Gu Yingxi's plaintive call had drawn no corresponding response. Instead, Lan Lingyan ignored her as if she were mere air, walking past with cold indifference that made Gu Yingxi feel like when Xie Zhuoyin had first stripped and pinned her on the grass in public - a suffocating humiliation that turned her face crimson then pale white. Her lips trembled with disbelief as shattered tears pooled in her eyes. Held upright only by Song Qingyun's stiff embrace, she whispered brokenly: "You... why are you treating me like this..."

Lan Lingyan finally cast her an indifferent glance - no disdain, no pity, just chilling detachment. To him, Gu Yingxi was a stranger who'd dared to cling like some familiar lover. The memory of Xie family's boy rutting with her on the grass made his gaze treat her as radioactive.

"..." Ning Yunhuan felt Lan Lingyan tug her forward while glancing back. Her eyes caught Lan turning away without hesitation, Gu Yingxi spilling tears into Song Qingyun's sighing arms. The woman who'd just played the devoted lover now clung to another man - a scene that made the normally composed Ning feel revulsion.

The sight of Ning Yunhuan triggered something in Gu Yingxi. Wide eyes overflowed with translucent tears, her beauty marked by suffering: "It's you! It was always you!" Her voice turned shrill and contorted, "Little sister, why do you always oppose me? Why must you steal everything from me!"

The irony of accusations while she'd publicly seduced Lan Lingyan in front of him was lost on Gu Yingxi. In her past life, Ning Yunhuan had avoided tragedies by not competing with female leads for men. She accepted arranged marriages at Ning family's request to escape the rivalry, only to have Gu Yingxi storm into those meetings with dramatic crises that won over every potential suitor.

Her quiet grace and decent looks always earned praise as a proper daughter of noble upbringing. Yet when a mediocre man rejected her after falling for Gu Yingxi's theatrics, it became a laughingstock in merchant circles. Ning Yunhuan afterwards hid behind closed doors while her mother lost friends and faces - all because Gu Yingxi had once used her existence as emotional venting material.

Hearing Lan Lingyan call it "stealing" now, Ning Yunhuan's old wounds flared with new fury. She grabbed his wrist and hurled off her yellow patent leather stilettos at Gu Yingxi: "Are you mad?"

Gu Yingxi's face flushed crimson as she exploded: "I did nothing wrong! You took my Yinxiong - now you want Lan Jiuge too!"

Lan Lingyan tightened his arm around Ning Yunhuan, lifting her as he asked coldly: "Why not seek treatment?" Gu Yingxi still wore the dreamy flush when he spoke. Then he left without another glance.

Song Qingyun's angry demands for compensation echoed in the restaurant until they reached the second floor. The soundproofing cut off Gu Yingxi's frantic apologies and her failed attempts to chase Lan Lingyan - clearly restrained by staff now.

"I need down," Ning Yunhuan said when she caught sight of Gu Yingxi again, tension making her forget her discomfort from being clamped against Lan Lingyan. Her stomach twisted as he set her down gently, only to notice one bare foot where the shoe had been flung earlier.

Ning Yunhuan promptly removed the other stiletto and stepped onto the hotel's blood-red carpet with pale, delicate feet - ten rosy toes glowing under soft light that made Lan Lingyan pause.

"Eat first," he said, lifting her again as they reached a private room, "I have a show for you." The door opened easily despite his earlier claim of needing reservations. This famous Kyoto restaurant occupied an entire building with exclusive second-floor dining - something Ning Yunhuan remembered experiencing in her past life through Gu Yingxi's misfortunes.

The fifty-square-meter Japanese-style suite had sliding screens, tatami mats, and spare kimonos for guests. Soothing music blended with faint lemon notes into a tranquil sanctuary.

Lovers, my computer broke... hence the delay... sorry...