Back at the company, the once bustling research and development department was now left with only the secretary.

It seemed like going back to the beginning.

I started attending frequent social gatherings, and at one of these events, I ran into Liang Yu.

When he saw me, he pushed away the woman hanging onto his arm, a stranger to me.

"Xinxin, you didn't have to go through all this. You should've enjoyed life without worries."

"Enjoy a life deceived by you?"

I raised my glass and smiled at him. "Your new girlfriend is beautiful."

Then, as I walked away, he grabbed hold of me. His grip was strong, making it impossible to break free.

"She's not my girlfriend, Xinxin. I've always loved you, whether you believe it or not."

Liang Yu released my hand, turned to the girl, and said something to her.

Soon, the girl left the gathering, casting a resentful glance in my direction.

After several months of effort, the company gradually improved.

Friends sent congratulatory flower baskets, and she curled up on the sofa in my office, asking about Liang Yu.

Since that night at the gathering, I had blocked all his contact information and stopped paying attention to his life.

She smiled cunningly and approached me with her phone.

It was a video interview.

Liang Yu seemed to have just finished an event. He leaned against a motorcycle, and a girl ran toward him.

The reporter's camera swept over him and then focused on the girl.

"Liang Shao, is something good about to happen?"

I recognized that girl. She was the one I saw in the parking lot.

Liang Yu enjoyed playing around and wouldn't admit to having a girlfriend in front of the media. But I didn't expect him to refuse to even acknowledge that girl as a friend.

"She's just a staff member. I'm not familiar with her. I have someone I like."

He took a step back, distancing himself from the girl.

Then he turned toward the camera with a regretful expression and continued speaking.

"I didn't cherish her until she left me.

"I know she's doing well now, and I shouldn't disturb her. But every day, I'm in pain because I miss her!"

Liang Yu covered his chest, and tears streamed down his face.

The frame froze on that teardrop.

"Doesn't it seem like he knows he was wrong? Can't he be given another chance?"

My friend looked at me cautiously, occasionally gauging my reaction.

She was the first friend I made after returning to the country, the person who introduced me to the second-generation circle of the southern city. It was through her that I met Liang Yu.

I was a newcomer in the second-generation circle, but I wasn't a fool entering the upper-class circle for the first time.

She was the illegitimate daughter of the second-largest shareholder of the Liang Group, a daughter yearning for recognition from her family.

I and the Liang family were in a competitive relationship. My strength probably made Liang's father uneasy.

As I saw my friend off, a training session for interns was taking place in the conference room.

Among them, there was a beautiful girl, and I suddenly had the thought that she might be the type Liang Yu would like.

Unexpectedly, a few days later, I actually saw Liang Yu coming to pick up that intern.