Chapter 43: PRETENDING.
Wuhao Li didn't even blink.
Instead, he slouched into the chair behind him, dragging it with a lazy scrape before letting himself fall into it like gravity had a personal grudge. His eyes, cool and unreadable, met hers without hesitation.
"What are you talking about?" he asked, his voice dipped in the kind of laziness that made Shen Yiren's blood boil.
"Don't play dumb," she hissed, stepping closer. "You know how much I can't stand her. So why? Why would you, of all people, choose her as your portrait subject?"
Wuhao let out a yawn, slow and exaggerated, then turned his head toward the cabinet, pretending to ponder the question like it was some kind of riddle. "Ah," he said finally, "you mean Hua Rong."
He shrugged carelessly. "But... I don't remember you hating her."
Her breath hitched. "What?"
He looked back at her, half-amused. "Come on, Yiren. Just admit it. You never hated her. You hated the way she acted. Always perfect, always polite. But not once have you said she was cruel or malicious. Just... fake. Pretending."
Shen Yiren's mouth opened, then closed.
Wuhao leaned forward, his voice calmer now, more grounded. "And you only call someone fake if you've caught a glimpse of something real underneath."
The words landed with a weight she didn't want to acknowledge.