When Lina saw Sheng Jiaoyang rus.h.i.+ng over breathlessly to send her off at the airport, she immediately stood up and gave her a hug.

"You didn"t have to rush over and send me off."

A smile flashed across Sheng Jiaoyang"s briefly, before it died down awkwardly. Hesitantly, she asked, "Are you sure you want to come clean with George about that matter?"

"I…" Lina looked hesitant initially, but gradually, her expression turned resolute. "I shouldn"t have kept it from him. I betrayed him, so I should let him know, and he has a right to know."

"You didn"t betray him. Everything you did was for him," Sheng Jiaoyang took Lina"s hands into her own and consoled her.

Lina smiled faintly, "Jiaojiao, you don"t have to comfort me. I know what I did."

Sheng Jiaoyang didn"t speak anymore and tightly hugged Lina instead.

Lina patted Sheng Jiaoyang on the back and comforted her, "Alright, don"t worry about me. As long as I have your support, nothing can knock me down. I believe in George, and I"m certain that he will forgive me."

"If he dares to blame you, I"ll be the first person to beat him up!" Sheng Jiaoyang said through clenched teeth.

Lina giggled, and her mood brightened a little. Little Sun"s bright personality had always cheered her up.

After boarding the plane, Lina sat by the window and looked out of it as she thought back to what Sheng Jiaoyang had said to her earlier. She couldn"t help but smile as she recalled her best friend"s words.

"Mei Niu, you mustn"t do this in the future. Don"t worry about inconveniencing me. I"m more afraid when you don"t bother me with your issues. If you have issues that you can"t solve, contact me right away. Don"t forget, I still have two powerful backers behind me, so n.o.body can hurt me!"

Lina then recalled an event from their school days. Back then, she had been bullied by a small gang at school, and Sheng Jiaoyang brought Rita the Freak along to protect her from those bullies. Sheng Jiaoyang stood in front of her protectively and said, "Don"t be afraid, I will protect you from now on."

From then on, she felt that Sheng Jiaoyang was like a bright little sun that could drive away all the darkness around her. She gave her warmth and made her see light amidst the gloom.

During those years, she got used to being protected by her Little Sun. Even if she had a biological sister, her sister might not necessarily have protected her and taken care of her to such an extent. In fact, Sheng Jiaoyang was younger than her, but the former always acted much more mature than her, so she often forgot about their age difference.

It wasn"t until she"d found out about Little Sun"s illness that she realised that Little Sun was also in need of someone else"s protection. Or, perhaps she"d started feeling this way when she found out that Little Sun was in love with her elder brother.

She was surprised to find that her little sun was even more in need of protection than her.

From then on, she made a wish. She wished for herself to grow stronger and become a successful woman, so that she could put Little Sun under her wings and s.h.i.+eld her from wind and rain.

But…in the end, I am still the one being protected by Little Sun.

At this thought, Lina retracted the smile that was tugging at the corner of her lips.

"Why aren"t you smiling anymore?" a mellow voice suddenly travelled to her ear.

Lina turned her head. When she saw that the person sitting next to her was Sven, she didn"t know what expression to use to confront him.

"Why are you here?"

The corner of Sven"s mouth curled up slightly. "Because you"re here."

Lina"s mouth twitched. She then turned away expressionlessly to face the window. Out of sight, out of mind.

However, Sven obviously didn"t want to let her have her way.

He reached out and grabbed Lina"s hand. Lina struggled to get her hand free, but it was to no avail. Sven firmly grasped her right hand, took off the ring from her ring finger, and fiddled with it.

"Give the ring back to me." Lina reached out to grab it back.

Sven grabbed her hand with his left hand while squeezing the ring in his right hand. He glanced at the ring and said, "I"ve wanted to tell you this a long time ago. This ring is way too cheap. Someday, I"ll give you one worthy of your ident.i.ty."

"Give it back!" Lina was almost angered to death. How I wish I can kill this man right now, and throw him off the plane!

"You want me to give it back to you?" Sven had a demonic smile on his face.

Lina glared at him.Show More...

Sven leaned his face over and casually said, "Kiss me, and I"ll give it back."

"Get lost!" Lina pulled her hand out of his grasp and unclasped her safety belt. Then, she got up and reached out to grab the ring in his right hand.

Suddenly, Sven moved and pulled her into his embrace. He held the back of her head with his right hand and kissed her on the lips.

"Mm-" b.a.s.t.a.r.d!!

"Ahem, the plane is about to take off. Please sit back and fasten your seat belts. Thank you." The stewardess awkwardly came over and asked them to follow the safety procedures.

Lina exerted all her strength and hammered Sven on the shoulder. However, Sven didn"t let her go, and his kisses became more forceful instead.

The stewardess was caught in a dilemma.

"I"m sorry, I have no choice but to disturb you two since the plane is about to…"

Lina let out a cry of pain. When she finally managed to break away from him, she subconsciously waved her hand and slapped Sven in the face.

At this instant, the atmosphere seemed to be at a silent standstill.

Lina realised what she had done.

Actually, Lina was a little afraid of Sven. After all, Sven had a powerful background, and his means were dreadful. Otherwise, she wouldn"t have let him do as he pleased. When she realised that she had slapped him, a bit of unease crept up in her heart. She was worried that he would retaliate drastically as a result.

Sven suddenly smiled. He caressed the corner of Lina"s mouth with his thumb and slyly said, "Darling, I"m sorry. I bit your lip again."

Lina"s lips parted, but she didn"t know what to say.

"Ahem, do you need a band-aid?" the stewardess asked.

In response to the stewardess" question, Sven cupped Lina"s face and licked away the oozing blood on her lower lip.

"A band-aid is too troublesome, it"s better this way."

Sven smiled and affectionately said, "Darling, I"ll be gentler next time."

Lina expressionlessly sat back on her seat and fastened her seat belt. She then closed her eyes and clenched her fists. She was itching to punch him in the face again.

The stewardess had long wanted to retreat, so she scurried away the moment they had fastened their seat belts.

When she returned to the staff"s resting area, the stewardess couldn"t contain her thoughts and pulled another stewardess up from her seat and told her, "Do you know what I just saw in the first-cla.s.s cabin? Eeek, I"ve almost been tortured to death!" The stewardess then told her colleague about how she got fed a full-course meal of PDA.

Meanwhile, Lina was trying to calm herself down. She no longer tried to grab the ring back by force. Instead, she merely extended her hand towards Sven as she calmly said, "Give the ring back to me."

Sven raised his hand and examined the ring carefully before stuffing it into his trouser pocket and revealing an empty hand.

"What are you doing?" Lina looked at him and endured his antics silently.

Sven"s lips curled into a smile, and he calmly replied, "You can ask me for the ring again after you bid your George goodbye. I will give it to you then."

Lina was so angry that she trembled all over. No matter how good her temper was, she would snap when facing such a shameless person.

She initially thought that Sven was a very humorous and interesting person. At one point, she even thought about accepting him so that she could let go of her feelings for George. Now, it seemed that all of her initial impressions were bullsh*t!

Sven is the most despicable, shameless and lowly b.a.s.t.a.r.d I have ever met!

Sven scratched his fingers against the palm of her extended hand and gingerly placated her, "Alright, don"t be angry. Anger will make you age faster~"

Lina was even angrier now.

Finally, after what felt like a century, the plane landed. Lina immediately unbuckled the seat belt and prepared to get off the plane.

However, Sven seized her hand and said, "Darling, let me escort you!"

"Thanks, but no need." Lina declined through gritted teeth.

As Sven watched Lina depart while panting with rage, he chuckled and leisurely followed suit.

The moment Lina exited the arrival hall, she heard a familiar voice call out, "Lina!"

Her gaze trailed after the voice, only to see George waving at her with a smile. However, after seeing George, she couldn"t squeeze out a smile at all. She subconsciously raised her hand and touched the wound on her lower lip.

George ran up and pulled her into his embrace. "Honey, I missed you so much."

Lina wrapped her hands around his waist and leaned her head on his shoulder. "I"ve missed…"

Before she could even blurt out the word "you", she caught sight of Sven, who was standing a few meters away and looking at her with a smile plastered on his face.

"d.a.m.n it!"

Sven grinned at her.

"Lina, what"s wrong?" George stepped back and looked at Lina with a worried expression.

Lina came back to her senses and realised that she had accidentally blurted her thoughts out loud. She squeezed out a smile and replied, "It"s nothing. I just suddenly thought of something unpleasant."

"Did someone bully you?" George"s gaze was fixated on Lina"s lips. "Why is your lower lip bruised?"

Lina became fl.u.s.tered, but she quickly calmed herself down and said, "I accidentally bruised it with my teeth."

"It must hurt a lot. Let"s hurry home and apply some medicine on it." George held her waist in one hand and carried her suitcase in the other as they proceeded to the exit together.

Lina tensed up when she caught a glimpse of Sven walking towards them out of the corner of her eye. Sven stopped in front of them and blocked their path.

At this moment, she was afraid that Sven would say something. She wanted to confess the truth herself. If George were to learn the truth from someone else, the result would be totally different.

"You are?" George stared at Sven with a quizzical look.

Sven smiled and s.h.i.+fted his gaze to Lina. "Miss, you left something on your seat."

Lina"s breathing became ragged as she asked, "What did I leave behind?" Her voice was a little taut because she was nervous.

George stared at Sven purely out of curiosity. He didn"t find anything out of the ordinary and he simply thought that Sven was a stranger who happened to be on the same flight as Lina.

Sven extended his hand and slowly revealed the item in his palm.

It was an earring.

Lina breathed a sigh of relief. She reached out for it, but Sven stroked the palm of her hand as she took the earring in front of George.

Lina subconsciously turned to look at George and only felt relieved when she saw that George didn"t notice Sven"s action.Previous ChapterNext Chapter