Chapter 145: Xu Xinyi Was Defrauded

The secretary was startled to see Zhang Xiluo returning so abruptly.

"Is the man pursuing you named Li Linhao? Is he a flight attendant?" Zhang Xiluo asked with a deadpan expression, her brows tightly furrowed, her voice laced with urgency. "Tell me, is he?!"

"No," the secretary shook her head, denying it. "His name is Li Anran. He's a photographer. Do you two know each other?"

Zhang Xiluo felt as though she were on the verge of a breakdown. That face was unmistakably Li Linhao's! If they weren't the same person, why would he look panicked upon seeing her and immediately hang up the phone?

"Miss Zhang, you're scaring me with this sudden outburst." The secretary steadied Zhang Xiluo, asking if she was feeling unwell somewhere.

Zhang Xiluo took a deep breath, pulled out her phone, browsed her photo album, and found a picture of Li Linhao. She showed it to the secretary and reintroduced Li Linhao's background.

After a state of utter disbelief and repeated comparisons, the secretary confirmed they were indeed the very same person.

Even the way they had met was identical to how Li Linhao had pursued Xu Xinyi, save for the altered names and professions.

Li Linhao had confessed his feelings to Xu Xinyi back then, only to be rejected, after which a grueling tug-of-war began, lasting over three years. As for the secretary, he had been even more cautious, maintaining contact for a long time before making his move.

Both Xu Xinyi and the secretary were career-driven women who had never been in relationships before, not even harboring crushes on anyone.

The more Zhang Xiluo thought about it, the more terrifying it seemed. Upon hearing her out, the secretary was gripped by terror and immediately blocked Li Linhao across all communication channels.

"Thank goodness for you, Miss Zhang. I don't know what would have happened to me otherwise." Embracing Zhang Xiluo, she shed tears of gratitude. "Thank you."

"I should thank you too. If you hadn't trusted me, I would never have known this man was so shameless. Let's head back first; I need to change my clothes and go find my friend."

Upon returning home, Zhang Xiluo rushed upstairs to change. Throughout this time, she kept calling Xu Xinyi, but the calls went unanswered.

She remembered that Xu Xinyi was on duty today, so ignoring calls was somewhat normal, yet she still felt deeply uneasy.

"Mom, I'm heading out for a bit."

"Where to?" Zhang Mother glanced at the clock; it was nearly eight o'clock, and she didn't want Zhang Xiluo going out. "What could possibly be so urgent that it can't wait until tomorrow?"

"I'm going to the hospital to see Xinyi." Disregarding her mother's objections, Zhang Xiluo moved toward the door. Seeing this, the secretary stepped up to Zhang Mother's side.

"Director Zhang, please let Miss Zhang go. I'll explain the whole story to you."

Zhang Xiluo nodded gratefully at the secretary and sprinted out of the house.

Consumed by worry for Xu Xinyi, she drove much faster than usual, arriving at Xu Xinyi's hospital in half an hour.

Just as she parked her car, she received a return call from Xu Xinyi.

"Luoluo, were you looking for me?"

She had already dialed Xu Xinyi's number a dozen times, which had startled her friend.

"I've already arrived at the hospital. Where are you? I'll come find you so we can talk in person." Zhang Xiluo locked her car, glanced at the emergency entrance, and hurried over.

"I'm in the emergency department office."

Zhang Xiluo ran breathlessly all the way to the emergency office. At that moment, Xu Xinyi was on a video call with Li Linhao. Seeing Zhang Xiluo, she attempted to wave hello, but Zhang Xiluo immediately motioned for her to stop.

Standing by the doorway, Zhang Xiluo listened to their conversation, enduring Li Linhao's sickeningly sweet sweet-talk until their video chat finally ended.

"What are you doing running over here this late at night? Are you hurt anywhere?" Putting away her phone, Xu Xinyi walked up to Zhang Xiluo, who pulled her tightly into an embrace.

Tears welled up in her eyes, but she forced them back, refusing to cry. Seeing how happy Xu Xinyi looked, she was genuinely happy for her, hoping that Xu Xinyi's happiness would last forever.

Yet... she was now about to destroy Xu Xinyi's happiness with her own hands.

She felt torn. If she didn't expose him, would Li Linhao treat Xu Xinyi well for the rest of his life? If he could truly keep up the act forever, then Xu Xinyi would be happy, wouldn't she?

In the past, Zhang Xiluo had felt that even if Li Mingye were merely pretending to love her, she would still be content.

"Luoluo, you're crushing me to death." Xu Xinyi gently patted her back. "What's wrong? Don't scare me like this."

Pushing Zhang Xiluo away and seeing her face covered in tears, Xu Xinyi felt a jolt of panic. "Luoluo, tell me what happened, quickly!"

"Xinyi, I..."

Zhang Xiluo's phone chimed repeatedly with incoming messages. Pulling it out, she saw that the secretary had forwarded her the entire chat history and photos involving Li Linhao.

"What is it?" Nearly dying of anxiety, Xu Xinyi snatched the phone straight from Zhang Xiluo's hand. At the sight of the images, her legs turned to jelly, and she nearly collapsed.

Zhang Xiluo hurriedly steadied her, taking the phone back as Xu Xinyi reached out to grab it again.

"You just wanted to show me this, didn't you? Why didn't you say anything sooner? Were you afraid I'd be heartbroken?" After looking them over, Xu Xinyi returned the phone to Zhang Xiluo, lifting her gaze to meet hers, her vision already blurred by tears.

Zhang Xiluo held her close, utterly at a loss for words to comfort her.

"Luoluo, should I have a good cry now? A full-blown sobbing session?" Xu Xinyi asked, buried in Zhang Xiluo's arms. "So why do I feel such a sense of relief instead?"

Lately, caught in the crushing squeeze between Li Linhao and her parents, she had been utterly exhausted. Li Linhao kept emphasizing that his mother's overseas medical treatment was going poorly, facing life-threatening crises every other day, and constantly finding ways to ask for money.

"Luoluo, you really are our lucky star. Last time it was Xueting, and this time it's me. You're forever the one who saves us. It's so good to have you."

"Xinyi, are you sure you're alright?" Zhang Xiluo had witnessed firsthand the state of despair Xu Xinyi had fallen into because of Li Linhao; they had loved each other so intensely that it had worried Zhang Xiluo for ages.

Xu Xinyi smiled faintly. "A little sad, a little heartbroken, a little painful. But mostly, a sense of release. I always feared I would be the one failing the relationship, so I kept trying my hardest and lying to my parents. Now that it's come to this, I think it's for the best. He didn't truly love me, but he did keep me company for quite a while. I'll just treat it as having paid for a service."

"I honestly don't even know what to say..."

Zhang Xiluo realized that whether it was the secretary or Xu Xinyi, both of them allowed reason to triumph over emotion when facing Li Linhao's betrayal. They had loved, and they had hurt, but they understood clearly that they needed to detach themselves swiftly and cut their losses in time.

Only she had been overly indecisive, dragging her own life into such a wretched mess.

"Luoluo, does anyone else know about this?"

"Just the secretary sister, and... Li Linhao saw me during their video call." Zhang Xiluo couldn't be entirely sure if she had simply been mistaken for a random passerby.

Xu Xinyi wiped away her tears and forwarded a few critical photos from Zhang Xiluo's phone to her own device. "I'll handle this myself. Don't muddy the waters. We can't let him keep conning people—at least not me anymore."

"Xinyi, don't try to settle scores with a scumbag. It's dangerous," Zhang Xiluo cautioned gently, not wanting Xu Xinyi to come to harm.

"No settling scores, just a breakup. Don't worry."

Watching Xu Xinyi, Zhang Xiluo felt a lingering sense of apprehension. If she had known what was going to happen next, she certainly wouldn't have told Xu Xinyi directly; she would have gone to deal with Li Linhao herself...