After finishing dinner, Xia Yiyan’s ankle was throbbing fiercely, prompting her to take a painkiller.
On the ride back, with a full stomach and the supreme comfort of lying in Xie Junting’s arms, she drifted off to sleep in no time. She had no idea when they even arrived back at the estate.
When she woke up again, she was already tucked into the large bed in the master bedroom. Her body felt clean and refreshed, and she was dressed in a silk slip nightgown. Touching the space beside her, she found it empty; Xie Junting was nowhere to be seen.
Feeling thirsty, Xia Yiyan forced her drowsy eyes fully open. The clock on the wall read past midnight.
She got out of bed, hopping along on her good foot while keeping the injured one completely off the ground—any touch against the floor sent a piercing, heart-wrenching pain shooting up her leg. Hopping on one foot was exhausting and painfully slow; it looked like she’d need to fetch a pair of crutches tomorrow to get around.
Just as she pushed open the bedroom door, disaster struck.
Her supporting leg was utterly exhausted, and right as she was a single step away from clearing the doorway, her strength gave out and she tumbled forward. She had only the sheer size of the mansion’s massive bedrooms to blame.
A wail of agony ripped from Xia Yiyan’s throat, echoing through the entire villa.
In his study, Xie Junting heard her shriek, and his heart skipped a beat. He instantly cut off his conversation with Qin Su and bolted up to find Xia Yiyan.
Qin Su bit her lip and followed right behind him as he turned to leave. Hearing a woman’s voice, she couldn’t fathom how a woman could possibly be inside Xie Junting’s private villa.
Spotting her collapsed right outside the bedroom door, Xie Junting moved with the speed of an arrow, rushing to her side and scooping her up. “What happened? Why didn’t you stay in bed?” As he spoke, he frantically checked her over for injuries.
Covering her forehead, Xia Yiyan couldn’t bring herself to meet his gaze. She felt like an absolute clown; she just kept making a fool of herself in front of him.
“I’m fine, I was just thirsty and wanted some water, but I accidentally tripped.” “Why are you covering your head? Did you get hurt? Let me see right now.”
Xia Yiyan stubbornly refused to move her hands, but Xie Junting easily pried them away. A lump the size of a small steamed bun sat right on the left side of her forehead—a parting gift from colliding with the doorframe on her way down. Seeing the bump made his heart ache fiercely.
Hearing the commotion, Auntie Lin—who was busy cleaning up a guest room for Qin Su—hurriedly came out. Xie Junting instructed Auntie Lin to fetch two cold packs: one for her forehead, and another to re-apply to her ankle.
Carrying her back to the bed, Xie Junting tucked her in. “Stay put and don’t run around. I’ll go pour you some water.”
Qin Su stood frozen at the bedroom entrance, finding it all utterly unbelievable. She had watched the entire scene unfold—Xie Junting’s panic, his deep care, and his painstaking gentleness. She had never seen him treat anyone like that before. All those expressions of worry were things she had only ever dared to dream of experiencing from him in her dreams.
A fierce wave of jealousy and resentment ignited in her eyes.
Xie Junting, rushing to get the water, brushed right past her at the doorway without sparing her so much as a single glance.
Xia Yiyan didn’t miss the blazing fire of jealousy in Qin Su’s eyes. It struck her as rather odd that a stranger—and a woman at that—was inside the house in the middle of the night. Right as Auntie Lin returned with the cold packs, Xia Yiyan asked:
“Auntie Lin, who is this?” “Ms. Xia, this is the Young Master’s adopted sister, Qin Su. She just got off a flight from abroad.”
Qin Su!
Xia Yiyan knew a thing or two about her.
She was the Xie family’s adopted daughter, Xie Junting’s nominal sister, and the secondary female lead of the novel who harbored an abnormal, fanatical obsession with the male protagonist. In truth, she was the daughter of a close friend of Xie Junting’s mother.
Xie Junting’s mother and Qin Su’s biological mother had been close confidantes since high school, though their family backgrounds were worlds apart. Qin Su’s family was impoverished, frequently relying on financial aid from Xie Junting’s mother. After graduating college, Qin Su’s mother rejected her high school sweetheart of five years to marry a wealthy upstart.
Unfortunately, her married life was far from happy; the upstart was a serial philanderer who kept numerous mistresses outside. After she gave birth to Qin Su, the fact that the baby was a girl caused both mother and daughter to fall further out of favor. When Qin Su turned five, the upstart went bankrupt and was imprisoned for insurmountable debts.
With no love left to speak of—and now, not even money—Qin Su’s mother, accustomed to a life of decadent luxury and unwilling to endure the poverty of her youth once more, chose to commit suicide, leaving Qin Su all alone.
Seeing the child being tossed back and forth among distant relatives, and feeling pity for her as the daughter of an old friend—plus the fact that she had no daughters of her own—Xie Junting’s mother adopted her. She didn’t change the girl’s surname, allowing her to keep the name Qin.
From then on, a super little fan-girl trailed behind Xie Junting like a little tail for many years.
When Qin Su turned eighteen, she stripped naked and climbed into Xie Junting’s bed as a “gift.” But Xie Junting didn’t like her in the slightest, repeatedly making it clear that he only viewed her as a younger sister and warning her never to harbor inappropriate fantasies. The act of sneaking into his bed had crossed a hard, uncrossable boundary for him.
That very night, Xie Junting packed her bags and shipped her abroad to study, refusing to let her return even after she graduated college. The Xie family had branch offices overseas; regardless of whether she chose to work or not, she would never lack for money, provided she stayed out of the country.
In the novel, Xie Junting fell into total despair after letting Xia Yiyan slip away, and it was right around that time that Qin Su returned from abroad. Xie Junting’s father issued an ultimatum: get married or be disowned. His mother, too, was utterly heartbroken by the years of entanglements with Xia Yiyan.
Knowing full well how Qin Su felt about him, and figuring that since he couldn’t marry the woman he truly loved, Xie Junting planned to marry Qin Su instead.
At first, Xie Junting’s mother opposed the match. While Qin Su was fine, she lacked any backing or influence; marrying her brought no benefit to the Xie family. But seeing her son waste so many years making a fool of himself over a woman like Xia Yiyan, she ultimately relented when he finally showed a glimmer of interest in settling down.
No matter what, Qin Su was someone she had raised herself, and she was far more suited to her tastes than Xia Yiyan. Marrying her was infinitely better than remaining entangled with Xia Yiyan.
As for Xia Yiyan, after leaving Xie Junting, she slowly realized she had fallen in love with him and couldn’t live without him. When she tried to return to his side, she was hit with the news of his impending wedding.
In that instant, she felt a profound sense of betrayal. Didn’t Xie Junting claim to love me? How could he be getting married so soon after we parted? She knew better than anyone how Xie Junting had treated her all these years. She refused to believe he stopped loving her.
Driven by complex emotions, Xia Yiyan showed up at the wedding venue on the day of the ceremony. She said nothing; she simply stood there, looking at Xie Junting with a wronged, deeply affectionate expression.
Xie Junting’s heart immediately melted. Throwing everything aside, he walked toward Xia Yiyan.
Ultimately, the wedding was called off, and Xia Yiyan moved back into the villa on Xie Junting’s estate. The entire Xie family plunged into absolute chaos, while Qin Su underwent a complete, dark transformation.
What happened afterward, Xia Yiyan had no idea—she deeply regretted not finishing the book!
Still, things were already vastly different from the original plot. Why was Qin Su back now, a full seven years earlier than in the book? Furthermore, she hadn’t ruined his wedding with the CEO because they hadn’t even reached that stage yet—surely Qin Su couldn’t hate her this much already?
Yet, looking at the poorly concealed malice lingering in Qin Su’s eyes right now, Xia Yiyan suffered in silence. Just because she didn’t go looking for trouble didn’t mean trouble wouldn’t come looking for her.
Putting on a sweet, innocent smile, Xia Yiyan addressed Qin Su at the doorway:
“Ah, so you’re Junting’s sister! His sister is my sister. You must be exhausted from traveling such a long way so late at night. Did Auntie Lin get your room all set up?” “It’s all prepared, Ms. Xia.” “Then hurry up and take my sister to get some rest.” Please, stop standing there glaring at me—my heart can’t take it.
Qin Su offered no response. Hearing Xia Yiyan speak to her in the tone and posture of a lady of the house only stoked the fury in her eyes, fueling a bitter hatred as if her personal belongings had been snatched away.
Xia Yiyan felt rather awkward. How incredibly rude; she didn’t even acknowledge me when I spoke to her.
The air grew quiet, the atmosphere instantly turning stiff.
Right on cue, Xie Junting walked over carrying a glass of water, sat down on the edge of the bed, and held the cup directly to her lips. The large bump on her forehead only fueled his heartache and irritation, causing him to scold her in a chilled tone:
“Can’t you call out if you’re thirsty? Is your mouth broken? Didn’t I tell you not to walk by yourself until your ankle heals?”
Xia Yiyan obediently drank the water. Once she finished, she gently shook his arm and whined with aggrieved grievance:
“I woke up and you weren’t there, I thought you left. Stop scolding me, I didn’t want to fall either, it hurts a lot.”
Catching sight of her slightly reddened eye rims, Xie Junting instantly softened his stance.
“Alright, you’ve suffered enough injuries today. I won’t lecture you anymore.”
With that, Xie Junting leaned down and pressed a kiss to the corner of her lips. If he could, he would rather bear every single injury in her place than let her suffer even a fraction of pain.