On The Night I Confirmed My Girlfriend's Infidelity, I Kissed Her Sister (GL) - Chapter 19: The Lingering Mist

After a dazed pause, Fu Chaoying set her phone aside and closed her eyes.

In the darkness, she seemed to see an endless ink-wash world and that solitary, aloof mountain peak standing apart from the mundane.

It took a long while before she slowly opened her eyes again, her gaze still faintly veiled as if mist hadn’t yet dissipated.

Her fingers slid across the screen, replying to comments one by one in chronological order.

After responding to three or four, her fingertip finally hovered over Ye Jiayuan’s comment before lightly tapping out a reply: [“Thanks for your concern, Jiayuan [/rose][/rose]”]

Fu Chaoying thought the two rose emojis were just right for their relationship—childhood friends turned distant sisters.

Perfectly polite, perfectly detached.

Once the replies were done, she turned off her phone.

Tossing it carelessly onto the nightstand, she let exhaustion and drowsiness wash over her completely, swallowing her whole.

By the time she woke again, it was already afternoon.

Sunlight seeped through the heavy curtains, casting scattered patterns on the thin blanket. A dull ache pulsed in her temples—a familiar aftermath of pulling all-nighters for her paintings.

Struggling upright, the glare of sunlight sharpened her mind slightly.

She checked her phone. A missed call glared back at her—from Liu Xin, Ye Jiayuan’s assistant.

Fu Chaoying called back.

As expected, it was routine business. Liu Xin asked if she had time to attend a shareholders’ video conference.

Rubbing her eyes, Fu Chaoying politely declined, citing her packed schedule.

Liu Xin expressed understanding, then unexpectedly lowered her voice with an unprofessional sigh: “Maybe it’s for the best you don’t attend.”

The remark piqued Fu Chaoying’s curiosity. With a light chuckle, she asked, “Why do you say that?”

A brief silence followed, as if Liu Xin was weighing her words, before she finally whispered, “What I’m about to tell you is company gossip—please don’t let anyone know it came from me.”

Fu Chaoying hummed in acknowledgment, a flicker of anticipation stirring in her chest.

Reassured, Liu Xin spilled: “The HR department messed up recently. Somehow, they hired someone who’s infatuated with President Ye. The whole department got their performance bonuses docked because of it.”

Someone infatuated with Ye Jiayuan…

The words made Fu Chaoying freeze. A strange emotion surged in her chest—something between envy and resentment.

Steadying herself, she asked softly, “Was it President Ye’s decision to penalize them?”

“No, no!” Liu Xin hurriedly clarified. “It was President Qu—she oversees HR.”

After a few more pleasantries, the call ended.

The dial tone buzzed in her ear, but Fu Chaoying’s frown only deepened, as if a heavy stone had settled over her heart.

Even after she left, Ye Jiayuan’s admirers still bloomed endlessly. Even without her by her side, there was always another woman willing to shield her from unwanted advances.

Ye Jiayuan didn’t need her help—she had admirers to fend off admirers.

Fu Chaoying laughed soundlessly, the corners of her lips curling with quiet bitterness.

–

After a simple lunch, Fu Chaoying’s phone rang again—it was feedback from the Yunji team. They demanded major revisions but provided no concrete suggestions, only a vague comment: “It doesn’t feel right.”

The same old ambiguous rhetoric.

Fu Chaoying took a deep breath, suppressing her frustration, and patiently asked if they could offer more detailed revision notes.

Unexpectedly, the team responded by sending over a set of images. Fu Chaoying recognized them instantly—they were the latest gowns from their competitor brand.

And those designs, with their patterns and motifs, bore no resemblance to the ink-wash aesthetic she had been working with.

The team then demanded she submit a revised version within two days.

Clenching her phone tightly, Fu Chaoying forced down her irritation. She closed her eyes, silently repeating “Stay calm,” before reopening them and replying in an even tone, “Understood. I’ll revise it as soon as possible.”

She immediately stood up to return to the office, but as she reached the door, a sudden wave of dizziness hit her.

Aunt Wu, hearing the commotion, rushed over to steady her, her face full of concern. “Goodness, you’ve been working nonstop for days! You should rest at home today!”

Fu Chaoying managed a weak smile. “It’s fine, Aunt Wu.”

Missing the deadline would be considered a breach of contract.

She couldn’t let the company face legal trouble because of her own health.

Summoning her strength, Fu Chaoying took a taxi to the office. But before she could even reach her desk, her body ached all over, her legs felt weak, and her head spun.

Her assistant, Li Bingzhi, noticed immediately and hurried over, pressing a hand to her forehead. “Miss Fu, you’re burning up! You must have a fever!”

“It’s nothing. Let me check my temperature first,” Fu Chaoying replied softly, her voice frail but reassuring.

Li Bingzhi fetched a thermometer and waited beside her.

The reading: 38.5°C.

The office kept basic fever medication on hand. Fu Chaoying forced herself to swallow a pill, then steeled herself and got back to work.

By evening, her fever hadn’t subsided—if anything, it had worsened.

Her face was pale, her lips colorless, and a sheen of sweat glistened on her forehead.

Seeing her deteriorating condition, Li Bingzhi couldn’t stay silent any longer. “Miss Fu, maybe we could negotiate with them for an extension? If you keep pushing yourself like this, your body won’t hold up.”

Fu Chaoying gave her a strained smile and nodded faintly. “I’ll try.”

Her fingers trembling slightly, she sent a message—only to receive an immediate reply:

We understand you’ve been working hard, MIss Fu, but we’re all still waiting for your designs. Please hang in there a little longer.

The words dripped with indifference.

Fu Chaoying let out a humorless laugh, then sighed, her tone eerily calm.

“Pack up. We’re terminating the contract.”

It was clear the other party was deliberately making things difficult. Even if she revised the design a hundred times, they could still dismiss her with a simple “the design doesn’t meet the client’s requirements.”

In that case, there was no point wasting any more time.

Shen Guannan happened to be off work just then. Upon receiving her message, she arrived at the company within half an hour and was startled by Fu Chaoying’s deathly pale expression. “Good heavens, are you okay?”

Fu Chaoying gave a weak smile. “I’m fine. I’ve taken medicine.”

Her voice was hoarse from the fever, making it sound especially pitiful.

A flicker of worry passed through Shen Guannan’s eyes as she took Fu Chaoying’s temperature again—38.4°C. “If the fever doesn’t go down, you’ll have to go to the hospital.”

Fu Chaoying nodded slightly, indicating she understood, then gestured to the contract on the table. “Could you take a look at this for me first?”

The company’s legal team and Shen Guannan carefully reviewed the contract together and reached the same conclusion: the terms were ambiguous, leaving too much room for manipulation. If it came to a lawsuit, they might not win.

Moreover, being in China while fighting a legal battle overseas would be like walking into a lion’s den—their chances of success were slim.

Fu Chaoying stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, gazing into the distance with empty, lost eyes.

Their analysis was exactly what she had expected. She just hadn’t wanted to accept it.

Turning around, she looked at Shen Guannan and asked softly, “Guannan, do you have any lawyer friends working in Singapore?”

Shen Guannan shook her head. “My contacts abroad are mostly in Hong Kong or the U.S.”

Fu Chaoying’s head was already splitting with pain, and now her joints ached even more.

Seeing her fragile state, Shen Guannan sighed and gently suggested, “What if… you asked Ye Jiayuan for help?”

Ye Jiayuan had vast influence and connections in Singapore, and the legal team at Xingye International was top-notch. Seeking Ye Jiayuan’s assistance would be the simplest and most effective solution.

Fu Chaoying stiffened slightly. She lifted her gaze to Shen Guannan, her expression complex and unreadable.

After a long pause, she finally spoke in a hoarse voice, “I’ll consider it.”

Shen Guannan watched her swaying figure by the window and sighed helplessly before stepping forward to support her. “Let’s get you home to rest first. Your health comes first.”

Shen Guannan drove her back.

Fu Chaoying sat in the passenger seat, her eyes fixed on the sunset in the distance. The evening glow was dazzling, yet it couldn’t dispel the gloom in her heart.

“Guannan, is Ye Jiayuan really the only option?”

Shen Guannan didn’t know what had happened between them, but she could sense something from Fu Chaoying’s tone. “Did you and Ye Jiayuan… have a falling out?”

Fu Chaoying shook her head, forcing a faint smile. “No, nothing like that. It’s my problem.”

It was her own foolish wishful thinking—wanting to collaborate with Ye Jiayuan.

But Ye Jiayuan didn’t seem to need her at all.

Shen Guannan wanted to press further, but then she heard Fu Chaoying chuckle softly, her voice slightly nasal as she said, “It’s too embarrassing to talk about. I’ll tell you once I’ve moved past it.”

At a red light, Shen Guannan stopped the car and patted her shoulder gently. “Try not to dwell on it.”

When they arrived at the Fu residence, Fu Chaoying asked Aunt Wu to entertain Shen Guannan while she went upstairs to take her medicine and rest.

But as she rested, she received several calls from Singapore—all of them pressing for her manuscript.

Fu Chaoying gave a silent smile. What was meant to be a contract to raise the company’s profile had now turned into a “debt collection notice.”

She turned off her phone and slept until dawn.

But she spent the whole night dreaming—being chased, mocked, abandoned—so much so that when she woke up, she felt somewhat dazed.

Fortunately, her fever had subsided. After washing up, Fu Chaoying quickly regained her clarity.

Gazing at the sunlit flowers swaying outside her window, only one thought occupied her mind: she wanted to terminate the contract.

She wanted justice—for herself and for the company.

Without hesitation, she picked up her phone and dialed a number. The call connected almost instantly—

“Miss Chaoying, how can I help?”

Fu Chaoying steadied her breathing, keeping her voice calm and gentle. “Hello, Liu Xin. I have a personal matter I’d like your help with.”

She briefly explained the situation and tentatively asked if Liu Xin knew any experienced lawyers who could assist, promising a generous referral fee as thanks.

A long silence followed on the other end, so prolonged that Fu Chaoying assumed she was being politely declined and was about to smooth things over—when Liu Xin finally spoke again.

“Um… Miss Chaoying…” Her tone sounded hesitant.

“Is it inconvenient?” Fu Chaoying’s heart sank, but she managed a light laugh. “It’s fine if you can’t help.”

Before she could finish, a familiar, cool voice came through the phone—

“Xiao Ying, why didn’t you come to me when you ran into trouble?”

It was Ye Jiayuan.