Chapter 598: Chapter 598

When Gu Linyuan heard Song Qiao’s words, he suddenly widened his eyes, somewhat in disbelief, with a rush of emotions flitting unpredictably through his gaze.

Regret beyond measure, loss, sadness, grief, even confusion.

Song Qiao, with her face turned aside to Gu Linyuan, looked toward the lotus flowers in the lake ahead, not noticing Gu Linyuan’s unusual expression. Instead, she spoke lightly, "I heard you’re also preparing to get engaged, is that right? Congratulations."

The woman’s voice carried a hint of resignation and a smile, lacking the sadness that should have been there when they had just broken up.

Indeed, it had been a long time since their breakup, and she was now married to another man. For Gu Linyuan, there were still some mixed feelings.

After all, they had been together for so long, and this man was her first love.

Everyone says that first love is the hardest to forget, the easiest to give your true feelings to, and even the most hurtful.

This statement was absolutely correct.

Gu Linyuan unconsciously tightened his grip on the coat he was holding. You could faintly see the veins on the back of his hand. His lips were tightly pursed, and his jaw clenched as if he was trying hard to suppress the emotions in his heart, before finally managing to say, "I am not preparing to get engaged."

Who said he was getting engaged?

He had never thought about getting engaged, okay?

Song Qiao suddenly turned around, directly looking at Gu Linyuan with a hint of astonishment, then awkwardly touched her hair and laughed unnaturally, "It seems I remembered wrong, I thought you were preparing to get engaged."

Speaking of Song Xi, it had been a long time since she had seen her.

As her half-sister from the same father, Song Qiao always felt like she owed something to that mother-daughter pair in her past life, which is why she was entangled with them in this life.

Especially with Song Xi, who not only took away her rightful identity but also stole the fatherly love that should have belonged to her.

As for her father, Song Qiao had already given up all hopes, becoming too disappointed to harbor any further expectations.

Gu Linyuan stood there, looking at the girl who seemed within reach yet felt incredibly distant to him.

All of a sudden, he felt confused, momentarily unsure of what had led them to this situation.

For a moment, neither of them spoke. Song Qiao blinked and looked at the man in front of her, but then smiled, "Didn’t you have something to tell me today? Whatever you want to say, say it quickly. I haven’t had lunch yet, and Jingchen is still waiting for me."

’Jingchen,’ such an intimate address.

It felt as though his heart was pricked. Gu Linyuan only felt a dense pain emanating from his heart, his throat dry, it took him a while to find his voice again, "Qiao, if I had told you those things back then, would we still be together?"

Actually, there was nothing between him and Yun Wei.

It was all just an arrangement by the family, what the family wanted for a so-called arranged marriage.

Many people might think he and Yun Wei were a couple, but they were not.

Ever since he ran into Song Qiao and Ning Wan in the mall parking lot, he had cut off all contact with Yun Wei.

Song Qiao was slightly taken aback by Gu Linyuan’s words, not immediately grasping what he meant, blinking without a word.

Gu Linyuan took a step forward, grabbed Song Qiao’s arm, took a deep breath, and continued, "Qiao, if I hadn’t hidden my dealings with Yun Wei initially, would you still be with me? And... I was never actually with Yun Wei; it was all arranged by the family. Now, I have cut off all ties with her. Qiao, would you still be with me?"

During this time, he felt his life was in disarray, as if living in a chaotic world, unable to see the future or find the past.

Memories of the times he had with Song Qiao filled his mind, only then realizing that at some point in these years, this girl had taken over his life.

He had thought about taking this girl back, and hearing her mention her marriage felt like a blow to the head, painfully nearly knocking him unconscious, even almost losing his sanity.

But if she still liked him, even though she was already married, there was still hope, right?

Her arm was seized by Gu Linyuan, his grip strong, somewhat painful, making her frown involuntarily and say directly, "Gu Linyuan, we are already a thing of the past, I am married now."

"Song Qiao, do you still like me?" However, Gu Linyuan looked at the girl in front of him steadfastly, his gaze firm, unyielding.

The pain in her arm deepened Song Qiao’s frown, looking at the handsome face of the man she once adored, she clenched her teeth and shook her head, stating a fact, "I am already married."

"Heh." Gu Linyuan let out a bitter laugh, but still did not release her hand, muttering, "Would you not have married him if those things hadn’t happened back then?"

His voice was very soft, as if talking to himself, actually, he did not need to know the answer, he just simply wanted to ask the question that had been troubling him for a while.

Yet, he still wanted to know, if it really was like that, would Song Qiao still be his?

Suddenly, Gu Linyuan felt very regretful, wondering why he hadn’t cherished the girl in front of him back then.

"Linyuan." Song Qiao suddenly called out Gu Linyuan’s name, just as she used to when they were dating, calling only those two syllables, raising her head to look at the man in front of her, and stated word by word, "There really is no such thing as ’what if’ between us anymore, this world doesn’t have ifs." ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ novel~fire~net

"Young Master Gu, why are you grabbing my wife’s hand?" Just then, a deep voice mixed with a bit of indifference came from not far from the two.

Song Qiao and Gu Linyuan both looked toward the source of the voice and saw a tall, handsome man walking towards them, a mocking smile on his face yet somewhat chilly, his towering figure standing a few steps away from them, shadowed by the overhead sun, casting a dark silhouette.

"Didn’t you hear what she said? There are no ifs in this world, Young Master Gu." The deep voice carried a touch of dull mockery, and in the blink of an eye, the man had already approached them, reaching out and pulling the girl that Gu Linyuan was holding into his arms.

Song Qiao felt herself crashing directly into a solid embrace, the close contact distinctly letting her feel a trace of chill emitting from the man.

She slightly raised her head, a bit surprised, and looked up at that divinely sculpted handsome face, her voice tinged with softness and confusion, "Why are you here?"

The handsome man’s face carried a light smile, Lu Jingchen looked down at Song Qiao, his voice rather gentle, "Well, I came down to pick you up for lunch; Shinian is hungry."

At this moment, the well-behaved Mu Shinian, sitting in Lu Jingchen’s Bentley Mulsanne, suddenly couldn’t help sneezing and rubbed his nose, even suspecting that the air conditioning in the car might have made him catch a cold, and was thinking about turning off the air conditioner in the car.

Song Qiao made a sound of acknowledgment and a smile appeared on her face, "Let’s go then, I’m hungry too."

"Okay." The man’s face finally showed a deeply meaningful smile, he nodded, directly wrapped his arm around her waist, their intimacy undeniable, he leaned down to kiss her forehead, "What do you want to eat?"

Song Qiao pondered seriously and then uttered two words, "Anything’s fine."

Gu Linyuan watched the intimately behaving couple in front of him, feeling like a myriad of needles were stabbing his heart, the pain causing him a moment of dizziness.

"Young Master Gu." Lu Jingchen raised his eyes, looking directly at Gu Linyuan, whose complexion was turning pale then green, the corners of his mouth slightly lifting as he spoke faintly, "Would you like to join us for lunch? Song Qiao and I haven’t been married long and I haven’t had the chance yet to thank Young Master Gu for not choosing to be with Song Qiao back then, allowing me the fortune to have her."

What it means to kill without drawing blood, it’s exactly what Lu Jingchen was doing.

Pointing out exactly what shouldn’t be mentioned.

Knowing full well how painful it was for Gu Linyuan not to have Song Qiao, yet Lu Jingchen still sported a demeanor like ’thanks for not marrying her back then, allowing me to marry such a wonderful girl,’ his arrogant appearance was truly infuriating.

The two men’s gazes directly met, colliding silently like sparks, a wordless battle commencing.

However, Gu Linyuan’s face looked somewhat unpleasant, his thin lips barely parted, "No need."

Then, he lowered his gaze towards Song Qiao, half embraced by the man, smiled faintly, and said softly, "Song Qiao, I will be heading back first."

Song Qiao blinked, nodding her head, "Okay."

Song Qiao watched Gu Linyuan leave without a backwards glance, not speaking again.

Until his figure disappeared from sight, Lu Jingchen lowered his gaze to look at the suddenly distressed girl in his arms, his face darkened, the next second he directly grabbed her chin, and before Song Qiao could react, he had already pushed her against a tall tree by the lake, leaning down to kiss her heavily...

Song Qiao’s eyes widened, she tried hard to struggle, her voice already trembling, vaguely but very clear, "Lu Jingchen."