Chapter Fifty-Two: The Abyss of Truth

That voice was extremely piercing, carrying a spoiled, self-righteous sense of possessiveness and accusation that pierced straight into Yu Ling's eardrums!

"Chen-ge! You're finally willing to take my call! Why do you keep avoiding me?! Why did you block all my numbers?! I've been looking for you for so long, so long! Do you have any idea how worried I was about you?! I called Ah-Zhe and the others, and they all said they didn't know where you were! Are you still angry with me? It was my fault last time in New York; I shouldn't have been so willful, I shouldn't have thrown things... But that's because I love you, Chen-ge! I care about you too much! You can't treat me like this!"

Gu Qianqian's voice came in a rapid volley, thick with a heavy nasal tone and a crying lachrymosity—aggrieved, angry, resentful, and tinged with a hint of hysterical paranoia. Every single word was like a poisoned needle, fiercely stabbing into Yu Ling's heart!

Chen-ge?!
Avoiding her? Blocking her?!
Throwing things? Caring too much?!
New York?!

The overwhelming influx of information and that sickeningly intimate address left Yu Ling's mind completely blank! Holding her phone as if gripping a red-hot branding iron, all the blood in her body rushed to the top of her head, yet her cheeks were icy cold without a shred of warmth! She opened her mouth, but no sound came out, her throat feeling as though it were tightly choked by an invisible hand!

On the other end of the line, Gu Qianqian seemed to sense something unusual about the silence on this side. Her spoiled, tearful complaint paused for a fraction of a second, carrying a hint of doubt and vigilance before her voice spiked sharply, demanding: "Hello? Chen-ge? Why aren't you speaking? Are you listening? Or... or is there another woman next to you?!" The final sentence was so sharp it nearly pierced the eardrum!

Right at this critical juncture!

"Lingling?! What are you doing?!"

A furious and alarmed roar exploded behind Yu Ling like a thunderclap!

Zhao Chen had rushed out of the kitchen at some point! He was still holding a grease-stained spatula, and the gentle smile on his face had completely vanished, replaced by extreme shock, rage, and a cold, murderous aura as if his reverse scale had been touched! His amber eyes glared fixedly at the active call screen of the phone in Yu Ling's hand, his gaze as sharp as quenched steel blades!

He lunged forward in a flash, moving with lightning speed and an irresistible ruthlessness, snatching the phone right out of Yu Ling's hand!

"Gu Qianqian!" Zhao Chen's voice was as cold as a Siberian front, carrying undisguised disgust and a warning as he growled into the phone, "I warned you! Don't call again! My affairs have nothing to do with you!" He didn't even give the other person a chance to react, his finger jabbing viciously onto the red end-call button!

Beep—

A busy tone sounded.

The world plunged back into dead silence.

The living room was left with only the sound of their heavy breathing. The air was thick with the smell of scorched food (evidently, the dishes on the stove had burned) and a suffocating, icy scent of gunpowder.

Yu Ling remained frozen in the posture of having her phone snatched away, paralyzed on the spot. Her face was as pale as paper, her body trembling slightly from extreme shock and lingering fear. Echoing in her ears were Gu Qianqian's spoiled, accusatory tone and Zhao Chen's freezing warning. Immense terror and the anger of having her privacy violated intertwined, chilling her to the bone.

Holding the phone like a hot potato, Zhao Chen's chest heaved violently, and the low pressure radiating from him threatened to freeze the air solid. He stared at Yu Ling's pale, terrified face, his eyes churning with shock, lingering fear, and a trace of... disarray from being caught in the act and unreleased violent hostility!

"You..." Yu Ling finally managed to find her voice, though it was painfully hoarse and trembling, "...Who is she? Why did she call you Chen-ge? What did she mean by New York... throwing things?!" Her voice carried a crying tone and irrepressible questioning.

"Lingling!" Zhao Chen abruptly cut her off, his voice low and urgent, carrying an unquestionable dominance and deliberate understatement, "Just a neurotic acquaintance! We met when studying abroad, and her head is a bit... unclear!" He forced an extremely strained, almost annoyed smile onto his face, attempting to gloss over the situation, "Her family has some background, and she's been spoiled rotten, always thinking the world should revolve around her!

She chased me for a while, and when I rejected her, she started pestering me relentlessly! I blocked all her contact info ages ago! Who knows where she managed to get a new number to call from! Annruciatingly annoying!" As he spoke, he irritably tossed the phone heavily onto the sofa, as if discarding something filthy.

He strode over to Yu Ling, ignoring her stiff posture and resistance, and forcefully reached out to pull her tightly into his arms! His grip was exceptionally tight, carrying the fear of loss and an inescapable force, his chin pressing heavily against the crown of her head. His voice was low and urgent, heavily laden with soothing intent as he repeated in her ear:

"Don't listen to her nonsense! Don't let your imagination run wild! Lingling, believe me! There is nothing between her and me! There was nothing in the past! There is nothing now! There certainly won't be anything in the future! She's just deliberately trying to disgust people! Don't let her affect us!"

His embrace remained warm, his heartbeat steady and powerful, and his words still possessed a bewitching power. Yet this time, Yu Ling could not feel a shred of warmth.

She stood stiffly in his embrace, her nose filled entirely with his clean soap scent and a trace of... an elusive scorched odor. Gu Qianqian's spoiled, tearful "Chen-ge," her possessive accusations, her hysterical interrogation... every single syllable hissed repeatedly in her ear like a cold viper, tearing apart Zhao Chen's pale, feeble explanations!

Neurotic? Head unclear? Pestering relentlessly?

Then why, the moment Zhao Chen heard her voice, did such terrifying hostility erupt from him? The disgust and warning in his eyes clearly carried a bone-deep... familiarity and complexity!

And that "Chen-ge"... was even more like a sharp dagger, piercing straight through the illusion of a "regular employee" that Zhao Chen had so meticulously woven for her! Would a spoiled wealthy heiress call a mere "regular employee" so intimately and obsessively by the name "Chen-ge"?!

A profound sense of absurdity and a bone-chilling cold instantly overwhelmed Yu Ling. Leaning against this embrace that had once given her such immense peace of mind, she felt only a deep freeze, as if plunging into an icy abyss. The false sense of security brought by the rental lease completely collapsed at this moment, revealing the bottomless, terrifying abyss of truth beneath it.

She did not question him further, nor did she struggle. She simply let him hold her, her body as stiff as a cold stone. Closing her eyes, she buried her face deep into the warmth of his neck—not to seek comfort, but to... hide the unmaskable, icy despair and immense terror in her own eyes.

Holding her tightly, Zhao Chen felt the stiffness and chill of her body, the anxiety and lingering fear in the depths of his eyes replaced by an impenetrable shadow.

He knew that Gu Qianqian's phone call was like a boulder dropped into a deep pool, completely disrupting the peace he had so meticulously maintained. He would have to use even more powerful methods and a gentler trap to pull this fish, about to break free from the hook, back firmly into the palm of his hand.

Lowering his head, his warm lips pressed reassuring-kiss after reassuring-kiss onto Yu Ling's icy crown, his voice low and lingering like a lover's murmur, yet filled with unquestionable control:

"Don't be afraid, Lingling. I'm here. No one can hurt you. No one... can take you away from me."