Hearts in Turmoil

Chapter 3: Unravelling Trust

Jason Chen was no stranger to relationships – he had a long list of women he'd been involved with.

But as Jason's cousin, Ethan Li wasn't about to speak ill of him in front of Lily Zhao.

Ethan replied casually, "I'm not too familiar with his personal life."

Lily fell silent, realising that she wouldn't get any useful information from him. But once the doubt was planted, it was hard to ignore. Once her colleague Grace had dropped her off at home, Lily started looking through all of Jason's social media accounts.

She didn't find anything incriminating about Jason, but she did come across Ethan's Weibo (a Chinese social media platform similar to Twitter).

There was just one post, from five years ago. Just one word.

All I could make out was one word: "Bitch."

There was no punctuation, no context, and no way of knowing who it was referring to.

But those straightforward words gave the impression of profound resentment and unspoken distress.

So, it seems that Ethan had also been hurt by a woman, to the point of despair.

And now, he had evolved into the detached, high-level player he is today.

Lily stared at the word "b***h" for a while, lost in thought.

As it happens, she'd known Ethan for quite some time.

They were both students at the same university five years ago. Ethan was her tutor in a study group for the CET-6 exam. But he probably doesn't remember her. After all, Ethan had never even asked her name. They only interacted during study sessions.

He'd run through the main points for about ten minutes and then leave.

Lily, on the other hand, had once had a bit of a crush on Ethan. While doing practice exercises, she once pretended to ask casually, "Li, my roommate really likes you." What kind of girls do you like?

But Ethan saw through her ruse and responded indifferently, "Definitely not your type."

From then on, she was too embarrassed to ask him for English tutoring again and requested a different tutor.

Later on, she found out that he had been trying to get together with a girl he liked for a long time – from high school through to the second year of college, for several years.

She wondered if it was the same girl he'd recently broken up with.

…

Despite being careful online, people always leave traces.

Eventually, Lily found proof of Jason's infidelity – a set of photos posted by a female internet celebrity. Even though Jason's face wasn't in the photo, she knew straight away what it was.

It wasn't a big deal that Jason was moving on. His careless behaviour didn't matter either. But she couldn't accept being cheated on.

Lily spoke to Jason that same day.

When Jason saw her, he seemed a bit off. "What are you doing here?"

Lily glanced past him into the room. "You've got another woman here, haven't you?"

Jason replied, "What does it matter to you?"

Didn't he care that she'd been unfaithful?

Lily trembled with anger. She was usually calm and collected, so Jason hadn't expected her to slap him across the face.

He stood there, taken aback, before muttering, "Are you crazy?"

"You were unfaithful to me."

Jason replied, "With your prissy attitude, did you really think I'd stay faithful?" "Do you have any idea how much effort it took to ruin your dad and make you mine?"

He realised what he'd said halfway through and stopped.

Lily's face went pale. "What did you just say?"

But there was no need for him to say more; she had already figured it out. She'd been with Jason because he'd helped her bankrupt, suicidal father with his medical bills. She was touched and grateful, and that's why she agreed to go out with him. She'd never thought it was all part of his plan.

Jason frowned, then laughed. He casually admitted, "I liked you back then, so I used some tricks." But what can we do about it now? Revenge? I'm the biggest player in Eastport City. Who can you count on to help you out? "You can't get to me."

When Grace saw Lily, she was covered in blood.

"Have you just got back from a battle?" Grace playfully teased.

Lily was so angry that she grabbed a piece of marble tile and smashed it against Jason. Then she started clawing at him, leaving blood stains on her hands.

"I'd like to see Jason in jail."

"In jail?"

Lily said, "Prison."

Grace's expression changed to one of seriousness, with a look of disbelief in her eyes. "Girl, do you realise what you're saying?"

Lily replied, "I know." I think he should be imprisoned. He interfered with my father's contract. I'd say he's probably done plenty of illegal things. "People like him shouldn't get away with it."

"But you need to be realistic – can you really take down someone like Jason?" "All his colleagues are afraid of him," Grace said, pausing before adding, "The only one who isn't is Ethan, but he's family."

Lily thought of Ethan's face and the feel of his waist under her arms that night. She bit her lip. "Is Ethan not afraid of him?"

"You've got the wrong idea." Jason has been afraid of his cousin since they were kids. Ethan might be a doctor, but he's the only son of the Chen family. "He has a lot of influence." Grace paused again, warning, "But don't get any ideas about him." Do you really think Ethan would be willing to help you?

Lily wasn't paying attention.

All she wanted was revenge on Jason and to make him pay.

Lily was set on seeing this through with Ethan. After all, they were just cousins, not brothers. The bigger the family, the weaker the connections. She'd been with Jason long enough to know he didn't see much of Ethan. Their relationship wasn't particularly strong.

Who knows—maybe with a little discussion, she could make it work.

Lily was determined to win over Ethan.

But it wasn't easy to get close to Ethan.

He was often away on business trips, and even when he was at the hospital, she didn't have any reason to see him. Although they hadn't interacted much, she could already tell he didn't like being disturbed at work.

But then, an opportunity came up.

Lily was a teacher and one of her students had been feeling unwell, noticing a lump in her breast.

Lily went with the student to get her checked out and picked Ethan to do the consultation.

Ethan was so good looking that even the student felt a little embarrassed when she saw him.

"Let's do an ultrasound to see if it's just a harmless growth," Ethan suggested.

Lily asked, "It's probably nothing serious, right?"

"It's nothing serious," Ethan replied, looking at Lily for a moment before looking away, his expression unchanged.

Lily had chosen to dress in a way that was slightly more revealing than usual for the visit, wearing a low-cut top.

"Dr Li, let's get the tests done now," Lily said.

Once the student had gone in for the tests, Lily slipped back into Ethan's office.

It was almost lunchtime, and Ethan was just taking off his white coat when she walked in.

"Is there something else?"

Gathering her courage, Lily boldly walked over, wrapped her arms around his waist, and shamelessly rubbed her leg against him.

"Dr. Li, I missed you."

Ethan raised an eyebrow, lightly lifting her chin with his hand, though his tone remained as indifferent as ever. “You’re quite the flirt.”