The sky was overcast when she returned.
Lin Yaoyue stepped off the bus with a canvas bag slung over one shoulder and a hoodie pulled halfway over her head. She hadn't planned to come back yet — just a quick visit to pick up a notebook she'd left at the bookstore. A quiet walk. No drama.
She definitely hadn't planned to see him.
Jiang Zeyan was sitting across the street on a stone ledge, legs crossed at the ankle, elbows on his knees, suit slightly rumpled in a way that made him look more human than usual.
For a second, she thought she might be imagining it. A trick of exhaustion. A ghost made of memory.
But then he looked up and stood.
And she realized it was worse than she imagined.
He was real.
And he was here.
---
She didn't move. Just stared.
They stood in silence for a few long seconds as cars passed and the wind pushed strands of her hair into her face.
Then he stepped forward.
She didn't.
"You shouldn't be here," she said finally.
"I had to see you."
"Didn't realize stalking counted as romance now."
He ignored that. "You look tired."
"You look smug."
"I'm not."
She let out a dry laugh. "Then what is this? A CEO field trip to visit the exiled girlfriend?"
"You're not exiled."
"You're right. I left."
Another pause.
This time it was heavier.
Zeyan's jaw flexed like he was biting down something sharp.
"I came because I needed to talk to you."
"I don't."
She pushed past him and headed for the bookstore. She didn't expect him to follow.
He did.
---
The bookstore hadn't changed. Still quiet, still dusty in the corners, still full of stories that had nothing to do with her.
She climbed the narrow stairs to the second floor, back to the small room where she'd spent the last few weeks trying to forget everything he represented.
She tossed her bag onto the desk and turned to face him.
He stayed near the doorway, like he wasn't sure if he was allowed in.
"You tracked me down," she said. "Nice trick. What, did you bribe my friend? Hack the bookstore's Wi-Fi?"
"I asked."
"And someone just told you?"
"Eventually."
She narrowed her eyes. "You always get what you want?"
"Not always."
"Guess I'm the exception."
He didn't argue.
She hated how much she wanted him to.
---
"Why now?" she asked.
"You've been gone for weeks."
"You noticed?"
He flinched at that.
She shouldn't have enjoyed it, but she did.
She leaned against the desk. "Let me guess. You waited for the scandal to die down, then decided it was safe to find me. Good optics. Romantic timing."
"I came because I couldn't stop thinking about you."
She blinked.
And that… wasn't what she expected.
He stepped forward, slow, cautious.
"I miss you, Yaoyue. Not the version that smiled for cameras. Not the one who fit into my world. You. The one who challenged me. The one who looked at me like I wasn't some cold product of a family legacy. You made things... clearer."
Her throat tightened, but she didn't show it.
"Too little, too late."
"No," he said quietly. "Just late."
---
The silence thickened.
She crossed her arms.
"Do you have any idea what it felt like? Watching the world dissect me. Accuse me. Assume the worst. And you, standing there, always just out of reach."
"I tried… "
"You let me try. Alone. You let me get crushed while you stayed composed."
"I was trying to protect you."
"By disappearing?"
"By not making it worse."
She laughed, bitter. "That's the difference between us, Zeyan. You think silence is protection. I think silence is abandonment."
He opened his mouth, then closed it.
She looked away.
"You don't get to come here and apologize like that makes everything okay."
"I'm not asking for okay."
She turned back to him, frustrated tears stinging her eyes.
"Then what are you asking for?"
He was closer now. Not touching her, but near enough that she felt his presence in the air between them.
"Another chance."
"No contract. No pretending. No convenient PR."
"I don't want convenient," he said. "I want real."
She shook her head.
"I don't know if I can trust you again."
"I don't blame you."
Her breath hitched.
He stepped even closer.
"I came here knowing you might tell me to leave. I came here not knowing what I'd say. But I couldn't sit in that penthouse another day pretending that I hadn't lost something real. I've built my life around not needing anyone. But I need *you.*"
That cracked something open.
Her chest ached.
Her hands curled at her sides.
And yet, even then, she couldn't fall into him.
"You hurt me," she said. "You left me to clean up your world's mess."
"I know."
"I can't just forgive you because you finally showed up."
"I'm not asking for forgiveness."
He paused.
"I'm asking for a chance to earn it."
---
The rain started lightly outside. Barely a whisper.
Yaoyue stared at him. Still angry. Still guarded.
But beneath all of it, something soft flickered.
He meant it.
He meant it.
And that scared her more than the silence ever did.
She walked past him and stood by the window, arms crossed, heart pounding.
After a moment, she said, "You're not staying here tonight."
"I didn't plan to."
"But if you want to talk again… come back tomorrow. Not as a CEO. Not as an apology. Just as you."
He nodded once. "I will."
And then he left.
No promises.
No performance.
Just a quiet exit.
And the slow, painful return of something that might still have a future.