Chapter Three: Unaffected

“What a pity, but what’s the use? Ayan’s heart belongs to me alone.”
As these words fell, Qin Miao waited expectantly for Ye Yao to lower her head in shame.
Yet Ye Yao’s expression remained calm, utterly unruffled.
Someone who died in the past could no longer stir any waves within her.
After all, after today, they would never meet again.
“Have you ever heard the saying: ‘A good dog doesn’t block the way’?”
Ye Yao swept back her hair, the curve of her red lips arching into a smirk. “Qin Miao, when will you stop barking at everyone you see like a stray mutt?”
With just these few words, Qin Miao was thrown off balance.
Since when did the soft-spoken Ye Yao develop such a temper?!
Wasn’t she just a meek little tagalong, forever trailing behind Shen Yan, granting every request without complaint…
Staring at Ye Yao, Qin Miao’s expression flickered with confusion.
It was a while before she came back to herself, lips pressed together, eyes brimming with scorn. “I heard…you had a miscarriage? No wonder you’re so irritable, is it fake postpartum depression? Hah…while Ayan and I made our relationship public in grand style, you were left all alone in the hospital. That must have been hard to bear, wasn’t it?”
At those words, Ye Yao’s lashes trembled—an almost imperceptible change, yet Qin Miao caught it.
“So you knew?”
Yet you still chose to cling to Shen Yan yesterday?!
Qin Miao let out a soft, mocking laugh. “Not only do I know, Ayan knows too.”
“But he still chose to be by my side, leaving you alone in the hospital.”
“Ye Yao, I really don’t understand—why would you rather cling to a hollow marriage than leave Ayan? Why persist like a pathetic lapdog at his side?!”
Ye Yao looked quietly at Qin Miao.
She did not miss the fleeting flash of resentment and envy in those eyes.
Imitating her tone, Ye Yao smiled gently. “So, it turns out I’m not the only one who can’t have what she wants.”
“I am not pining after something I can’t have!” Qin Miao shot to her feet, but in her haste, nearly stumbled.
Ye Yao’s smile deepened. “Nervous? Did I hit a nerve?”
“You!” Qin Miao was beside herself with rage.
She had never lost to Ye Yao before.
To be so easily bested with a few words today stoked a fire of anger in her chest. Her hand found the steaming cup of coffee beside her—without a second thought, she seized it and hurled it toward Ye Yao’s face.
Seeing this, Ye Yao’s expression shifted, but she slipped effortlessly out of reach of Qin Miao’s hand, and then delivered a sharp kick to her knee.
The force was so great it nearly shattered Qin Miao’s kneecap.

“Ye Yao, people like you don’t deserve to carry the Shen family’s child. Even if you gave birth, it would be a bastard like you!”
Ye Yao had always concealed her identity, claiming to be an orphan, which had made her the subject of gossip back in school.
But the truth was…
She shot Qin Miao a sidelong glance, her voice careless. “The word ‘bastard’ is better left for women like you.”
“So what if Shen Yan has feelings for you? His first wife will always be me. What does your grand announcement matter? You’re nothing more than the other woman that everyone despises.”
“Qin Miao, I’m warning you—don’t provoke me. You can’t afford the consequences.”
She had let things slide before, for Shen Yan’s sake.
But now, who did Shen Yan think he was?
Ye Yao would no longer wrong herself for anyone.
Qin Miao was gritting her teeth through the pain in her knee, her eyes ablaze with a hatred that could burn Ye Yao to ashes.
“Ye Yao, you really know how to put on a show. As soon as Ayan’s not around, you reveal your true colors? No wonder he doesn’t want you—you two-faced woman.”
Ye Yao merely smiled. What an expert at crying wolf.
She saw no reason to waste another second on these people and was about to turn and gather her things when noise sounded again at the door.
There, in a tailored suit and with a cold, angular face, stood Shen Yan.
Ye Yao looked over and caught a flicker of inscrutable emotion in his eyes.
“What’s going on?” Shen Yan’s tone was icy, betraying nothing.
His gaze swept, seemingly by chance, over Ye Yao’s face.
He noticed her attire today, and a deep crease formed between his brows.
Ye Yao had no intention of explaining herself, her mind already preoccupied with where she’d left the ring.
Qin Miao, however, was quick to change her demeanor. The fierce shrew was gone, replaced by a pitiful girl who forced out a couple of tears and moved closer to Shen Yan with a look of helplessness.
“Ayan, don’t blame her. I was just curious why she wanted to divorce you. She said…she met someone else she liked more, that you weren’t all that special.”
Qin Miao sobbed, “I just couldn’t take it—you’re so wonderful, how could she treat you that way…”
Ye Yao found it amusing.
How had she never realized before that Qin Miao was such a master at turning things upside down?
But it seemed Qin Miao didn’t know—merely standing before Shen Yan, Ye Yao had already lost, without needing to say or do a thing.
Shen Yan never cared about her; all this slander hardly mattered.
How tedious.
She had no interest in wasting her time with these people.

Yet Shen Yan took in every word Qin Miao said. His gaze, already shadowed, grew colder still, and those long, proud eyes narrowed, shooting a chilling fire at Ye Yao.
Ye Yao…liked someone else?
So that was why she’d insisted on the divorce…
In that instant, it felt as though someone had slammed a fist into Shen Yan’s chest. Suddenly, he understood why Ye Yao had changed her style overnight—no doubt, it was to suit someone else’s taste.
Qin Miao saw Shen Yan’s gaze fixed on Ye Yao and was consumed by jealousy. She shifted her knee, but the pain made her cry out sharply.
Shen Yan’s attention shifted; he crouched down beside her, asking in a calm voice, “What happened to your knee?”
“I kicked her,” Ye Yao admitted frankly.
“You did?” Shen Yan looked up, his eyes growing more complicated.
He had never seen Ye Yao so assertive before.
She seemed like a stranger.
So very unfamiliar.
“Is that a problem? I was defending myself.” Ye Yao met his gaze without a trace of fear.
Shen Yan felt that Ye Yao had changed.
Her features were the same as before, but the feelings in her eyes were wholly unfamiliar; the look she gave him was cold and aloof, as if she were gazing at a stranger who mattered not at all.
A stranger…
Had he really become nothing more than a stranger to Ye Yao?
A wave of self-mockery rose within Shen Yan.
“Ye Yao, you weren’t like this before.”
He spoke heavily, wanting to say more, but the words wouldn’t come… His gaze drifted to the sobbing Qin Miao, and at last he seemed to find his voice. “With no provocation, why did you resort to violence?”
“I’ve never had trouble expressing myself,” Ye Yao’s words left Shen Yan speechless. “I have no wish to repeat myself. Believe what you want.”
“Ayan.”
Qin Miao tugged at Shen Yan’s sleeve. “She seemed in a hurry to find something—maybe confidential files—so I tried to stop her, but she kicked me instead.
“It hurts so much…I think my knee’s broken…”
Casting Ye Yao a long, searching look, Shen Yan suddenly scooped Qin Miao into his arms, yet his gaze remained locked on Ye Yao, as if trying to read some secret in her eyes.
But those eyes were as calm as an ancient well, utterly devoid of ripples.