Li Jingchen's expression was grim as he asked in a deep voice, "When did Song Nuan arrive?"

Xu Yiran and Fang Yu looked at each other in bewilderment.

Despite her verbal abuse, Xu Yiran was still somewhat afraid of Li Jingchen, especially when he got angry. His eyes were chilling, as if he wanted to devour her alive.

She remained silent, her hand instinctively tightening its grip on Fang Yu's.

Feeling someone pulling her, Fang Yu sighed helplessly, patted the cold hand, and said, "President Li, she went up ten minutes ago."

Upon hearing this, the man's face darkened.

He had just finished arguing with Zhong Qingya at the banquet hall entrance and hadn't seen Song Nuan at all. If she had come upstairs ten minutes ago, she would either have gone into the banquet hall to avoid him, or...

Li Jingchen dared not think too deeply about it.

He was very annoyed, glaring at Xu Yiran, "Did you bring Song Nuan here?"

He had heard Lin Xuan mention that Zhong Qingya had some conflicts with a subsidiary of the Ouyang Group when she was renting the venue. If he remembered correctly, Xu Yiran worked for a subsidiary of the Ouyang Group.

"It wasn't me!" Xu Yiran protested, feeling very upset. Just as she was about to vent her anger, she met Li Jingchen's cold and deep gaze, and her arrogance instantly vanished. She said sullenly, "If you're capable of doing this, why are you afraid of others finding out?"

That's a really weak statement.

Her voice was so soft it was barely audible, even Fang Yu, who was closest to her, couldn't hear it clearly, let alone Li Jingchen.

Li Jingchen was too lazy to argue with her about these trivial matters.

"The banquet hall is on the twenty-second floor." His tone left no room for refusal. "Go up there and bring her back."

Xu Yiran gritted her teeth, the word "Why?" swirling around her lips, the impulse threatening to spill out, but reason prevailed, firmly suppressing her tongue.

She turned to look at Fang Yu, her eyes seeking Fang Yu's opinion.

Fang Yu avoided the topic; she didn't really want to go up either. Since Li Jingchen had appeared in the garage, it meant he hadn't run into Song Nuan, and Song Nuan had missed him.

Catching the adulterer in the act but failing to catch them means at least you retain some dignity.

They're making a big fuss about looking for someone right now, but who knows what Zhong Qingya might do?

Just as the atmosphere reached a stalemate, a gentle and clear voice suddenly rang out behind them—

Who are you looking for?

The three of them turned around at the sound without prior arrangement.

Song Nuan looked at them with a blank expression on her face. If you looked closely, you could even see that the corners of her mouth were drooping.

Upon seeing her, Li Jingchen immediately frowned.

Fang Yu reacted calmly, while Xu Yiran was extremely surprised. She let go of Fang Yu's hand, ran to Song Nuan's side, took her arm, turned her back to Li Jingchen, and covered her face with her hair.

She whispered, "He came out of the elevator, Song Nuan, he must have come out of the banquet hall."

"You haven't met him yet. He'll try to argue with you later, but don't believe him."

Song Nuan gazed at him from afar.

His eyes were always so deep, as if they were always hiding something in his heart. She remembered that when she first met him, his eyes were very pure, and there was rarely a time when they seemed endless.

When did she start to not understand him?

Her memory was too hazy, and Song Nuan couldn't recall it for a moment.

Gathering her chaotic thoughts, she looked at the two of them and said, "Yiran, Fangyu, you two should go back first."

Xu Yiran looked at her, then turned to look at Li Jingchen, hesitated, and finally just sighed without saying anything, then left with Fang Yu.

“Nuan Nuan, I…”

Song Nuan interrupted him, "I need to go home to get some things, so I won't be going back to Huayuan today."

Li Jingchen strode after her, grabbed her wrist, and tightened his grip, afraid that she would never come back to him once she left.

His intuition told him that she was angry.

"You saw it?"

Song Nuan lowered her eyes and glanced at his hand. It was gripping her hand so tightly it hurt, but she neither cried out in pain nor shook it off, letting him hold it.

She retorted coolly, "What do you want me to see? Or rather, what don't you want me to see?"

“I can explain.”

"But I don't need it."

The man's eyes dimmed, a storm brewing beneath them, and his voice grew even deeper, "What do you need? I'll have Lin Xuan get it for you."

Song Nuan politely declined, saying, "It's not appropriate."

He chuckled, his gaze turning cold. "Then have Xu Yiran or Fang Yu help you get it. If that doesn't work, I'll go back with you to get it."

"..."

Song Nuan knew that he wouldn't let her go easily.

"Whatever you want."

The car stopped in front of the villa. Song Nuan took a step, and Li Jingchen followed closely behind, clinging to her as if afraid she would run away halfway.

Fang Yu wasn't home, but Xu Yiran was.

She and Li Jingchen stared at each other in the living room, neither of them speaking. Xu Yiran's gaze was full of malice, while Li Jingchen—

His gaze was fixed on Song Nuan, not even sparing a glance for Xu Yiran.

upstairs.

Song Nuan took out Du Fanyu's photo from the drawer.

The room was dark. She sat by the window, a few rays of sunlight filtering through. She gently stroked the photograph, and as she looked at it, her vision blurred.

His emotions surged and became uncontrollable.

This is the second time.

Li Jingchen lied to her for the second time.

The first time, he lied to her that he was in a meeting, but actually accompanied Zhong Qingya to try on wedding dresses.

Today, I lied to her that I was in a meeting, but in reality, I was at a restaurant. Zhong Qingya was celebrating his birthday, and she was still foolishly going to baking classes every day, wanting to make him a cake by hand.

"Mom, don't you think I'm ridiculous?"

She sobbed softly, her voice trembling with tears, afraid that someone outside the door would hear her. She desperately covered her mouth and bit her lip, afraid of making a loud noise.

The words that others once said are now playing in my mind on their own.

Li Guanyu's opposition, Ouyang Zhoujing's disapproval, and Zhong Qingya's ridicule... many, many of their faces overlapped, mocking her former determination.

She clutched the coin and wiped away her tears.

She looked at Du Fanyu's photo and murmured to herself, "If I get tails, I'll leave him, okay?"

The sunlight gradually slanted.

Song Nuan calmed herself down, took a deep breath, and tossed the coin in her hand into the air. It flew in a perfect arc before landing back in her palm.

She held on tightly and wouldn't let go.

Looking out the window, Song Nuan couldn't describe her feelings. She stared for a long time, then opened the window and threw a coin out.

Putting the photo in her bag, Song Nuan went downstairs and said, "Let's go."

Xu Yiran tried to persuade her to stay, "You've come all this way, why don't you wait for Fang Yu to come back and have a meal together at home before you leave?"

After saying that, she changed her mind and said, "Why don't you stay and sleep here tonight? This villa is yours. You haven't lived here for more than a few days. It's always been me and Fang Yu who have been living here."

Before Song Nuan could even respond to her suggestion, Li Jingchen arrogantly rejected it: "No way."

"I didn't ask you."

Xu Yiran was full of dissatisfaction with him, and she pouted and retorted in a low voice.

Li Jingchen naturally heard it.

He ignored Xu Yiran and simply pulled Song Nuan away, saying, "Now that you've got the things, come home with me."