After he left, I turned on the television and waited anxiously in the room . Time slowly ticked by . I still hadn’t received Yin Li’s call telling me that everything would be all right . The entertainment channels that were planning on livestreaming Yin Xuan’s press conference still hadn’t released any news about a change in programming . The screen still showed that the press conference programming was continuing as scheduled .

I nervously paced the room . Once Yin Xuan appeared on screen, my heart leapt out of my chest . I felt like I had been struck by a bolt of lighting and stood locked in place, motionless . I could only stare at Yin Xuan’s face on the television .

Though she had makeup on, it couldn’t hide her numbness and weariness . She went through the motions, mechanically answering a few questions regarding the movie .  

“Today, this press conference isn’t to promote the film . I have something to confess . ”

She paused and surveyed the room . Then, she stared at the camera . Her gaze seemed to pierce through the screen . It struck fear into my heart .  

“Yan Xiao, sorry . Right now I…” A disruption suddenly occurred on scene . I saw Yin Li rush in . He used his jacket to cover Yin Xuan’s face and had someone immediately escort her out . Then he approached the camera .

“Yan Xiao, everything is fine . Don’t be afraid . ” When he said that, I could hear the quick-witted reporters frantically clicking the shutters and see the rapid-fire flash of the cameras .

I didn’t know how the situation would progress . But in that moment, looking at Yin Li’s face, I felt unusually calm .

It wasn’t long before Yin Li brought Yin Xuan home .

Yin Xuan’s eyes were red . She had cried . She looked at me, and then ran to hide in her room . Soon, I heard the sound of suppressed sobs . She had been prepared to lose it all . To her, today was the equivalent of coming back from death’s door . After Yin Li came to comfort me with a few words, his phone began to ring off the hook . It seemed that he would be busy cleaning up the mess .

What I didn’t expect was that once Yin Li left, Yin Xuan would soon after stop crying and come knock on my door .

She leaned against the doorframe, her eyes swollen . “Do you know why my brother found me so late?”

“You didn’t hit me . I was the one who jumped in front . Sorry . ” I calmly lifted my head and looked at her .

Yin Xuan didn’t seem to care about that . She only smiled and said . “It was Li Jing . Li Jing was the one who stopped my brother . I had planned to have some solitude after the press conference . I had only told Li Jing about this . He apologized to my brother . Li Jing told me that even if I came clean, he wouldn’t hate me . ”

“Li Jing wasn’t in the country . Once my brother knew the truth and wanted to find me, it was Li Jing who intercepted . ” Yin Xuan lowered her head . “Li Jing even took all measures to protect and separate me in hopes that it would be easier for me to confess everything in the conference . ”

She sounded miserable and self-mocking . “When I confessed to him, he clearly emphasized that I would forever be his friend . But instead of helping shelter a friend in their time of need, he hoped that I would confess . Haha, even after knowing the truth, he preferred to ruin me like this . With a huge public scandal, he gave me no way out and hoped to forever sever the relations.h.i.+p between you and my brother . ”

Yin Xuan was going through an emotional breakdown, and I didn’t know how to comfort her . I too was shocked by Li Jing’s actions and didn’t know what to say .

“I’m not a good person . It’s true . I used to like him, appreciate him, and admire him . But I also have a vengeful heart . Because of the way he treated me, I also want to return the ‘gift’ in kind . ” Yin Xuan fixed her gaze on me, and her eyes were so gentle and warm that my blood ran cold . “My brother wouldn’t tell you all this, so I will instead . Alicia, do you see it now? Li Jing isn’t the kind gentleman that he appears to be . He is also incredibly selfish . See clearly for yourself whether he truly loves you . I don’t know why you rejected my brother before, but I can tell you that my brother definitely loves you more than he does . I’ve never seen Li Jing do anything for anyone . ”

“I’m sorry, I really only recovered my memories at the last minute . All of this is my fault . ” My voice was hoa.r.s.e .

“You don’t need to explain anything to me . My brother already told me everything . This was heaven’s divine punishment . If I wasn’t so stupid and if I didn’t hate you so viciously at that time, this all wouldn’t have happened . Moreover, how could my brother allow me to blame you? My future sister-in-law,” Yin Xuan joked in a mocking tone .

“I’m really laughable . After I admitted everything to Li Jing and planned to surrender myself, I cried and confessed my love to him . ” Yin Xuan lifted her head with difficulty . She wanted to hide her tears . “Such a hopeless love . ”

“You’ve always managed to come out on top . I’ve been handed a crus.h.i.+ng defeat . ” She wiped away her tears and concluded our conversation with that .

I sat in my room in a daze . I felt lonely and even a bit grim . I was starting to miss Yin Li a little .