A Heartless Omega Regrets It When I’m Dying - Chapter 13

After walking out of the hospital, Lin Wantang took stock of all her bank cards.

Adding everything up, she had about 500,000 yuan—not even enough for the initial deposit required for the surgery.

Lin Wantang let out a soft sigh. She used to care little for money; most of her acting salaries had been spent on various gifts for Wen Zhiqing, though those gifts had never brought even a flicker of a smile to Wen’s face. In fact, Wen Zhiqing had never even opened the gift boxes.

But she didn’t regret it. It was precisely because she had once given Wen Zhiqing everything she had that she could now be completely resolved. If she hadn’t tried until she reached the absolute end of her rope, she might have always felt that she simply hadn’t done enough or been good enough. Having tried, she could finally let go entirely, just as she was doing now.

Holding her umbrella, Lin Wantang walked slowly to the bus stop. Snowflakes drifted diagonally onto her coat as she stood in silence, waiting for the bus that would take her to her booked hotel.

To save money, she no longer dared to take taxis on a whim.

She had initially intended to move her belongings out of Wen Zhiqing’s house first, but she was too exhausted. She didn’t have the mental energy to pack her bags under Wen Zhiqing’s mocking gaze.

Lin Wantang just wanted to lie down in the cheapest single room she had booked and sleep for a while. Once she woke up, she would figure out how to raise that first 500,000 yuan.

She could technically apply for a bank loan, but the success rate of the surgery was very low. If she didn’t make it out of the operating room, the loan would likely become a debt that could never be repaid—a thought that sat poorly with her.

After thinking in silence for a moment, she finally decided to sell the car she usually drove. She wouldn’t be able to drive leading up to the surgery anyway, so she might as well sell it to gather funds.

The bus she was waiting for finally pulled into the station. Lin Wantang scanned her code to board. The warm air inside the swaying carriage made her cheeks flush, and she was beginning to feel drowsy when the bus finally reached the intersection near her hotel.

Upon entering the lobby, she folded her umbrella and checked in at the front desk. Holding her room card, she followed the corridor to her room. She shut the door and inserted the card to turn on the electricity; the room filled with a warm yellow light.

Lin Wantang shrugged off her coat and draped it over the back of a chair. She then lay straight back on the bed, staring at the blurred spots of light on the ceiling for a long time before finally letting out a silent, weary breath.

Surrounded by no one, the final string of tension in her mind and body finally snapped. She couldn’t even muster the will to reach out and turn off the light before she sank into a dreamless sleep under the soft, dim glow.

When she opened her eyes again, thick darkness had settled outside the window. She dithered for a moment before reaching for the phone by her pillow; the screen showed it was already 8:00 PM.

Having not eaten for a long time, she pressed a hand to her stomach and opened a food delivery app. But before she could scroll, a voice call notification from Qi Yishu popped up on the screen.

The sound of the ringtone was jarring in the empty hotel room, but Lin Wantang didn’t want to contact anyone right now. She swiped back to the delivery app, continuing to browse for reasonably priced shops amidst the persistent ringing.

The ringing didn’t stop. Finally, feeling a bit frazzled, she pressed the answer button.

“Junior, are you free right now? Is it convenient for you to come to the Cloud Hall and pick up Zhiqing? She’s a bit drunk, and I’m not sure how to contact her driver.”

Lin Wantang almost laughed. Because of the events three years ago, Wen Zhiqing had never allowed herself to get completely drunk. Such paranoid self-control was simply a result of having no one trustworthy around her. Now that Qi Yishu was back, Wen Zhiqing could finally let down her guard and indulge herself in a night of heavy drinking.

She had already decided not to care, yet her heart still felt as though it had been pricked by a tiny thorn—not a sharp pain, just a brief, dense sensation of dull aching.

“It’s not very convenient for me to drive right now,” Lin Wantang said, still lying on the bed with no intention of getting up. “I’ll just give you the contact info for her driver.”

Qi Yishu’s end was very quiet; a few seconds passed without a sound. It wasn’t until Lin Wantang was about to hang up that she heard Qi Yishu say, “Zhiqing is quite drunk, and it’s not very convenient for the driver to handle it alone. It’s better if you could come here, too.”

For a moment, Lin Wantang wanted to say that her presence would be even more inconvenient; Wen Zhiqing would likely wake up and suspect her of taking advantage of the situation again. But since the person on the other end was a clueless Qi Yishu, she suppressed those barbed words.

I’ll go just this once. After the divorce, even if Wen Zhiqing got drunk a thousand times, she would never go to pick her up again.

After hanging up, Lin Wantang propped herself up and sat still for a moment before calling a driver to take her from the hotel to the venue.

The car drove into the most central district of North City. The buildings along the way were bathed in light but didn’t seem overly gaudy. Lin Wantang leaned against the back seat, watching the flowing lights outside like a silent outsider. And she truly was an outsider—merely forced to show up after the party had ended to clean up a mess that had nothing to do with her.

When the car came to a stop, she walked into a lobby filled with the scent of alcohol and expensive perfume. Guided by a waiter through a quiet hallway, she stopped in front of the private room number Qi Yishu had given her. She knocked, paused for a moment, and pushed open the dark wooden door.

The room was misty with the scent of wine. Wen Zhiqing was curled up on the edge of a sofa, her collar slightly open, revealing a neck and collarbone flushed a pale red from the alcohol. Her hand was visible outside the coat she had been draped in, tightly clutching Qi Yishu’s wrist. Her curved knuckles were starkly white in the dim light.

At the sound of the door, Qi Yishu turned her head. A flash of light flickered across her pale amber eyes. “Junior, you’re here.”

Lin Wantang nodded. “Yes, I’ll take her back.”

She walked over to Wen Zhiqing. The hand that had been gripping Qi Yishu had loosened at some point, now hanging limply by the edge of the sofa, fingertips slightly curled, looking quite fragile.

Wen Zhiqing was likely truly unconscious. Her lashes fluttered a few times before she struggled to open her eyes. Her misty gaze drifted over Lin Wantang, her focus gathering with great difficulty. After a long while, she murmured hoarsely, “Junior.”

She was probably so drunk she didn’t know who was in front of her, merely mimicking the way Qi Yishu addressed Lin. The voice was soft and raspy, floating in the stagnant air without receiving a response.

Lin Wantang turned her head and looked back at Qi Yishu. “It’s late. Director Qi, you should head back and rest, too.”

Under the lights, Qi Yishu’s cheeks were also slightly flushed, and she carried the scent of alcohol. Lin Wantang didn’t ask how much they had drunk or why they were drinking together; it no longer had any meaning to her. Even if Wen Zhiqing and Qi Yishu got married after the divorce, it was their business, not hers.

Qi Yishu didn’t leave immediately. Her gaze remained quietly on Lin Wantang’s face. “Junior, you didn’t reply to me last time. Can you do my friend that favor?”

Lin Wantang was taken aback. It took her a moment to remember the WeChat message. “About how long would it take?”

She hadn’t expected Qi Yishu to still remember; even she had forgotten. But if it was before the surgery, it would be another way to raise funds.

“About a week. It starts filming in a few days. It’s just a cameo; it won’t take up too much of your time.”

“Thank you, Director Qi. I think I can do it.”

As she spoke, Lin Wantang felt the hem of her coat being gently tugged by Wen Zhiqing behind her. Seeing no resistance, the hand grew bolder, sliding up under the coat and following the line of her waist until it found the small of her back. Her fingertips began to stroke the skin gently.

Lin Wantang’s breath hitched almost imperceptibly. She wanted to pull Wen Zhiqing’s wandering hand away but feared being seen. She could only stand there and wait for Qi Yishu to leave.

“Alright, I’ll head out first.” Qi Yishu took her coat and draped it over her arm. At the door, she suddenly paused. “By the way, Junior, stop calling me ‘Director Qi’ all the time.”

But she didn’t say what Lin should call her, nor did she wait for a response. She simply walked out and pulled the door shut behind her.

Once the door was closed, Lin Wantang turned around and gently pulled Wen Zhiqing’s hand away. she looked down at her wife. Her wife was stunningly beautiful, the youngest face in the financial news, and now her first love was back by her side. Meanwhile, Lin was just a minor actress, riddled with illness, her future as uncertain as the falling snow outside.

Such an ill-matched pair. How laughable that I once indulged in such delusions.

Lin Wantang sighed and bent down to help Wen Zhiqing up. Wen Zhiqing unconsciously rested her forehead against Lin’s shoulder, her warm breath brushing against Lin’s neck as she murmured “Junior” again.

Lin didn’t respond. She steadied Wen Zhiqing and walked slowly out of the room, just as she had three years ago.

Except, this would certainly be the last time.