Volume 1, Chapter 145: In my past, my present, and my future, there has only ever been her.

The two men locked eyes, and the surrounding crowd fell into an eerie silence. After all, the identities of these two were well-known to everyone in the executive office, making the atmosphere somewhat awkward.

Liang Jinmo had long since proven his capability within the company, and most of the staff in the executive office respected him. However, everyone had also heard that Liang Muzi, the young master, was the legitimate heir to the Liang family. Seeing these two encounter each other in the office, the onlookers had already begun to imagine the impending storm.

Zhou He quickly stepped in, blocking Liang Muzi’s line of sight, and pulled Liang Jinmo toward the other side of the main office. "Boss, come here. I have a new idea regarding this project..."

Liang Jinmo withdrew his gaze and followed Zhou He’s lead. The two walked one after the other into a small side conference room.

Once the door was closed, Zhou He patted his chest. "What was that guy doing, suddenly coming over? Did you see the look in his eyes? It was like he wanted to kill someone."

"I don't know," Liang Jinmo replied. He rarely returned to the Liang residence and was unaware of what happened there, let alone the affairs of Liang Muzi. Having just returned from a business trip, he had come straight to the office from the airport. He needed to report to Liang Zhengguo and had been so busy that he hadn't even had the chance to let Xu Zhi know he had arrived.

"Should you hide out here for a while?" Zhou He suggested.

Liang Jinmo glanced at him. "Why would I need to hide?"

"I'm just worried he might give you trouble," Zhou He said.

"Things aren't the way they used to be," Liang Jinmo stated. "Besides, this is the office."

Zhou He was reminded of the reality. "He would never come to the office for no reason. Do you think Liang Zhengguo is planning to bring him into the company?"

Liang Jinmo frowned, the same question crossing his mind. However, dwelling on it now was useless. "Let's wait and see," he said. He did not intend to avoid Liang Muzi; he hadn't backed down when they were children, and he certainly wouldn't now.

Leaving the conference room, he heard that Liang Zhengguo was still in a meeting. He headed toward his own office, planning to find a moment to call Xu Zhi. She had passed the preliminary test two days ago, and today was the day of her final interview; he wondered how it had gone.

Before he could enter his office, his assistant signaled to him urgently, whispering, "Young Master Liang went inside."

Liang Jinmo’s brow furrowed. This was his office; it was clear that Liang Muzi was here for him. He pushed the door open and walked in.

Liang Muzi was indeed inside, standing by the desk and scanning the room. When he locked eyes with Liang Jinmo, his expression was composed. "Shall we talk?"

In truth, he wanted to fight, but this was the company. Liang Zhengguo had already reached the point of discussing a change in succession; if he started a fight on his first day, Liang Zhengguo might no longer be lenient with him.

It would be hard for most people to believe, but the two men, raised under the same roof for nearly twenty years, had rarely spoken to each other.

Liang Jinmo closed the door and simply watched him without a word. Liang Muzi was accustomed to this; Liang Jinmo had always been a man of few words. He remembered when Liang Jinmo first came to the Liang family, he had almost mistaken him for a mute.

Back then, he had done things that could only be described as childish, such as deliberately bumping into Liang Jinmo while he was drinking to make him spill his glass. Liang Jinmo would be drenched in water, yet he would only quietly look down to clean up the shattered glass and straighten his clothes, not saying a single word—truly no different from a mute.

As this scene replayed in his mind, he found himself unexpectedly recalling Xu Zhi’s words. She had said that Liang Jinmo had never harmed him, yet he had been so cruel to Liang Jinmo—did his conscience not ache?

Feeling deeply uncomfortable, he forced himself to pull his thoughts back. "I know you must resent me. Take it out on me—Zhi is innocent."

Liang Jinmo walked a few steps and placed the documents he was holding onto the desk, still remaining silent.

Liang Muzi was impatient and couldn't contain himself. "Don't put on airs with me; I'm talking to you."

Liang Jinmo looked up at him and finally spoke: "You think I’m with Zhi because of you."

"Isn't that it?" Liang Muzi challenged. "How many words did you two ever exchange in the past? Aren't you just trying to spite me? You snatched my fiancée at the engagement ceremony, and now everyone outside says you've cuckolded me. Are you satisfied? Do you know you've ruined Zhi's reputation?"

When facing Liang Zhengguo, Liang Jinmo had always maintained that the switch at the engagement was his own idea. But to Liang Muzi, he was unusually candid: "Zhi came to me herself and asked me to accompany her on stage. And… did you suffer memory loss? You were the one who left first. You abandoned her there. In your eyes, is it better for her to bear the reputation of being dumped by you?"

"You…" Liang Muzi’s fists clenched, his face turning pale.

Liang Jinmo’s words were so sharp that Liang Muzi couldn't even find a rebuttal. He couldn't fight here… he repeated this to himself, gritting his teeth. "Regardless, since you don't love Zhi, don't hold her back, and don't… touch her."

He said the last few words through gritted teeth, thinking of the hickey on Xu Zhi’s neck and the box of condoms. His knuckles cracked, his nails digging into his palms. He struggled to suppress his emotions and continued, "Break off the engagement with her. I am your enemy, not her."

Liang Jinmo’s expression remained calm. "She is not my enemy; she is my fiancée, and she will soon be my wife."

Liang Muzi’s eyes widened. "Are you determined to use her to take revenge on me?"

"My feelings for her have never been about revenge," Liang Jinmo said, meeting his gaze with a resolute look in his dark eyes. "Liang Muzi, you are too arrogant. You know nothing of the relationship between Zhi and me. You would abandon her for the sake of others, but I would not. In the past, present, and future, she is the only one for me."

Liang Muzi felt as if his breath were trapped in his chest. It was all too absurd—Liang Jinmo was actually saying he was serious about Xu Zhi. How could that be?

He couldn't believe it. The woman who meant the most to him and the man he detested most had, right under his nose, somehow grown feelings for each other. He had always firmly believed that Liang Jinmo’s motives were impure and that Xu Zhi was only doing this to anger him. He could not accept that there was simply no room for him between these two.

He persisted, "That’s a pity. Zhi got engaged to you because she was angry at me. It’s useless for you to like her; she… she has always had me in her heart. We had an arranged marriage since childhood. That day I went to the hotel to see her, she told me herself that she had thought about marrying me. Did she ever tell you that?"

Liang Jinmo froze for a few seconds, his mind rapidly racing. Over the past few days, Xu Zhi had called and texted him every day, but she had never mentioned that Liang Muzi had visited her.

His hands hung at his sides, his fingers slowly curling inward, his heart sinking.

Seeing his silence, Liang Muzi felt he had finally found a way to strike back. He forced a smile. "Oh, and one more thing: when she mentions the past, she seems to pity you. She said I wasn't good to you. She’s just too kind—she’d even feed a stray cat if she saw one on the street. If she was ever nice to you, it was only out of sympathy and pity. Don't you dare misunderstand that."