Chapter 189

Facing Wu Yue'er's questioning, Li Yan lowered her head in shame.

She began to explain that because of her fake suicide attempt that day, Zhang Fan had been disgraced at school, branded a scumbag, and was determined to break up with her.

Li Yan tried everything to make him stay, but Zhang Fan, annoyed and fed up, used Wu Yue'er as a shield, claiming he liked Wu Yue'er, that she was ten thousand times better than Li Yan, and that Li Yan wasn't even worth a toe of hers.

Li Yan believed that Wu Yue'er didn't care about Zhang Fan at all and that such a crush wouldn't lead anywhere, but Zhang Fan ignored her, as it was just an excuse anyway.

Zhang Fan had long been fed up with Li Yan's "lovesick" behavior, so a breakup was inevitable.

Li Yan didn't know this, so she pushed all the blame onto Wu Yue'er and, in a moment of madness, went online to find videos and edit photos to ruin Wu Yue'er's reputation.

She thought that by doing this, Zhang Fan would return to her side.

Only afterwards did she realize that her actions might have crossed legal lines, but there was no turning back; things had reached this point, and she had no choice but to bite the bullet and carry on.

And things went exactly as she had imagined: once the indecent photos were released, Wu Yue'er was completely disgraced and became the target of everyone's condemnation.

So Li Yan went to Zhang Fan again and said, "That Wu Yue'er isn't a decent woman; won't you come back to me?"

She thought they would get back together, but Zhang Fan scoffed, "Impossible. You are too emotionally unstable, sensitive, and suspicious. You always want to check my phone, you're afraid I'll cheat, and your possessiveness is so strong—being with you is just too exhausting."

"Do you really think I like Wu Yue'er? That was just an excuse I made up. You've already ruined me enough; please, just let me go."

Li Yan felt as if she had been struck by lightning; it turned out this was how Zhang Fan had always seen her—he hated her, and she had only wanted to possess him because she loved him too much.

What was wrong with that?

Looking at Zhang Fan's resolute expression, Li Yan burst into tears and pleaded, "I will change. Just tell me what you're unhappy with, and I can become the person you like. Please, don't break up with me, okay?"

What Zhang Fan feared most was her lack of self-identity, the way she pinned all her emotions on someone else; it was incredibly suffocating.

After their conversation yielded no results, Zhang Fan left resolutely. Watching his retreating figure, Li Yan finally understood that this boy was completely done with her.

For the past two days, Li Yan had been immersed in the immense pain of heartbreak, her heart aching and tears flowing. At the same time, a wave of guilt toward Wu Yue'er washed over her, causing her great torment.

Even worse, a deep, lingering fear haunted her—she was terrified that the police would suddenly show up at her door to arrest her. This fear weighed on her like a giant boulder, leaving her breathless, restless, and unable to sleep at night.

In the dormitory, whenever she heard the slightest sound outside the door, she would be terrified, thinking the police had come to arrest her.

She had specifically searched online and learned that spreading fabricated facts to damage someone's reputation constitutes defamation, which, depending on the severity, is generally punishable by up to three years in prison.

The net of justice is wide, and though she had been very careful, she didn't know if any traces had been left behind.

If you do nothing wrong, you have no reason to fear a knock at the door in the middle of the night.

Under such agonizing circumstances, she could no longer bear the pressure; after much thought, the only solution was to beg for Wu Yue'er's forgiveness and have her withdraw the report.

That was the reason for the scene where she knelt on the ground.

Hearing these words, Wu Yue'er felt a complex mix of emotions: on one hand, she hated Li Yan for the immense harm she had caused; on the other, she felt this girl's mindset was too extreme and her view of relationships too idealistic.

There aren't that many fairy-tale romances in the world; just because you like someone doesn't mean they have to like you back. Excessive possessiveness only pushes Zhang Fan further away.

If it were her, she would probably keep her distance from such a boyfriend too.

At this moment, Wu Yue'er couldn't help but think of herself and Shen Yan; although she loved him deeply, she had always kept her behavior in check, so she shouldn't be annoying.

This balance must be maintained to avoid ending up like Li Yan.

After clearing her thoughts, Wu Yue'er finally spoke: "What makes you think I would just let you off like this? Do you know how much harm your actions caused me?"

"I will never forget the strange looks from people around me when those photos spread that day..."

As Wu Yue'er vented her frustrations, Li Yan felt overwhelmed with shame. She kowtowed to Wu Yue'er a few more times and cried, "I'm sorry, I'm really sorry. I didn't think that much at the time; I just wanted Zhang Fan to come back to me."

"I've been regretting it ever since, but it's too late... Please give me a chance. I'm only 18. If I really go to jail, my whole life is ruined. My family has always been proud of me; if they find out... boo-hoo!"

"Please! I'm the one who wronged you. Please give me a chance to turn over a new leaf. I'll agree to any compensation you want."

To be honest, seeing a miserable girl kneeling and begging in tears, Wu Yue'er really softened. The girl was only 18, with her whole life ahead of her.

Her family would surely be heartbroken if they found out.

Since no substantial harm had been done to her, and by some twist of fate she had ended up with Shen Yan anyway, maybe...

When Shen Yan saw Wu Yue'er again and learned she had gone to the police station to withdraw the report, he was very surprised: "You just let her go like that? You only asked for a thousand in emotional damages?"

Wu Yue'er snuggled into Shen Yan's arms, her tone gentle as water: "Li Yan is actually quite pitiful, being abandoned by her boyfriend. She's only 18; I couldn't bear to ruin her like that."

"She intended to ruin you. If you repay evil with kindness, how will you repay kindness?"

"Oh! It's not like anything happened to me anyway." Wu Yue'er hugged Shen Yan and began to act spoiled.

She was truly soft-hearted and didn't want to pursue Li Yan's responsibility any further.

Shen Yan was noncommittal about this; he didn't care whether Li Yan went to jail or not. Since Wu Yue'er had made her decision, he would let it be.