But, he hadn"t expected how vicious Shen Zhining"s tongue was. He"d only said a single sentence and they"d already lost their cool.

If they hadn"t just been talking about Jiaojiao, his "a man to be so weak" comment would"ve just made him laugh.

Speaking of that, his cousin"s health condition was really poor. There were so many people in the film crew, and all of his scenes were with Jiaojiao, yet he was the only one that fainted with a fever.

Of course, there was a chance that he did it on purpose.

As for Lin Yan, who"d Shen Zhining had just called weak, his expression was no longer calm.

Shen Zhining is the one who robbed him of his beloved, sitting where he used to sit.

A dark haze filled his eyes as a storm brewed in his heart.

“Do you know why Jiaojiao was with me?” Lin Yan forced his expression into neutrality.

Shen Zhining leaned against the wall, his hands in his pockets as he replied with an expression of contempt, “I don"t need to know why. After all, I"m the one sleeping in her bed.”

Lin Yan"s face changed, no longer calm.

The uninvolved Lin Yu seemed to have suddenly received a big blow as his expression turned lifeless.

“Impossible!” Lin Yan knew that Sheng Jiaoyang wasn"t such a wanton person.

“She and I are dating and have even done more intimate things, so what"s impossible about that?” Shen Zhining looked at the other disdainfully.

For a love rival, his tone was absolutely infuriating.

Lin Yan"s countenance was originally pale because of his illness, but it was even more unsightly now.

Even though he knew that Shen Zhining was deliberately provoking him, he couldn"t control himself as he recalled the night they"d filmed the proposal scene. Sheng Jiaoyang had walked out of the room with her face flushed red, her lips swollen, with hickeys on her collarbone.

At that time, her expression didn"t look like she"d been forced. Although she looked shy, she"d already bloomed.

On the other side of the door, she was in another man"s arms. Images of them vividly appeared in his imagination.

Argh!

Lin Yan couldn"t help but clench his fists, causing the IV needle to pull at his hand. The stab of pain caused him to wake up as he relaxed his hands, taking a deep breath.

Shen Zhining was surprised at how quickly he could calm down, raising his respect for Lin Yan.

“You probably still don"t know, but I was her first love.”

Lin Yan paused before continuing, “Because I got engaged with somebody else, she started dating you to take revenge against me. Her heart has always been pining after me. When I became sick, her first priority was to be with me.”

Shen Zhining narrowed his eyes as he sneered, “She only stayed with you out of sympathy. If you want her to pity you so much, what can I do? Women are always too sympathetic. Since I can"t stop her, I can only pity you with her.”

His words were extremely venomous.

Lin Yan"s face paled as he said icily, “We"ve known each other for a very long time, and she"s liked me from the start. Her feelings towards me aren"t something you can sway.”

“A long time? Haha!” Shen Zhining seemed to have heard a good joke. “It"s only been around half a year since she went abroad for the National Supermodel compet.i.tion. Wow, what a long time! Should I donate an hour to make it even longer?”

Lin Yan was startled, suddenly remembering that Shen Zhining didn"t know Jiaojiao"s real ident.i.ty. When he"d heard how intimate Jiaojiao"s tone was with Shen Zhining, he"d jumped to conclusions. One day, she really will tell her true ident.i.ty to him, and by that time, it"ll be too late.

“Mr Shen, you also didn"t know…” Lin Yu hadn"t finished speaking before he was interrupted.

“Of course, he doesn"t know. Jiaojiao didn"t tell him.” Lin Yan smiled.

Shen Zhining had a bad premonition as he looked at the pair"s strange expressions. He chose not to speak as he silently waited.

“We"ve liked each other for seven years.” Lin Yan stared at Shen Zhining, his voice firm, filled with a determination to win. “We agreed to continue for a lifetime.”

“What nonsense, seven years? Don"t tell me you mean seven months?”

“Mr Shen still doesn"t understand? It seems you really don"t know all that much about Jiaoyang!”

Shen Zhining narrowed his eyes, his brain swiftly a.n.a.lysing Lin Yan"s words. His pupils suddenly shrunk in shock as his lips flattened into a straight line.

Lin Yan smiled as he watched Shen Zhining"s expression change before using an understanding tone to say, “The reason she never told you was because she was afraid of ruining the relations.h.i.+p between your families when you two broke up.”

“How could there be such an unscientific thing?” Shen Zhining asked hoa.r.s.ely, his tone cold and stiff.

Lin Yan"s smile grew. “It seems that Mr Shen finally understands what I"m saying.”

“Why does everybody except for her boyfriend, Mr Shen, know? The reason is simple; she doesn"t want you to know. Do you know when she told me the truth? It was the day I got engaged. She ran over and wanted to use that to prevent my engagement, but she was a step late and the ceremony was already finished. However, it wasn"t too late. I"ve annulled my engagement.”

Shen Zhining didn"t say anything as he turned and left.

Lin Yan"s smirk widened.

“Cousin, is what you"re saying the truth?” Lin Yu asked.

“Weren"t you there at my engagement?” Lin Yan"s smile slowly faded as he asked back indifferently.

Lin Yu thought back to his cousin"s engagement ceremony. He"d definitely seen Jiaojiao at the banquet because he remembered seeing her sitting alone in the corner. Feeling that she"d looked lonely, he"d gone over to chat with her.

They"d talked about Jiaoyang. At that time, he didn"t know that Jiaoyang was actually right in front of his eyes.

She"d said something that struck him deeply.

“Jiaoyang likes Lin Yan.”

Yeah, she likes his cousin, while he was only a pa.s.sing traveller in her life. A pa.s.sing traveller that could be used as a tool when convenient and thrown away like trash when it was no longer needed.

“She once told me that Sheng Jiaoyang liked Lin Yan.” Lin Yu looked at Lin Yan, his expression complex.

Lin Yan"s features instantly softened as a smile appeared in his eyes.

“A long, long time ago, I had a wish. I wished for her to be happy. Only by being with the one she loves can she truly be happy. Cousin, I only ask that you properly cherish her, don"t let her be sad,” Lin Yu said.

“A"Yu, don"t worry. I"ll make sure she"s happy.” Lin Yan wanted to hold Lin Yu"s hand as he raised the one with the IV, only to find that blood was covering his hand.

“Cousin, you"re bleeding!” Lin Yu jumped in fright as he hurriedly called the doctor over to stop the bleeding.

While they were dealing with that, Shen Zhining returned to his car in a terrible mood.

He closed his eyes, frowning.

Many scenes flashed through his mind.

“I like you.”

“Did you know? I"ve liked you for a long time.”

That was the first time they"d touched each other intimately. Tears flowed from her eyes as she confessed pitifully, almost pouncing on him to kiss him.

When he"d woken up the next day, she"d suddenly gone abroad.

So, it turns out…

She only did it because she got drunk and thought he was Lin Yan?

Sheng Jiaoyang, Xu Jiaojiao, Sheng Jiaoyang, Xu Jiaojiao…

The two names danced in his mind.

He thought of the morning Grandfather Yang had taken them to the bank to get Aunty Yang"s keepsakes. At that time, he was still skeptical of Xu Jiaojiao"s motives and had asked Grandfather Yang why he"d bring her along even though it had nothing to do with her.

Back then, Grandfather Yang said something mysterious, “A portion of your Aunty Yang"s things were set aside for Jiaoyang.”

He didn"t understand, asking back, “What does that have to do with Xu Jiaojiao?”

“Because, what Jiaojiao sees, Jiaoyang will also be able to see.”

Only now did he understand what Grandfather Yang had meant back then.

His reaction was so slow. Grandfather Yang had said it so obviously, yet he was completely oblivious to the truth and had even thought that Grandfather Yang had been hoodwinked by her.

But, it was actually Grandfather Yang trying to show him the truth.

Her drawings, her signature, her bearings, the same tunes and music…

Ning Xiaoruan had said something that he"d previously thought to be very stupid.

“There"s still one more possibility; Xu Jiaojiao is Jiaoyang.”

He"d once laughed at Ning Xiaoruan and had said that he"d gone stupid from reading too much. But, it turned out he was the one who was stupid!

The truth was right in front of his eyes so many times, yet he"d ignored everything, even thinking that she had impure motives.

He"d almost…completely messed up.

If he hadn"t realised his own feelings and had stopped in time, he would"ve destroyed the one he wanted to protect with his own hands.

Thinking up to here, his heart felt like it was being squeezed.

Brother Zhining, you have to become powerful. Then, n.o.body can bully us!

Brother Zhining…

“The reason she never told you was because she was afraid of ruining the relations.h.i.+p between your families when you two broke up.” Lin Yan"s words echoed in his head.

Shen Zhining"s fist pounded on the window.

The resulting thud caused Man Jun to jump in shock. He almost thought that they"d been attacked.

“Boss?” Man Jun asked cautiously.

“Head to the airport!” Shen Zhining ordered.

Man Jun didn"t dare reply as he started the car.

“Weinan, investigate this for me…” Shen Zhining"s voice echoed in the car.

Man Jun glanced at the rearview mirror and saw his boss on the phone.

At the airport, the film crew was at the waiting area.

Sheng Jiaoyang, who was currently studying the script with Gu Zhou, had no idea that Shen Zhining already knew her real ident.i.ty.

She never would"ve guessed that Lin Yan, in aiming to irritate Shen Zhining, would reveal her true ident.i.ty.Previous ChapterNext Chapter