With the explanation provided by Ye Qing, a relationship was established with Ye Zhen and Lin Zhan. Mother Lu's earlier amiable view of Ye Zhen faded. "Ye Zhen, even though I don't have the right to dictate your actions since I'm not your parent, you're Qingqing's younger sister, so I still need to say something. Right now, your heart is set on love and your boyfriend, so you hot-headedly ran off with him. But, you don't know how sinister a person's heart can be. I want to ask you. Have you thought about your future? Have you thought about how worried and upset your parents are feeling right now?!"

Ye Zhen smiled and softly answered, "Aunty, Lin Zhan is a really good person. We were too impulsive before and failed to consider anything else. We'll go back to carefully talk it out with my parents."

"Alright, that's good then. You're a good child, just a bit too simple-minded. You can't judge people just by their appearance. It takes time to see a person's true heart. Your parents have more life experience than you. They wouldn't misjudge someone."

Ye Zhen repeatedly nodded while observing a moment of silence in tribute for the male lead in her heart.

Although it was a bit hard to struggle in the outside world, how could it be worse than staying in the Lu family and having to hear cutting remarks and gossip about himself?

Rather than staying in the outside world that was teeming with pleasures to enjoy, he came here where he would hear maddening words.

Love truly blinded people.

Ye Zhen stealthily kicked Lin Zhan's foot under the table. She smiled at him to suggest that he shouldn't take these words to heart.

As a male lead, whenever he was beaten down, the setbacks would only serve as his motivation to keep forging ahead!

However, all of this was noticed by Lu Beichuan. He totally caught the exchange and interaction between Ye Zhen and Lin Zhan above and below the table!

Lu Beichuan clenched his fist, which was below the table and hidden from sight. His good mood from his recent victory in taking control of the situation changed into depression because of Ye Zhen.

This woman had previously told him that she liked Lin Zhan, but he had thought she was just lying. He was shocked to see that this woman really did like Lin Zhan！

***

After the meal was over, Lu Shaoren gave an excuse and brought Lin Zhan to the study with him while Mother Lu arranged a room for Ye Zhen. Ye Zhen, who had been through a day of jolting surprises, finally had time alone to relax and rest. She accepted the set of ordinary-style silk pajamas that a maid brought over and went to the bathroom to take a shower.

The guest bedroom didn't have an ensuite bathroom, so she had to go to the second floor's bathroom to shower.

As she took a hot shower, Ye Zhen felt as if the exhaustion from the evening's upheavals was being washed away.

After she was done, Ye Zhen used a towel dry off her hair. Dragging her slippers along, she walked out of the bathroom.

Right after walking out of the bathroom, she heard a voice coming from a bathroom adjacent to the bathroom she had been using.

That voice sounded like Ye Qing's.

In the other bathroom's narrow space, Ye Qing and Lin Zhan were standing on opposite sides. They had been lovers for the past three years and had only been separated for a few days, but their tenderness towards each other seemed to have been completely obliterated.

"Lin Zhan, what do you mean by this? Why did you never tell me that you're Lu family's illegitimate child?"

In the face of Ye Qing's questioning, Lin Zhan explained, "I didn't tell you because I never considered myself a member of the Lu family. I told you before that my mom is my only relative. Now that my mom has passed away, I have no one else except you."

"You're just making excuses! If you really love me, you would unconditionally tell me everything!"

Lin Zhan was silent.

It was true that he shouldn't have hidden this secret from Ye Qing.

Ye Qing had just finished showering, so the narrow and dimly lit space was filled with the scent of her soap and shampoo. The mixed scent was sweet, but didn't smell cheap. It was the complete opposite of her previous fresh and pure scent.

Lin Zhan was beginning to realize that the woman standing before him had stopped belonging to him on the day she had left him.

But, he wasn't willing to give up yet!

"Qingqing, it's not too late for us. Leave with me."

"Leave with you? How can I leave with you? I'm already Lu Beichuan's wife!"

"Don't be stupid!" Lin Zhan felt resentful that she was willfully oblivious to the truth. "If even I can see it, how can you not see it too? Lu Beichuan doesn't have the slightest amount of feelings for you. Do you want to spend the rest of your life in a loveless marriage? Have you forgotten what you said to me back then? You said that even though I have nothing, you're willing to follow me!"

When Ye Qing was younger and inexperienced, someone asked her if she would rather sit on the back of a bicycle and laugh, or sit inside a BMW and cry.

At that time, Ye Qing had a BMW, so she answered in high spirits, "The first one."

However, after going through a lifetime of struggling to earn money for life's daily necessities and seeing Ye Zhen's blissful and fortunate life, she was extremely regretful of her choice.

At that time, after seeing Ye Zhen in the car, she kept thinking that if she hadn't freely given over the identity of Mrs. Lu, she would be the one sitting in the Bentley!

The life that Ye Zhen was living belonged to her too!

Ye Qing shook her head. In a calm tone, she said, "No, I wasn't the one that said that."

Lin Zhan though she was in denial. "Stop lying to yourself. Qingqing, leave with me. I promise that I'll do my best to give you a good life."

In the dimly lit bathroom, Ye Qing looked at Lin Zhan's eyes.

She could now see that Lin Zhan's youth gave him unwarranted self-confidence. Back then, she hadn't understood how society worked and how hard it was to make a living. Back then, she bumped into his handsome self on a basketball court. He did remarkably well in school and had been the most popular person in his school. It was hard for her to forget her youthful romance.

However, after a lifetime of experience in her past life, the brief period of her youth had lost its importance to her a long time ago. During the long span of her hectic life, who had the time and energy to fondly think about love?

“Lin Zhan, I really wasn't the one that said those words. It was Ye Zhen."

Lin Zhan frowned. "What do you mean?"

"We've already gotten to this point. I'll speak frankly." Ye Qing calmly said, "Back then, I wasn't the one that wrote over 20 love letters to you, or the one that accompanied you in your restaurant job. When you fainted and was sent to the hospital, I wasn't the one with you. The person that tirelessly took care of your sick mother wasn't me either. I'm not the type of person to write weepy love letters. I wouldn't be willing to get myself dirty by doing manual labor at a restaurant. You're so tall. I wouldn't bother trying to carry you to a hospital. If I had to care for your mother back then, I would have just hire caretakers for her. Ye Zhen is the one that's willing to do those types of things. It was Ye Zhen that did all those things back then, not me.

Lin Zhan held his breath. It was as if his consciousness was too shocked to react. "What... what are you saying?"

"You really can't understand what I'm telling you?" Ye Qing threw caution to the wind and blurted out, "All of those things were done by my younger sister. She has an innate inferiority complex. She's too shy. When she likes someone, she would never dare to directly confess. She likes you, but she's scared you won't like her. She didn't dare to tell you she's the younger twin that doesn't know anything, so she introduced herself as the popular older twin that has outstanding achievements!"

"But.... No! This can't be possible! You're lying to me."

"Why would I lie to you about this? Is it necessary to lie to you? If you don't believe me, go ask Ye Zhen. Ask her if she likes you!"

Ye Qing's words seemed to have subverted Lin Zhan's perception of reality over the past few years. He made a choking sound. It was as if something was blocking his throat and preventing him for speaking. He had thought those experiences had been his most precious shared memories with Ye Qing, but as is turned out, he had been mistaken. It was with Ye Zhen?

"But... if you didn't do those things, how did you know about them?"

Ye Qing silently looked at him for a while before finally saying, "She... kept a diary. She wrote down everything related to you in that diary. I read that diary."

"So you..."

"Lin Zhan, there's no point in talking about this now. I know that I owe Ye Zhen a lot. I'm willing to give her back everything that I owe including you."

Lin Zhan laughed. "Give me back to her? Do you see me as a thing that you can give away to others?

"I think that the things that you experienced with her probably play a big part in why you fell in love with me. You should at least try dating her..."

Suddenly, a low, rich magnetic voice sounded outside the door, "Why are you standing here?"

There were people standing outside the door!

Ye Qing quickly stopped talking. She held her breath to listen to what was going on outside.

But, it was too late. Someone pushed open the bathroom's door from the outside.

The light in the hallway immediately filled the bathroom. Lin Zhan's back was facing the doorway while Ye Qing was mostly shrouded in shadow, so her figure wasn't as clearly seen.

Outside the bathroom, Lu Beichuan was standing at Ye Zhen's side. He cast a glance at Lin Zhan and Ye Qing and said in a displeased, low tone, "If you want to talk, there's no need to be so sneaky. You can go to your room to talk."

Ye Qing wasn't sure what he meant. She tentatively raised her head and was about to explain, but she saw that Lu Beichuan had his arm around Ye Zhen's thin waist.

His gaze was soft as he said in an intimate tone, "It's late. Let's go back to our room to rest."

It was at this moment that Ye Qing realized she and Ye Zhen were wearing the same style of pajamas.

Lu Beichuan seemed to have... mistaken Ye Qing for her.

But, if she cleared up his misunderstanding, how could she justify why she and Lin Zhan had been alone in this small bathroom?

Ye Zhen had originally just been eavesdropping. How could she have anticipated that Lu Beichuan would stick himself here and mistake them for each other?

She looked at her common silk pajamas. The pajama style was the same as the ones that Ye Qing was wearing.

It was inevitable that people might confuse the two of them in dim lighting. But, looking at Ye Qing, she could tell that she wasn't going to forthcomingly correct Lu Beichuan's misunderstanding and explain things.

But, if she stayed silent...

Ye Zhen, who had Lu Beichuan's arm around her waist, stiffened.

She didn’t dare to move.

Ye Zhen was suffering, but she couldn't even complain about it. Just from staying here to eavesdrop, she had gotten entangled in someone else's mess.

With Lu Beichuan's arm around her waist, Ye Zhen's entire body was rigid. Like a puppet, she let herself be led into Lu Beichuan's room.

She had just come out of the bathroom, so her hair wasn't fully dried yet, and there was lingering heat in her body. The white skin that wasn't covered by her pajamas was flushed red from the hot shower.

Lu Beichuan brought over the hair dryer and offered it to her. Ye Zhen didn't immediately accepted it.

"Hmm? Do you want me to dry your hair for you?" Lu Beichuan enigmatically smiled.

He had to be joking, right?

Ye Zhen quickly took the hair dryer from him. Sitting down in front of the dressing table, she tilted her head to the side to blow dry her hair.

Lu Beichuan lightly looked at her. Soon after, he went into the ensuite bathroom.

The sound of running water came from the bathroom. Ye Zhen glanced at the closed bathroom door. Her thoughts were in a whirl.

Everything had seemed perfectly reasonable. And yet, when she carefully thought about it. Hadn't everything been too coincidental?

Lu Beichuan's bedroom wasn't on the second floor, but he happened to appear in the hallway when she was eavesdropping on Ye Qing and Lin Zhan's conversation. Seemingly be chance, she was wearing the same type of pajamas as Ye Qing. It was true that under dim lighting, it would be difficult to distingue her and Ye Qing.

But, when there were too many coincidences at one time, then they might not be coincidences.

Besides, she still hadn't figured out what was up with Lu Beichuan. How could she have so muddle-headed follow him back? If she stayed any longer, she was going to end up in bed with him.

Right now, Lu Beichuan was taking a shower, so it would be a good opportunity for her to leave.

Thinking of this, Ye Zhen put down the hair dryer, but she didn't turn it off. She didn't want to alert Lu Beichuan that she was leaving the room, so she quietly tiptoed towards the door. When she passed by the ensuite bathroom, she saw Lu Beichuan's tall figure in the frosted glass door. He was clearly inside the bathroom, but Ye Zhen felt as if he was looking straight at her.

Thinking of everything that had occurred after she was brought back here from the airport, it seemed as if everything was firmly under Lu Beichuan's control.

Ye Zhen's heart jumped. She inexplicably felt guilty. Grinding her teeth, she silently walked passed the bathroom's door.

Holding her breath, she lightly put her hand on the doorknob. Ever so slowly, she turned the lock on the door. She did her best to silently open the door in order to not alert Lu Beichuan that she was leaving.

There was still the hot air blowing from the hair dryer and running water in the bathroom, but the minor creaking from the door as she slowly opened it felt as loud as thunder to Ye Zhen. When the door was opened, she saw the old butler standing there with a cup of milk. It seemed as if he had been waiting there for a long time.

"Good evening, Miss Ye."

Totally caught off guard, Ye Zhen was too shocked to say anything for a while.

At the same time, the water was turned off in the bathroom. Lu Beichuan would probably hear there was something going on by the door. Ye Zhen could only bitterly put on an awkward smile. "Good evening. Lu... Beichuan is still taking a shower. Do you need him for something?”

The old butler smiled. "Young Master ordered me to bring up milk for you. It's still warm. You should drink it before it gets cold. Warm milk will help you fall asleep."

As soon as she saw the cup of milk, Ye Zhen thought of the drugged milk from before.

However, she understood that the old butler had good intentions and didn't want to bring up the matter to upset him.

The door to the bathroom opened. Lu Beichuan's hair was still dripping with water. He was only wearing a white bathrobe. Half of his chest was exposed, and his pectoral muscles were easily visible. He expressionlessly glanced at Ye Zhen, then he took the cup of milk from the old butler.

"Thank you for taking the trouble. There's nothing else I need. You should go rest."

The old butler amicably smiled and said, "I'll be going then. Good night, Young Master and Miss Ye."

"Good night."

The bedroom door closed.

Lu Beichuan walked over to the dressing table with the cup of warm milk in his hand. After putting the cup of warm milk down, he picked up the hair dryer that had been left on.

Glancing at Ye Zhen, who was hesitantly standing by the door, Lu Beichuan lightly said, "Come here."

Ye Zhen felt extremely guilty. Lu Beichuan's expressionless face didn't give away a clue of what he was thinking, which made her feel even more apprehensive. She reluctantly walked over and was pressed into sitting back down at the dressing table. Lu Beichuan handed her the cup of milk.

She felt very doubtful about drinking this cup of milk. What if this milk was drugged again? What if she was really pregnant with Lu Beichuan's child? If this was all true, wouldn't she be giving Lu Beichuan, this beast, free reign to do whatever he wanted with her?

Seeing Ye Zhen's hesitation, Lu Beichuan asked in a low voice, "What's wrong? Didn't you say that drinking milk will help you fall asleep, that's why you want to drink it every night. Why aren't you drinking it tonight?"

Ye Zhen naturally couldn't expose herself by acting out-of-character. She forced herself to smile. Holding that cup of warm milk, she slowly drank it.

Waiting until after she had finished drinking all of the milk, Lu Beichuan picked up the hair dryer and carefully started drying Ye Zhen's half-wet hair.

His hand gently moved her hair. He was very meticulous. The hair dryer was at the perfect distance so that it wasn't too hot or not hot enough.

Ye Zhen was surprised

Lu Beichuan was coldly indifferent during the day. Why did it seem as if he had become a completely different person at night?

Faced with Ye Zhen's surprised and nervous gaze, Lu Beichuan didn't change his expression. He continued blow drying her hair for her.

When the soft air from the hair dryer blew over Ye Zhen's soft, black hair, her hair would slip out from his fingers. He almost couldn't keep her hair in his grasp.

It was just like her. As soon as he stopped focusing his full attention on her, she would try to slip away.

With a calm expression, Lu Beichuan thought that once he finished settling the Lu family's issues, he would clear up the issues of switched identities and put an end to this woman's ideas of leaving him.

By the time her hair was almost dry, Ye Zhen was feeling increasingly sleepy. As she yawned with tears almost coming out from trying to stay away, she thought that sure enough, this bastard had drugged the milk again.

From the mirror, she looked at Lu Beichuan's strong, exposed legs. Her mind jumped to those dreams she had before. She couldn't help but give up. What could she do right now? She was trapped. She had failed in running away. She might as well just succumb to sleep. Anyways, she was already pregnant, so she could just go along with where the situation took her.

"Sleepy?"

Ye Zhen nodded.

Lu Beichuan turn off the hair dryer. "Go to sleep."

Ye Zhen unsteadily stood up. She felt unbearably sleepy. Right after climbing into bed, she felt the extremely comfortable soft mattress, and a familiar scent drifted into her nose. She contently rubbed her body against the sheets. As soon as her head touched the pillow, she closed her eyes and fell fast asleep.

Lu Beichuan turned off the bright lights in the bedroom and turned on the soft, dim bedside light. After standing by the bed for a while to look at Ye Zhen, he went into the bathroom and dried off his hair with a towel before getting into bed.

After sharing a bed with someone for over a month, it had felt weird sleeping in this bed by himself for the past several days.

With her sleeping by his side, his heart felt at ease.