64: Chapter 65 Why did you kiss her back?

"Mom knows, Mom understands." Lin Wanru hugged her daughter tightly, feeling heartbroken, and comforted her softly. "But some people just can't wait."

Just as she finished speaking, the sound of a car engine cutting out came from the villa entrance. Following that, steady yet slightly hurried footsteps crossed the courtyard, heading straight toward the garden.

Yin Tianxue's body stiffened. She subconsciously looked up, and through her tear-blurred vision, she saw Yu Bo's tall figure appear at the entrance of the garden path. The dim yellow light of the streetlamps outlined his slightly tired but still upright posture. When he saw Yin Tianxue and Lin Wanru, his footsteps paused for a moment. A hint of surprise and concern appeared on his face as he walked over quickly.

"Auntie, Tianxue." Yu Bo first nodded to Lin Wanru in greeting, then his gaze fell upon Yin Tianxue's red, swollen eyes and pale face. His brow furrowed instantly. "Tianxue, what's wrong? Why do you look so pale? Are you feeling unwell?" His voice carried natural concern as he reached out to check her forehead.

Yin Tianxue, however, recoiled sharply as if startled, avoiding his hand. She looked at him with a cold and unfamiliar gaze. The mix of pain, anger, and disappointment in her eyes caused Yu Bo's outstretched hand to freeze in mid-air, and his heart sank abruptly.

"Yu Bo," Yin Tianxue spoke, her voice incredibly hoarse and carrying a suppressed tremble. "Don't you have anything to say to me?"

Yu Bo was stunned. Say what? His mind raced through recent events: everything was going well at work, except for some entanglement with Shen Nian, but he had already clearly drawn a line; at home, his parents were fine; Father Yin? Although serious during their last meeting, he hadn't made things difficult again... He truly couldn't think of anything that would make Yin Tianxue act so abnormally, even looking at him with such a gaze.

"Tianxue, what happened?" Yu Bo withdrew his hand, his brow tightly furrowed and his tone more anxious. "What exactly is wrong? Is it something at work? Or did someone upset you?" He turned to Lin Wanru with an inquiring look. "Auntie, Tianxue is..."

Lin Wanru sighed and gave Yu Bo a complicated look. She didn't answer, but instead gently patted her daughter's shoulder and whispered, "You two talk. Mom will go inside first." After saying that, she turned and left, giving the two of them some space.

Only Yu Bo and Yin Tianxue remained in the garden. The night breeze blew past, bringing a chill, but it couldn't disperse the stagnant heaviness in the air.

"Yu Bo," Yin Tianxue spoke again, every word sounding as if it had been pulled from an ice cellar. "I'm asking you, that time you went on a business trip to Jiangcheng, on the night before you returned, what happened at the hotel entrance?"

Jiangcheng? The hotel entrance? Yu Bo's heart skipped a beat. That sordid night he had tried so hard to forget instantly flashed clearly in his mind. Shen Nian's tears, that sudden kiss, his momentary stiffness, and his subsequent panicked escape... How did Tianxue know? Was it Shen Nian... No, Shen Nian shouldn't be that foolish. Then who could it be?

His expression changed instantly. A flash of panic and disbelief flickered in his eyes. Although he quickly suppressed it, that momentary loss of composure did not escape Yin Tianxue's sharp eyes.

"You really do remember." Seeing his sudden change in expression, Yin Tianxue felt as if her heart had been cruelly gouged out. Her last shred of hope vanished. She had thought that maybe he would have another explanation, maybe the video was fake, maybe... but his reaction confirmed everything.

"Tianxue, listen to my explanation..." Realizing the gravity of the situation, Yu Bo urgently stepped forward, trying to grab her arm, but she dodged him again.

"Explanation? Fine, explain." Yin Tianxue tilted her face up. Tears finally became uncontrollable and surged out, but she stubbornly refused to make a sound, letting them flow freely. "Explain why Shen Nian was hugging you. Explain why you didn't push her away immediately. Explain that kiss... what was that about?!"

She finally asked it. The tearful accusation was like a knife stabbing into Yu Bo's heart, and into her own.

Yu Bo was thunderstruck, frozen in place. She knew! She even knew the details! That kiss... she even knew about the kiss! Who? Who on earth told her? Shen Nian? Or...

"Tianxue, it's not what you think!" Yu Bo's voice trembled with urgency. "That night, we had been drinking at a dinner party. Shen Nian's emotions were very unstable, and she said some nonsensical things, and then... she just lunged at me! I swear, I pushed her away immediately! That kiss... she initiated it. I didn't respond at all! I pushed her away very quickly!"

"Pushed her away?" Yin Tianxue gave a tragic smile. She pulled her phone out of her pocket, her fingers trembling as she clicked on the video that had broken her heart, holding the screen up in front of Yu Bo. "This is what you mean by 'pushed away immediately'? Yu Bo, tell me, is the person in this video who is hugging her tightly and lowering his head to kiss her, you?!"

The footage under the dim streetlights, that crystal-clear ten-second embrace and kiss, was like a bolt of lightning striking Yu Bo's head! His pupils constricted as he stared fixedly at the screen, his mind going blank.

"A video! There was actually a video! The angle was tricky, and it was edited to remove the beginning and end, specifically capturing those most crucial seconds where he had frozen from shock and alcohol, failing to push Shen Nian away immediately, and even subconsciously tightening his arms and lowering his head to be kissed!"

"Where... where did this come from?!" Yu Bo's voice was hoarse, filled with unbelievable terror and anger. "Tianxue, this isn't the whole story! Someone intentionally edited this! Afterward, I pushed her away and left immediately! Believe me!"

"Believe you?" Yin Tianxue took her phone back and looked at him through tearful eyes, her gaze full of despair and irony. "Believe what? Believe that you just 'didn't push her away immediately'? Believe that you were just 'kissed by her'? Yu Bo, you can see it clearly in the video! You were hugging her! Your hand was on her waist! You were responding to her! How am I supposed to believe you?!"

"I didn't respond!" Yu Bo was so frantic his eyes turned red. He tried to take Yin Tianxue's hand, but she violently threw him off. "I had drunk too much then; my mind was a fog! I had no idea what I was doing! That was just a physical instinct! You're the only one in my heart! Tianxue, the person I love is you!"

"Physical instinct?" Yin Tianxue repeated those words as if she had heard the world's biggest joke. "Your physical instinct is to hug and kiss another woman? Yu Bo, your instinct is certainly 'honest' enough!"

"It's not like that! Tianxue, listen to me!" Yu Bo clutched his hair in agony. He was unable to defend himself; the video was ironclad evidence, making any explanation seem pale and weak in its face. "I was set up! Someone must have intentionally filmed this to frame me! To drive a wedge between us! Shen Nian, she..."

"Shen Nian?" Yin Tianxue interrupted him, her gaze even colder. "Now you want to push all the responsibility onto Shen Nian? Yu Bo, you're a man! If you hadn't had any thoughts about her from the beginning, if you were firm enough, would she have had the chance to get close to you? Would she have had the chance to create such a 'misunderstanding'? You clearly knew she had feelings for you, so why did you still give her opportunities? Why did you still cooperate with her?"

The series of questions hit Yu Bo's heart like heavy hammers. He couldn't refute them. Yes, the root cause lay with him—in his indecisiveness, in his valuing of Shen Nian's utility while dismissing the potential risks, and in that pitiful sliver of vanity deep within him from being looked up to.

"It's my fault." Yu Bo lowered his head dejectedly, all his defenses losing their strength. "It's my fault for not handling the relationship with her properly, for giving her fantasies and opportunities she shouldn't have had, and for... making you sad. Tianxue, I'm sorry, I'm truly sorry."

His apology, at this moment, sounded so powerless.

Seeing his pained and remorseful appearance, Yin Tianxue felt as if her heart was being repeatedly kneaded; the pain made it impossible to breathe. She loved him, and precisely because she loved him, this betrayal felt so fatal.

"I'm sorry?" she murmured, her tears flowing even more heavily. "Yu Bo, can a simple 'I'm sorry' bring back my trust? Can it erase that video? Can it make me forget the way you were holding another woman?"

She took a step back, distancing herself from him as if he carried a plague. "I need time, Yu Bo. I need to be alone to quiet down and think carefully about whether there is... still a future for us."

After saying that, she stopped looking at him, turned, and practically fled back into the villa. She left Yu Bo standing alone in the bleak autumn night garden, facing that closed door with a heart like it was being twisted by a knife, yet lacking even the courage to chase after her.