Second Take On Romance - The A-List Actor Wants Me
Chapter 111 : The Truth Always Hurts (1)

Chapter 111: Chapter 111 : The Truth Always Hurts (1)

The workspace had never appeared more gloomy, even when the production team members were ripping hair out of their skulls trying to add believable effects to the most difficult scene they filmed.

The four men stood together at the front, all of them submerged in a deafening silence broken only by the sound of ticking clock at the wall.

"What do you want to talk about?" Yan Renzhong asked Feng Jietang. Next to him, Lang Yuxuan chewed at his lower lip nervously.

Shen Jingwei’s gaze kept drifting between the three men in a mixture of confusion and irritation.

Feng Jietang’s eyes flicked toward Shen Jingwei for a split second before he addressed Yan Renzhong’s query.

There was no easy way to say it.

And they were already there, so...

"I know about the child," he began.

Lang Yuxuan gasped sharply after air.

Yan Renzhong narrowed his eyes at Feng Jietang for a while before turning to his mentee.

"Did you tell him?" He asked in a neutral tone that struck Lang Yuxuan as accusatory anyway.

"NO!" Lang Yuxuan howled.

This was why he insisted to be present. He had to defend his innocence! This idiot Feng Jietang would never do him the favor!

"I didn’t say a word! Senior Yan, please believe me!!!"

"He didn’t need to tell me anything," Feng Jietang said haughtily. "Any truth I seek to uncover will inevitably surface."

"... What child?" Shen Jingwei couldn’t help but ask.

Feng Jietang looked at Yan Renzhong.

"Why don’t you tell Little Shen? Might as well talk about the mother."

For someone, whose dirty laundry was about to be aired in front of other people, Yan Renzhong appeared remarkably calm. Irritatingly calm, even.

He even had the guts to sneer at Feng Jietang and goad him, "Since you have ’uncovered’ the truth, why don’t you share with everyone in this room?"

Feng Jietang was visibly taken aback.

"Yan Renzhong, I am giving you the chance to explain yourself. And you are actually telling me to butcher you before your beloved mentee and Little Shen?"

Yan Renzhong scoffed.

"There’s no need to pretend to care about my well-being or reputation. You know very well what you want. Go and take it, tough guy."

A fresh wave of anger ignited within Feng Jietang’s eyes.

"Very well!" He exclaimed. "Just as Yan Renzhong wants, I will tell you everything about the child and her mother."

Feng Jietang took a deep breath before divulging the truth to everyone.

"The child’s name is Song Yaya. She was born five years ago by Yan Renzhong’s girlfriend, Song Xiaoling. Or should I say, his current girlfriend."

Five years ago?

But...

Shen Jingwei furrowed his brows slightly.

But he and Yan Renzhong broke up three years ago.

His... Current girlfriend...

What does it mean?

Did they somehow reconnect?

Ah, they had a daughter together.

Of course they would reconnect.

That makes sense...

But...

But how did I not know about such an important piece of information...?

This was something two people in a relationship should share with each other, right...?

Or did he tell me but I didn’t pay attention...?

Or was the breakup so nasty that he didn’t want to talk about it...?

"... Wei? Shen Jingwei!"

Feng Jietang squeezed hard at Shen Jingwei’s upper arm, pulling the latter out of his daze.

Shen Jingwei lifted his blank eyes and looked at Feng Jietang.

"Are you listening to me? They never broke up," Feng Jietang said, shattering Shen Jingwei’s desperate attempt to continue painting Yan Renzhong in a favorable light. "He made his daughter take the mother’s surname to hide their connection. This guy... Yan Renzhong had been playing you the entire time you dated him."

Shen Jingwei slowly turned his head to look at Yan Renzhong, who stared back at him with an unknown expression.

"Is that true?" He heard himself whisper.

Please say no, he begged silently. Please. Just deny it.

At least say that you made a mistake.

And that you are sorry.

Instead of fulfilling Shen Jingwei’s heartfelt plea, Yan Renzhong shattered his remaining illusions with a single nod.

A bitter smile, twisted with disgust and loathing, spread across Shen Jingwei’s face. "I see," he replied, his voice heavy with disappointment.

Not toward Yan Renzhong, but toward himself.

He had accepted that Yan Renzhong had never loved him, and he had forgiven him for that.

But now, he had to face a more painful, crueler truth -- that Yan Renzhong had been cheating on his girlfriend with him.

No, even worse.

That despite Shen Jingwei’s pure and unconditional love to him, Yan Renzhong had only seen him as an interesting plaything, a temporary diversion, a casual amusement.

Were they even dating?

Or was it all Shen Jingwei’s wishful thinking too?

Right now, he couldn’t even remember how they started off.

A mirthless chuckle escaped Shen Jingwei’s lips, slowly morphing into a chilling laughter that echoed off the walls.

"Little Shen..."

Feng Jietang reached out to grab Shen Jingwei’s shoulder, but the latter pushed his hand away.

"Why?" He directed a second question to Yan Renzhong, his lips trembling and his voice shaking from grief.

"Why must you do this to me?"

Why must you inflict such an inhumane pain on someone else, someone who loved you with all his heart and trusted you with all he had?

Did my gullibility in love matters made me an easy target for unscrupulous people?

Did I sacrifice my bright future, lose my father’s love, hope and respect for me, and subsequently also his life for nothing?

The secret, chained vault hidden at the deepest recess in Shen Jingwei’s heart finally came apart at this very moment.

The chains fell off, allowing the lid to slowly swing open.

From within crawled a black, venomous mist. A monster with no form.

Like a parasitic vine, it entangled its roots around Shen Jingwei’s heart, draining its vitality. It grew with malignant speed, suffocating other emotions and leaving behind only a toxic residue of negativity.

"Tell me honestly, Yan Renzhong. Have you, ever, once, even for a day, or even a split second, been in love with me?"