The randomly placed trinkets immediately made it evident that the two of them stayed together. They injected warmth into the place and made it feel more down-to-earth.

Lin Chu accepted Xu Moyan's call and teased her, "Missing me already?"

Xu Moyan smirked. "You wish. I'm calling to tell you that you should go on the Web and take a look. Go on Wechat, I'll send you the address. The Lin family's really done for now. They deserve this for playing the good guys."

Feeling strange, Lin Chu logged on Wechat and read the message Xu Moyan sent her, which was a website link.

She clicked on it, and out appeared a video of Lin Yuwen and Su Changxin berating Lin Chu, but it was not one of Lin Yuwen scolding Lin Chu to her face. 

Lin Yuwen was still wearing her bridal dress in the video. She was obviously in the waiting room together with Su Changxin. Su Changxin was placating Lin Yuwen, and their conversation gradually changed course to be about Lin Chu. 

"Mum, Lin Chu is here to take her revenge on us! She didn't like that we treated her badly. She still remembered the time when I accused her of something that she hasn't done and you beating her so severely that she couldn't get up from the bed. She didn't have the power to seek revenge then, but she has it now, and she's coming for us. Destroying my wedding, making us the laughing stock of the public. The past events coupled with me s.n.a.t.c.hing Cheng Ziming from her… that's why she wants us to be done for right now! Say, will she do something against Lin Mao?"

"She wouldn't dare!" Su Changxin's face contorted with rage. She was gripping a pen-like object in her hands, but then she lobbed it to the side in a fit of anger. It landed on the mirror, bounced off with a crack, and rolled on the floor limply.

"If she lay her hands on Lin Mao, then she'll become an ungrateful b.i.t.c.h in the public eye and would suffer insults and personal attacks. Don't you know how Lin Chu is really like after living with her for so many years? That fake b.i.t.c.h won't stand for insults against herself when she can direct them towards us. Now that everyone knows that we raised her, she'll be drowned to death with insults if she dared to touch Lin Mao. She won't dare to; she would have to mind her reputation, or else the eligible bachelor she's found for herself will fly away. Everyone cares about reputation. Who would want to marry a woman with a bad rep?"

Su Changxin pursed her lips and hmphed derisively. "Everyone only knows that she's ungrateful. They don't know how we treated her. Now, we're the victims. Also, with that fake a.s.s personality of hers, do you think she would dare beg someone to take action on the Lin family just because she felt hurt? Not only won't she do that, but she'll also fake being all altruistic and not bother with us like the white lotus 1 she is!"

The video was short, only broadcasting the few sentences exchanged between Lin Yuwen and Su Changxin, but there was also a long article below that explained everything in detail — how Lin Yuwen and Cheng Ziming got together, how Cheng Ziming cheated on Lin Chu and how he did unspeakable deeds for money. The article did not spare Cheng Jindong and w.a.n.g Jinglin either, stating that they did not tell Lin Chu anything even after they knew that their son had cheated on her. 

Lin Chu wrinkled her brow. She read the news, and she realized that the video was already everywhere on Weibo and Wechat. 

"What's happening? Is this Yan Beicheng's handiwork?" Xu Moyan asked.

"It isn't." Lin Chu was confident, and she stood steadfast in her faith in him. "If it's only a gesture aimed at the Li family, it might be him, but he definitely won't pull me into this and expose my secrets if he wanted to take action on them. I know him. He won't involve me in this and hurt me if he's taking action. Also, I believe that lousy tactics such as this isn't his idea."

Yan Beicheng entered just after she finished typing those characters out, holding a laptop to his chest. He wore a thin, V-necked sweater paired with slacks of a similar hue, accentuating his lanky proportions. 

When he saw Lin Chu staring at him, he detoured to the other side of the bed and sat down. He reclined on the pillows, lowered his lips to hers and kissed. "I was working in the study, but I couldn't help thinking of you. I can't do much work when I'm distracted, so I brought my laptop here to work with you by my side."

Lin Chu inhaled his scent, masculine and rea.s.suring. 

"Do you still have a lot left to do?" Lin Chu asked.

"I'll be done after a while." Yan Beicheng looked at her. "What's wrong?"

"I'll tell you after you're finished with work." Lin Chu said, not wanting to disturb him.

Yan Beicheng promptly put his laptop aside. "Tell me now. Work is nowhere as important as you. If you don't tell me what's wrong, I won't be able to concentrate on work too."

Lin Chu saw that he was determined to wait until she fessed up, so she handed him her phone. "Look at this news article."

Yan Beicheng raised his brow and finished reading with a feeling of doubt. After he closed the tab, he got a look at Lin Chu's words to Xu Moyan. After he read the news, his gut reaction was that it was him who did this for Lin Chu. It was completely normal.

He did threaten Lin Yuwen and Cheng Ziming, albeit mildly, at their wedding. 

This was truly not his handiwork, though. Lin Chu was right. If it was he who did it, he would direct his ire on Lin Mao or the Lin family. No matter what ploys he made, he would not involve Lin Chu in this.

The news article made Lin Chu look like the victim, but she was submerged in this muddy puddle too. Airing her dirty laundry in front of the public meant that she was going to be pursued by the paparazzi in due time.

No one would want to be exposed in this manner, to be the target of strangers' pointed words and be the subject of their gossip.

He did not expect Lin Chu to trust him irrevocably, though. She trusted him to not be the one behind this without any question or second thought, trusted him to not involve her no matter what he would have done.

He looked at the exchange between her and Xu Moyan. It was only seconds between messages, which showed that Lin Chu had replied Xu Moyan without a moment's thought.

If she had even doubted him slightly, she would not have replied her this immediately.

Yan Beicheng felt a fluttering feeling in his chest. He was overwhelmed with affection for Lin Chu at her unconditional trust on him. His heartbeat accelerated uncontrollably, and his chest felt close to bursting with it. 

He was always staid and self-disciplined. Throughout his life, he had never felt like this, like he was about to lose control of himself. Sometimes, even his family could not give him unconditional trust in this manner. There was always something that they doubted and could only let go of after they asked for clarification.

Lin Chu here did not even ask.

Yan Beicheng hugged her. Lin Chu's earnest face was flushed from the shower she had had earlier. Her clean, mild shampoo-ey scent wafted into his nostrils, and he couldn't help kneading her into his embrace.

"Do you trust me that much?" Yan Beicheng promptly laid her on his lap and let her settle.

His lips touched the point of her nose when he lowered his head, and he continued the gesture with tenderness.

His heart was filled with warmth because of the trust she had on him. His warm, dark irises bled warmth and affection as they focused on her pale, pretty face, unsatiable. 

Lin Chu's heart beat faster at his actions. She stuttered when she tried to speak, and she did not dare move, so she could only reply with heated cheeks, "Mm. I know that you won't do anything that will hurt me."

Lin Chu's hands locked behind his waist. "We've not been together for long, but I trust you. You've never betrayed my trust no matter what you've said and done. I see everything you've done for me. I know everything, and I've stored them in my memories. I won't be that ungrateful and doubt you because of something that you haven't done. Moyan had that thought because she doesn't know you well. I do, so I won't doubt you."

Lin Chu had not thought about it seriously before. She only knew that she liked him a lot, liked him deep to her core. She did not want to leave his side even for a second. Every time she saw him, she always wanted to burrow further into his arms. She longed to be close to him, could not help wanting to share everything with him, every small action, every intimate gesture. 

Today's events made her think. She did not doubt him at all, not even for a single second; she trusted him that much, and that made her realize that the feelings she harbored towards him were no longer only affection.

She loved him.

The charisma this man possessed was terrifying. They had only dated for a few months, yet she found herself unable to leave him.

Yan Beicheng's arms tightened. He turned both of them over so that he was above her, and he kissed her heavily, desperate and aggressive, like an amateur, inexperienced barely-grown-up kid that knew no bounds. His tongue attacked the inside of her mouth forcefully, without any semblance of prowess.

Lin Chu panted. She clutched on his shoulders, and she opened her mouth and said with difficulty, "You still have work to do."

"I only have a little to wrap up. I'm done. It'll be the same if I worked on it in the office tomorrow." Yan Beicheng said, his lips caressing hers, his slender, long fingers already working on unfastening the thin belt around her waist.

"I haven't finished talking about the issue from just now." Lin Chu yielded under his ministrations, a small portion of her consciousness the only thing remaining as she stuttered out the words. 

"We'll talk about it after we're done." Yan Beicheng kissed her, and he entered. 

The fluffy bed shook and rattled. Lin Chu was jolted terribly, feeling as if she was floating away, her grasp on her roots loosening as she was tossed onto cloud nine. Yan Beicheng was completely unhinged, letting go of his reserve as he tightened his hold on Lin Chu's waist and continued to thrust, the climax nowhere in sight. 

Lin Chu did not know how to deal with his uncontrollable, insatiable hunger. She could only clutch his shoulders, so tightly that her fingernails dug inside his muscles. At last, the euphoria was too much for her, and she bit him soundly on the shoulder.

Yan Beicheng held Lin Chu in his arms, the two of them covered with a thin layer of sweat. His long fingers wiped the few droplets of sweat on Lin Chu's forehead away gently, and he was suddenly overcome with the urge to smoke a cigarette.

Yan Beicheng now knew that the aphorism "one must smoke after having s.e.x" had some truth in it. 

"What do you think of this issue?" Lin Chu reclined on his chest casually, her fingertip tracing circles on Yan Beicheng's chest.

"How about you?" Yan Beicheng pressed her hand on his chest, constraining its movement.

She had traced those circles especially gently, tickling his chest.

"What I see is that this has pulled me in although the main point of it is to uncover the Lins' deceiving side. It caused the loss of reputation of the Lin family and also aired all my dirty laundry for everyone to see. All those affairs are not something worth bragging about. I don't know if the other party only wants to teach the Lin family a lesson and embarra.s.s them, or if there's some other motive." Lin Chu wrinkled her brow, thought for a while, and shook her head, "Aside from feuding with the Lins, I don't have beef with other people. The Lin family won't place themselves at a disadvantage too just to embarra.s.s me. They've lost far more than I. Or am I just cannon fodder in their schemes?"

Yan Beicheng kissed the tip of her nose. "I'm making a call to investigate."

He then got up and put on his slacks. He did not fasten his belt, opting to pull the zipper halfway up instead, exposing his narrow, firm waist, so appealing that Lin Chu longed to cop a feel.

She did not get to retract her longing stare before Yan Beicheng looked right at her.

Were there eyes on the back of this man's head?

Lin Chu pulled up the blankets to cover her face at the man's chuckle.

Yan Beicheng chuckled and went out to make the call without saying anything more.

He returned after approximately half an hour, only to see Lin Chu coc.o.o.ned in the sheets with only her eyes out in the open, fidgeting uncomfortably when she noticed him. 

Yan Beicheng promptly seized the blanket-human coc.o.o.n into his lap and pulled off the blankets to reveal her face, "Are you an idiot? If you think your boyfriend looks hot, you can look at him all you want. Who's going to laugh at you?"

That was what he had said, but his smug face made her kick him from inside the sheets. "Aren't you laughing at me?"

Yan Beicheng chuckled, pressed her into his arms and kneaded her for a while. "Okay, okay, I'm gonna stop."

Lin Chu was still fuming. She raised her neck only to bite him on the chin, not soundly, but only to leave a mark as a symbolic reminder.

Yan Beicheng's eyes darkened. He squeezed her and sn.a.k.e.d his hand under the sheets. "Are you seducing me?"

Lin Chu restrained his hand and burrowed into his chest, "What have you got?"

Yan Beicheng tsked. He did not continue his advances, but he did not retract his hand either, pinching Lin Chu inside the sheets, making her flush a pretty red. She caught his wrist and tried to pull it out.

Yan Beicheng did not move. He said righteously, "Stop playing. We're talking about serious issues here."

Lin Chu, "..."

Who's playing with you?!

Yan Beicheng played with her, his impossibly experienced fingers making Lin Chu weak. "Stay put!"

The corner of Yan Beicheng's mouth pulled up. He lowered to kiss her on the forehead while his hand continued his actions, "Do you know who's Zhu Hexuan?"

Lin Chu froze. She blinked and said questioningly, "She lived in the orphanage with me. She was still there when the Lin family adopted me. Kids as old as I was back then were rarely adopted. When Old Lady Lin wanted to meet the kids, the old Princ.i.p.al called Zhu Hexuan and me over. The Lin family was wealthy, so she wanted badly to be adopted. She was always overachieving and determined, and she was also one of the best-mannered children in the orphanage who always received praise and popularity. But then the Lin family took me away. I was under strict management by the Lin family, so I couldn't go back to the orphanage until I grew up. It was only when I sneaked back that I heard that Zhu Hexuan was unhappy because of it."

"Actually, she's not only unhappy." Yan Beicheng's slender, delicate fingers twirled a strand of her hair into unending curls. "She thought that being adopted by the Lin family meant a good life and that you stole her chance of having that. You've already left the orphanage to live like a queen while she's still stuck in the orphanage with no idea of what her future was going to hold, trying to attract attention so people will like her. She has always hated you."

"When I returned to the orphanage that time, the old Princ.i.p.al did tell me that Zhu Hexuan asked her about my breakup with Cheng Ziming. When we were both in the orphanage, and after we've both left, we b.u.mped into each other sometimes when we visited. She did not seem to like me, and her words to me were bitter and incisive. But I think it doesn't go so far as hate." Lin Chu wrinkled her brow. "How many years have pa.s.sed since then? How is it possible that she still hates me?"

"Her emotions toward you aren't as strong as to warrant her direct ire. You're only the additional benefit." Yan Beicheng pinched a strand of her hair in his fingers and dangled it in front of his nose, sniffing the fragrant scent of her hair. 

This intimate gesture embarra.s.sed Lin Chu. 

"The Lin family is currently calling for bids against another company of similar caliber for a project under Qi Lin. This news article is the result of unhealthy compet.i.tion. The other company has to ruin the Lin family's reputation somehow when it's so close to the decisive moment. You'll see Lin Mao's stock prices drop by tomorrow. Do you know what Zhu Hexuan's doing after she graduated?"

"Mm, she's a reporter…" Lin Chu froze before she connected the dots.

Yan Beicheng pinched the tip of her nose. "Zhu Hexuan has interviewed that company before, so she's friendly with them. She has written news articles behind her boss in exchange for money, too. That's why the company hired her for this. Doing this meant involving you, too, so she included you in the article."

"So many years have pa.s.sed. She did this just because of something that happened so long ago, she…" Lin Chu found it funny. Did she have to stoop so low? Chinese slang, essentially means 'fake b.i.t.c.h'