Seeing as she didn't reply, he didn't either. In that instant, the room fell silent.
He Jichen stared at Ji Yi for some time then pursed his lips slightly. Then he slowly turned his head and averted his gaze from her face to the oil painting on the wall.
It wasn't that he wanted to be silent all of a sudden, but he just didn't know where to start.
At first, Ji Yi hated him so much that she wanted nothing more than to stay as far away as possible from him. He Jichen couldn't allow her to get married to another person, so he made a pact to get married to her using his older brother's identity.
He didn't ask her to go with him to the civil office to register the marriage; he asked an assistant to take care of the matter because Ji Yi's marriage certificate with He Yuguang was fake while He Jichen and her marriage was genuine.
Later on, when she suggested that she and He Yuguang get a divorce, he handled the matter by himself again. Since He Yuguang had technically passed away, they never got married in the first place, so the divorce certificate sent to her was fake too.
Deep down, he knew full well that a day would come when Ji Yi would meet someone she really wanted to marry. If He Jichen wasn't that person, he would definitely silently disappear and turn her marriage certificate into a divorce certificate. However, she still didn't have anyone else to marry, so he selfishly held onto their legally married couple status for a little longer...
That was his little secret.
But he never imagined that she would actually stumble right into it today.
At that very moment, his heart almost stopped beating from fear.
Luckily, his reflexes were fast. Before she could touch the marriage certificate, he blocked her from doing anything.
Up until now, he was still a little afraid she saw that the names on the marriage certificate were his and hers...
This incident came up suddenly, so suddenly that He Jichen, who had always handled all sorts of situations easily, didn't quite know what to do. As a result, he chose to pretend nothing happened and continued to discuss work with Chen Bai.
God knew just how messed up he was back then. The only thing on his mind was what to do next, so his productivity at work was terrible. Tasks that normally took ten minutes to complete now took over forty minutes.
The room was silent for too long. Ji Yi gently blinked and let her gaze fall on a random part of He Jichen's body.
She stared at his perfect, dazzling profile for a long time before she eventually couldn't hold it in any longer. She asked, "He Jichen..."
Her voice made He Jichen instinctively glance over at her but just for a second. He looked down to hide from her gaze and softly said, "Mhm?"
The room fell silent once again.
But this time, it was only for a short while. About ten seconds later, Ji Yi asked, "You're... married?"
She already saw it with her own eyes, so he couldn't treat her like a child and make up lies... He Jichen nodded and with the same softness, he let out another "Mhm."
It was just one simple word, but it felt as painful as a knife, stabbing Ji Yi violently in the heart. The pain suddenly stopped her from breathing.
After some time, she forced herself to summon the courage to ask: "With who?"
Her voice was soft - so soft in fact that she wondered if she said anything at all.
Because she was afraid that if she raised her voice slightly, it would reveal her sadness.
He Jichen heard it.
With who?
Those simple two words stumped him.