Chapter 1607

Mu Nuan stared wide-eyed at Ye Heng'an standing before her and immediately retorted, "I was helping you last night! Why should I be the one making promises?" "Because I've already given my word," he replied earnestly. "Everything I say, I'll follow through. Starting today, I'll never lie to you again. Nuannuan, I love you—so much. I promise my feelings will never change. I'll love only you for the rest of my life, and I mean every word. But what about you? Nuannuan, I'm uneasy. What if you only helped me out of pity? Do you... like me at all?" Mu Nuan was taken aback. This... this confession was way too sudden. Just yesterday, she'd still been angry with him, and now he was asking her to confess her feelings? She had always been stubborn with her words... Seeing her flushed cheeks and silence, Ye Heng'an put on a crestfallen expression, his voice tinged with vulnerability. "Nuannuan, why won't you answer? Did you really only do it to help me? You... don’t have any feelings for me at all?" "That’s not it," Mu Nuan said softly, her heart aching at his pitiful look. As he made to step away, she quickly reached out and caught his arm. "Hannah, I... I just don’t know how to say it. I like you." "Really?" His eyes lit up instantly. "You're not just saying that to make me feel better? You mean it?" "Really. I promise." "But before I left the country, you clearly..." Mu Nuan bit her lip lightly. Since things had already come this far, she might as well throw caution to the wind. Summoning the same courage from last night, she met his gaze directly. "After you left, I missed you all the time. Back then, I didn’t realize what it meant. But later... I noticed that this longing never faded with time. That’s when I finally understood—I might have loved you for a long, long while. It’s just... I was so used to our sibling-like dynamic that I never recognized it." Hearing her confession firsthand, Ye Heng'an felt as if his heart had suddenly been flooded with light. He wasn’t alone in this. Nuannuan loved him too. The more he looked at her, the more overwhelming the surge of emotion became. Unable to hold back, he leaned down and captured her lips in a deep kiss. A long while later, Mu Nuan's phone rang. She turned to reach for it, but Ye Heng'an was faster—snatching it up and powering it off without hesitation. Mu Nuan froze for a moment before exclaiming, "Hey, why did you turn it off?" "Today is our first day together—such an important occasion. Let's not worry about Xiao Qingqing right now." "But..." As Mu Nuan spoke, she noticed Ye Heng'an's gaze drifting downward. Only then did she realize neither of them was dressed. Her cheeks flushed pink as she awkwardly crossed her arms over her chest. "You... stop looking." Ye Heng'an watched her, his eyes warm with amusement, before leaning in to capture her lips in a kiss... Their passion lasted well into the afternoon. It wasn't until Ye Heng'an tried to pull her back for another round that Mu Nuan finally slipped out of bed. The moment her feet touched the floor, a wave of soreness shot through her back and legs. She hissed through her teeth. Ye Heng'an tensed. "What's wrong?" "What do you think?" Face still burning, Mu Nuan rummaged through the pile of clothes strewn across the sofa, retrieved her bathrobe, and wrapped it tightly around herself. After shooting him a glare, she limped toward the bathroom. Watching her struggle, Ye Heng'an couldn't help but chuckle softly. By the time Mu Nuan finished freshening up and stepped out, Ye Heng'an had already arranged for a breakfast cart to be delivered from the hotel restaurant. He took a quick shower himself before joining her for the meal. After taking a few bites, she suddenly remembered something and said, "Oh right, what exactly happened last night? Who would drug you? Did Niren Group make enemies after establishing a branch here? We should track them down as soon as possible, shouldn’t we?" At the mention of this, Ye Heng'an felt a pang of guilt. But recalling his promise never to lie to Nuannuan again, he cautiously glanced at Mu Nuan and replied, "No need to look. I already know who it was." "Who?" Mu Nuan straightened up, her expression serious. "Why do you look like that? Is the person difficult to deal with?" "It’s not that they’re difficult to deal with—it’s that we can’t deal with them at all." As he spoke, Ye Heng'an set down his chopsticks. "Last night, I had drinks with Niannian." "What?" Mu Nuan shot up from her seat, glaring at him. "Don’t tell me that jerk was the one who drugged you!" "Not exactly. I knew there was something in the drink and chose to take it anyway. Niannian said if I didn’t take the initiative, I’d lose you. He also said that seeing me in such pain, you wouldn’t just abandon me." Mu Nuan stared at him, speechless, her eyes wide with disbelief. "Have you both lost your minds? What if I really had ignored you last night? Do you even realize what the doctor said? That drug could have damaged your..." She trailed off, her gaze flickering downward. Ye Heng'an immediately understood her implication and chuckled softly. "If you had abandoned me, then those things would’ve been useless anyway. So what if they got ruined?" "You—" Mu Nuan was absolutely furious. When these reckless men got together, why did they always come up with the most absurd ideas? Snatching up her phone, she dialed Niannian’s number without hesitation. The call connected, and a lazy voice drifted through the line. "Yeah, sis?" "Tell me where you are right now." The commanding tone startled Nian Nian, who immediately sat up in her hotel bed, glancing around nervously. "What's going on?" "What's going on? Who told you to give Hannah such a terrible idea? Are you trying to get yourself killed?" Hearing this, Nian Nian couldn’t help but laugh. "Wow, Hannah really has no backbone, huh? He caved and told you already?" "You still dare to joke about it?" "Come on, sis, I just couldn’t stand watching you two dance around each other anymore. So? Last night—did you finally get to enjoy that youthful body of his? You—" "Mo Nian!" Nian Nian had taken her mother Mo Xuanyin’s surname since childhood. Whenever they introduced themselves to others, people would inevitably ask why their last names were different. Tired of explaining, she often just said, *"I’m Nuan Nuan, and this is my little brother, Nian Nian."* So when Mu Nuan called her by her full name—*Mo Nian*—she knew her sister was furious. Instantly, she played dumb. "Sis, my signal’s terrible—I can’t hear you anymore. Hello? Hello…?" A dial tone buzzed in response. Mu Nuan slammed her phone onto the table. *That trick again.* Seeing her anger, Ye Heng’an couldn’t help but feel guilty. He lowered his voice. "Nuan Nuan… are you mad?" "Shut up." She shot him a glare, but when she saw the cautious look on his face, she gritted her teeth. "I don’t even want to deal with you two right now." With that, she turned to leave. Heng’an quickly stepped forward, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind and murmuring into her ear, "I’m sorry. Punish me however you want—just don’t be angry, okay? Hmm?" "Ye Heng’an, let go." "Not a chance." He spun her around, pressing her lightly against the wall, his gaze burning into hers. "If you’re upset, it means I didn’t do well enough. So I’ll have to punish myself." *This guy is shameless.* Mu Nuan crossed her arms, tilting her chin up defiantly. "Fine. Then tell me—how exactly do you plan to punish yourself?"