You Saw Tian Yuo?

"Chen Mu, you're acting weird." Susu crossed her arms and gazed fixedly at him as a child would when looking at something that fascinates them. Her eyes wandered from the box of masks, to the kitchen, and back to the nervous man whose arms were still cornering her.

Hearing his slight gulp, her smile that didn't reach her eyes remained consistent, "Well? Don't tell me you're actually here for the masks and fluffy pancakes."

After a while of hesitating between more lies and a quick truth, he chose to be honest. "Okay, I'll quit beating around the bush." His arms raised up in the air as if he was waving his white flag to surrender under her interrogative tone.

He sighed and gently settled her onto the edge of her couch before kneeling down in front of her. "Before I go any further with this conversation, I want to tell you that I have absolute faith and truth in you. And just because I am asking you these things, doesn't mean that you are obligated to tell me anything. I don't need to know what you don't want me to know."

The awkward, yet sincere tone that he held when speaking already told her where this conversation was going. She closed her eyes, let out a huge sigh, and faced him again with a faint smile, "You saw Tian Yuo didn't you?"

"Yes." A straightforward answer is the best choice he has because there was literally no point carving circles to figure out her thoughts. He already told her that she can say whatever she wished and keep anything she didn't want to disclose to herself.

Her lips closed together, forming a horizontal line, "I'm guessing he told you about the whole drug thing and the accusation against me."

"Yes." Once again, he answered without the slightest hesitation.

"You trust that it wasn't me who drugged Tian Yuo? Everyone knows how much I loved him and the many years I've devoted my effort into trying to make this work between us. Why didn't you suspect me?"

"Do I need any evidence to believe in you? I know you long and well enough that you aren't this type of person. Even though you're still hurting from having to give up on Tian Yuo, you wouldn't do something pointless to tie him down. You know that with his personality, he would never show you even the tiniest bit of sympathy."

He kept his eyes focused on her expression, not missing any seconds of it. He knew she had a habit of hiding her true feelings from everyone, including him. Therefore, he had to make sure his attention was 1000% fixated on every single action that she makes.

Another heavy sigh left her mouth, "It seems like even though I knew the both of you around the same time, you know me better than he does. I admit that I couldn't completely bless Karen and him together because a part of me still hoped that he would like me back. This part of me..." she pressed the tip of her fingers to her chest and closed her eyes to feel her beating heart.

"This part, right here, hurt the most when he said that he wouldn't ever marry me because he loved Karen. All this time, that I've tried my best to become the best me to match him, he was already set on Karen. At that moment, I felt like I was so close to finishing up construction of a building, but this wall tumbled over and I'm back to square one. Even worse, I felt like I didn't even have square one to work on because the investor refused to give me a second chance."

Her long eyelashes followed her eyelid and lifted upwards, revealing a pair of sorrow filled eyes, "I admit that I would be lying if I never hated Karen, but I realized that someone who never belonged to me would never be mine. So, instead of dwelling on a past love that is meant to be locked away or meant to be forgotten, I wanted to embrace this truth. This was one of the reasons why I attended the engagement party."

Seeing her small figure tremble slightly and her fingers nervously rubbing against one another, he attempted to interrupt her to make sure she wasn't pushing herself to say things that she wished to keep private. Noticing his parting lips, she smiled slightly and squeezed his top and bottom lips together with her fingers, "Let me continue."

Feeling the coldness of her fingertips, he nodded slowly.

"Regardless of the past years of efforts that I've spent trying to perfect myself to meet his standards for a girl, at the very end, he only grew more distant from me. I could tell that he felt pure disgust when looking at me with the cold glare from that morning. From his impulsively said words, even a stranger would be able to tell how wronged he felt."

"Even without any evidence or witnesses, he pointed at me and accused me of things that I haven't done. I didn't even have the chance to explain or stand up for myself. It was the most unfair treatment someone could ever do to me. The words he said, the expression that was on his face and the tone he used when speaking to me... Everything aimed heartlessly at where it hurts the most."

His warm hands rubbed her hands, "He never deserved you."

The warmth of his palms was equivalent to a bright sun shining onto her body, transferring unlimited energy and encouragement to her. She laughed softly, "Aiya, look at you. Even though you've been close friends with him, somehow you seem to be more biased when it comes to me. Hahaha, one day I might even be able to persuade you to give me your piggy bank."

"No need for persuasion. Just a word from you and it'll be done." His eyes showed no signs of humor.

"Mister Chen, if you did that, your parents will hunt me down. Anyways, I'm very happy that you chose to believe me, despite the lack of evidence and obvious slandering from Karen and Tian Yuo. Did you come to see me tonight thinking that I will be doing something stupid to harm myself?"

"Yes and no. Except... not no. I also came here to see if you are okay with telling me what happened to you the night you got drugged. This is only if you want to tell me about it." He reminded her and didn't rush her to say her part.

"Mmm... from what I remember, Karen walked up to me and said that she was very sorry that Tian Yuo chose her at the end even though everyone knew how much I fancied him. She said they loved each other and wished that I could give them my utmost blessings. Of course, I faked a smile to avoid any conflicts on their engagement night, so I took the glass of wine that she handed me and toasted her."

"So... you mean after drinking that wine, you..." He didn't dare finish his sentence as he wasn't sure if any wrong use of words would trigger a sensitive reaction from her.

She nodded, "Like the thought you have on your mind. I felt dizzy and walked up for a rest. The room was oddly hot! It felt like it was 120 degrees fahrenheit in there, so I stripped naked and went to bed. Then, I woke up in the morning with Tian Yuo next to me. And then everything else followed."

Chen Mu got up and sat by her side, "Tian Yuo said a waiter delivered a glass of wine under your name, saying it was a toast that you wanted to give, but couldn't face him yourself. Therefore, he chugged it down and soon blacked out. Don't you think this is too much of a coincidence? Karen gives you a spiked drink, and Tian Yuo was also drugged?"

"Actually, I suspected Karen before, but what motive would she have to make such a low move? It wouldn't make sense to say that she drugged her fiance to put him in the same bed as her sister on their engagement night. That night was their special night and before that, they were clearly flaunting their lovely relationship in front of my family."

Logically speaking, nobody would make such a bold, crazy move to ruin their own life. As both of them dazed out deeply in thought, her phone vibrated and her ringtone blasted from her speakers, scaring them.

Seeing the called Id, she quickly picked it up, "H..hello?"

Her palm supported her forehead as she mouthed "Shit," before immediately replying, "I'll be back home in half an hour."

After hanging up, he could see dark clouds above her head as if the world was coming to an end soon, "Was it.. your stepmother?"

"Yeah. Sorry, you can stay here if you want to, but I need to rush back home." She grabbed her jacket, socks, and keys.

"Wait, I'll drive you there. In this situation, the more you rush, the higher risks of accidents. Besides..." He was about to give her a few more reasons, but she forced a bitter smile, "Okay."