Living Only For Myself: Make Those Who Hate Me Regret It

Chapter 408 - 407: "Even If You Have a Clear Conscience, What About Him?

"..." Xu Su turned and started to walk out. The moment she pulled the door open, Shen Chen was right behind her. "Don’t be mad. I was just joking."

In the end, they had dinner together. According to Shen Chen, his car was at the service center, so he had no choice but to get a ride home from her, and he shamelessly latched on to her side.

Xu Su thought, ’As if I’d believe that nonsense!’

She was certain that in this building’s basement, there were at least three cars belonging to Young Master Shen.

During dinner, Shen Chen returned to their previous topic, answering Xu Su’s unspoken question. "Don’t worry, no one’s getting a free ride. If we promise to promote someone, we’ll do it. As for how much support they get, well, that depends on the deal they make."

Hearing the word "deal," Xu Su froze for a moment. Then she heard Shen Chen add, "And don’t you get all soft-hearted. They’re not victims. This kind of thing is consensual. You can’t stop someone from being ambitious and wanting to climb the ladder, can you?"

Making it in the entertainment industry is never that simple. If you don’t have the right background, then no matter how talented or good-looking you are, you still have to put in more "effort" than everyone else.

She understood the logic. And she didn’t consider herself a particularly compassionate person. But since Shen Chen had put it that way, she could only nod.

"Xu Su," Shen Chen said suddenly, his expression perfectly calm. "You’re not going to get the wrong idea about me again because of this, are you?"

Xu Su remained silent.

Shen Chen grew anxious. "What does your silence mean? I really haven’t been messing around with anyone. If they held a national ’Celibate of the Year’ award, I’d probably be a front-runner."

Xu Su: "..."

"Really..." Shen Chen started to say more.

Xu Su cut him off. "Alright, alright, I get it. Let’s just eat in peace."

She lowered her head, avoiding his gaze. Her knuckles were white from how tightly she gripped her chopsticks.

Shen Chen watched her with narrowed eyes. ’Looks like it’s finally clicked for her. She’s finally stopped treating me like some damn brother...’

’So all my efforts these past few days haven’t been for nothing.’

’A secret crush?’

Shen Chen sneered. ’Secret my ass.’

He’d long since decided to stop hiding his feelings. Whatever the outcome, he had no intention of playing the part of a ’brother’ any longer.

Halfway through the meal, Zhou Mochen called. After being swamped with work for days, he finally had a free evening and had rushed back, hoping to have a long-overdue dinner with his girlfriend.

Only to find out she was out having dinner with Shen Chen. One can only imagine how conflicted Zhou Mochen must have felt. His voice sounded a little off on the phone, but Xu Su didn’t think much of it.

After dinner, she drove Shen Chen home in her new car.

Shen Chen seemed to have grown attached to her passenger seat; he remained sitting there, unmoving, even after she parked.

Xu Su prompted him, "Aren’t you getting out? Your place is just a few steps from here. You don’t expect me to walk you to your door, do you?"

Shen Chen asked, "Do you have any plans for tomorrow?"

"I’m going to visit an ancient town with Huang Feng and the others."

"Alright," Shen Chen gave a slight nod. He opened the passenger door, got out, then turned back and smiled at her. "Xu Su..."

Xu Su looked up. "Yes? What is it?"

"Nothing. Just wanted to say your name," Shen Chen said with a smile before closing the car door.

Xu Su gripped the steering wheel, unable to name the feeling stirring inside her. She hit the gas and pulled the car into her garage.

When she got home, she walked in to see Zhou Mochen standing at a window on the second floor.

From that angle, he had a perfect view of the driveway...

Xu Su frowned, trying to recall. ’Shen Chen didn’t do anything out of line just now, did he?’

Her relationship with Shen Chen had suddenly become a tangled mess, and she felt completely overwhelmed. Not wanting to say a word, she flopped onto the sofa, pulled out her phone, and started playing a matching game.

She played until a shadow fell over her. At some point, Zhou Mochen had finally decided to come downstairs.

"You were out with him all day?"

Xu Su hummed in acknowledgment. The memory of that aggressive kiss in the office surfaced, and she subconsciously wiped her lips with the back of her hand.

’Perhaps Shen Chen had been so obvious lately that she had already vaguely sensed his intentions...’

’That’s why, in the moment he stole that kiss, her shock hadn’t been as overwhelming as one might expect.’

’On the contrary, she’d even had a dawning sense of, "So it’s true."’

"What are you thinking about?"

Xu Su flinched and shook her head. "Nothing."

Zhou Mochen watched her, his expression unreadable. Perhaps she didn’t even realize it herself, but her nervousness, frustration, and conflict were impossible to hide.

’What is she so nervous about?’

’What’s frustrating her?’

’....And what is she so conflicted about?’

Zhou Mochen sat down beside Xu Su. He took her hand, gently kneading it in his own as he asked with feigned nonchalance, "The car you just drove home. It’s Shen Chen’s?"

"Yes. It was a gift from him."

His grip tightened on her fingers until they began to ache. Xu Su turned her head to see Zhou Mochen’s expressionless face.

He watched her quietly, his thumb still stroking the back of her hand, but his eyes grew dark. "Xu Su, if I asked you to see less of him from now on, what would you say?"

Under his gaze, which felt like it could pierce right through her, Xu Su instantly felt a pang of guilt and looked away.

"It’s not that I’m being petty, it’s that I’ve fucking had enough." Zhou Mochen grabbed Xu Su’s chin and forced her to face him. "You’re my girlfriend, and he’s my ’brother.’ So what the hell is this, with you two being practically inseparable every day?"

"Don’t give me that ’you’re not interested in him, you don’t think of him that way’ crap," Zhou Mochen’s expression was thunderous. "Even if your conscience is clear, what about his?"

He could lie to himself before, but today confirmed it: Shen Chen’s intentions toward her were anything but good.

His girlfriend had come home, yet his so-called "good brother" was still standing right outside.

The way they lingered, unable to part... if you told someone they were a couple in the throes of a new romance, no one would doubt it.

’If they’re the couple, then what does that make me?’

The rage surging through Zhou Mochen nearly consumed his reason.

He shot a sideways glance at Xu Su. ’Shen Chen likes her... does she know, or not?’

The mere thought that the two of them might have developed some kind of unspoken relationship right under his nose...

’Perhaps...’

Wincing in pain, Xu Su yanked her hand free. She pressed her lips together and said, "I promise. I’ll see less of him from now on."

’She even wanted to give the car back to Shen Chen, but that felt like too extreme of a reaction. It wouldn’t be good to make such a big deal out of it...’

’The best solution was to pretend she didn’t know anything and just slowly distance herself from him. It would be best if they didn’t see each other at all for the rest of the year.’

’Otherwise, it would be too awkward...’

The fact that she agreed so readily only made Zhou Mochen’s suspicions flare.

If she had adamantly defended her friendship with Shen Chen like she always did, insisting they were just friends and refusing his demands to stop seeing him...

’Then he could have at least comforted himself with the thought that she was oblivious.’

’But now...’

He hated that he could still think so clearly.

A gut-wrenching agony made Zhou Mochen’s eyes turn red. He doubled over, gasping for breath.

"What’s wrong?" Xu Su finally noticed something was off and reached for his arm, but Zhou Mochen pulled it away.

He said, "Don’t touch me."