Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Qiao Lian looked startled at Shen Liangchuan and bit her lip.

The look in his eyes was cold like the water of an icy river. She felt her chest tightening.

After a short pause, she slowly let out a deep breath.

Although the reporter had wrongly accused her in this case, the fact was that he was right.

They were indeed ‘long-time friends’.

Of course, she knew him.

She had been a reporter for briefly nine months, but it was obvious that she had her ways of sniffing out information and a good sense for news. This wasn’t because of any sort of talent, they were rather skills that came with practice.

Anyone who stayed in this field for a few years would develop a sharp sense.

A few years ago, when she had escaped to the huge city of Beijing with her brother, she had to find means of survival.

At the time, coincidentally, she had gotten to know this reporter.

And they had began to collaborate.

Qiao Lian would sniff out information and sell it to Old Liu.

But at the time, she was paid poorly. At worst, a piece of news would bring her a mere few hundred; at best, a few thousand. She depended on this income to sustain herself and her brother.

Until… nine months ago, when she finally found work in a news agency. At that point, she cut off all ties and contact with Old Liu.

Because her professional growth and ethics did no longer allowed her to accommodate this sort of practice.

And today, running into Old Liu had brought up a past that caused her much shame and embarrassment.

It was a fact that at one point in her life, she had relied on infringing on and exposing other people’s privacy for a living.

And what Shen Liangchuan hated most was the paparazzi who intrude on others’ privacy.

Hence, she was unwilling to admit it and much less talk about her past.

However, she had no desire to lie to Shen Liangchuan.

She could only clench her fists tightly and resist in silence.

Shen Liangchuan suddenly extended his arm and clenched his fingers around her chin. “Why aren’t you answering my question?”

She was forced to look up at his unfathomable expression.

He was angry.

Was it because she had once been the sort of person that he hated most?

She frowned and didn’t know what to say. More than that, she wasn’t sure what she could do to alleviate his anger.

Shen Liangchuan’s pupils were constricted and darker than storm clouds.

He suddenly realized that he might have been using too much force when he saw Qiao Lian grimace with pain.

He relaxed his grip on her chin. Still, there were red marks left by the forceful grip.

Qiao Lian did not say another word and looked out of the window stubbornly.

Shen Liangchuan started the car engine and continued driving back to their villa to drop off Qiao Lian.

As Qiao Lian got off the car, she heard him say, “I’m going back to see Mom.”

She halted and before she could turn around, she heard Shen Liangchuan starting up the car again.

She clenched her fists tightly and walked back to the house.

Because of what had happened, all the housekeepers had been redeployed to Xia Yehua’s apartment.

Now Qiao Lian was alone in the villa.

Her eyes turned slightly bloodshot as tears welled up and blurred her vision.

When the picture had come out in the news and the article had been posted, she had been prepared for a showdown between her and Shen Liangchuan.

But his trust in her from the start until the end had given her a sense of warmth and sweetness that she had never experienced before. It gave her strength that she could survive almost any tough situation in life.

She did not expect, however, that while they hadn’t had any differences where the report was concerned, her own past on the other hand would cause him so much contempt.