148

Xiao Qi understood his words instantly.

So it was no illusion that she felt him suddenly turn cold earlier; it was because she had not signed her name on that poster.

Yet they were neither a couple nor husband and wife.

Uh~~~

It seemed that ever since last night, when he treated her like that...

Could it be that he...

Xiao Qi abruptly pulled back her thoughts, staring blankly at him, and pressed both hands against her pounding heart.

*Don't beat, don't beat, don't let your heart flutter.*

There was a bottle of mineral water right beside her. Without a second thought, Xiao Qi picked it up, unscrewed the cap, and took a few gulps. The icy coolness rushed through her chest and into her heart, which was completely filled with the calm and handsome face of the man before her.

*Calm down, calm down. The person beside you is Yichen, who has lost his memories of you. You know better than anyone how much he detests you.*

*So it's impossible for him to like...*

*Deep breath, exhale, deep breath, exhale...*

"Get out here, I'm taking the car to the garage."

Xiao Qi raised her eyes and realized they had already arrived at TC.

*Good thing we're here.*

"Thank you, President Lin!" She immediately pushed open the car door and bolted into TC.

Yichen watched the figure running inside with a gaze that softened slightly in his dark eyes.

Not long after Yichen walked into the president's office, Fang Li knocked on the door.

"Come in!"

The low male voice carried the solemnity of work, lacking its usual chill.

Fang Li watched as President Lin meticulously reviewed documents; that handsome face seemed devoid of its usual stern coldness.

President Lin seemed to be in a good mood today.

Fang Li placed the documents on the desk. "President Lin, these are the materials from the previous project. They need your review."

"Mhm!"

As Fang Li turned to leave, Yichen raised his eyes and called out to him, "Fang Li, do you believe in causeless love in this world?"

"Huh?" Fang Li was momentarily caught off guard.

Yichen said, "Beautiful, well-read, highly educated ladies from prestigious families... I've seen plenty of them, but none of them moved my heart. Yet I find myself falling for a silly, clumsy girl. Sometimes, looking at her innocent and foolish demeanor, I can't help wanting to tease her, and seeing her makes me feel relaxed and at ease."

"A few days ago, I even thought that even if I had some feelings for her, I wouldn't take a single step forward, and even if I did, I would always maintain a posture of being ready to walk away at any moment. Every time I watched her get flustered, I would also look on coldly. But right at this moment, I realize I don't want to step back. I only want to step forward and draw her into my own life..."

Hearing this, Fang Li finally understood why President Lin was different today from usual: Yichen, who had lost his memories of Miss Ye, had fallen in love with her all over again.

That was wonderful. Since President Lin loved Miss Ye again, his icy personality would become warm and human-like again, just as it used to be.

"President Lin, what you just said is about Ye..."

The door was knocked on.

"You can step out first!"

"Yes!"

Fang Li walked toward the door. When it opened, he saw Xu Hui, and his brows furrowed.

What was he doing here?

Xu Hui didn't even look at Fang Li, walking in with a somewhat arrogant air.

"Yichen, there is something I think I should tell you."

Yichen didn't even raise his head. Naturally, he wouldn't call him uncle, but his tone was polite nonetheless. "Please go ahead, Manager Xu."

"Yesterday, Miss Ye went to the Lin residence."

The dark eyes reviewing documents sank fiercely.

"As for what she said to your dad, you can go ask her yourself. Before she left the Lin residence, your dad even gave her a card."

At these words, a fierce and menacing look suddenly surfaced in Yichen's demeanor, his handsome face submerged in a terrifying gloom.

His entire body exuded a terrifying aura. He gripped the document tightly, the veins on the back of his hand bulging.

Sensing the sudden, piercing chill radiating from him, Xu Hui knew when to quit and silently backed out.

When Xiao Qi walked into TC, she realized she didn't have her employee ID card, so she had no choice but to call Yiyang to come down.

Looking at the white mobile phone in her hand, a radiant and charming smile bloomed on her pretty face.

Actually, Lin Yichen hadn't changed at all. The Lin Yichen of the past had bought her a phone, and he was still buying her one now.

Oh my, in a few days, could she talk to him about...

Her arm was abruptly grabbed by a powerful, strong hand, pulling her out of TC.

Xiao Qi stumbled, raised her eyes, and upon seeing who was dragging her, instinctively breathed a sigh of relief. "It's working hours now, where are you dragging me?"

Yichen's handsome face was icy cold, with freezing frost even at the corners of his eyes. Xiao Qi could only feel a wave of chill rising all over her body.

"What's wrong with you?"

Yichen shoved her away forcefully. "Tell me, why did you go to the Lin residence to see my dad?"

Hearing this, Xiao Qi was slightly surprised.

How did he know?

Ah! Perhaps his dad told him.

"Speak!"

Startled by the angry shout, Xiao Qi took a few steps back.

His handsome face was coated with a layer of sharpness under the sunlight... an anger fierce enough to be fatal.

She was indeed terrified of Lin Yichen when he was like this, but she had gone to the Lin residence for his sake in the first place, and when she tried to find him to discuss this matter, he was the one who ignored her.

Thinking of this, Xiao Qi regained a tiny bit of courage. "You still have the nerve to tell me to speak! The last time I said I wanted to find you, it was to talk about this very thing, and you were the one who ignored..."

"You really know how to turn things around and blame others," Yichen sneered coldly, his voice as cold as ice blades. "No wonder you dressed so prettily yesterday, and no wonder you said you had money today. You told my dad about my illness in exchange for a sum of..."

"I didn't reveal your illness!" Realizing why he was so furious—he actually thought she had betrayed him—Xiao Qi explained one point after another. "It was your stepmother who came to me. She wanted me to disclose your medical condition. I... I did agree to her at the time because of some special circumstances, but I didn't say a single word about your matters."

"Do you think I'd believe you?" Yichen's handsome face remained dark and gloomy, layers of haze surfacing in the depths of his eyes. "From the time I lost my memories until now, you haven't kept a single promise you made to me. To pester me, you act cute, lie, and drug me. Do you think I'll still believe anything you do?"

"I really didn't betray you," Xiao Qi tried her utmost to explain. "To cover for you, I even played the role of a gold-digger in front of your dad. I really didn't say anything! Why didn't you ask clearly before wrongly accusing me like this?"

"Still pretending?" Yichen grabbed her abruptly, pulled a card from her pocket, and narrowed his eyes darkly. "My dad gave you this, didn't he? I really don't understand you. At first, when I offered you money, you didn't want it. What? Do you think the money I give isn't as much as what my dad gives?"

Xiao Qi blurted out, "I never take other people's money for free. Your dad's money is something I swindled using my own skills. Since he was willing to give it, why shouldn't I accept it?"

"Fine, Ye Xiyang, you're doing great," Yichen sneered coldly, the depths of his eyes unfathomably dark, and shoved her away before walking into TC.

Yiyang happened to be walking out. When he ran into Yichen and called out to him, Yiyang was ignored, leaving him puzzled.

*Why does my brother's expression feel so icy and ruthless?*

Xiao Qi looked at the bright red, bloody marks on her wrist where she had been grabbed; even a light touch hurt.

*You heartless bastard, I took a slap from your stepmother for your sake, and this is how you repay kindness with enmity.*

*Not only do you refuse to believe me, but you also squeezed my wrist red.*

*I was just thinking earlier that he had turned gentle and that I could date him—I'd rather date a pig than date him!*

A full and intense sorrow blossomed within Xiao Qi's chest, gradually spreading to all her senses, and her eyes seemed once again beyond her control.

"Xiyang, why are you outside? I searched all over the lobby for you!"

Seeing Yiyang walk over, Xiao Qi immediately lowered her red and swollen hand.

It was better not to let Yiyang know about this, after all, that person was his biological mother.

Xiao Qi quickly pulled herself together and smiled faintly. "It's cold out, just soaking up some sun."

"It's only November, it's not that cold," Yiyang said, putting an arm around her shoulder as they walked toward TC. "Let's go. With you missing from the company these past few days, I've been worked to death."

Once upstairs, Xiao Qi made the excuse of going to the restroom and ran off to find Yichen to set things straight.

She felt utterly wronged over this matter. Since he had misunderstood and wrongly accused her without distinguishing right from wrong, she had to clear things up immediately, otherwise her eyes would start leaking water again.

However, as soon as she rushed into the president's office, she was chased out by President Lin himself.

He even warned that if she dared to step in again, he would have security throw her out.

Unyielding, Xiao Qi stubbornly barged back into the president's office once more. The people in the office area were all watching and whispering, but she couldn't care less about that now.

Finally, at the sound of Yichen's utterly indifferent "Get lost," she rolled away, heartbroken.

*Lin Yichen, I hate you to death!*

This was what Xiao Qi said to him before rolling away.

As soon as Xiao Qi left, Yichen walked out of the president's office right behind her.

The journey from TC to the Lin residence normally took twenty minutes, but by car, it took eight minutes to arrive.

Lin Boshen was sitting on the sofa reading the newspaper, and Xu Lu happened to be walking downstairs. Seeing Yichen walk in, one secretly smiled while the other looked puzzled.

"Yichen, why are you here during working hours?"

Dressed in a tailored handmade suit, Yichen stood with his slender figure bathed in the bright lights. Clearly, he was dashing, gentle, and handsome, yet he inexplicably gave off the illusion of being dark and cold, as if an endless, pitch-black vortex lay right behind him.

Lin Boshen looked at him, feeling as though the son before him had emerged from the deepest darkness.

It inexplicably sent a shudder through him, a chilling coldness piercing straight through his limbs and bones.

His arrival carried an aura of terrifying hostility that intimidated both him and Xu Lu on the staircase.

Lin Boshen felt that his son was exceptionally cold, gloomy, and dark.

"I came to ask you something, and I'll leave as soon as I get my answer."

Lin Boshen put down the newspaper in his hand. "What is it?"

"What on earth do you want to know? Why did you look for Ye Xiyang?"

His words were unhurried, his tone cold and detached, his expression like a blood-stained thin sword—faint yet razor-sharp, with a bloodthirsty gleam ready to burst forth as he lowered his gaze to look at him.

Seeing his son look at him this way, Lin Boshen grew displeased as well. "I should be asking you. The moment you heard the news, you rushed back. What? Are you here to call your father to account?"

"It's you who are doubting me," Yichen said with bloodshot, bloodthirsty depths in his dark eyes, his voice cold and low. "From childhood to adulthood, what have I been in your heart? Have you ever truly trusted me? Do you need me to spell it out?"

"How insolent," Lin Boshen stood up and stared at him sternly. "Are you talking to me like this just for that woman? Or are you worried that she might betray you, afraid that I'd see her and that she'd reveal her true colors in front of me?"