Shadowed Love: A Lover Who Refuses to Let Go - Chapter 22

Their communication had been sporadic, with little chatting in daily life. But Yin Yunzhu noticed Jiang Menghe had been extremely busy lately, messages that used to get instant replies now took indefinitely longer, sometimes sinking like stones only to receive a response the next day.

This left her feeling unsettled in recent days.

A screensaver reminder popped up on her computer, snapping her out of her daze. She tapped the keyboard twice, shaking off the wandering thoughts in her mind.

Even if the two of them were highly compatible, they couldn’t indulge too much. Maybe Jiang Menghe had considered this and was deliberately keeping her at a distance.

Fortunately, Zhuyuan Publishing House had been reaching out frequently lately, filling Yin Yunzhu’s empty hours and keeping her from idleness. The manuscript had passed review, and now she was just waiting for the printed copies to arrive for signing.

After finishing her work, Yin Yunzhu flipped through her calendar and decided to go home for a visit.

The streets were decorated with lanterns and ribbons, the bare tree branches outside shop windows adorned with colorful streamers. Rolling down the car window, she caught sight of a promotional slogan on a nearby billboard and suddenly realized today was Christmas Eve.

She bought a beautifully packaged apple from a roadside stall and made her way to Tiancheng Residential Area. Before she could even raise her hand to knock, a little green bundle burst through the door and threw herself into her arms.

“Sis!” Yin Xuan’s sharp eyes caught the apple hidden behind her back, and she snatched it away before Yin Yunzhu could react, letting out a quiet “wow.”

The green down jacket made the little girl look like a sprout in winter, bouncing around full of energy and vitality. Shouting “Sis is back!” she ran toward the living room, cradling her gift.

“Mom!” she drawled, “look at the Christmas apple Sis bought!”

Yin Yunzhu sighed helplessly, closing the door and changing her shoes as she listened to Ms. Shan scolding Yin Xuan.

“You never wait, what if it wasn’t for you?”

“Sis only has one little sister! If it’s not for me, who else would it be?”

“And you never buy me one, stingy Mom!”

The sharp-tongued eight-year-old, seeing the adult raise a hand as if to swat her, quickly hid behind Yin Yunzhu, timidly peeking out while clutching her coat.

This scene played out every time she came home. Smiling, Yin Yunzhu shielded Yin Xuan, the gloom that had lingered in her heart for days temporarily forgotten.

“Are you staying tonight? If so, I’ll take the afternoon off to buy groceries.” Ms. Shan rose from the couch and went to the fridge, pulling out a recently purchased box of cherries.

Bright, plump red fruit filled the plate. Yin Xuan grabbed a handful and stuffed them into her pockets, quietly listening to the adults talk.

“It’s fine, I’ll go buy them this afternoon.” Yin Yunzhu plucked the stems off the cherries and popped them into her mouth.

She had wanted a rare family gathering but couldn’t stand Ms. Shan’s nagging, so she’d deliberately chosen to visit on a Friday, planning to help with chores.

“Alright then, I’ll take Xuan to school first,” Shan Songyue said, standing up to find her slippers and grabbing the change purse from the coffee table. “Do you have enough money?”

“Mom, I have a job now,” Yin Yunzhu said, exasperated.

Even years after graduation, Shan Songyue still treated her like a college student. Or perhaps she was dissatisfied with her current job, always imagining her starving three days out of nine.

As mother and daughter got ready to leave, Yin Xuan secretly slipped the apple into her backpack through the zipper, then casually slung it over her shoulder.

The spacious living room fell quiet again. The weather wasn’t great, sunlight couldn’t pierce the hazy clouds, giving the impression that rain was imminent.

Just in case, Yin Yunzhu brought in the sheets and quilts drying outside. She had rushed over without eating a proper lunch, only snacking to tide herself over.

A message from Beijiali popped up.

Lee: “Want to hang out? I saw your car downstairs.”

Their families lived close by and got along well, often going shopping together.

Xiao Zhu: “Don’t you have work today?”

Lee: “Christmas holiday [smug face]”

Bei Jiali worked at a foreign trade company where Western holidays meant painfully slow business, leaving her with little to do.

Xiao Zhu: “Alright, I’ll be right down.”

After tidying up and getting dressed, she headed out. The afternoon was warming up as Yin Yunzhu stepped out of the elevator, hands in her pockets, spotting Bei Jiali stomping her feet by the stairs.

Clad in thick black cotton pants, she looked nothing like her usual city-girl self. Her unkempt hair and bare face made her seem as disheveled as someone just rolling out of bed on a lazy New Year’s morning.

“Freezing out here. You sure take your time,” Bei Jiali said, hopping down to walk beside her.

“How many days off do you have?” Yin Yunzhu fished out her car keys, heading toward the parking spot.

“A week. I’m staying at home these days tired of takeout.” Bei Jiali buckled up in the passenger seat.

“I haven’t eaten yet. Thought we’d grab something quick on the way.”

“Sure, since you’re back for once, my treat.” The woman leaned against the window, smoothing her unwashed hair.

The car left Tiancheng Community, cruising smoothly toward the nearby shopping district. Yin Yunzhu kept her hands on the wheel, eyes fixed on the road ahead.

Noticing her preoccupied expression, Bei Jiali leaned over during a red light to study her face. “What’s up? You look like you’re carrying the weight of the world.”

Lately, Yin Yunzhu had been thinking about Jiang Menghe. Intense relationships often left behind hard-to-shake consequences, making her wonder if the other woman was caught in some messy situation.

But right now, she was just zoning out at the intersection, bored.

“Huh?” The traffic light flickered. She hit the gas, belatedly responding, “Nothing.”

“Now that you mention it, my mom dropped by your place the other day and overheard your parents arguing on the phone.”

Yin Yunzhu’s father worked away most of the year, only coming home for holidays. In her memory, he was a quiet, earnest man, a perfect counterbalance to Dan Songyue’s temperament.

It was hard to imagine him raising his voice in an argument.

She had little interest in her parents’ past grievances. As an adult craving independence, her relationship with her father was especially distant like a kite string barely held together, ready to snap at the slightest slack.

“After years of marriage, isn’t fighting normal?” Yin Yunzhu sniffed, brushing it off.

“True.” Bei Jiali nodded, scrolling on her phone.

They reached a chain Western restaurant near the mall. After parking, they stepped inside.

The lunch rush had passed, leaving only a handful of diners. Festive silver ribbons adorned the red-brick walls, and a poster on the display rack advertised discounted Christmas Eve specials.

Yin Yunzhu scanned the QR code to order, picking a bacon-potato pizza and a custard croissant before sliding her phone across.

“Your turn.”

But Bei Jiali was engrossed in her phone, forcing Yin Yunzhu to tap the table lightly. “Stop staring. Time to order.”

A distracted hum was all she got in reply, piquing her curiosity.

“What’s got you so hooked?” She leaned forward, elbows on the table, trying to peek.

Hearing this, Beijiali turned the screen around and lowered her voice, “Oh my god, this is huge! The fan communities have already compiled all the tea.”

The screenshot of the note was filled with dense text, and clicking on it revealed an even longer image, a headache to look at. Yinyunzhu, who was slightly nearsighted, squinted to make out the tiny characters.

She wasn’t usually interested in celebrity gossip, but her sharp eyes caught the name “Jiang Menghe,” and her attention instantly zeroed in.

【Shocking! Jiang Menghe secretly meets someone in a hotel let’s dig into her past Alpha/Omega lovers】

The accompanying image was blurry. In the brightly lit hallway, Jiang Menghe faced the camera, speaking softly to someone in front of her. Since the other person had their back to the screen, their identity couldn’t be determined yet.

Judging by their expressions and body language, their relationship was far from ordinary. The leaked photo was like a bomb dropped into a calm lake, instantly stirring up waves. Within two hours, it had climbed to the top three trending searches.

This was exactly the scene captured that morning.

Buzz….

The moment Yinyunzhu saw the photo, her mind went blank, and a ringing sound echoed in her ears, fading in and out.

Beijiali scrolled through the screen, her lips moving, but Yinyunzhu couldn’t hear a word she was saying.

Like rusty gears turning slowly, her throat tightened, making it impossible to utter a single syllable. More than Jiang Menghe’s earlier promise of “I’m here for you,” she was fixated on the sensationalized headline the gossip account had crafted for clicks.

The longer the two spent together, the more Yinyunzhu had gradually forgotten about Jiang Menghe’s past not because she didn’t care, but because she had buried it deep inside.

She didn’t want to create distance between them over something trivial. Their relationship wasn’t even official, yet she held Jiang Menghe to the standards of a girlfriend something outsiders would see as unreasonable.

The two silently enjoyed their ambiguous relationship, indulging in each other’s pleasures in bed.

Perhaps their recent closeness had been too warm, making her mistakenly believe she was loved, unconsciously raising her expectations.

Yinyunzhu had imagined the worst-case scenario before, thinking she’d be terrified when it happened afraid of the backlash, afraid of the judgmental stares from those around her.

But when the moment arrived, she realized Jiang Menghe was the one bearing the brunt of the storm. Whether intentional or not, none of the photos showed her own face.

“Wow, this drama just keeps getting juicier. No idea who this woman is, but the comments underneath are hilarious…”

Beijiali was still scrolling through the replies when she noticed Yinyunzhu had gone silent. Suddenly remembering Yinyunzhu seemed to like Jiang Menghe, she quickly backtracked.

“Don’t take it to heart. It’s all just gossip accounts making stuff up. We’re just here for the tea, no need to stress.”

“Anyway, let’s order. Aren’t you hungry…?”

Seeing no reaction, she quickly switched to the menu, randomly picking a couple of dishes while occasionally asking for Yinyunzhu’s input, trying to distract her.

Yinyunzhu forced a faint smile. “It’s fine.”

She sat there like a stone statue, her silence only amplifying the concern over her terrible state.

Her phone rested under the table, the screen displaying her chat history with Jiang Menghe.

A long, unsent message lingered there. Yinyunzhu wanted an explanation but worried Jiang Menghe was already overwhelmed by the scandal.

She felt that, given her role, asking too much would be crossing a line. As a lover, her place was to quietly stand in the background and wait for the outcome.

Everything else wasn’t hers to consider.

In the end, after countless deletions and revisions, only one sentence remained.

Xiao Zhu: [Merry Christmas Eve]

She believed Jiang Menghe could handle everything. The woman always carried herself with that composed, strategic demeanor, exuding a reliable aura that made it seem like she could resolve any situation.

Amidst her unease, a reply came a few minutes later.

Juhe: [You too]

Juhe: [Merry Christmas Eve]

Staring at those two short lines, Yin Yunzhu suddenly felt a pang of sorrow.

She wasn’t happy at all.

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