As soon as her voice fell, the carriage fell into a silent stillness.
Pei Yuzhou raised his brows slightly. "What?"
"If you have a girlfriend, it doesn't seem right for me to be in your car."
Although the internet claimed he was unmarried and single, she still wanted to confirm. It would be humiliating if she misjudged the situation.
Pei Yuzhou lifted his chin. "Then you can get out now."
"…"
Such a handsome man. Why did he have to go and grow a mouth?
Meng Shuyao refused to give up. "Do you really have a girlfriend?"
Pei Yuzhou didn't answer.
Meng Shuyao took his silence as confirmation, and her heart sank. She had been working at this for so long, only for it all to be in vain.
The thought of her situation made her nose sting uncontrollably.
A gaslighting father, a vicious stepmother, a sick older sister, and her—too powerless to even protect herself.
Could she only resign herself to fate?
If Mr. Pei had a girlfriend, what she was doing would ultimately be inappropriate.
Meng Shuyao sniffed lightly, suppressing her sobs. "Then have the driver stop the car. I'll go back to school myself."
Pei Yuzhou watched as she was fine one second, and red-rimmed the next.
Her mood changed faster than the turn of a page.
Mark spoke up. "Miss Meng, stopping is not allowed here."
"…"
Meng Shuyao looked out the window. They had just passed a traffic light, and they were ten minutes from campus.
She had left the club without a word; she was certain to have offended Allen. How would she explain that to Meng Zhenhua?
Pei Yuzhou pressed his brow with his finger, his thin lips parting slightly. "I don't have a girlfriend, but don't waste your energy on me either."
Meng Shuyao automatically ignored the second half, hope reigniting in her heart. "You don't have a girlfriend?"
It seemed her plan still had a chance.
Pei Yuzhou's patience was limited. "Keep making noise, and you're out."
Meng Shuyao immediately shut her mouth, not daring to disturb him again.
Soon, the car came to a steady stop.
"Miss Meng, we've arrived." Mark pushed open the door and walked around to the back with an umbrella.
"Okay." Meng Shuyao glanced at the man resting with his eyes closed. "Thank you, Mr. Pei. I'll be going, then."
He couldn't even be bothered to open his eyes.
Meng Shuyao didn't know if she had annoyed him. She sighed softly and stepped out of the car.
The sound of raindrops pelting the umbrella surface filled her ears.
Mark said, "Miss Meng, take the umbrella."
"Thank you." Meng Shuyao paused, then asked, "Could I add your contact details? I'll have the jacket dry-cleaned and return it to Mr. Pei."
"The sir said it doesn't need to be returned."
"But the coat is too expensive."
Mark's tone was all business. "My apologies, Miss Meng. Without the sir's permission, I cannot give you my contact details."
Meng Shuyao lowered her eyes in disappointment. "Alright, then."
When she returned to her dorm, she was more than half-soaked.
She took off the jacket and hung it separately on the standing coat rack.
Something fell from the pocket, thudding against the floor with a dull sound.
Meng Shuyao bent down to pick it up.
A metal lighter, small and refined, with a compass carved into the outer shell. The craftsmanship was exquisite—clearly worth a fortune.
The thought of that man left her at a complete loss.
To latch onto Pei Yuzhou, she had been utterly shameless, pulling out every trick she knew, yet it was still useless.
He simply didn't give her a chance.
Meng Shuyao was exhausted. She showered, changed out of her dirty clothes, threw herself into her blankets, and emptied her mind.
Right now, she only wanted to sleep well.
—
At one in the morning, the ringtone rang without end, accompanied by a buzzing vibration that assaulted her eardrums.
Meng Shuyao was jolted awake. She fumbled blindly for her phone on the nightstand, forced her eyelids open, and barely made out the caller ID. In an instant, she was fully awake.
She sat up in bed and answered.
As expected, the call was to demand an explanation.
"You messed things up?" An angry voice came through the receiver.
Not waiting for Meng Shuyao to explain, he rained down accusations. "You can't even handle such a small task? What use are you?"
Meng Zhenhua couldn't contain his fury. "Meng Shuyao, do you never want to see your sister again?"
Meng Shuyao listened numbly. Only at the mention of 'Sister' did a ripple appear in her eyes. She parted her lips, her throat tight. "I'm sorry, Dad. I didn't do it on purpose. An accident happened…"
Meng Zhenhua interrupted impatiently. "I don't care about any accident. You reflect on this properly. If there's a next time, you'll bear the consequences."
The call ended.
He threw down the phone, his face livid with anger.
His wife came down from upstairs and approached to console him. "Honey, what could be worth such anger? Don't ruin your health."
Meng Zhenhua's chest heaved. "Who else could it be? That girl is getting more disobedient by the day. I ask her to do one small thing, and she ruins it."
He had gone to great lengths to secure Allen as a connection. Now all his work was wasted, and he had offended the man.
"You're talking about Yao. She's still young, after all." Lin Peilan poured him a cup of tea and handed it over. "She'll graduate next year. Why not find her a suitable match? Women settle down and become sensible after marriage."
Meng Zhenhua took a sip of tea and nodded. "You're right."
While she was still under his control. Once she had fully grown her wings, she would be even less likely to obey.
Lin Peilan curved her lips. "Don't worry. I'll keep an eye out for suitable candidates."
Meng Zhenhua set down his teacup. "Good. You've worked hard."
Lin Peilan said considerately, "What are you saying? Yao is my daughter too. Naturally, I want what's best for her."
*Boom—*
Outside the window, a clap of thunder split the air. Lightning tore across the sky, ripping through the curtain of night.
Meng Shuyao gripped her blanket, tossing and turning, unable to sleep.
The day her mother left had also been filled with thunder and lightning.
She had gone to buy her mother's favorite jujube cakes. She got stuck in traffic returning to the hospital and didn't make it in time to see her mother's final moments.
From then on, her sister was her only family.
But later, her sister also had an accident—also on a day of torrential rain.
That was why she hated heavy rain. She hated the piercing sound of thunder. It made her feel like she couldn't breathe.
She didn't sleep the entire night.
It wasn't until dawn approached and the rain outside stopped that Meng Shuyao finally fell asleep again.
She didn't sleep peacefully.
Her dreams were filled with memories from childhood.
Before she was ten, she had lived with her mother and sister. She and her sister were half-siblings who shared the same mother.
In a sixty-square-meter apartment, the three of them squeezed together, living happily.
Back then, she had clearly loved rainy days. She would deliberately put on her raincoat and boots to go out and splash in puddles. When she came home with wet clothes and got scolded by her mother, her sister always protected her.
The two sisters had been inseparable since childhood, their bond deep.
But later, everything changed.
After returning to the Meng family, she became a pitiful creature that anyone could bully.
At eleven years old, her half-sister Meng Yan locked her in an underground storage room for an entire night.
It happened to coincide with a thunderstorm. The thunder roared, deafening. She curled into the corner, covering her ears and trembling all over.
The next day, the servants found her. She had a high fever of forty degrees and fell gravely ill.
It was her sister who took leave from school to come to the hospital and care for her.
The scene changed. Her sister was lying in a pool of blood.
"Sister—"
Meng Shuyao woke with a start. A thin sheen of sweat covered her forehead, her pupils unfocused as she stared at the ceiling.
She had dreamed of the day her sister had the accident.