After Becoming a Film Queen, She Dumped Her Financial Sponsor - Chapter 38

Chapter 38: Or is it that you’re feeling guilty?

Once so imposing, Fu Qingyun now seemed uncertain, averting her gaze with noticeable hesitation.

“You’re always like this, Fu Qingyun.”

“I’m not calling you sister anymore.”

Qiao Sijin withdrew her hand from Fu Qingyun’s cheek. Honestly, she felt like she had grown far more mature than Fu Qingyun now.

An awkward silence stretched between them.

“…Alright, boss, can we go in now?”

“If we keep standing here, it won’t just be my bl00d pressure going up—Tao-jie will probably spank you too!”

Li Ke braced herself. Even though she didn’t want to be caught in the middle, she had no choice but to wedge herself between the two of them.

This job is exhausting—can she get a raise, please?

“Do you even know how to talk? Spank me? I haven’t even settled the score with you yet!”

Arms crossed, this was the first time Qiao Sijin had been this assertive in front of Fu Qingyun, shattering her old image.

“It’s nothing, boss. I just came by tonight to drop something off for Tao-jie. If you don’t believe me, you can ask her yourself.”

At this point, she could only bring up Tao Yi to get herself out of trouble. As expected, the moment Qiao Sijin heard “Tao Yi,” her drunken fog lifted a little.

“…Alright, I’ll trust you this once.”

“Let’s go find her together. I just remembered I forgot something too.”

With that, Qiao Sijin turned and started walking, completely ignoring the kiss they’d just shared moments ago.

“Okay, boss!”

Li Ke rushed forward to support Qiao Sijin. If her boss tripped and landed hard on her butt, that was one thing—but if her face got scratched, the whole upcoming schedule would be ruined.

Fu Qingyun didn’t try to stop her. She hadn’t even planned to meet Qiao Sijin tonight.

Her temporarily quieted heart had finally found a sliver of calm—until Qiao Sijin’s kiss stirred it all up again.

Now she could only watch their retreating backs, forcing herself to suppress the urge to follow. She turned to leave.

“Not calling me sister anymore…”

It had been a long, long time since she last heard Qiao Sijin call her that. Fu Qingyun looked up at the dim streetlight.

She had only taken a few steps when—

Crash.

A sharp noise came from the nearby bushes. Qiao Sijin had accidentally fallen in, half her body sprawled on the hedge. Luckily, the bushes were dense enough to support her.

Her dark hair was tangled with a few leaves and a small twig, her eyes unfocused.

“Damn, boss, are you okay?!”

Li Ke wasn’t much stronger herself and almost toppled over with her. Fortunately, she managed to stop herself from faceplanting into the shrubs.

“I… I’m fine!”

Qiao Sijin stretched out a hand to get up, but something around her neck held her back. Looking down, she saw that her necklace had caught on a branch.

Still insisting she was fine…

Truly, the boss’s mouth was the hardest thing in the world.

Li Ke quickly took out her phone and turned on the flashlight, shining it on Qiao Sijin’s face. The sudden brightness made her squint.

“Ke, you’re making me look like a petty thief who failed her heist.”

Like someone who tripped over her own feet while fleeing, only to get tackled into a flower bed. Zero grace.

Thankfully, it was late. No one else was around since they weren’t working overtime. Otherwise, this would’ve been a public humiliation.

“You alright?”

That all-too-familiar voice. Qiao Sijin closed her eyes in defeat.

Damn it. How did she forget that Fu Qingyun hadn’t left yet?

Dead. She was so dead from embarrassment.

If anyone had to witness her like this, why did it have to be Fu Qingyun? She’d rather it be a stranger.

“What, here to laugh at me?”

“I don’t need your pity!”

Whatever. The necklace could break for all she cared. Qiao Sijin straightened her back sharply, feeling a stab of pain in her neck as the chain snapped.

Fu Qingyun instinctively caught it—the cold, delicate necklace falling into her fingers.

She clenched it in her palm, her gaze lingering on it. A round pendant hung at the end, its edges inlaid with tiny diamonds that shimmered under the dim light.

“G-give it back.”

Qiao Sijin had just gotten up and wasn’t steady on her feet yet. She placed her hand over Fu Qingyun’s, her brows furrowed tightly.

Their palms touched. Fu Qingyun, worried she’d fall again, gripped her hand fully, thumb pressing down over hers.

“…I gave this to you. As a birthday present.”

So she hadn’t thrown it away after all.

It had been hidden under Qiao Sijin’s collar all this time, and Fu Qingyun had never noticed until the chain snapped.

“Yeah. I just thought it looked nice, that’s all.”

“Don’t flatter yourself, Fu Qingyun.”

Qiao Sijin tried to sound indignant, though she’d simply grabbed any accessory before heading out, not realizing she’d taken this one.

Yes, it was indeed the birthday gift from Fu Qingyun.

“Well, since you’re here, I don’t need it anymore. Just take it.”

But despite her words, there was an unmistakable flicker of reluctance. Her heart twisted. She really did like this necklace.

And honestly, she couldn’t even blame herself for falling for Fu Qingyun so deeply—no, that woman had given her too much.

“If it’s yours, I shouldn’t take it back.”

“We ended a long time ago. There’s no need to settle scores.”

“…Or are you feeling guilty?”

Their hands still touched, separated by the necklace. The cold metal, slowly warmed by their palms, was like a fragile barrier.

Fu Qingyun always did this—whenever she caught even a sliver of vulnerability in Qiao Sijin’s emotions, she knew exactly how to press.

And Qiao Sijin really was feeling guilty.

This had always been the person she loved. If she could’ve let go so easily, she wouldn’t have paid such a steep price.

With that thought, she pulled herself together.

She let go of Fu Qingyun’s hand, straightened up, and took a step back, creating distance between them. Her expression cold and distant.

“…You really don’t want it?”

Fu Qingyun looked down at the necklace in her palm.

Was it her presence that made Qiao Sijin reject the gift so decisively?

“You used to love it, didn’t you…?”

Somehow, in those last two sentences, Qiao Sijin thought she heard something that sounded… almost like hurt.