How many loves can be relived in the story of a devoted CEO pursuing his wife?

After all, she was her younger sister, and her heart was fragile.

At the age of budding romance, living as a dependent, she fell in love with her own brother.

He understood Lin Lan's inner turmoil and pain—the kind of struggle that comes with loving someone but not being able to express it.

To suppress an unspeakable feeling in her heart for so long, and then resort to such an extreme method, how desperate must she have been?

Liu Sisi was merely a catalyst, prompting her to take a risk, use the wrong methods, and ultimately cause immense suffering to everyone.

Upon hearing this, Lin Lan's crying abruptly stopped.

She turned her face away, staring blankly at Lin Xuedong, not even bothering to take the tissue, hesitant to speak. "Brother..."

"Tell me, what exactly happened that night?" Lin Xuedong slipped one hand into his pocket and calmly pressed the record button on his phone.

"Then promise me first, I was just momentarily blinded by greed and made a foolish mistake. Please forgive me, brother!" Lin Lan cried, her face streaked with tears, a pitiful sight. "I... I forgive you."

Lin Xuedong was unjustly framed, and although he was furious, he was also annoyed at his own momentary carelessness. "Hmm."

Now, he needed to calm down and figure out the whole story as soon as possible. A hint of irritation flickered in his brows, and his deep eyes glanced at Lin Lan before finally nodding in agreement.

Lin Lan took the tissue and cleaned her nose. She swallowed, looked down at her clenched fingers, and began to speak slowly.

"That night, I was in the hotel corridor, hiding from the young men my uncle had introduced. I overheard someone whispering that they were going to do something at the table where you were sitting. I tried to follow them, but I lost track of the two men in waiter uniforms."

"Later, not long after I returned to the banquet hall, I saw you being soaked by the waiter. I felt something was amiss, and my intuition told me it was related to Zeng Ziyan, so I followed her. I saw that she had been in your room for a long time and hadn't come out yet. I was so anxious, afraid, afraid that something really might happen. So I quickly found a housekeeping uniform and, under the guise of Chen Meiyuan, delivered some hangover tea to her."

“When I entered the room, I heard noises inside, but the door was tightly closed. Zeng Ziyan was wearing a bathrobe and clearly had ulterior motives. So, I revealed my identity and offered to take you away. But Zeng Ziyan cursed me for getting in her way and even attacked me…” Lin Lan secretly glanced at him, seeing him listening intently, and seemed less upset. “In the chaos, I knocked her unconscious and dragged her back to her room. To avoid further trouble, I simply locked her in the bathroom. I was so angry at the time.”

During this time, Lin Xuedong remained silent, seemingly lost in thought.

“After dealing with Zeng Ziyan, I returned to your room. You seemed drunk, lying on the bed in a bathrobe. I called you several times but you didn't wake up, so I gave you some hangover tea. You woke up after a while.” Lin Lan paused, took a deep breath, blinked nervously, and didn't dare to meet Lin Xuedong's gaze. “But… but he pounced on me like he lost control and reason, and then…”

She weakly raised her head, forced a broken smile at Lin Xuedong, and said in a hoarse voice, "I was very flustered at the time, I didn't know what went wrong, I couldn't overcome your strength at all."

"I don't know where things went wrong?" Lin Xuedong looked at Lin Lan's evasive expression, his thin lips pressed into a straight line. His eyes were so dark they seemed to drip ink, and his aura suddenly turned chilling.

Lin Lan stared at his icy gaze, stunned for a few seconds. She rarely saw Lin Xuedong with such a cold and stern expression, and a sense of panic welled up inside her.

“Lanlan, I can forgive your momentary lapse of judgment out of brotherly affection. But on the condition that you confess honestly and sincerely.” He lowered his hand from her shoulder, his fingers curling into a fist.

Honesty and sincerity.

"Brother..." Lin Lan felt inexplicably flustered and uneasy. She didn't know how to answer him. She covered her face with her hands and began to sob. Her voice was very sad, and her crying was heartbreaking.

Lin Xuedong sighed deeply and said disappointedly, "Lanlan, afterwards, I ordered people to investigate and test the items in the room."

Hehe. Upon hearing this, Lin Lan's heart suddenly sank, as if she had been pushed into an abyss.

Besides despair, I felt nothing else... Is she finished?!

She could only cover her face and cry incessantly, the sound of her sobs reaching Lin Xuedong's ears.

I don't know what his motivation was, but in short, he couldn't be cold to Lin Lan. She was confused, and she received the punishment she deserved.

The priority now is to appease her and calm things down. So he remained silent, letting her reflect on her actions and vent her emotions.

After a long while, Lin Lan looked up, tears streaming down her face. She gripped Lin Xuedong's arm with both hands, ignoring her blurred vision, and pleaded, "Brother, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. It was me, I was bewitched. It was all my fault, I put a drug in the hangover tea, I..."

Lin Lan raised the back of her hand, hastily wiping away her tears without regard for decorum, trying to see Lin Xuedong's expression clearly. "Brother, my feelings for you over those 20 years weren't fake. They've been weighing on my heart, tormenting me to the point of madness. I was so foolish, deluding myself into thinking that becoming your woman would bring a change of fortune. But I regret it so much. Back then, you kept calling out Sisi's name. I desperately tried to avoid you, but in the end, it all came to nothing, ruining myself and hurting you. I deserve to die, I..., brother..."

Lin Lan couldn't continue speaking; her throat burned like fire, and her eyes were red-rimmed.

She bit her lip tightly, her lips turning white and aching, but she refused to let go. Her shoulders trembled with emotion, and her tearful eyes were filled with guilt and pleading.

Although he already knew what was going on, Lin Xuedong still felt very upset after hearing Lin Lan's account firsthand.

A single word, love, caused her to abandon reason and morality, to take a risk, like a moth drawn to a flame, leaving her scarred and ruined.

After all, they had a long-standing brother-sister relationship, and he simply couldn't bring himself to do it. He sighed deeply again, raised his hand, put his arm around Lin Lan's shoulder, and pulled her head into his embrace.

There were no words of comfort, just a temporary outlet for her emotions. I handed her a tissue and waited quietly for her to calm down.

After a long while, Lin Lan's sobs subsided, and she nestled against Lin Xuedong's chest a few times. Then she let go of him. Thankfully, he was still willing to lean on her, and a warm feeling welled up in her heart.

She looked up at Lin Xuedong, her eyes filled with even deeper apology, and said in a trembling voice, "Brother, I was wrong, I'm sorry, can you forgive me?"

Lin Xuedong's handsome face tightened and tightened, a mixture of anger and pity. His dark eyes, fixed on Lin Lan, narrowed and then relaxed several times.

"We can only keep this to ourselves." In the end, he didn't give a direct answer, but his heart softened.

Lin Lan is obsessed with love, and he can't let her continue like this; going against her won't do him any good. Now that he knows the whole story, Lin Xuedong is clear-headed, so he still needs to proceed according to plan.

“Otherwise, it will not only damage your and my reputation, but in severe cases, it could be used by those with ulterior motives to destroy the Lin family.” Lin Xuedong emphasized, his brow furrowing. He hoped that it was just his overthinking.

"What?!" Lin Lan was stunned, first panicked, she desperately didn't want to hurt the Lin family. She stared at Lin Xuedong in disbelief, muttering, "A person with ulterior motives?"

"Hmm." Lin Xuedong raised his hand and used a tissue to wipe away her tears, a hint of ruthlessness flashing in his deep eyes. Once he dealt with Lin Lan, he could focus on dealing with Zeng Ziyan.

“Lanlan, things have come to this point, and I must make this clear to you. You and I can only be brother and sister. I hope you can reflect on this experience.” He added.

"Brother, why? We've already...we've already had sex." Lin Lan blurted out in a fit of anger, but then panicked as soon as she finished speaking.

She glanced at him subconsciously. Now that things had come to this, she really didn't want to give up and was determined to get an explanation from Lin Xuedong. She no longer cared about Lin Xuedong's status as the second young master of the Lin family.

"Why can't they accept me? Reputation? The Lin family? We're not related by blood at all, so what's wrong with us being together? At worst, I'll sever ties with the Lin family, and that won't affect the Lin family."

The two stared at each other. One was furious, wanting to fight back with all her might. The other's face darkened; he didn't want to expose the fact that she had drugged him, as bringing it up again would be pointless and only add to his hatred.

The most urgent thing is to keep her calm and make her realize the seriousness of the consequences so that she will cooperate in keeping this a secret.

In an instant, silence spread between them, each of them engaged in a contest.

"Brother, weren't you just encouraging me to talk to you? If you're worried about our nominal relationship, I can publish a statement severing ties with the Lin family. That way, no one will use this as leverage to threaten the Lin Corporation anymore." Lin Lan said anxiously, her hands gripping Lin Xuedong's arm even tighter. She pleaded, her large, tearful eyes wide.

"Brother, I really don't want to put you in a difficult position, and I don't want to harm the company's interests. As long as I can stay by your side, I will do my best to cooperate in whatever way you want."

"Stay by my side?" Lin Xuedong looked up, his gaze fixed intently on her.

After a long pause, he gave a helpless, dry laugh, and said firmly, "Lanlan, consider that incident a mistake. I can do my best to compensate you in every way, but... except for love. The reason I asked you to communicate with me is to offer advice and solutions as someone you can trust, as your brother. I don't want you to isolate yourself, overthink things, and ultimately let things get to the point of no return."

Aside from love...

She had known for a long time that he didn't love her. Now that he was telling her himself, it would be a lie to say she wasn't heartbroken or disappointed.

Lin Lan gently closed her eyes, her heart aching, bitter, sad, reluctant, and sorrowful—a complex mix of emotions.

She was at her wit's end; she had absolutely no other options.