Chapter 22

Qin Jiangyuan still had a bandage on his forehead from when Nan Song had hit him with a pebble in the rose garden. Clearly, this man never learned his lesson, shamelessly pushing forward again. 

He stood three steps away from Nan Song, staring at her stunningly beautiful face, utterly captivated and practically drooling. 

The Qin and Nan families had been close for generations, and they had practically grown up together—childhood sweethearts, by all accounts. Among the three Nan sisters, Nan Song was the most striking, a natural beauty since childhood. 

People say a girl's looks change dramatically as she grows up—those who were cute as kids might not necessarily turn out attractive. But Nan Song hadn't just avoided an awkward phase; she'd blossomed into an even more breathtaking woman. The baby fat had faded, transforming her childish charm into delicate elegance, her figure growing more alluring by the day. Now, with that added touch of lazy allure, just looking at her sent Qin Jiangyuan's imagination running wild, stirring an overwhelming urge to pin her down and devour her. 

"Xiao Song, I know you have misunderstandings about me. I came today to explain what really happened back then." 

Qin Jiangyuan put on a serious, earnest face, especially as security hovered nearby. "I mean it! Everything back then was orchestrated by Nan Ya—she tricked me into it!" 

Nan Song watched him coldly, knowing full well that nothing good ever came out of his mouth. But hearing him shift all the blame onto Nan Ya piqued her curiosity. She wanted to see what kind of nonsense he'd spin. 

She waved a hand, dismissing the security and her assistant. "Leave us." 

Then she gracefully settled onto the sofa. "You have five minutes. Say what you need to say." 

Qin Jiangyuan was about to sit beside her when Nan Song shot him a glare. "Did I say you could sit?" 

His butt hovered awkwardly mid-air. Suppressing his irritation, he reminded himself that patience was key—women needed to be coaxed slowly. 

"Alright, alright, I'll stand." 

Straightening his collar, Qin Jiangyuan faced Nan Song, ready to unleash a flood of sweet nothings. "Xiao Song, three years apart, I've missed you so much—" 

"Skip the nonsense. I'm not interested." 

Nan Song pulled out her phone, set a timer, and placed it on the table. "You have four and a half minutes left." 

The countdown sent an inexplicable wave of panic through Qin Jiangyuan. Gulping, he abandoned the sweet talk and switched to his carefully prepared defense. 

"Three years ago, it was Nan Ya who seduced me! You probably never realized, but your seemingly harmless cousin has always been jealous of you—your looks, your status as the Nan family's eldest daughter. And most of all, she was jealous that you had my love..." He sighed dramatically. "I was too softhearted. She begged me to take you hiking, claiming she wanted to confess her feelings for me in front of you and compete fairly for my affection." 

Qin Jiangyuan's expression turned pained. "I only agreed because I wanted to tell her right in front of you that there's only one person I've ever loved—Nan Song. But who could've guessed how vicious she was? She used my phone to message you, luring you out to the mountains, intending to kill you. The reason I didn't show up that day was because she drugged me. By the time I woke up, I was told you were dead." 

His eyes reddened as he dropped to his knees in front of Nan Song, grabbing her hand. 

"Xiao Song, heaven has eyes—you're alive, back safe and sound. Let's start over, okay?"