Transmigrating Into a Book, the Villain Becomes the White Moonlight!

106: Chapter 16 The Standoff Between the Two WomenThat incident that caused such a huge uproar at school back then... could it really have been something?

Lin Wan’s confusion deepened.

After all, back then, whether it was Uncle Fu or the people around her, everyone said it was just a charitable misunderstanding. Plus, with that Japanese student’s false accusation notice at school, she had never doubted the truth of the matter.

But now, she felt her initial judgment must have been wrong.

A chill crept up Lin Wan’s spine as she interjected, ”You two?”

Mu Xue curled her lips into a self-deprecating, icy sneer, her tone frosty: ”I know what the Nangong Family wants to do. But Young Master Su, is it really appropriate for you to bring your fiancée here?”

As she uttered that last sentence, her gaze fixed dead on Su Bai. There was only a fraction of coldness in those eyes; the rest was a thick, undissolvable mix of grievance and a nearly resentful accusation.

It was eerily similar to Su Bai’s expression when he had used those cutting words in the hotel room this morning.

Su Bai seemed utterly oblivious to—or perhaps simply indifferent to—the suddenly tense atmosphere between the two women.

He remained in his usual lazy posture and even nodded along with Mu Xue’s words: ”Yeah, I don’t know exactly what they’re trying to do either. Why don’t you tell me?”

He was deliberately playing dumb, tossing the question right back at her.

”You!” Mu Xue was so infuriated by his stubborn, oblivious act that her chest tightened. A flush of angry color rose on her originally pale cheeks.

Gritting her teeth, she forced out a few words through her clenched teeth, carrying a hint of that hateful, chiding tone they’d once shared in intimacy, ”You have no shame!”

The words, blurted out with familiar annoyance, instantly made the air in the lounge even more delicate.

That tone was absolutely not one used between strangers or even ordinary acquaintances.

”You two... are you close?” Lin Wan couldn’t hold back any longer. Her cool voice broke the delicate resonance left by Mu Xue’s words.

Her gaze fell on Mu Xue’s face, scrutinizing, carrying a tension she herself hadn’t even noticed.

Meeting Lin Wan’s gaze, Mu Xue’s lips moved slightly. Words surged in her chest, almost rushing out—she wanted to say, *More than just close?*

Back then, it was this man who seemed indifferent to everything who, in the simplest, most direct way, bought a period of her time. That was her most complicated past.

If it were the her from two years ago—the one who had nothing and could only cling desperately to that illusory warmth—facing Lin Wan now, this heaven-favored daughter standing in the position of Su Bai’s fiancée, she might have felt a reckless satisfaction in tearing open this layer of their relationship. At least she could win on some level, even if it was just a verbal victory.

That was a right to compete with Lin Wan she hadn’t even dared to fantasize about back then.

But now, her mind was a tangled mess.

What exactly was Su Bai thinking? To say he didn’t care about her at all?

But he still remembered those trivial habits.

To say he cared?

Then what were all those cold, harsh words after their reunion?

He could always so easily unsettle her emotions, making her feel like a fool constantly guessing, wavering between hope and fear.

It’s so unfair!

The surging emotions were finally forced down by reason, turning into a thread of weariness and deeper turmoil.

Mu Xue avoided Lin Wan’s gaze, and also avoided Su Bai’s seemingly detached look. She abruptly stood up, lifting the slightly cumbersome hem of her evening gown. Her voice was stiff: ”I’m going to the restroom.”

After saying that, she turned almost hurriedly and quickly left the lounge, leaving the suffocating triangular tension behind her.

Only after Mu Xue’s figure disappeared beyond the door did Su Bai leisurely sit down on the single sofa opposite.

Lin Wan’s gaze remained fixed on him. In those usually calm eyes, clear waves of doubt now churned.

Her hands resting on her knees unconsciously tightened, gripping the soft fabric of her dress.

”...Let’s go home.” Lin Wan’s voice sounded, slightly lower than usual.

It sounded more like a plea for confirmation and an escape from the current situation than a genuine suggestion.

”I still have some business to attend to.” Su Bai answered bluntly.

”Is your ’business’... her?” A tremor finally leaked into Lin Wan’s voice, a crack appearing in her forced composure.

She could no longer ignore the increasingly clear guess in her heart.

”She and I have no relationship now.” Su Bai stated the fact, his tone flat.

”And before?” Lin Wan pressed, her nails nearly digging into her palms.

Su Bai lifted his eyes, meeting hers without the slightest evasion, and admitted frankly: ”Yes.”

That single word was like an ice pick, precisely piercing the last shred of hope in Lin Wan’s heart.

She felt a slight dizziness. Many previously ignored details suddenly connected: ”Was it... that incident that caused such an uproar at school back then, right?”

Lin Wan forced down the churning bitterness in her chest, but her thoughts became unusually clear. *That charity misunderstanding... it was because that Japanese exchange student who came to pick a fight later diverted attention, so no one investigated further...*

*But if it weren’t for him, would those chat records have simply not existed?*

She wasn’t so much questioning Su Bai as she was dissecting her own self-deception at the time.

”Mm.” Su Bai nodded, not denying it.

”Then why didn’t you tell me? Why did you keep hiding it from me?” Lin Wan’s voice rose a little, carrying a suppressed accusation and a tremor of hurt.

”I wasn’t hiding it from you?” Seeing the glimmer of tears welling in Lin Wan’s eyes, Su Bai’s brow furrowed slightly. His tone held genuine confusion, ”Didn’t you know?”

He said this frankly, even a bit matter-of-factly.

In his understanding, although that incident back then was superficially covered up with charity, its substance was something people close to him like Lin Wan, Zhou Feng, and Fatty should have been aware of. It was just an unspoken agreement not to pierce that thin layer of paper.

Lin Wan, in particular, had always been involved in the affairs of his family’s charity organization. She should have been clearer than anyone else about the reasons and timing behind the organization’s establishment.

That ’not knowing,’ in Su Bai’s view, seemed more like an active, mutually understood decision not to ask.

*Inhale—Exhale—*

Lin Wan took a deep breath, then slowly let it out, trying to calm the storm of emotions raging in her chest. But the rapidly gathering moisture still blurred her vision.

Looking into Su Bai’s eyes, she asked one last time for confirmation: ”So, up until you went abroad, you two... maintained that kind of relationship, right?”

”Yes.” Su Bai responded after a half-second of silence.

”Fine. Fine.” Lin Wan nodded.

She abruptly stood up, no longer looking at Su Bai, and turned to stride quickly out of the lounge.

The sound of her high heels striking the marble floor was crisp and urgent. Uncontrollable memories flooded her mind—she remembered two years ago, the one and only time she thought she was close to having a date, going to that rice noodle shop because of Su Bai’s taste preferences.

*What was I then, a clown?*

Shame, humiliation, and the long-accumulated grievances instantly breached the dam of her reason.

Lin Wan, almost on instinct, rushed towards the women’s restroom at the end of the corridor.

The door was pushed open with force.

Mu Xue was standing before the wide mirror. Startled by the sudden noise, she had just turned her head when a powerful force yanked her arm!

Lin Wan stared Die Die at Mu Xue, each word seeming to be squeezed out from between her teeth:

”I considered you a friend... and you slept with my man? Right?!”

(Oh~ checked the backend today~)

(There were thirty vicious comments, and the ten bucks I earned yesterday.)

(I’m such an amazing author~)

(Don’t understand, are my nine hundred-plus follow-up reminders fake?~ Why only ten bucks! Why! Ah!)

(Might as well just write them all dead!)