Chapter 18: The Only Difference

Liu Haoyu jumped from his seat without hesitation. This was the first time that his fiancée had reached out to him to outright ask for his help and he wouldn't let her down now or ever.

He was quick to jump in his car and make his way over to her. Luckily, he had already been somewhat close to where she was and was able to leave behind what he had been doing without worry. It would only take him about 40 minutes to make it to her but he was sure that he could cut the trip time down even more.

While Liu Haoyu made his way through the busy streets, Zhao Yingyue waited patiently outside of the door. She'd never left her schedule for the day unfinished before but she was pretty sure that everything after this was just to prepare for the dinner anyway. At least she was going somewhere where she could do just that without suffocating judgement surrounding her.

She was completely done with Gu Yanya since their conversation earlier, and she had lost patience for Gu Yan long ago. However, whatever this lunch was supposed to be was another level and she wouldn't take a second more. It was more than cruel, it was outright disrespectful to Zhao Yingyue as a person.

They could call her many things but she would not let them attach the word promiscuous to her list of traits. She had never even wanted any of the blind dates to begin with. Sure, her schemes of getting them to leave her alone might have been a contributing factor but she never would reach back out to these men.

After a little over half an hour passed, the group left their private room. The atmosphere between them seemed to be strange between them but she thought nothing more of it. Whatever happened with them was none of her business. She just silently hoped that Liu Haoyu would show up sooner.

Gu Yanya walked up to Zhao Yingyue the second she saw her and said, "Don't you think it's quite rude for you to up and leave when someone came to specifically see you? Especially after you were the one to request their presence."

Zhao Yingyue didn't bother to even look at her mother as she replied, "Don't you think it's inappropriate of me to entertain a guest who obviously doesn't have pure intentions to meeting with me while I'm engaged to someone else?"

Lin Mengyao, who had been within earshot, walked over and said, "Well if that's the case, then maybe you should have never texted me all of what you did—especially when you knew that I made it clear to you that I wasn't interested. If you didn't beg, would I be here right now?"

Zhao Yingyue shook her head since she knew whatever she said wouldn't get through to either of them. Instead, she pulled out her phone in hopes that she'd receive a call from Liu Haoyu soon stating that he was there.

She calmly said, "I didn't beg you for anything. Please don't misunderstand Mr. Lin, but I am extremely uninterested in the pursuit of anything with you, even if you only wanted friendship. I have a fiancé and you should respect that truth."

Lin Mengyao was angry and raised his voice. "I thought that the only daughter of the Zhao family would be different than those other easy socialites who seem only to care about advancing their image. I guess not then!"

He then raised his hands as if he'd hit Zhao Yingyue.

In that split second, Gu Yanya stepped out of the way while hiding a smirk. She would play the shocked and worried mother after he landed whatever blow he would.

Bai Xinyi, however, was quick to act when she saw the scene unfolding and grabbed Lin Mengyao from the back of his shirt. She yanked him away from Zhao Yingyue and restrained him on the floor in no time at all.

Gu Yanya and Gu Yan stood their watching in shock at how quickly what looked like a quiet and delicate girl shifted in order to protect Zhao Yingyue. It didn't even look like she had broken a sweat.

Lin Mengyao was angry. Who was this woman to manhandle him as if he were some featherweight preteen boy?

"Get off of me! Who gives you the right to put your hands on me!"

Liu Haoyu, who had shown up right as Lin Mengyao was about to touch his fiancée, stepped out of his car and said, "I did."

Lin Mengyao knew that the voice sounded familiar but he couldn't pinpoint why. Instead, he was too angry to dwell on that question for long and kept screaming.

"Who are you to give anyone permission to put their hands on me? I'd assume that you're the fiancé that she talked about."

"Well do you know what she did? After you guys got engaged, she begged me to meet with her. Now I'm here and she denies it all—probably because of this psycho on top of me!"

"Yes, I did see those messages," Lin Haoyu said. "But they weren't written by my fiancée. She knows how to properly type and doesn't use actual emojis. You've been fooled, but not by her. Your anger has been misplaced."

"And it's never okay for you to put your hands on anyone—and especially not her."

"Bai Xinyi, you can get off of him now."

Bai Xinyi immediately released Lin Mengyao before going to stand beside Zhao Yingyue.

When Lin Mangyao got up, he angrily turned to give whoever this person was a piece of his mind. To be humiliated as he was, he was not happy and would definitely not let that person off. After all, he was never known for his good temper.

However, when his eyes met those of Liu Haoyu's he froze. Even if he couldn't remember the voice of this man, he surely could recognize his face and he knew that it wasn't someone that he should be screaming at.

This was Liu Haoyu! The only heir to the Liu family.

Lin Mengyao immediately bowed before slowly backing away.

"I'm sorry Mr. Liu. This will never happen again."

Liu Haoyu smiled and said, "It'd better not. You are only lucky today because your attack didn't hit its mark. Had that happened, you would've learned the true definition of wrath."

After that, he turned to Zhao Yingyue and walked toward her. He no longer cared about that man. He would surely never act against his woman again so he'd let him off easy this time. He just wanted to make sure that Zhao Yingyue was okay.

He gently cupped her face in both of his hands and turned it every which way to make sure she was unscathed. If he had been mistaken, he would surely change his mind and go after Lin Mengyao. Only when that was confirmed that she was okay did he sigh in relief.

Zhao Yingyue just let him do it. If it were anyone else, she would've swatted them away but he was the only person showing genuine care. Even she had watched her mother step back when Lin Mengyao tried to touch her. Though she was sure the woman would have relished in the sight if he succeeded.

Liu Haoyu gently took her hand and waited for her to react. If she pushed his hand away, he would let go and same for if she did nothing. He would only move at a pace according to her comfort level.

After a few seconds, she didn't react so he pulled his hand away. But to his shock, she gripped his hand in her own as he started pulling away.

A small smile graced his lips as he went back to gently gripping her's and he turned to Gu Yanya.

"I'm sorry Auntie but I must take Zhao Yingyue now."

Gu Yanya tried to object since she still wanted to make her look bad. This plan had obviously not worked well and so she wished to try another one. She wasn't done with her attempts to break apart the engagement but now it seemed that they were closer than before! This wasn't supposed to work this way.

"Our schedule isn't yet complete. We still have a few hours before the dinner. My daughter still has her responsibilities and commitments."

Liu Haoyu remembered the way Gu Yanya had spoken to Zhao Yingyue earlier and his vice got colder as he spoke.

"I'm sorry Auntie for any inconvenience, but I really wasn't asking."

He didn't wait for Gu Yanya to reply before tugging lightly on Zhao Yingyue's hand to lead her to the car. She followed behind slowly with her head held down in embarrassment.

She hadn't expected him to grab her hand or be so cold to her mother on her behalf. Yet she couldn't help the small smile that slipped onto her lips.

Once they were settled in the car, Liu Haoyu looked over Zhao Yingyue again with concern in his eyes. He still remembered the cruel words that her mother had said in that voice recording so he knew that there was no way she had forgotten.

"Are you alright, Yingyue?"

Zhao Yingyue sighed and thought about how her day had gone. She couldn't say that it was one of her happiest days but now that she was with someone who seemed to really care about her, she felt some strange sense of safety. Such a pleasant feeling hadn't been known to her for a long while.

She didn't know how to respond. Was she okay? No one had really taken the time to ask her that before.

"I don't know."

Liu Haoyu then said, "Yingyue, I'm going to hug you in five seconds. If you don't want me to, you have that long to say so, okay?"

She nodded.

"Five."

A hug? The last time she'd been hugged was by his mother the day before. Before then, she couldn't even remember a time that someone gave her a genuine, caring hug. They'd only ever been fake ones for the camera in the recent years.

"Four."

Was someone like her deserving of a hug for comfort? After so many years alone, who was she to seek comfort in such a thing? Who was she to believe she deserved comfort itself?

"Three."

But what happened if she became to reliant on comfort and one day he turned on her, too? Would she be able to handle being abandoned and lonely again after experiencing a different life?

"Two."

Wouldn't not accepting the hug be her letting her mother win? Seeing as her mother was the reason that she was scared, wouldn't that be the case? But what if he thinks I'm weak?

"One."

Before she could continue overthinking, Zhao Yingyue was enveloped in Liu Haoyu's warmth. He held onto her tightly and she slowly raised her arms to hug him back. That was what was supposed to happen in hugs, right? They were supposed to be holding each other?

Liu Haoyu rubbed her back gently. "You know that it's okay to cry, right? You can at least be your true self around me."

Her arms dropped as she suddenly felt as if she lacked the strength to hold them up anymore.

"But wouldn't that make me weak and unappealing?"

"No Yingyue, it would make you human. No matter what you may have gone through and how it may have scarred you, don't be afraid to show that part of yourself to me."

"But Liu Haoyu..."

"Yingyue, it's okay. I'm not one of those people who have bullied you and I never will be, alright?"

Zhao Yingyue slowly nodded as tears came to her eyes and she unleashed it all. All of the frustration, loneliness, anxiety, and depression that had been pent up for years finally spilled over.

The only difference was... that this time, as she cried, someone was there to hold her.