After contracting to have a child, the icy female CEO became addicted.

"..."

Wen Ling turned her head sharply and saw Jiang Ran looking at her with a half-smile, as if mocking her.

Wen Ling immediately got a little angry, "How could you say that? I'm not a dog!"

Jiang Ran stroked his chin: "Then why do you think my eyes are so affectionate? I didn't think so. I'm just a little drunk right now, plus I'm tired today, so I'm a bit listless."

"..."

Wen Ling was silent for a moment, then suddenly said, "Maybe it's because I like you."

"?"

She just said it so bluntly?!

Jiang Ran's eyes widened for a moment, her mind a little dizzy, whether from the alcohol or something else.

"I don't know, but I just felt that the way you looked at me just now was very affectionate."

Wen Ling scratched her hair in annoyance, and she no longer looked like an older woman. For some reason, Jiang Ran felt that she was a bit like a child.

but......

"I think, Sister Wen, it's possible that you like me."

Jiang Ran suddenly frowned, and her words became somewhat hesitant, but the second half of her sentence was quite certain: "You really do like me."

"..."

Liking something is a private matter.

Now that he'd just bluntly and openly told her, as if her secret had been exposed, Wen Ling asked somewhat irritably, "And then?"

"Then you'll find my gaze very affectionate, because there's a saying, isn't there?"

Jiang Ran rested his chin on his hand and pondered, "When you like someone, you feel like they're seducing you even when they're just breathing."

"..."

If she were to say things so directly, it would be like confessing her innermost thoughts. Even though Jiang Ran was younger than her, what he said made a lot of sense to Wen Ling.

He's clearly six years younger than her, why is he acting like an adult!

Wen Ling immediately became a little unconvinced, "So what? Didn't you and I already know that I like you and you don't like me?"

"..."

Like someone who had given up entirely, Jiang Ran was immediately silenced by Wen Ling's words.

He changed the subject, saying, "So why did you apologize to me just now?"

The conversation shifted, and Wen Ling suddenly blushed, somewhat annoyed: "Why do you always have so many 'whys'?"

"Same as you, I want to know too."

Jiang Ran blinked. "What she did has nothing to do with you. It wasn't your fault, so why are you apologizing to me?"

"..."

The topic was brought back, and the questions were asked so pointedly.

Wen Ling suddenly lowered her eyes, and after a long silence, she finally spoke, "I just feel I should apologize, because I was partly to blame for this."

"Your reason?"

Jiang Ran asked, puzzled, "What's your reason?"

"It makes you feel unloved."

"..."

Jiang Ran looked at her face, which she had suddenly raised, and her eyes were looking at him very seriously. She was speaking from the bottom of her heart.

He didn't expect Wen Ling to apologize to him so directly.

too suddenly.

This has nothing to do with her, does it?

and......

"And there's the matter on the South Island."

Wen Ling pursed her lips and added, "I should also apologize to you for that."

"Southern Island?"

"Um... I shouldn't have said that to you in the hospital room."

Wen Ling's eyes suddenly darkened as she recalled what had been said that day, the analysis generated by the AI ​​tool, and what Deng Lanlan had told her later.

Putting everything together, Wen Ling took a deep breath. "I was very angry that day, so angry that I lost my temper. I shouldn't have called you aloof. But after thinking about it, I realized that I was actually more at fault from the beginning. I neglected the responsibilities that come with having a child..."

As she murmured, Jiang Ran's memories were also drawn back to that day.

Of course he remembered their argument in the ward that day. Wen Ling was very angry that day and said a lot of things to him at once. Jiang Ran knew that he was indeed at fault, and he did not deny that what Wen Ling said made sense.

So he didn't argue back, he just chose to leave.

He never expected that Wen Ling would apologize to him for saying those words!

So that's why she hasn't been paying much attention to him these past few days?!

So, she's been researching this all this time?!

It was rare for her to pour out all her feelings at once today. Perhaps the atmosphere was right, but Wen Ling kept her eyes downcast, staring at the table, ignoring Jiang Ran's reaction, and simply said in a low voice:

"Actually, this house is where I lived when I was a child. The Wen family business was very large. My father was the successor chosen by my grandfather. Although my grandfather was a good person, he had a knot in his heart."

Looking up at Jiang Ran, Wen Ling suddenly let out a bitter laugh: "I just want a grandson."

"...?"

This was the first time Jiang Ran had heard Wen Ling talk about her own family, especially such private matters concerning her family, which she had so openly discussed.

But it seems that the older generation thinks this way.

Especially a family like the Wen family, with such a large business...

"My grandfather and his ancestors were the first generation of entrepreneurs, and my grandfather was also an heir. In their era, the son was the only one who could truly inherit the estate, so this has always been a source of anxiety for my grandfather..."

Wen Ling continued, "So, since I was born, my grandfather didn't actually like me. At that time, my father was fighting with my second uncle for the family property, so he had no choice but to let me live here alone temporarily. Therefore, I am very familiar with everything here, including this table... When I was a child, I often studied at this table, sometimes very late, until the sky began to lighten..."

"..."

Listening quietly to her, Jiang Ran suddenly understood why Wen Ling felt a lack in her feelings.

Raised independently from a young age, essentially isolated from the outside world, with only a fixed number of people she could interact with, but...

"Didn't you go abroad to study at university later?"

Jiang Ran frowned and asked aloud.

"Yes, but I only attended school abroad for one year, and I didn't live on campus."

"..."

It seems a bit difficult to learn how to make friends in a year.

"So, you're telling me all this because..."

Jiang Ran licked her lips, but before she could utter the words "why," Wen Ling's voice rang out again:

"After Zhizhi was born, my mother's health was damaged, and she could never have another child. My grandfather suggested that my father find another one, but my father refused. When I was little, I didn't understand. Actually, I didn't have much affection for my parents, and whether they were replaced or not didn't affect me much, but..."

As she spoke, she suddenly turned her head and looked at Jiang Ran with an unusually serious gaze, saying, "But, if you asked me to replace you with someone else now, I couldn't accept it."