Marriage of convenience blossoms into love; the husband turns out to be a billionaire CEO.

Ye Cheng's brow twitched; no wonder the way he stared at her earlier was so intense, like sparks were about to fly.

"Who are you? Why do you have my phone number?"

Zhou Meng'er smiled slightly and said, "Auntie, there's a profession in this world called a private investigator!"

"..."

Auntie?

Ye Cheng's eyes widened, and she felt as if she had half a steamed bun stuck in her throat, almost unable to speak.

She's not even thirty yet, and her childhood sweetheart is calling her "auntie"?!

You're mocking her for being old, aren't you?

She caught her breath and asked with a trembling smile, "What...what did you just call me?"

"Auntie," Zhou Meng'er looked up at her youthful, delicate face, her long eyelashes fluttering, "Is there a problem?"

The "auntie" was speechless.

"Your name is Ye Cheng. You will be 30 years old in eight months. You work at Chuanggao Company. Two months ago, Grandpa Ji arranged for you to marry Brother Ling Feng. You currently live in Jingtai Garden."

"Alright, alright," Ye Cheng interrupted her, frowning. "After all this talk, what I really want to know is who you are."

Zhou Meng'er raised her chin, which was so sharp it could kill someone.

"My name is Zhou Meng'er. I met Ling Feng when we were children. We were each other's first love, you understand?"

The young woman, blinded by jealousy, stubbornly romanticized her one-sided infatuation as a loving first love.

First love?

Ye Cheng's lips twitched.

A beautiful image of a handsome man and a beautiful woman embracing sweetly instantly popped into my mind.

She quickly shook her head, then inexplicably thought of Ji Lingfeng's childhood friend, Zhou Weitian. This wealthy young lady in front of her, who had spent millions on a credit card, also had the surname Zhou. Could it be…?

She couldn't help but ask, "What is your relationship with Zhou Weitian?"

Zhou Meng'er said calmly, "He is my brother."

If Zhou Weitian hadn't been drunk that day and sent her a bunch of random voice messages, she might not even know about Ji Lingfeng's secret marriage.

Ye Cheng swallowed hard.

No wonder, their grandparents were from the same village, they knew each other since childhood, so it seems only natural that they would develop into childhood sweethearts.

She hesitated for a moment, then tentatively asked, "You...are in love?"

"……if not?"

Zhou Meng'er stubbornly tilted her slender neck, neither admitting nor refuting, but asking a question with a hint of defiance.

Ye Cheng paused, taking a breath.

Aren't you lying through your teeth?

This petite beauty, so close yet so pitiful, would be the kind of woman any man would like, especially since they've been childhood sweethearts.

She hesitated for a moment before asking, "That was before, right? I mean... what about now?"

What's past is past; let bygones be bygones. What matters is the present.

Zhou Meng'er stared resentfully at the woman in front of her, her eyes flickering with a mischievous smile, and her cherry lips parted slightly:

"Love, of course I love!"

He spoke with an air of self-righteousness, but his heart skipped a beat out of guilt.

Of course she loved him, but she couldn't have him!

The more indifferent he was to her, the more madly she loved him.

She was once so naive that she wanted his body even if she couldn't win his heart, but in the end, she couldn't even get close to him.

But this lucky woman in front of her only got her hands on the man she longed for without lifting a finger, thanks to Grandpa Ji.

Hearing Zhou Meng'er's resolute answer, Ye Cheng felt a chill run down her spine.

The massage pool suddenly didn't smell so good anymore; the gushing water seemed to strike her heart directly, making her restless and uneasy like a drumbeat.

My mind is filled with the image of a certain man. During this time, every smile, every kiss, every hug of his has been full of love. Could it all be fake?

No, it doesn't look like it was acted at all.

Ye Cheng straightened her back and raised an eyebrow, saying, "Are you sure? It's true that Grandpa Ji arranged our whirlwind marriage, but our relationship is clearly very good now."

In a moment of impulsiveness, she pouted again: "Look at my mouth, it's not from biting while stealing meat, nor from swollen mouth ulcers, it's from my man kissing me."

"He loves me so much he'd die for me!"

Ye Cheng added a sentence with emphasis, so heavy that her eyelids were shaking.

Actually, after applying the ointment, the swelling in her mouth had subsided considerably.

These provocative words indeed provoked Zhou Meng'er.

Her delicate eyebrows and eyes suddenly darkened.

She stared at Ye Cheng's mouth for a long time, then revealed an enigmatic smile.

"On the 15th, I was hospitalized and he stayed with me all night. Is that enough proof?"

Then she chuckled and said, "Auntie, you don't actually think that Brother Ling Feng likes you, do you?"

Ye Cheng: "..."

He was stunned as soon as he opened his mouth.

The only time Ji Lingfeng wasn't home was the night he went back to the company to work overtime, which I think was the 15th.

She slowly recalled.

He left at 11 p.m. that night and didn't return until 7 or 8 a.m. the next morning. When he got home, he specially packed her some morning tea from the InterContinental Hotel, explaining that he was working overtime because of the time difference with Europe.

The moment I reached out and pinched her cheek, the smell of disinfectant from my sleeve seemed to suddenly rush into my nostrils from my memory.

"Did something come to mind?"

Zhou Meng'er looked at Ye Cheng with a leisurely air, a gloating smile appearing on her lips.

Ye Cheng silently twitched her lips.

It turns out that the excuse for working overtime all night was to go to the hospital to be with his first love. The man lied without batting an eye, and he even managed to put on a deeply affectionate act.

My thoughts drifted back to when we first met. Yes, those cold, piercing eyes and that aura that kept strangers at bay—that was the real him.

She suppressed her emotions and asked again, "Then...why aren't you together?"

Zhou Meng'er lowered her eyes and stared blankly for a long time before suddenly raising her head and saying, "Because I have congenital heart disease, I cannot have children for the Ji family."

As she said this, half of her eyes were already red.

Aside from not being able to have children, in what way is she inferior to the woman in front of her?

Ye Cheng was momentarily dazed.

"Grandpa Ji won't let you...be together?"

A bitter smile appeared on Zhou Meng'er's lips as she said resentfully, "That's right, Grandpa Ji doesn't like me! Do you think an old man would accept a granddaughter-in-law who is in poor health and unable to carry on the family line?"

She always believed that if she didn't have heart disease, becoming the granddaughter-in-law of the Ji family would have been a matter of course.

They were a perfect match, a match made in heaven.

But now, he has even lost his last remaining hope.

"Grandpa Ji likes you, and Brother Ling Feng married you out of filial piety. Don't blame him..."

Zhou Meng'er's voice was low and soft, sounding aggrieved.

Ye Cheng rubbed her aching temples.

My mind is confused.

Good heavens, all I wanted was to find a man to live with, but I seem to have inadvertently become an accomplice in breaking up a couple.

I suddenly had an urge to immerse my head in the pool and scrub it thoroughly.

Looking at her expression, Zhou Meng'er smiled triumphantly.

Compared to the pain of loving someone you can't have, what does it matter if she suffers a little psychological torment?

Giving her a little annoyance is already letting her off easy.