The next morning, the mess in the living room had been quietly cleaned up.
Su Qianqian had packed a simple suitcase and placed it in the corner of the room.
She stood before the floor-to-ceiling window, watching the faint dawn light outside as the city gradually woke up, her silhouette slender and quiet.
Gu Chengyu walked out of the bedroom, dressed in a black shirt and suit pants, having resumed his usual cold and aloof demeanor, though the faint red streaks were still visible in his eyes.
He glanced at the suitcase, his gaze turning icy for a moment before he quickly suppressed it.
He walked up behind her. Unlike usual, he didn't embrace her, but simply handed her a folder and a black card.
Su Qianqian turned around, looking at him with some confusion.
"Take it," Gu Chengyu's voice betrayed no emotion.
"You don't have to leave. There are several properties here, including this apartment, all transferred to your name."
"This card has a sum of money transferred into it, enough for you to spend freely."
Su Qianqian was stunned. She opened the folder; it was indeed a property transfer agreement, already signed with his name.
She looked at the black card again. Though she didn't know the exact amount, given Gu Chengyu's style, it was undoubtedly an astronomical figure.
"A-Yu, I can't accept this..." she quickly refused, her brow slightly furrowed. "We're breaking up, these things..."
"Who said anything about breaking up?" Gu Chengyu interrupted her, his tone light but carrying a stubborn edge.
"What I agreed to was a temporary separation to cool off, not a breakup."
He took a step forward, his gaze heavy as he looked at her. "You must accept these things."
"If you don't take them, then there's no separation. I'll tie you up and take you back to my room right now. I mean what I say."
Seeing the obstinacy in his eyes, Su Qianqian knew he wasn't joking.
She accepted the black card, a tumult of emotions in her heart.
"There's no need for this, A-Yu."
She tried to make him understand. "I don't need this kind of compensation."
"Who said it's compensation?" Gu Chengyu scoffed softly. He raised his hand as if to touch her face, but ultimately let it drop.
His tone was casual. "Su Qianqian, you've been with me for nearly a year. In our circle, those who should know and even those who shouldn't, pretty much all know, even if it's not publicly announced online."
"Now you want to break up with me. If people found out that I, Gu Chengyu, didn't even give you anything decent, where would that leave my reputation?"
He said it lightly, as if it were merely about maintaining his image as the privileged young master.
"Wouldn't people laugh at me for being stingy? For not parting with a single cent after a breakup?"
"Besides, these things are nothing to me. For you, consider it making your future life more comfortable. Don't give people a reason to talk."
He turned his back to her, walking towards the liquor cabinet. He poured himself a glass of strong liquor and continued, "Live in the apartment, or sell it, whatever you like. If the money runs out, or if you have any difficulties, contact my assistant anytime."
He tilted his head back and drained the glass in one go. The fiery liquid burned his throat but couldn't suppress the suffocating ache in his chest.
Su Qianqian looked at his back. He stood straight, his shoulders broad, still the picture of the arrogant chaebol heir.
Yet she could sense the sorrow hidden beneath that upright spine.
She was silent for a moment, then finally gently put away the documents and the card.
"Alright, I'll hold onto them for you for now," she said softly, giving him a way to save face.
"Thank you, A-Yu."
Hearing her acceptance, the tension in Gu Chengyu's shoulders relaxed slightly, but the hollow feeling in his chest only grew larger.
He would have preferred her to keep refusing, to argue with him, to make a scene, rather than accept things so calmly and draw a clear line.
Gu Chengyu, with his back still to her, waved his hand in a gesture of farewell.
The door opened, then closed.
Standing outside the apartment door, Gu Chengyu looked at the empty hallway, forcefully suppressing the sting in his eyes.
So what if he got dumped by a woman? What's there to cry about?
Even so, his heart refused to listen to his brain. It felt like a piece had been hollowed out, with cold wind whistling through the gap, the pain almost bending him double.
He slowly raised a hand to cover his eyes.
His fingertips came away warm and damp.
Gu Chengyu, you're really pathetic.
