After the minor character transforms into a beauty, she steals the heart of a tycoon's son.

Ruan Tang lowered her eyes. "He didn't protect me."

Ji Yan's eyebrows twitched slightly.

"When I misbehave, he chokes me." Ruan Tang raised her hand and touched the side of her neck with her fingertips.

The pain there had long since subsided, and the finger marks had faded, but that wound would forever be etched in her heart; she remembered it.

"That time, because I disobeyed him, he pinned me to the door and strangled me."

"I can't breathe, I'm scared."

Pei Heng and Wen Yan were both staring at her; they had both witnessed this firsthand.

But for those in positions of power who hold the power of life and death, it was just a trivial matter.

Unexpectedly, it happened to Ruan Tang, and she remembered it for so long.

Ruan Tang lowered her hand, still maintaining a well-behaved posture, but the words she uttered were increasingly astonishing.

"So I started to show him weakness and act pitiful."

"Later I found that this trick worked, so I would use it every time."

"He only indulged me because of my flattery; I'm no different from Os."

"Pat your head when you're obedient, and chase you away when you're disobedient."

"That's why I hate Si Lin."

After Ruan Tang finished speaking, the entire second floor fell silent.

Ji Yan looked up, her gaze passing over her and landing on Si Lin's face. His back was straight, and his face was completely expressionless.

The young girl continued, "I've hated him ever since we first met, when he acted all high and mighty and bullied Fang Zhaoyang."

"I hated him even more after he bullied me."

"I'm with him because I'm afraid to refuse him, afraid he'll get angry."

Si Lin stood in front of the sofa, looking down at her.

Although he didn't speak, Pei Heng noticed that his hand, hanging at his side, was clenched tightly.

Ji Yan also fell silent. He had thought that this interrogation would tear away Ruan Tang's disguise and expose her ulterior motives and deception.

She did get caught, but it wasn't a particularly elaborate scam.

But the truth is even more embarrassing than the deception.

His best friend, the top-tier prodigy Si Lin, fell in love for the first time, only to be discarded like trash by the other party.

"So..." Ji Yan began, her voice slower than before.

"From the first day of school, you've been focused on self-preservation."

"Yes." Ruan Tang nodded.

"You've never liked Si Lin?"

"no."

"What about Wen Yan?" Ji Yan suddenly changed the subject. "When you first joined the deacon group, your attitude towards Wen Yan was different from your attitude towards Si Lin."

Pei Heng abruptly turned to look at Ji Yan, thinking to himself, "Damn, I never realized Ji Yan was such a gossipmonger. Si Lin is already about to explode, and he dares to add fuel to the fire?"

Wen Yan raised an eyebrow but remained silent.

Ruan Tang blinked her almond-shaped eyes, thought for a moment, and said, "Young Master Wen is very good to me."

"He never hurt me or threatened me, and he always spoke to me gently."

"So you like Wen Yan?" Ji Yan asked.

"No," Ruan Tang shook her head. "I don't like anyone in the deacon team."

"You are all nobles, but to me, there is no difference. You are all people who can make special admissions students disappear from Shenglan with just a word."

"He is the one I should fear."

She paused, then added something even harsher: "But Si Lin is the most powerful one, so I chose him."

These words fell lightly, yet struck Si Lin's heart heavily.

Even Pei Heng could tell that Si Lin had simply chosen the most useful option after weighing the pros and cons.

"So that's how it is," Si Lin finally said.

He walked up to Ruan Tang and stopped.

The little girl looked up at him, her almond-shaped eyes still misty with the effects of alcohol, not quite sober.

Si Lin spoke, his voice so low that only she could hear it, "Ruan Tang, I'm asking you again myself."

She blinked, looking at him intently. "What are you asking?"

"Have you ever truly loved Si Lin?"

Without thinking, she softly uttered three words, "No."

Si Lin stared at her. Her face was still so beautiful, her eyebrows and eyes were both pure and charming, her lips were slightly pouting, and the end of her voice carried an unconscious coquettishness.

The intoxication made her pupils dilate, and she couldn't see his expression clearly. She only heard one question and obediently answered it.

She's so obedient it makes you want to strangle her.

The man raised his large hand and grasped her slender neck.

Wen Yan spoke, "Si Lin—"

Ji Yan stood up, raised her hand to stop him, her gaze calm, and did not move.

Si Lin placed his fingers on the girl's artery and could feel the weak pulse beating gently, one beat at a time.

He still remembers the first time he pinched her. It was in the office, and he had her pinned against the door, her tears falling onto the back of his hand one by one.

At that time, he thought the girl was timid and not very capable as a subordinate, crying like that at the slightest pinch.

Now he knows, she really is a coward.

She was afraid of and remembered this for so long because of a small incident.

"Si Lin, that's enough." Wen Yan's voice came from behind.

Don't do something you'll regret.

Si Lin did not turn around.

He imagined himself beating and scolding her without any mercy, just like in the beginning.

But in reality, both he and she knew that even though the veins on the back of his hand were bulging, he didn't have much strength when he landed on her delicate neck.

Si Lin stared at the back of his hand, which he seemed to be exerting force, and suddenly found it ridiculous.

Who is he? He is the only son of the Si family and the head of the Shenglan Deacon. No one has ever dared to say a word against him since he was a child.

Some of the people he dealt with knelt on the ground and kowtowed until they bled, while others had their entire families forced out of the capital.

When has he ever softened his heart?

But now he hesitates even to choke a specially admitted student.

He was even afraid—afraid of hurting her again, afraid that his image in her eyes would become even worse.

"What are you doing?" the girl's soft voice rang out.

Si Lin looked down at her. She frowned, raised her hand and grabbed his wrist. Her small hand was weak and powerless, unable to encircle even half of his wrist.

She looked at him groggily, not yet realizing what she had just said, only complaining that it hurt, "You pinched me too hard."

The young girl was drunk and completely unaware of how cruel her words had been, like knives stabbing into his heart.

She was still sweetly coaxing him.

Si Lin stared into her beautiful almond-shaped eyes, a pang of sorrow he had never felt before rising in his chest.

Such a heartless woman, such a hypocritical woman, yet when she looked at him with tender eyes, he still subconsciously felt... how obedient she was.

[Author's Note: Some words are too heavy, spoken at such a young age, they become a shadow that one can never escape for the rest of their life.]