Zhou Yilin didn't explain herself. After arriving at the Rapha.n.u.s Courtyard, she urged Ouyang Yi to leave. After Ouyang Yi left reluctantly, she stood up from her wheelchair. After a few days of rest and recuperation, the soles of her feet had formed scabs. It was still painful to walk, but the impact wasn't as bad as before.

After changing and fixing her makeup, she changed back to the cold and aloof Zhou Yilin.

The dinner party was about to begin.

Zhou Yilin followed Zhou Hua into the banquet hall.

She donned an off-shoulder black evening dress and wore a pearl necklace which made her neck appear exceptionally slender. Her wavy hair was styled to the side, draping over her shoulder. With a supermodel-like figure and scorching red lips, she caught everyone's eyes the moment she entered the room.

Zhou Hua enjoyed this kind of attention. Even though everyone was looking at his adopted daughter, it didn't matter to him as long as everyone paid attention to his Zhou Family. This was one of the reasons why Zhou Hua brought Zhou Yilin along to the banquet.

Zhou Yilin walked at a leisurely pace. Like a beautiful and aloof young miss from an aristocratic family, she possessed both elegance and beauty.

Zhou Hua wasn't aware that the soles of her feet were hurt, so he took her here and there to talk to his acquaintances. He'd seemingly dragged her around the entire banquet hall.

Finally, Zhou Hua waved and told her to go get acquainted with the other youngsters by herself, and he went on to chat with his acquaintance.

Zhou Yilin didn't bother with anyone and walked to the food area instead. A sofa chair was conveniently placed on the side for guests to rest.

A few men came by and tried to strike up a conversation with her, but they were scared off by her cold att.i.tude.

Then, a commotion was heard at the entrance and she glanced over to see Ouyang Yi donned in a suit, looking exceptionally handsome. She was left in a daze for a moment before she retracted her gaze. She then closed her eyes and forced herself to disperse the images which popped up in her mind.

In the past, she could adjust her mood very quickly, but tonight her emotions were a bit out of control. She stared down at the wine gla.s.s and continually tried to hypnotize herself to seal off all those uncontrollable feelings at the bottom of her heart.

Those are Zhong Lin's feelings, not Zhou Yilin's. And, now I'm Zhou Yilin.

After reminding herself several times on the inside, her expression returned to one of indifference, as if she had no care for the worldly affairs even if the sky were to fall.

Originally, she wanted to stay here until the banquet was over. However, things tend to go in a direction one didn't expect, and the one person she didn't want to see happened to appear right in front of her.

"Yilin, long time no see." A handsome young man in a suit stood in front of her and smiled.

Zhou Yilin didn't stand up and merely nodded in acknowledgment with an indifferent expression.

The young man didn't mind and added, "I haven't seen you for a few years, but you're turning more beautiful each time I see you. Do you have a boyfriend now?"

"Mr. Liao, that's none of your business." Zhou Yilin put down her wine gla.s.s and got up to go to the bathroom.

Liao Juntao grabbed her arm and stopped her.

Zhou Yilin turned her head and stared down at the hand clasping her arm. She then took a step back and flung his hand away with a cold look in her eyes as she asked, "Is something the matter?"

"Yilin, back then you wanted to go study abroad, so you broke up with me. That I can understand. But now that we meet again, even if we are no longer lovers. you don't have to avoid me like a plague, do you?"

Zhou Yilin's expression grew even colder. "Mr. Liao, I didn't mention some things before to leave you some face. Didn't you tell others that you were just playing around with me?"

Liao Juntao was startled. "You…you heard that? No wonder you suddenly broke up with me and said that you wanted to go study abroad."

Zhou Yilin sneered. She turned to leave but caught sight of Ouyang Yi standing a few meters away, looking in her direction. She squeezed her hands and straightened herself before moving towards the bathroom.

"Yilin!" Liao Juntao stepped forward and was about to stop Zhou Yilin again when Ouyang Yi suddenly appeared in front of him, making him miss his chance to stop Zhou Yilin from leaving.

Zhou Yilin coincidentally met two other 'acquaintances' in the bathroom.

"Oh, Miss Zhou, you're here too!"

"Long time no see, Zhou Yilin, you're getting more and more beautiful every day."

Their tone, however, concealed a trace of contempt. In their eyes, Zhou Yilin was an adopted daughter who couldn't inherit the family business, so she was no different from their housekeeper at home.

Zhou Yilin merely swept them a glance before walking past them.

"I saw Liao Juntao earlier. Zhou Yilin, did you see him?"

"So what if Liao Juntao is here? I heard that he's engaged to Cheng Family's precious heiress. Even if their old love rekindles, Zhou Yilin can only be a mistress."

"Zhou Yilin, since you're someone I know, let me offer you a bit of advice. You can be anyone's mistress, but not Liao Juntao's. The Cheng Family's heiress is very feisty, so she would definitely tear you up if she were to find out."

After was.h.i.+ng her hands, Zhou Yilin ignored the two women and walked out. The two followed right behind her and kept giving cynical remarks while walking. They were clearly saying those things for Zhou Yilin to hear.

When Zhou Yilin returned to the banquet hall, she was blocked by Ouyang Yi.

Ouyang Yi looked at her with an evil smile and held out his hand. "Will you give me the pleasure of dancing with you?"

Zhou Yilin initially wanted to refuse him, but when she heard the cries of surprise behind her, a glint flashed across her eyes and she quickly placed her hand on his.

A handsome man and beautiful woman dancing together looked like a match made in heaven, instantly attracting a lot of gazes.

Meanwhile, Zhou Yilin and Ouyang Yi were conversing head-to-head.

"So it turns out that you've been looking bitter all day because someone broke your heart, hm?" Ouyang Yi jested.

"Looks like you don't want to see Zhong Lin anymore."

"…" Ouyang Yi's expression darkened.

Zhou Yilin's lips curled into a slight smile.

"A beautiful woman like Miss Zhou surely wouldn't become a villain who separates an affectionate couple, right?"

"Affectionate couple? Only those who live and die together can be considered affectionate couples. I'm afraid that someone like Vice President Ouyang will change women like changing clothes."

"Miss Zhou, you shouldn't treat all men as sc.u.mbags just because you've met one who toyed with your feelings."

Zhou Yilin looked at Ouyang Yi with a forced smile. "Oh, yeah? In my opinion, you are no different. You use business affairs to threaten a woman to go on a date with you."

Ouyang Yi was almost angered to the point of suffering an internal injury. He had thoroughly experienced Zhou Yilin's sharp tongue first-hand. But, what can he do? This woman is, after all, Zhong Lin's twin sister. He could only bear with her even if he didn't like her.

But when he saw Zhou Yilin's triumphant expression, he couldn't help himself and asked, "What about you? Aren't you using your sister to achieve your goals? You are no better than me, right?"

Zhou Yilin's expression darkened.

From a bird's-eye view, the two bickering on equal grounds was a hilarious sight.

Soon after, Zhou Yilin bade Zhou Hua farewell and prepared to leave because her feet were hurting. However, Ouyang Yi followed her.

"Why are you following me?" She cast a sidelong glance at him.

"Are you going to see Zhong Lin?"

"I've already seen her. I'm going home now. Do you still want to follow me?"

Ouyang Yi immediately halted.

Zhou Yilin walked towards her car, but she stepped on a crushed rock with her injured foot after taking two steps. She staggered and almost fell, but Ouyang Yi rushed up to support her.

She turned around to see Ouyang Yi and thanked him with her eyes lowered. She then moved his hand away and walked to the driver's seat while bearing with the pain. She opened the door and sat inside. When she changed into a pair of flat shoes, she checked the injury on the soles of her feet. Fortunately, the scab didn't fall off.

She then cast another look at Ouyang Yi before starting the car and driving away.

Ouyang Yi watched the car merge into the traffic and disappear from his view. He frowned slightly. He thought that he would feel happy when he saw her out of luck, but when she was about to fall, his body reacted faster than his brain and he rushed forward to support her.

It must be because she resembles Zhong Lin too much. Ouyang Yi thought.

The next day, Zhou Hua called Zhou Yilin to his office and asked her about her current relations.h.i.+p with Ouyang Yi. He saw them dance together at the banquet last night, and today someone from the Ouyang Corporation notified them that Ouyang Yi had agreed to sign the contract. He was very curious as to what method his adopted daughter had used to convince Ouyang Yi to sign the contract.

Zhou Yilin blandly replied, "There's nothing between us, We just exchanged a few friendly words."

"Where did you go when you asked for leave the other day?" Zhou Hua unexpectedly asked.

"I ask for leave every once in a while for relaxation." Zhou Yilin's expression remained indifferent.

"Oh? What a coincidence. I heard that Ouyang Yi also disappeared for a few days then."

Zhou Yilin's eyelid twitched, but she calmly replied, "Oh, what a coincidence indeed."

"If there's nothing else, I'll leave."

"Go ahead," Zhou Hua smiled and added, "Oh, by the way, if you have time later, you should take the initiative to ask Ouyang Yi out for tea. Making friends with him will benefit you in the future."

Zhou Yilin paused in her tracks and acknowledged with an 'mhmm' before walking out.

On the way to her office, she received a phone call from Ouyang Yi.

"Zhou Yilin, where did you hide Zhong Lin?" An angry voice traveled to her ears.

"She's where she's supposed to be. Vice President Ouyang, you're meddling too much into my family affairs."

"I'm her boyfriend, so I have the right to know where she is. I'm quite sure that you want to use her again, so you won't let her contact me directly."

Zhou Yilin stopped walking and sneered, "Since you're putting it like this, I'll comply and I'll let her meet you only after you sign the contract."

"Zhou Yilin, you said that you don't believe that I have feelings for Zhong Lin, but you only dare to act so boldly because you're making use of my feelings towards her. You are the most hypocritical and shameless woman I have ever seen!"

"Thank you for your compliments." Zhou Yilin replied before hanging up.

Although she hung up, her emotions didn't calm down. Ouyang Yi was right in saying that she had indeed started to believe in his feelings. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been so fearless.

The most hypocritical and shameless woman?

Zhou Yilin suddenly smiled.

"Deputy Director Zhou?" A cry of surprise sounded in front of her.

Zhou Yilin stopped smiling and glanced over to see Manager Lin and An Xiaotian staring at her. She nodded to acknowledge them before leisurely walking away.

"Xiaotian, did Deputy Director Zhou s-smile just now?" Manager Lin thought that he was hallucinating.

An Xiaotian was delighted and cheerfully replied, "Yes, she was smiling."