Chapter 30 – When It Finally Breaks
The breaking point—the final, devastating blow to their strategic alliance and their burgeoning affection—came two days later, delivered by the cold, ruthless hands of the media.
A paparazzi photo leaked, strategically timed and distributed through the same network that housed the hacker: Gu Yanzhou having dinner with a woman his mother enthusiastically approved of.
The woman was an elegant, polished heiress from a rival conglomerate—formal, poised, and utterly perfect in every way that Xiao Xi was volatile and impossible.
The media went wild, instantly declaring it an official, sanctioned courtship.
The fans exploded, split between rage and resigned acceptance.
And Xiao Xi's heart, already fragile from the System's abuse and the emotional distance, shattered completely.
She confronted him in a studio hallway, finding him standing alone, reviewing a script.
He looked utterly exhausted—but calm, a terrifying sense of resignation surrounding him.
"It was a business dinner, Xiao Xi," he said quietly, not meeting her eyes.
He knew exactly why she was there.
"A necessary corporate gesture to counter the market turbulence.
But if you think there's more to it than that, then maybe nothing I say matters anymore."
Her breath hitched, the air painfully trapped in her lungs.
"So you're not even denying that it was a set-up? That your mother arranged it? That you're choosing your empire over me?"
He closed his eyes briefly, a fleeting flicker of pure agony crossing his face.
"What do you want from me, Xiao Xi? I'm fighting a war my mother started, a war you won't even let me discuss.
I don't know why you walked away, why you won't answer me, or what 'story' you're running from."
"I want you to choose me!" she cried, the desperate plea escaping her lips before she could stop it.
"Even if I'm from another world.
Even if I'm a mess.
Even if the story says you shouldn't exist or love me or be within ten feet of me! I want you to trust me!"
He opened his eyes.
They were painful.
Hollow.
The last vestige of hope and defiance had drained from them.
"You pushed me away first, Xiao Xi," he stated, his voice flat, devoid of emotion, a final verdict.
"You told me it was a mistake.
You told me the contract was over.
You chose the distance."
She froze, the emptiness in his voice cutting deeper than any shout or betrayal.
She understood in that instant that the hacker, Lin, and his mother had won.
The miscommunication was complete.
"If you want distance," he said quietly, picking up his script, his focus already gone, "I'll give it to you."
The System, sensing the finality of the emotional breakup and the resulting suspension of their shared plot, dimmed.
It went quiet as a grave.
Not broken, not dead, but grieving alongside her.
Xiao Xi whispered the final, fatal word:
"…Okay."
And as she walked away alone, carrying the crushing weight of their broken alliance, the System finally went silent.
[Host emotional values critical. Luck suspended. System entering low-power mode.]
[Final data log: Timeline stability at 50%. Host survival probability: Low.]
Behind her, Gu Yanzhou stood completely still, his fists clenched so tightly his nails bit into his palms.
He knew the cost of his resignation.
But he also knew that if he reached for her now—if he broke the distance she had requested—he would never let go again, no matter the consequences of her 'story.'
And he couldn't risk the destruction she feared.