted telling Lu Feiran so much.

Somehow, Lu Feiran sought him out and made this request. They must have had a fight, and the situation was far from optimistic.

But since things had come to this, he had already been pulled onto the ship. Was he supposed to immediately go confess everything to Lance?

No! He wanted to see Lance thwarted.

Noen agreed: “Okay, but I estimate I can’t hide it for too long. Zhai Qiance will also spill the beans. If he meets Lance, Lance will likely find out.”

But Noen still offered a word of advice: “Actually… Lance cares about you very much. He just has issues and isn’t very good at expressing affection.”

Lu Feiran tightened the corners of his mouth, wondering how far Lance would go to avoid being bored. Could he even fake love?

After sending Noen off, Lu Feiran scoffed and sat in the coffee shop with Zhou Zihua for a while longer.

Excited sparks flickered in Lu Feiran’s eyes. Zhou Zihua was worried: “Why are you doing this? Everyone says he has issues. If you do this, you’ll drive him crazy.”

The smile vanished from Lu Feiran’s face. His eyes were intense, and he said slowly: “If I can drive him crazy, that would be good.”

“Just break up!” Zhou Zihua said. “You’ll get hurt. I’m afraid he’ll retaliate.”

The jacket was a little too big. As soon as he walked out of the coffee shop, the cold wind seeped through the gaps in his clothing. Lu Feiran shivered, pulling his jacket tighter, his mind in turmoil.

If Lance had some feelings for him, then let Lance experience the taste of being deceived, too.

If there were no feelings… then they should just break up. He didn’t want to play along!

Looking at Lu Feiran’s back, Zhou Zihua shook his head silently. A breakup was a unilateral notification, not a negotiation. Lu Feiran saying it wasn’t easy to break up, or trying to force Lance to leave in other ways, actually meant… Lu Feiran didn’t want to break up at all.

His friend had truly fallen in love!

Zhou Zihua sighed and drove Lu Feiran back.

As the car drove into the underground garage, under the dimly lit lights, Lu Feiran saw a tall, straight figure near the elevator lobby. His heart suddenly thumped.

Lance has been here all along? He didn’t leave?!

No, Lance wasn’t there when they left. Lance must have arrived early.

Getting out of the car, Lu Feiran adjusted his scarf, his face tense, walking toward Lance with a nonchalant expression.

Lance smiled and greeted Zhou Zihua, looking every bit the married husband, thanking Zhou Zihua for taking care of Lu Feiran for so long.

Zhou Zihua shrugged, greeted him back, and went upstairs.

The empty underground parking lot was left with just the two of them. Every breath could be clearly heard.

Lance approached Lu Feiran, smiling, but that smile now looked like a sinister mask to Lu Feiran, making him incredibly uncomfortable.

Lu Feiran forced himself not to step back, turning his head away to look elsewhere, anywhere but at Lance’s face.

Lance gently took Lu Feiran’s right hand and massaged his soft palm firmly.

“Ranran, when you went out with your friend, why did you take off your watch?” Lance’s voice was slow and deep.

Damn it, he forgot about the watch.

Lu Feiran’s eyes flickered. His right hand was tightly gripped, and the pain pierced his heart. He looked up at Lance, stubbornly refusing to say a word.