episode_0021

Su Qingya froze for a moment as she stared at the sudden text notification.

She checked her WeChat.

At the moment, the only contact left on her WeChat was Xu Nian.

Did Nian delete all her other contacts again?

If they had to determine who was the more insecure one between them, Su Qingya truly believed it was Xu Nian.

That was why, when Xu Nian had said her so-called “breakup” was just a test, Su Qingya had believed her without hesitation.

At the same time, she couldn’t help but feel a lingering fear.

Why hadn’t she realized it back then?

Her reaction had indeed been poor—she should have fought to keep her no matter what. But at the time, she had been so overwhelmed that she could only keep questioning her.

Fortunately, their relationship hadn’t deteriorated.

After all, her questioning had stemmed from unwillingness—Xu Nian must have sensed her reluctance to let go, as well as her affection.

So then…

But had it really not deteriorated?

Su Qingya’s gaze involuntarily fell on Xu Nian’s head.

Bright red characters burned into her vision.

[Fear Level: 61%]

This number was far too high.

Perhaps the number alone didn’t mean much.

But what did 61% actually feel like?

It was probably the same as suddenly discovering your best friend was a murderer, yet having to stay calm and pretend nothing had happened.

On the surface, everything might seem unchanged, but deep down, you’d be trembling with fear.

Looking at Xu Nian’s affectionate demeanor now, Su Qingya felt as if she could see a tiny, terrified version of her hiding beneath that skin, trembling uncontrollably.

The stuffy air from the car’s air conditioning filled her nose, but a faint, sweet fragrance slipped through.

“Nian… why are you afraid of me?”

Su Qingya’s eyes returned to the text message.

“Deleted contact” and “didn’t show up” were easy enough to explain.

But what did “sister” mean?

Hadn’t Nian gone in her place?

Did that mean Nian had pretended to be her sister?

What was the point of that?

She had originally planned to explain directly.

But her fingers paused.

She decided to first clarify exactly what had happened before figuring out how to respond.

[Su Qingya: Did something happen? I don’t have a sister.]

[Lin Ye: You don’t have a sister? Then who was the woman who came in your place today?]

[Su Qingya: I’m not sure. Something urgent came up at noon, and I didn’t have time to explain properly. What exactly happened?]

[Lin Ye: The woman who replaced you was a Xu Zhe. She stabbed me twice—looked like a seasoned professional, a repeat offender. You really don’t know her?]

Su Qingya’s gaze lingered on the message.

How could she not understand?

It was Xu Nian who had wielded the knife.

After all, she had personally said she would go in her place, and Su Qingya had indeed waited for her outside the hotel.

Why… why would she do that?

Had Lin Ye said something to provoke her?

Su Qingya didn’t dwell on the reason.

After a moment of hesitation, she decided to help Xu Nian cover this up.

But…

How should she explain it?

Should she insist she didn’t know the woman?

But if Xu Nian had revealed her appearance to Lin Ye, and he later saw how intimately close she and Xu Nian were…

No matter how she spun it, it would sound like she was shirking responsibility.

She was Nian’s girlfriend—she couldn’t just push the blame away.

[Su Qingya: I’m sorry.]

She blocked Lin Ye’s number.

She would face any potential retaliation together with Xu Nian.

Turning off her phone, she wrapped her left arm around Xu Nian, her hand resting lightly on her shoulder.

Her grip tightened slightly.

Xu Nian noticed all of this.

She had long since picked up on Su Qingya’s subtle movements.

A faint smile curled at her lips.

Then she closed her eyes again.

She really did get carsick.

……

“Damn it!”

Realizing he had been blocked again, Lin Ye hurled his newly synced phone to the ground in fury.

The screen shattered instantly, splitting into three jagged pieces.

As the heir of the Lin family in City A, he had grown up surrounded by people who bowed and scraped before him, treading carefully to avoid his displeasure.

Those filthy women had always flocked to him, disgusting him just by existing.

Yet now, a woman he had actively pursued had blocked him—twice!

Two whole times!

How dare she?!

“Mr. Lin, we’ve already gathered information on the target. Su Qingya—her parents died in a car accident when she was twelve. Due to her academic excellence, she was admitted to a prestigious middle school. Though she was top of her class, she was socially withdrawn. However, around her third year, the Xu family’s young mistress somehow took an interest in her.”

“Why does that matter? What’s so noteworthy about her making a friend?”

Lin Ye frowned.

The assistant quickly nodded. “Right, right.”

But the key detail they’d uncovered was that the two hadn’t been just friends in middle school.

They had been lovers.

A shameless case of puppy love.

The kind that would’ve gotten them dragged onto the stage during morning assembly for public shaming.

The teachers had all known, but given the Xu family’s influence—and the fact that it hadn’t affected their grades—they’d let it slide.

Su Qingya had remained firmly at the top of the class.

As for the Xu family’s young mistress…

Well, that was another story.

“Later, she enrolled in City A’s top high school.”

“She’s just a high schooler?”

“A senior—she’ll take the college entrance exams next year.”

Lin Ye took a deep breath.

No wonder she’d had an inexplicable air of immaturity.

So she was still in high school?

“At least she’s of age.”

Lin Ye had only just graduated from university—a five-year age gap wasn’t much.

“So, does she have a sister or not?”

“That’s… hard to say.”

“Hm?”

“Recently, the Xu family’s young mistress sought her out. Upon further investigation, we discovered that Su Qingya is actually the Xu family’s biological daughter. By that logic, she does have a sister.”

“Huh?”

Lin Ye’s expression darkened further.

“But Su Qingya hasn’t officially returned to the Xu family yet, so technically, she doesn’t have a sister at the moment.”

Lin Ye’s expression eased slightly.

“Then this incident likely wasn’t her doing. It was probably an assassination attempt by a rival family.”

The assistant stayed silent.

Because he’d uncovered something else.

The Xu family’s young mistress and Su Qingya were lovers—and Su Qingya was the Xu family’s long-lost child.

Didn’t that mean…

Actual sisterly love?

Oh my god, I ship it!

Two beautiful girls—who’d have thought he’d witness this in real life?

But he had no intention of telling the CEO. Given Lin Ye’s misogyny, he’d only find it revolting.

Besides…

“Investigate which families have been making underhanded moves recently. Also, compile a list of all Joybringer-path individuals in the city and leave the files on my desk.”

Lin Ye cut off the assistant’s thoughts with a command.

“Yes, sir.”

“I’ll make that bastard pay!”