The Favored Heiress
Chapter 375: Did I Let You Go?

Chapter 375: Chapter 375: Did I Let You Go?

Ye Yun’s eyes widened instantly.

She stared at Li Qiao without blinking, and her senses toward her began to feel increasingly alien.

Several years ago, the scene of their first meeting at the Li Family surfaced in her mind.

Back then, Li Qiao was just a fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl. The first time Ye Yun saw her, she instinctively took a dislike to her.

It was because the girl bore a kind of indifferent and nearly dark aura that was indescribable, and every approach made Ye Yun feel uncomfortable.

Despite appearing lazy and relaxed, her presence was powerful, and those excessively dark eyes always gave Ye Yun the illusion of being intimidated.

Ye Yun came from a decent background, a scholarly family, and was Li Jun’s junior at school.

When the two of them came together, they were the envy of others, an exalted match made in heaven.

It was just unfortunate that later...

Ye Yun became bogged down in the mire of her memories and didn’t come back to her senses for quite some time. Although times had changed, every remembrance still brought on a profound sense of regret as if witnessing an entire sea turning into mulberry fields.

At this moment, seeing Ye Yun in a dazed state, Li Qiao bent her lips impatiently, tightened her fingers slightly, and squeezed the beer can, "I remember, the Ye Family moved abroad several years ago, and when you left, didn’t you say you’d never come back?!"

Indeed, Ye Yun was the cinnabar mole that had lingered in her brother’s heart for a long time.

It was their first love for each other, perfectly matched in affection, and her brother had devoted himself wholeheartedly.

Unfortunately, in the end, the relationship came to a silent conclusion. To be precise, her brother, Li Jun, was the one who was dumped.

He had been downcast for a long time because of that.

Therefore, the fact that Ye Yun became the object of some salacious affair was in itself absurd.

Ye Yun looked at Li Qiao with a murky gaze, her expression one of sorrow and helplessness. She spoke softly, "Qiaoqiao, I’m very sorry about what happened back then, but... I really didn’t frame your brother."

"Oh?" Li Qiao raised her eyebrows teasingly, "So you’re saying that the photograph of you helping my brother into a hotel that night was fabricated by the Discipline Inspection Commission?"

This faint tone floated out from Li Qiao’s mouth, yet it turned Ye Yun’s face white in an instant.

She clasped her hands tightly in her lap, whispering in disbelief, "You’ve seen it..."

Those video materials were sealed by the Discipline Inspection Commission after evidence was collected. The originals from the hotel were also taken. Where did she see them?

At this time, seeing Ye Yun’s panic-stricken look, Li Qiao curled her lips, crushed the can flat, and tossed it with a flick of her hand. The can landed squarely in the trash bin at the doorway.

She stood up, walking toward Ye Yun with a languid gait. Only a coffee table separated them, and the short distance made Ye Yun’s expression go through several changes, clearly unable to remain calm.

In the blink of an eye, Li Qiao stood in front of Ye Yun, looking down at her from above.

With a slight lift of her leg, she stepped on the couch beside Ye Yun’s side. Leaning down, she said carelessly, "Just because I call you Sister Ye, do you really see yourself as my elder?"

"Ye Yun, before you and those behind you moved against the Li family, did you not consider the consequences?"

Li Qiao’s tone was still casual, yet those pitch-black eyes harbored a coldness and darkness that made them hard to look into.

Ye Yun wanted to speak, but every time she met Li Qiao’s eyes, it was as if her throat was being strangled, making it impossible for her to breathe. Suffocation and fear engulfed her, and any excuse she had froze on her lips.

No one knows how long it was—it might have been several minutes or just a few seconds—when Ye Yun forced herself to calm down.

She shifted slightly to the side, looking at Li Qiao’s movements with a hint of disapproval in her frightened eyes, "Qiaoqiao, I... I don’t know why you think it was me who framed your brother."

This time it was the Discipline Inspection Commission who took him away. You’re still young and don’t understand what it means when the Commission gets involved.

Do you think framing someone is as simple as sending a denunciation letter or making an accusatory phone call?

By the time the Commission showed up at the secretariat this morning, they already had ample evidence in their hands.

Do you really think I, a frail woman, could manipulate and frame someone like that?"

As Li Qiao listened to her spurious arguments, a curve formed on her lips, not warm yet not cold, but it somewhat gave Ye Yun the creeps.

"Ye Yun, don’t obfuscate the key point, and besides, your logic is flawed."

The air hung still for a few seconds before Li Qiao bent down again, her fingers pinching Ye Yun’s chin and lifting it up, "After all, you were my brother’s first love. How much did the other party offer you to make you risk ruining your reputation to frame him?

You know what I’m talking about, and you should also be clear about the role you’ve played in all this."

Ye Yun fell silent, her pupils trembled violently, as if recoiling from a peek into her innermost secrets.

Li Qiao’s grip on her chin seemed light, but soon Ye Yun felt an intense pain shooting through her skin.

She frowned and twisted her face, trying to pull her chin out of Li Qiao’s grasp, "Qiaoqiao, after all these years, how have you become like this?"

At that moment, Li Qiao calmly released her grip, looking at the red and swollen mark on Ye Yun’s chin with a satisfied curl of her lip, "You wouldn’t want to see my true self."

Ye Yun couldn’t talk her way out of it, full of thoughts she dared not express too obviously.

Seeing that Li Qiao had already returned to the opposite seat, Ye Yun shifted her gaze and stood up slowly, "Qiaoqiao, I don’t know what you’ve heard from someone else’s mouth, but I can assure you, I did not frame your brother.

It’s true that the night we met again... we got carried away, and I don’t expect you to understand.

You’re still young, and many things aren’t as simple as you think. Please, don’t jump to conclusions so easily, okay?

It’s already late, I’m going to leave, you should head back soon too."

Li Qiao leaned back on the couch, casually glancing at her, smiling faintly, "Did I say you could leave?"

Ye Yun was indeed a little afraid of this version of Li Qiao. The dim lighting in the private room made it even more difficult to discern her expressions clearly as the flickering light played across her face.

Taking a deep breath, Ye Yun hadn’t yet spoken when Li Qiao, resting her forehead on her hand with an air of vexation, swept her cool gaze towards her, "Carried away? Ye Yun, are you sure my brother even touched you?"

Ye Yun’s pacing halted abruptly, her face a picture of shock, the color draining from it.

It wasn’t until that moment that she realized, Li Qiao knew far more about the inside story than she thought.

One standing, the other sitting; aside from the flowing light music, there was no other sound around them.

Ye Yun’s countenance was inscrutable, her head bowed in silence for a long while.

Seeing her like this, Li Qiao opened another can of beer, with no hint of sympathy, and clicked her tongue, "Stop the act, you’re only daring to come back to the South Sea to frame him because you know you still hold a place in my brother’s heart.

A government official in his thirties, wealthy and powerful, you’ve got some nerve, slipping drugs to my brother."

The words ’slipping drugs’ instantly threw Ye Yun into a panic.

She looked at Li Qiao in terror and the next second, she dashed towards the door of the private room in a frenzy.

The moment the sliding door was yanked open, she screamed sharply into the lounge of the bar: "Help..."