Strike Back, Proud Goddess!

Qin Xinying almost stumbled to the ground. She struggled to get up and wanted to curse, but then she saw a man standing beside the French window of the lounge with his hands clasped behind him. He looked as lonely and cold as a wolf at night, dangerous yet seductive.

Qin Xinying forgot to be angry. She stood still as she looked at the man’s back and called out softly, “Qiao Liang?”

Qiao Liang looked back at her, pointed to the sofa beside him and said in a low voice, “Miss Qin, please take a seat.”

Qin Xinying was flattered. This was the first time that Qiao Liang had spoken so politely to her.

When Qiao Liang and Tang Xi were together, she once hung out with them, but Qiao Liang had never looked at her as all his attention was put on Tang Xi. Even when he bought ice cream, he would only buy one for Tang Xi while ignoring her. He was such a ruthless and cold man, but he had still stolen her heart.

Sometimes she even imagined secretly that she herself was the one he loved.

This time, finally, it was the two of them sitting together.

Qin Xinying sat down on the sofa with a faint smile on her face and looked at Qiao Liang with tender eyes. She asked, “Qiao Liang, what do you want me to do?”

Qiao Liang frowned, and it was after quite a while that he said, “Miss Qin, I was so surprised to meet you in that small island near the Pacific Ocean. I wanted to ask, what were you doing there at that time?”

Qin Xinying’s heart sank. She had thought Qiao Liang would have forgotten this matter because he was too worried about Tang Xi. But he was Qiao Liang—how could he forget?

“Little Xi used to say that she wanted to visit the nearby islands over there, but I couldn’t contact her, so I intended on going over to see if she was there. Then I heard that she had a plane crash. I was so worried that I went there.” Qin Xinying blinked as she said this and a teardrop fell out of her eyes. She hurriedly wiped it off and continued, “Then I met your men and overheard their conversation, which is how I found out that you were also looking for Little Xi. I knew you were worried about her. I’m worried about her too, so I want to join you in looking for her.”

“Then did you find anything?” Qiao Liang leaned back and folded his hands on his folded legs, staring at Qin Xinying with a domineering aura. “Besides, after I left that place, why did you go to City A? My men told me you followed me to Long Beach again.”

Qin Xinying nodded in response and her eyes were red as she replied, “Yes, I went to find you, and that’s because you have news of Little Xi. Yes, you’re powerful, but since you knew about what happened to Little Xi, why didn’t you tell us? How could you keep news about her death from us?! I went to find you because I wanted you to give me her body so that I can deliver it to Grandpa Tang.”

Qiao Liang smiled coldly. “Oh, you’re really a good friend of Tang Xi’s. Unfortunately, the person I was looking for wasn’t Tang Xi, and Tang Xi isn’t dead. Didn’t you receive the email from her? She is still alive and kicking. How could you say she had died? Did you think Tang Xi, such a hard-hearted person, would still be your friend?”

Qin Xinying was stunned and then shouted, “That’s impossible!” How could Tang Xi be still alive?! The email had to have been simply sent by someone else with her email box who wanted to deceive them!

Qiao Liang asked with raised eyebrows, “What’s impossible?”

Qin Xinying looked at Qiao Liang with her hands clenched hard. He suspected her! He was trying to trick her into telling the truth!

“Little Xi would never break up with me and she isn’t a ‘hard-hearted’ person like you said. You broke up with her, so how could a proud person like her forgive a man who abandoned her? Don’t you describe her like that! If you hadn’t broken up with her, she wouldn’t have gone out traveling to ease up at this time of the year and then have an accident!” Qin Xinying pursed her lips. She didn’t lie. After Qiao Liang broke up with Tang Xi, she was so sad. That certain group of people had advised her to travel for relaxation, and she had followed their advice and done just that.

From that point on, Tang Xi developed the habit of going out to travel at this time of the year. This year, Tang Xi had gone abroad on business, so she had planned to visit a place near the Pacific Ocean but ended up being buried there.

Qiao Liang frowned. “Miss Qin seems to feel sorry for Tang Xi?”

“Yes, I do feel sorry for Little Xi. She wouldn’t have had an accident if she hadn’t gone out for traveling!” Qin Xinying replied indignantly.

Qiao Liang picked up the teacup on the table and took a sip of tea. He asked, “Miss Qin, why are you so sure Tang Xi had an accident?”

Qin Xinying’s heart jolted sharply and she was about to speak, but then Little Six suddenly ran in, saying, “Young Master, I’ve tracked the location of the IP address.”

Qiao Liang lunged to his feet, nodding to show that he understood, and told Little Six to leave. Then he cast a cold glance at Qin Xinying sitting on the sofa and said coldly, “I don’t care what you think, or what you say. Keep away from Tang Xi. Don’t let me see you get close to her again!”

“How can you do this to me?!” Qin Xinying cried out, jumping to her feet. “I am a friend of Little Xi’s. It is not up to you, but up to me whether I can get close to her or not!”

“Then try it,” retorted Qiao Liang, leaving without turning back.

He had been truly negligent this time, and if Little Five hadn’t reminded him, he wouldn’t have noticed this woman and wouldn’t have wondered as to why she had shown up on that island.

Qiao Liang walked out and ordered, “Find out who leaked my whereabouts!”

Little Six answered, “Yes.”

Standing in the lounge, Qin Xinying heard the sounds of receding footsteps, following which she reached for the coffee cup on the table and threw it hard to the ground.

Why do you do this to me? What’s so good about that Tang Xi? How could you treat me like that for her?!

…

“Young Master, I have found out that the email was sent from the villa of the Xiao Family, and the IP address seems to originate from there as well.” Little Six thought it made sense that this email was from the Xiao Family, because the second son of the Xiao Family had previously ranked among the top ten in an international hacker competition, though he hadn’t attended any such competitions again since then and kept a low-profile… Since Little Six had confirmed that the email was sent from the Xiao Family, it had to have been sent by their second son.

But that person was unlikely to have been so bored as to hack Tang Xi’s email box and send an email to Young Master… This matter was so troublesome…

Qiao Liang frowned and asked, “The Xiao Family?”

Little Six nodded. “Yes, Xiao Jing’s home. I believe that the one behind the email should be Xiao Sa, whose hacking ability is really better than mine.”

The image of a certain figure suddenly popped up in Qiao Liang’s mind and he froze. He said, “Prepare a plane. We’re returning to City A!”