Seeing Lu Man's expression, Chen Yan's heart skipped a beat, and he inwardly cursed, "Damn it!"

Among these relationships, he felt he owed Lu Man the most.

Yu Qiao Qiao was his official girlfriend and had always been in the limelight; everyone knew she was Chen Yan's other half.

He Mengxue knew Chen Yan had a girlfriend but, after much hesitation, decided to throw herself into his arms.

Yang Rou... they hadn't yet defined their relationship.

As for Brother Ying, there was no need to mention him. He was somewhat naïve, didn't understand these matters well, and Chen Yan was always very good to her.

Only Lu Man...

Initially, when Chen Yan was just starting out, it was Lu Man who had helped him.

Later, the two of them worked hard together and grew the company significantly.

Though most of the credit went to Chen Yan and Yang Rou, it's fair to say that without the hard work of Lu Man, a second-tier celebrity, Chen Yan's progress would have been much slower.

Moreover, Lu Man had already thought about giving up on Chen Yan, but it was Chen Yan's greed to keep her that forced her to get involved in his relationship with Yu Qiao Qiao.

Subsequently, Chen Yan promised her that he would clarify things with Yu Qiao Qiao, but he kept dragging his feet because he was afraid of hurting her.

As a result, not only did he fail to handle Yu Qiao Qiao, but he also got involved with Xiao Si, Xiao Wu, and Xiao Liu.

Chen Yan felt somewhat guilty towards Lu Man.

So, when facing Lu Man's gaze, Chen Yan panicked.

Perhaps sensing his panic, He Mengxue, overly joyful and triumphant, finally sensed something was amiss.

Involuntarily, she followed Chen Yan's gaze and saw Lu Man, whose face had turned dark, standing behind them.

She hastily climbed off of Chen Yan.

Having played the role of a domineering elder sister for so many years, facing anyone with assertiveness, she found herself at a loss this time.

She looked at Lu Man and stammered her explanation, "Miss Lu is here. I, I and Chen, President Chen..."

At that moment, Lu Man stood up, pointed towards the door, and said in a low voice, "Get out!"

On hearing this, He Mengxue quickly nodded, "Oh. Oh. Yes, I understand."

After saying that, she tried to leave.

Chen Yan was also somewhat at a loss, his mind racing to figure out a way to handle this crisis.

Since the incident had already happened, avoiding it was pointless.

The only option was to resolve it, hoping for a slim chance at salvage.

Just as he was thinking this, Lu Man shouted, "You, stop!"

Chen Yan snapped out of his thoughts, looked at Lu Man, and then at He Mengxue, who had stopped following Lu Man's instructions.

Then he saw Lu Man pointing at him, angrily saying, "I meant for you to get out!"

"I want to talk to Miss He!"

Chen Yan's heart sank again!

Indeed, among all the women, Lu Man was the smartest!

She knew that if she let him stay, he would likely think up a bunch of excuses and smooth things over.

But if He Mengxue stayed by herself, given her current panicked state, Lu Man would definitely learn the whole truth.

So, thinking quickly, he knew he couldn't leave.

Thus, he coughed and said, "Man Man, let's talk this over together."

Lu Man looked at Chen Yan, her eyes brimming with tears, "If you want me to be completely disappointed, then stay."

Seeing how serious Lu Man was and looking at her sad, severe face, Chen Yan slowly let out a breath.

After a moment, he walked heavily out of the office, then closed the door behind him, leaving the space to the two women.

As he passed He Mengxue, he just patted her shoulder and whispered, "Don't be afraid. Just speak your mind. I'm here for you."

He Mengxue, originally overwhelmed and panicked, felt somewhat relieved.

With the office door closed, it felt like there were two different worlds inside and outside.

Chen Yan leaned against the wall, staring out at the company's lobby, somewhat dazed.

He didn't know what he was thinking; his mind was blank.

He didn't know what they were discussing inside; he just hoped... that the two women he loved, and who loved him, wouldn't get hurt…

After what felt like an eternity, the office door slowly opened.

Lu Man emerged, her face full of smiles.

She walked past Chen Yan as if she hadn't seen him, striding out of the room with her long legs.

Only when passing Chen Yan did she softly drop a dispassionate comment, "We're broken up now."

Then, she strode away briskly, never looking back as she left the company...

Chen Yan watched her back, reaching out wanting to retain her, but he didn't know what excuse to use...

Thus, he could only extend his hand, watching her figure slowly fade away.

After a long while, Chen Yan let out a heavy sigh, stood up, and headed back into the office: besides Lu Man, there was another girl inside that needed his reassurance.

Moreover, he needed to talk to He Mengxue to find out what exactly had happened inside.

Upon entering, He Mengxue looked pitifully at Chen Yan and softly said, "I didn't know she was in the room. I'm sorry, Chen Yan."

Chen Yan chuckled bitterly, "It's alright. It's not your fault. It's mine."

As he sat, he asked He Mengxue what they had discussed.

As Chen Yan had expected, Lu Man mainly asked He Mengxue how they had gotten together and how they had been interacting.

Upon learning that He Mengxue had been pursuing Chen Yan, and he had been refusing her, Lu Man looked stunned.

Clearly, she thought Chen Yan, the womanizer, was out seducing innocent young women.

Thus, she inquired a lot about why He Mengxue liked Chen Yan.

At that moment, He Mengxue was too panicked to fabricate her story, so she simply repeated her thoughts.

When Lu Man learned that He Mengxue had initially wanted to replace Yu Qiao Qiao and herself, her face grew embarrassed, and after discovering that He Mengxue had casually continued playing along, further involving herself, Lu Man was left speechless.

Perhaps she had become somewhat immune to Chen Yan's philandering, or maybe Lu Man really didn't care too much, but she didn't appear particularly angry up to that point.

However, when Lu Man asked about how far He Mengxue and Chen Yan had progressed and learned that they had been together in Tiandu, her whole demeanor changed.

She asked again about the timing, then angrily grabbed her bag and left.

After hearing He Mengxue's story, Chen Yan was dumbfounded.

He felt a sense of relief inside.

Luckily he hadn't rashly chased after Lu Man. If he had, constantly explaining his multiple involvements, he probably wouldn't even know how he died.

He then began to ponder Lu Man's mental state.

He felt Lu Man's mood must be terrible.

First, there was the anger at Chen Yan for not handling his own matters and then secretly finding someone else.

Next was the sadness and disbelief upon learning about Tiandu, Chen Yan, the time management master.

Finally, it was...

Chen Yan thought that his immediate priority was to find her and talk things through.

Among Chen Yan's girls, Yu Qiao Qiao was delicate, Yang Rou was firm, He Mengxue was outwardly tough but soft inside, Zhao Ying was naive, and only Lu Man was somewhat impulsive and extreme.

She was playful by nature, so she couldn't be treated as an ordinary person, and no one knew what she might do when she was sad or upset.

Thinking this, Chen Yan comforted He Mengxue a bit more, telling her not to worry, that he would come back and explain the commodities futures after things were settled, before grabbing his phone and leaving the office.

Leaving the office, Chen Yan opened the Virtual Girlfriend Simulator, then hurriedly got into the elevator and headed downstairs.

Once in the underground parking garage, he checked Lu Man's location.

At that moment, Lu Man had left the company and was sitting at the Olympic Sailing Base Lover's Dam, where she had first met Chen Yan.

Her pixel character was holding a phone, seemingly making a call.

Chen Yan sighed softly, then drove towards Lover's Dam...

...

Meanwhile, at the Olympic Sailing Base, Lover's Dam.

After her initial anger, Lu Man gradually calmed down.

Replacing it was uncontrollable grief and emptiness.

Thus, like a soulless shell, she called her friend Mei Li.

"Sis, Chen Yan and I broke up."

Hearing Lu Man's words, Sister Mei Li on the phone was shocked. "Goodness, what kind of joke is this? What happened again?"

Hearing Mei Li's words, Lu Man opened her mouth intending to spill everything Chen Yan had done.

But as the words approached her lips, she hesitated.

She worried that revealing these issues could impact Chen Yan's credibility at the company, and she also feared that Sister Mei Li might confront Chen Yan violently after knowing everything.

Thus, after hesitating for a moment, she ultimately bit her lip and choked out, "It's nothing."

As she said "It's nothing," tears suddenly streamed down her cheeks.

Sensing Lu Man's distress, Sister Mei Li quickly declared, "Where are you right now? I'm coming to find you."

Lu Man shook her head, "It's alright. I just want to be alone right now."

Tearfully, she said, "Don't worry about me. I'm not a child anymore. I won't do anything foolish."

After saying this, she added, "I just want to leave the company. I no longer wish to be a celebrity."

Sister Mei Li on the other end of the line became anxious like an ant on a hot pan. "Oh dear, please just tell me. Are you trying to kill me with suspense?"

"And you've worked so hard to get to where you are today, to earn this fame."

"We've all seen the quality of 'Wandering Planet'—just like Director Chen said, it's another masterpiece!"

"So once it's released, you'll become the only actress in the country to reach ten billion in box office revenues!"

"You've struggled for so many years. Why suddenly retire now?"

Lu Man fell silent.

After a moment, she just repeated, "Anyway, I don't plan to continue. I want to take some time off to travel and clear my mind."

"Let's leave it at that, sis. Thank you for taking care of me all this time."

After saying this, she hung up the phone, then turned it off and put it in her pocket.

Afterward, she looked at the distant sea view, her gaze empty, as if soulless...

She didn't know what she was doing or what she should do.

She only knew that she didn't feel like doing anything.

She was truly tired and longed for a rest…

The sea breeze blew, carrying the scent of tears…

After who knows how long, Lu Man took off her sunglasses, wiped the tears from her face, quickly put them back on, and then turned to leave that place.

Just as she turned around, she was suddenly surprised to find a familiar figure standing not too far behind her, looking at her with a face full of guilt.

This person, who always appeared in her dreams, telling her silly and immature sweet nothings.

This person, who was always able to give her the utmost help and protection, allowing her to freely do as she pleased.

This person, who always pampered her like a child, giving her the very best of everything.

Except for... a complete love.

Looking at Chen Yan, although Lu Man thought she would be extremely angry, she found herself unable to get angry.

She just held back her tears, looking at Chen Yan, and stubbornly asked, "What are you doing here?"

Chen Yan stood there, opened his mouth wanting to explain, but in the end only said three words, "Worried about you."

Lu Man asked, "How did you find me?"

She said, "Did Sister Mei Li tell you?"

As she spoke, she realized that couldn't be right, because Sister Mei Li didn't know where she was.

So she stopped what she was going to say, looking at Chen Yan.

Chen Yan said, "I put a tracker on you."

Lu Man scoffed, "I took a shower and changed clothes before I saw you. How would I not know if there was a tracker?"

Chen Yan: ...

"Do you believe in telepathy then?"

Listening to Chen Yan's words, Lu Man fell silent.

After a moment, she decided not to continue the topic and said, "Just walk with me."

Chen Yan nodded and they walked along Lover's Dam together.

Perhaps because it was a workday, there weren't many people around, just a few young couples, appearing to be students.

Perhaps it was their youthfulness, but they shed much laughter and joy along the way.

This made the atmosphere, tinged with hues of pink, seem somewhat off for them.

After walking for a minute, Lu Man began to speak slowly, "You lied to me."

Chen Yan looked at her.

In Lu Man's eyes was a torrent of memories, "I remember when you partnered with the He family, you gave He Mengxue billions in shares."

"I was jealous then."

"You promised me there was absolutely nothing between you two and that if there ever was, you would tell me first." (Ch 448)

Hearing Lu Man's words, Chen Yan was momentarily silent.

He vaguely remembered that, but... well, men in these matters mostly say things just to get past the moment, not really intending to do them.

Then, as they walked on, Lu Man continued, looking ahead, "Also, I really feel like I've started to not know you."

"I came to Tiandu to see you, and yet you acted like a time management master."

"Don't you think, that's very disrespectful to me?"

Chen Yan was silent again...

Back then, he really was... forced. After all, he didn't want to hurt Lu Man, nor did he want to hurt He Mengxue.

Thinking back now, he really was extremely disrespectful to both girls.

Lu Man's voice was gentle and hoarse, "Moreover, I felt shame inserting myself into your and Qiao Qiao's life."

"But unexpectedly, you even went on to charm other girls."

With this, she turned her head, looking at Chen Yan, and asked, "Can you tell me if there were others besides He Mengxue?"

Hearing Lu Man's words, Chen Yan hesitated for a moment.

He wasn't sure if he should tell her or not, and he didn't know if people he merely fancied for one night, like Yang Rou, counted, or people like Brother Ying, with whom there had been no relationship or confirmation...

Women are sensitive after all, seeing the expression on Chen Yan's face, Lu Man understood everything.

She let out a deep sigh and then walked on.

After a few steps, Lu Man said to Chen Yan, "I want to leave the company."

Upon hearing her words, Chen Yan quickly said, "If anyone should leave, it would be me. I can transfer the entire company to you."

When she heard Chen Yan'swords, Lu Man reminisced about the last time she was angry at Chen Yan, and in a fit of pique, demanded Chen Yan give her the company and a few billion.

She had only said it casually, not expecting Chen Yan to actually agree.

She thought Chen Yan was only verbally agreeing; however, the next day, the bank actually came to process the documents.

Recalling that scene now filled Lu Man with a mix of sweetness and emotion.

She knew that Chen Yan liked her, really liked her. He was willing to sacrifice a great deal for her.

But now... she wanted none of it.

"I don't want your company. I just don't want to stay here anymore," she said.

Her hand lifted like a graceful dancing butterfly, her voice ethereal as she spoke, "I want to take a break, go out, see the world, and relax."

Seeing Chen Yan wanting to speak again, Lu Man said, "Let me do the things I like, okay?"

"I'll take care of myself."

"Maybe, after some time, if my mind clears up, I'll come back."

Chen Yan asked, "What if you don't figure things out?"

Lu Man's body paused for a moment before she nonchalantly said, "Then I just won't come back."

Chen Yan said, "If you don't come back, then I'll come and bring you back."

Lu Man's body trembled slightly, then she turned around, bursting into a radiant smile, "Well, you'll have to find me first."

Hearing her words, Chen Yan resolutely said, "I will definitely find you."

"No matter if you're at the ends of the earth or the other side of the world. I will always find you."

Hearing Chen Yan's words, Lu Man raised her beautiful eyebrows and then, turning her back on Chen Yan, stretched out her hand and waved lightly, saying, "Alright, let's settle on that! Let's not go back on our word!"

From the moment he saw Lu Man, Chen Yan had been listening to her inner thoughts through headphones. So he clearly heard her inner journey.

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