Chapter 8
Before he could finish. Ares flipped him to the ground, landing several kicks.
I almost didn’t recognize the person before me.
The once pure Yancy, who would tremble when confessing his feelings, had become someone like this?
That young man died in the most passionate time of our lives.
He was no longer the same person.
I went with my friend to sign a contract with the Go club where Ares was,
With the Autumn Orchid Cup International Championship just around the corner, I quickly threw myself into work, urging Ares to prepare for the competition.
On the other hand, Yancy, who was also preparing for the competition, seemed distracted and uninterested in training.
He sent me countless messages using different numbers, each one more desperate than the last. He repeatedly begged me to reconsider, saying he would prove that he loved only me.
I blocked him everywhere and didn’t respond to any of them.
A few days later, Xena was trending on high–profile search lists.
Someone dug up her tangled and complicated past relationships, revealing how she used her career to try and hook a wealthy man, having affairs with many rich second–generation heirs, and even undergoing multiple abortions.
To protect her status, she had done many things that harmed the wives of the wealthy men she was
involved with.
It was also revealed that she had secretly replaced embryos with the hospital’s help. When she was arrested, she was being publicly humiliated by the family of one of the wealthy heirs, who stripped her down and beat her on the street.
The next time I saw Yancy was at the Autumn Orchid Cup finals.
In just a few months, he had become emaciated, his face was dark and bruised, his lips pale and cracked, looking as if he were a walking corpse, far from the charming Go genius he once was.
Despite his state, he made it to the finals.
Chapter 8
He grabbed me backstage, pleading with me,
“Ana, I’ve been holding on just to see you. Please stop avoiding me. I can’t take it anymore, I can’t sleep, and I throw up every time I eat… whether it’s physical or mental, I can’t live without you.”
“Please, give me another chance, okay?”
“I’ve sent Xena to prison. No one will stand in our way anymore…”
I gently and firmly pulled his hand away, shaking my head, “Yancy, our problem isn’t just Xena.”
“I can’t trust you anymore.”
“Every time I see you, I remember all those things between you and Xena. It feels like a knife to my heart
every moment.”
“Focus on your game. Go to the civil center and get the divorce certificate.”
With that, I walked away without looking back, leaving him crouched on the ground, sobbing uncontrollably.
That match ended when Yancy collapsed in the middle of the game, foaming at the mouth, and was rushed to the hospital in a coma.
Ares went on to become the youngest world champion in Go history.
He was young, sharp, and incredibly talented–almost as eye–catching as Yancy had been back in his day.
I stayed with him, guiding him through intense competitions, and within two years, he achieved a Grand
Slam.
On the day of the award ceremony, he stood on the stage, beaming with brilliance.
He said he wanted to thank two people: one was Yancy, and the other was me.
He said that when he first started learning Go, his family didn’t support him, and he had to push forward alone. He had looked up to Yancy as an idol, enduring all obstacles with gritted teeth.
One day, during practice at the Go club, he hit a bottleneck and cried uncontrollably in front of a picture of Yancy.
It was a beautiful woman with an excellent temperament who walked in and encouraged him. After looking at the board, she made a move and pointed out a way forward for him.
She told him that his board had an aura, and he would definitely become a great Go player like Yancy.
Chapter 8
When he told me this, I couldn’t help but smile.
I remembered a little boy I had once encountered at a Go club.
He had been crying so deeply that it immediately caught my sharp eye as a manager. Anyone who could cry with such focus surely had potential.
So I encouraged him.
As it turned out, I was right.
After the competition, the hospital contacted me to inform me that Yancy had woken up.
When I went to see him, I noticed that he had signs of partial paralysis. His once sharp mind was now
sluggish, struggling to recognize people.
With tears in his eyes, he signed the divorce agreement, and with the help of a caregiver, he went to the
civil center to collect our divorce certificate.
When we parted ways, his eyes were filled with tears, and his mouth trembled as he repeatedly said my name, telling me that he no longer deserved me and would never hold me back again.
I stepped out of the civil center, and Ares, who should have been waiting for me in the car, was instead
standing outside, signing autographs for the crowd of fans gathered around hi
He flashed me a helpless smile and silently motioned for me to wait.
I patiently waited to the side, listening as Ares answered each fan’s questions with genuine care.
When a little girl asked, “Ares, will you be competing in the next tournament?”
Ares and I both froze for a moment.
We both knew that tomorrow, he would officially announce his retirement and return home to take over
the family business.
But the excited fans had no idea, eagerly waiting for Ares’s answer.
