Chapter 432: Admit It, You’re Just So in Love with Me

This kiss was different from all the ones before.

A tentative touch, like a single falling spark, was fanned into a raging inferno by her response.

The long-suppressed feelings erupted in that kiss, spreading like wildfire and threatening to melt them completely.

Jiang Qingli didn’t know when she had been pulled onto his lap, nor when they had tumbled onto the mattress. It felt as if she had lost all track of time.

Their long hair intertwined, like two rivers converging into one.

...

As they separated, their lips parted with a soft pop.

Jiang Qingli came to her senses, the tips of her ears burning. She lowered her eyes, then raised them to look at him a few seconds later.

Ye Linyuan propped himself up on one hand and turned his face away, clearly unwilling to speak.

But beneath the strands of hair she had mussed, the base of his pale ears was impossibly red.

Jiang Qingli brushed his hair aside and saw a faint blush coloring the corners of his eyes.

"What are you looking at?"

Unable to bear her direct gaze, Ye Linyuan raised a hand to cover her eyes, but she caught his fingers and pulled him toward her.

It was hard to say whether Ye Linyuan was caught off guard or if he had been waiting for her to be assertive.

A gentle tug was all it took for him to tumble onto her.

Jiang Qingli tilted Ye Linyuan’s chin up with one hand, affecting the air of a domineering CEO. She looked down at him and asked, "Why did you apologize?"

Ye Linyuan was clearly unaccustomed to the position, but he didn’t struggle much. He just averted his gaze, his voice low. "...I don’t know."

It was just that recalling everything that had happened recently, and remembering how her eyes had reddened after she witnessed his past in his Spiritual Domain, made his heart ache with a dull, stabbing pain.

He owed her too much.

Seeing him fall silent, Jiang Qingli didn’t press the issue. She simply asked, "What are your plans for the future?"

Ye Linyuan looked up at her, his brow furrowed in confusion.

"You don’t have my mark anymore, your contamination levels are stable, and it’s highly unlikely anyone capable of seriously injuring you will show up in the future," Jiang Qingli reminded him. "When we got married, didn’t you say our relationship was just a transaction?"

Ye Linyuan froze.

Only then did Ye Linyuan belatedly recall those long-forgotten conversations.

Theirs was supposed to be a relationship of convenience.

Now, Jiang Qingli was back with the Jiang Family. She had achievements to her name, a boundless future, and access to endless resources and affection.

His identity and existence were undoubtedly a ticking time bomb.

Cutting ties with him was her most logical course of action.

Ye Linyuan pressed his lips into a thin line, his voice deceptively calm. "It’s up to you."

It was as if that outer shell had enveloped him once more.

"Haaaah..."

Jiang Qingli heaved a long sigh.

Ye Linyuan’s heart leaped. His gaze fixed on her face, and his voice grew taut. "What are you sighing about?"

"Fine. Since you’re so heartless, let’s just go our separate ways." Jiang Qingli pushed him away and stood with her back to him, sighing again. "I thought you would at least try to make me stay. Then maybe there’d still be a chance..."

Before she could finish, Ye Linyuan seized her wrist.

"What chance?" His heart nearly stopped. He repeated, "What chance?"

Holding his breath, Ye Linyuan took Jiang Qingli by the shoulders and spun her around to face him.

And then he saw the smile she could no longer contain.

She leaned in, a mischievous glint in her eyes. "What kind of chance were you hoping for?"

’Another trap.’

The young woman might be inexperienced, but she always managed to ensnare the apex predator.

At this moment, Jiang Qingli tilted her face up and said with a smile:

"Admit it, Ye Linyuan."

"The truth is, you’re in love with me. You can’t live without me."

The tension from moments before vanished. Ye Linyuan looked at her, a flicker in his gaze.

At this moment, Ye Linyuan finally realized—

All this time, he had completely misunderstood himself.

He thought he didn’t need feelings, that he didn’t need her. In reality, he was just terrified she wouldn’t want him.

The truth was, she had been the most special person in his life for a very long time.

From the night they first met, when she stumbled into his arms and kissed him, his world was no longer a solitary one.

And so, Ye Linyuan admitted it frankly. "Yes. That’s true."

Jiang Qingli was caught off guard. "Huh?"

"I love you, and I can’t live without you." Ye Linyuan stared at her, his golden, slitted pupils resolute and focused. "What else do you want to hear?"

His sudden confession made Jiang Qingli’s face flush instead. "This isn’t how the script is supposed to go... Aren’t you supposed to get all haughty, turn your head, and say ’Shut up! No, I’m not!’ and then hug me and refuse to let go?"

Ye Linyuan: "..."

Ye Linyuan: "If that’s what you want."

"Forget it." Jiang Qingli hugged him. "Let’s just be quiet for a bit."

They quietly snuggled on the bed.

Ye Linyuan discovered that he didn’t need anything more intimate; just holding her filled him with a deep, heartfelt joy.

After a while, Jiang Qingli suddenly called him, "Ye Linyuan."

Ye Linyuan: "Hm?"

Jiang Qingli took a deep breath. "I love you too."

A smile touched Ye Linyuan’s lips.

Before he could say anything, he felt Jiang Qingli’s legs wrap around his waist as she wriggled against him.

Ye Linyuan held her still. "You’re still bleeding."

"That’s not it! What are you thinking?" Her ears flushed red with a mix of embarrassment and annoyance as she glared at him. "Isn’t wrapping around the other person how snakes show affection? I saw it on the internet!"

For some reason, her words struck his funny bone.

He lowered his head, burying his face in the crook of her neck. A low, muffled laugh rumbled from his chest, his voice indistinct, but his warm breath was a clear tickle against her skin.

The guardedness of the past few days was gone, and in its place was an effortless intimacy.

This closeness sent a pleasant tingle through her heart.

Jiang Qingli could feel his delight, and her own lips curved in response.

But when his laughter stretched for nearly a minute, Jiang Qingli started to feel like he was making fun of her.

"What are you laughing at?" She gave his long hair a little tug. "Don’t you laugh at me."

Ye Linyuan stopped laughing. "It goes like this."

As he spoke, a snake’s tail coiled around Jiang Qingli’s leg, giving her a personal demonstration of serpentine courtship.

...

After fooling around for a bit, Jiang Qingli felt tired.

She absorbed a Repair Gemstone to replenish her spiritual power.

Just as she finished, she received a message from Xie Youchen. He said he had already contacted the research department, so Ye Linyuan could go for his check-up now. Everyone present would be his own people, ensuring it was safe and secure.

Jiang Qingli: [Thanks, Brother. I’ll take him over now.]

Brother: [No need. You’ve been through a lot lately. Someone will come get him.]

The doorbell rang. Ye Linyuan opened it to find the Gray Wolf Butler, dressed immaculately in a suit.

Jiang Qingli peeked her head out to look.

Seeing it was Yi Nuo, she relaxed. "I’ll be counting on you, Yi Nuo!"

"Don’t worry, Miss." The young man’s lips curved into a smile. "I’ll take good care of Mr. Ye."

Ye Linyuan scoffed.

After saying goodbye to Jiang Qingli, the two walked to the elevator in silence.

Yi Nuo sized up Ye Linyuan and asked calmly, "Have you recovered your memory, Mr. Ye?"

Ye Linyuan didn’t even spare him a glance. "Stay away from her."

His cold, arrogant aura was completely undisguised.

Yi Nuo was certain now: Ye Linyuan had definitely recovered his memories.

’Most likely, Jiang Qingli healed him.’

’The Miss was always too kind, even showing pity for creatures that shouldn’t exist.’

But Yi Nuo had despised Mutant Beasts since childhood. He had zero goodwill toward any monster carrying Mutant Beast genes.

The fact that he could tolerate being around him at all was solely out of respect for Jiang Qingli.

Stopping in front of the elevator, Yi Nuo pressed the button for their floor, his eyes on the reflection of the somber young man in the mirrored doors.

"It seems you’re unaware, Mr. Ye, that a lot happened while you had amnesia."

He began to speak slowly, his words laced with the subtle challenge of a rival male,

"I belong to the Miss now."