"Is my makeup and hair okay?"

Sheng Jiaoyang asked as they got off the car, pulling on Shen Zhining"s sleeve.

Shen Zhining smiled as he looked at her in satisfaction, touching a corner of her mouth. "You look perfect."

Sheng Jiaoyang glanced at him, spitting in her heart: weirdo!

The driver"s gaze completely avoided the two as he stood next to the car.

Shen Zhining got off first and extended his hand to her, a slight smile on his face, making him appear just like a gentleman.

Sheng Jiaoyang placed her hand in his and gracefully got out of the car.

They entered the hotel and waited for the elevator, attracting a lot of stares. Sheng Jiaoyang was very calm. It had been a while since she"d become a celebrity and was already used to it. Furthermore, she"d never been afraid of stares.

After entering the elevator, Sheng Jiaoyang looked at the mirror walls clearly reflecting her face. Her hair was fine, eye makeup was also good, but her lipstick…

It looked like a dog had gnawed on it.

She angrily glared at Shen Zhining. There were other people on the elevator, so she couldn"t get even with him and could only choke down her fury. Now she understood why she"d felt like everybody was looking at her so weirdly earlier.

After only the two of them were left in the elevator, Sheng Jiaoyang pushed his shoulder and complained, "It"s all your fault! When I asked you, why would you say perfect? I could"ve fixed my makeup in the car!"

When she thought of how many people had seen her at the hotel"s entrance, she cupped her face and sighed. Her image…it"s ruined!

Ding!

They reached their floor.

"I"m going to go fix my makeup." Sheng Jiaoyang picked up her purse and walked to the washroom.

The washroom here was a communal one with different toilet halls. She"d just entered the washroom when she saw somebody was.h.i.+ng their hands. The other person also heard her walk in and looked up.

"You…"

Sheng Jiaoyang"s jaw dropped, and she didn"t know what to say.

His face was still the one she liked, but that uncontrollable feeling of love and desire had already unknowingly faded.

Lin Yan walked towards her, his gaze stopping at her…lips.

"Do you have a boyfriend now?" he asked in an ambiguous tone.

Sheng Jiaoyang released a deep sigh and nodded. "Yeah. He said that he likes me and I just so happened to like him too, so now we"re together."

"You also like him?" Lin Yan slowly repeated.

Sheng Jiaoyang pursed her lips. Under his somewhat hurt gaze, it was hard for her to admit it.

Lin Yan suddenly reached out and raised her chin, using his thumb to wipe off the stain. "You"re already so intimate with him."

Sheng Jiaoyang moved her face away and lowered her eyes. Then, speaking softly, she said, "Lin Yan, don"t be like this."

He laughed bitterly and asked, "What if I say I regretted it?"

Sheng Jiaoyang raised her eyes and met his melancholic gaze. Her heart shook, but her reason was still there. "It doesn"t matter if you regret it, you"re already engaged."

"I"m only engaged. Besides, I can get a divorce even if I"m married. I only want a chance to make it up to you, can you give me that chance?" Lin Yan"s eyes were filled with emotion so deep one could get lost in them.

There"d probably be very few women who could control themselves if a handsome guy asked for another chance. Lin Yan was so handsome that he almost didn"t seem human. To tell the truth, Sheng Jiaoyang was also a bit moved. If he"d said such a thing half a year ago, she definitely would"ve accepted without the slightest hesitation.

But, right now…

She was only slightly moved.

"Julia really likes you. Since you"ve already decided to be with her, stick with your choice. Lin Yan, you know that I place a lot of importance on affection. It doesn"t matter what kind of affection, but those I like must also treat affection as something important. If you abandon Julia or don"t want to give any of us up, you don"t deserve my love."

In her opinion, once you"d made a decision, you have to follow that decision to the end! Lin Yan had chosen Julia; it didn"t matter why, the decision had already been made. Lin Yan shouldn"t be regretting his choice, he should be making decisions so he didn"t have any regrets.

Sheng Jiaoyang stared at the silent Lin Yan for a moment before walking past him to fix her makeup.

"I never thought that I"d made a mistake…until the memories started flooding back into my mind, until the incomparable emptiness I felt every lonely moment, until every spare moment was used to think of you… You"re right, I should take responsibility for my decisions, but this time, I don"t want to be responsible."

Behind her, Lin Yan started to speak slowly. Sheng Jiaoyang"s fingers tightened around her lipstick. She saw herself struggling in the mirror, and she hated seeing herself like this. She"d clearly intended to completely cut everything off with Lin Yan, but after hearing his words, she felt her resolve wavering.

After all, he was the man she"d loved for so many years!

Lin Yan had already walked beside her and now moved in front of her, staring directly at her as he said, "If affection can be controlled by reason, there wouldn"t be so many people making mistakes. My mistake was that I"ve always let my reasoning deceive my emotions, causing me to fall into such a plight."

"Jiaoyang," he quietly called out. "I want to answer the question you asked me last time. I…"

"Enough!" Sheng Jiaoyang suddenly interrupted him. She barely had enough reason to tell herself that she absolutely couldn"t hear his next words. Otherwise, she might lose herself.

She pushed him away and walked out, leaving behind a single sentence. "My boyfriend"s still waiting for me."

Her footsteps were hurried, almost as if she was running away.

Lin Yan shut his eyes and sighed deeply. He knew that because he"d hesitated at every chance, he"d already lost the best opportunity.

It was just like a person who wanted to buy a house and saw that it cost one million dollars. They only had enough for the down payment, but the monthly installments were too high and left no money for renovations. So, they instead looked at a cheaper house that they didn"t particularly like and hesitated between the two before finally deciding to look back at the original house. As a result, they found that it was now priced at one million and a half, making it even more expensive.

Lin Yan suddenly understood: Nothing would wait for you forever.

"Brilliant!" a man"s voice said from the door.

Lin Yan looked over and saw a teen smoking outside the men"s bathroom hall. He glanced indifferently at the teen before turning around to leave the washroom.

"Hehe," the teen sneered. "I didn"t think that Xu Jiaojiao had such luck with men!"

The teen blew a cloud of smoke as he stuck both hands in his pockets and unhurriedly left the bathroom.

The sound of running water sounded from the women"s bathrooms before a woman also walked out.

After Sheng Jiaoyang had hurriedly left the washrooms, she saw Shen Zhining standing at the banquet hall doors talking with the Lin husband and wife. She"d seen the pair before; they were Lin Yu"s parents.

Shen Zhining saw her walking over and reached out to hold her hand.

Shen Jiaoyang glanced at his hand before turning to look behind her. She saw Lin Yan approaching and tightened her grip on her bag strap as she gave Shen Zhining her hand, walking to his side.

"This is my girlfriend," Shen Zhining introduced her to the Lin couple.

"She"s very pretty!" the Lin couple praised.

Sheng Jiaoyang just smiled. "Thank you!"

"Let"s go in, Grandfather is still waiting for us."

Shen Zhining nodded to the Lin couple before pulling Sheng Jiaoyang"s hand and leading her into the banquet hall. He just nodded in reply to a few greetings before making his way to Grandfather Lin.

"Grandfather Lin, happy birthday! I wish you everlasting health and congratulate you on your family reunion."

Grandfather Lin looked at their interlocked hands for a second before smiling. "It looks like I should be congratulating you instead."

Shen Zhining smiled and didn"t speak.

"Jiaojiao, is this your boyfriend?" Lin Xuejun gently asked as she stood beside Grandfather Lin.

"Aunty Lin," Sheng Jiaoyang greeted her.

Sheng Jiaoyang turned to glance at Shen Zhining, not really wanting to admit it. But, today, they"d even come in holding hands, so everybody definitely knew about their relations.h.i.+p. Even if she said that they weren"t a couple, n.o.body would believe her. Furthermore, she wanted to use this as a pretext to break things off cleanly with Lin Yan.

"Yes," she answered.

Shen Zhining tilted his head and looked at her. She"d finally admitted their relations.h.i.+p from her own mouth, making him ecstatic.

"Yan, you"re back." Lin Xuejun looked behind them.

Sheng Jiaoyang didn"t turn her head, her body stiffening.

A light flickered in Shen Zhining"s eyes as a smile slowly appeared on his face.

"I don"t know if Xiao Yu picked up Nana or not yet, can you call and check?" Lin Xuejun said.

"Okay."

Sheng Jiaoyang heard Lin Yan"s unique, pleasant voice behind her.

"Wait, Xiao Yan, come here. I"ll introduce you," Grandfather Lin said.

Sheng Jiaoyang smelled his familiar cologne as he walked past her to Grandfather Lin"s side. She clenched her teeth, her heart tangled.

Beside her, Shen Zhining suddenly opened his mouth to say, "Is this Grandfather Lin"s grandson?"

"That"s right." Grandfather Lin smiled. "Xiao Yan, this is the shot-caller of the Shen Family. You two are a similar age and both grew up abroad, so you should have some common topics to talk about."

Lin Yan"s gaze moved away from Shen Zhining and Sheng Jiaoyang"s interlocked hands to Shen Zhining"s face. He inspected him for a second before revealing a smile. "h.e.l.lo, I"m Lin Yan."

"I know you," Shen Zhining said.

His lips curved into a cold smile. "In fact, I"ve seen you before."

"Oh?" Lin Yan said.

Shen Zhining spoke slowly, "I was entrusted to deliver a gift to Sheng Jiaoyang"s birthday party once. I saw you then."