CHAPTER 302: CHAPTER 302: DON’T ASSUME EVERYONE IS AS DIRTY AS YOU

When Ye Cheng spoke, his tone was filled with gritted teeth, making Zimei feel as though a thorn had just been driven into her heart, stabbing her with sudden, sharp pain.

But she would never reveal her vulnerability in front of him, as that was the only fragile dignity she had left to hold onto.

Looking at him, Zimei pouted slightly in grievance, speaking in a coquettish manner like a woman pleading with her lover: "Don’t be angry. I did all of that only because I care about you too much. I knew from the beginning that Ji Chuyang had fled here and gotten entangled with the mafia, so I wanted to protect you."

For a woman to tell a man she wants to protect him—what could that be if not true love?

Yet Ye Cheng’s expression only grew darker, his voice heavy with suppressed rage: "So you’ve understood everything from the very beginning, but decided to toy with us."

"I did not," Zimei explained. "I sent that email myself, and I even gave a warning. A Cheng, I truly don’t want you to get involved in this mess. You have no stake in the Ji Family’s affairs. Why bother tagging along? Come back with me."

Ye Cheng stared at her in shock.

Of all the possibilities he had imagined, he had never considered that Zimei would be the sender of that email!

"I don’t need your interference, because you’re not qualified."

Once his emotions steadied, Ye Cheng spoke coldly, then resumed his steps.

Zimei’s hands trembled slightly at her sides. She hastily caught up to him and stood in his path, a smile still lingering on her face: "How could it not matter? I love you. A Cheng, I love you."

When she confessed her love, she was unusually earnest, her alluring eyes brimming with genuine emotion.

Yet this heartfelt confession was taken by Ye Cheng as nothing more than an enormous joke.

The mocking curve of his lips finally pierced Zimei’s eyes. Her smile slowly faded, and her tone abruptly shifted, growing forceful: "No matter what you think, I will reclaim your heart, because it originally belongs to me!"

"It doesn’t belong to you anymore." Ye Cheng’s thin lips parted as he slowly spat out these words.

Zimei froze for a moment, her face suddenly turned pale as she thought of something: "You’ve fallen for someone else? Who is it? That summer actress? Did you sleep with her?"

Her voice suddenly escalated, emotion unraveling—she seemed on the brink of losing control.

"Don’t think everyone else is as filthy as you are." Ye Cheng coldly pushed her aside, his devilishly handsome face tinged with frost. Without looking back, he walked away.

Filthy...

Zimei lowered her gaze to her hands, which were trembling uncontrollably.

He despised her filthiness, so he was unwilling to touch her anymore, wasn’t he?

A heavy stone seemed to press down in her chest, suffocating her as waves of pain engulfed her.

When she snapped out of it, she saw that Ye Cheng had already walked far away. With misty eyes, she shouted at his retreating figure, "Aren’t you afraid I might harm her? It would be so easy for me to make her disappear!"

The scandalous reports of Ye Cheng and that actress, Xia Duoduo, entering the apartment together surfaced in her mind. Zimei’s fury surged uncontrollably. Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined her rival would be a young girl from the entertainment industry...

Ye Cheng turned back, his gaze icy and indifferent, a look that sent chills spiraling through Zimei. Though he was far away, she could clearly see his lips move as he said, "Just try touching her."

The simple sentence sent shivers down Zimei’s spine.

Before, Zimei never truly believed there was something between Ye Cheng and Xia Duoduo, but now her self-deception had shattered entirely.

Ye Cheng was defending that girl so fiercely—it was impossible for there to be nothing between them!

"I won’t give up! Ye Cheng, you can only belong to me!"

Her unwilling roar echoed behind him, but Ye Cheng’s body merely paused for a moment. He didn’t turn back.