The sunlight was so intense, bestowing its warmth upon the world without prejudice. On this winter day, the ice at the edge of the frozen lake was melting, twinkling as it reflected the light.

The noon sun had never felt hotter than it did today. It was as if all the gloom had finally passed, giving way to a sky of perfect clarity.

「Fengting District.」

On the balcony of Jiangg Ning’s home, the slate viewing table was covered in flowerpots. The plants bathed in the sun, their verdant green indescribable, yet there was no one to admire them.

Normally, Jiangg Ning would have used this time around noon to water the pots with a watering can, but she had no heart for it now.

What she needed to discuss with Jiangg Yao was the single greatest conflict the two sisters had ever faced in their lives—one big enough to drive a wedge between them and shatter their bond forever.

Separated by the expensive and elegant coffee table.

Jiangg Yao had one foot propped up on the sofa, the other in a slipper, a wild and uninhibited posture that clashed sharply with her delicate face. Across from her, staring daggers, sat Jiangg Ning, primly with her arms crossed and legs folded together. Unfortunately, her face was gaunt from the aftereffects of being drunk.

“What do you want to talk about?” Jiangg Yao asked, sensing the atmosphere had grown strangely serious.

“How about a round of total honesty? You dare?” Jiangg Ning lifted her chin, narrowing her eyes at her.

“You already know everything I’ve done. What’s there to be honest about?”

“No. Me having to find things out on my own just leads to one disappointment and furious discovery after another. I don’t gain anything from it. It would be better if you just told me yourself.”

“And why would I tell you myself?” Jiangg Yao said with a bewitching smile, the curl of her lips surprisingly full of Charm.

For a moment, Jiangg Ning was stunned. She thought she saw her mother’s smile and was momentarily dazed.

Jiangg Ruxue had a habitually mischievous smile. It was the expression she always wore when mocking someone—the curve of her lips was faint, but the corners of her eyes would crinkle, revealing the silkworm-like puffs beneath them, her already narrow eyes glinting with an indescribable playfulness.

‘Jiangg Ning hated that look.’ Her face instantly turned cold.

‘I have to admit, my sister inherited more than enough of Mom’s bitchiness. It sounds awful to say, but it’s the truth.’

‘It’s a good thing Jiangg Yao dropped out of school. If she’d gone through high school and college with me, she would have definitely been more popular. Men always fall for that type.’

‘Being popular isn’t always a good thing.’

‘Honestly, being put on a pedestal like that makes you lose yourself. You end up becoming some silly woman chasing vanity.’

‘At least the Jiangg Yao of today believes in true love. That’s why she’s willing to sacrifice so much for Chen Yuan.’

For a moment, Jiangg Ning actually felt a pang of relief. ‘If my sister really turned into a woman like our mother, I think I’d die from sheer anger.’

She cleared her throat and retorted with a light snort, “If you’re not going to be honest, then I’m not going to tell you what I did last night.”

“?” Jiangg Yao’s face instantly darkened. “What do you mean by that?”

“It means whatever you think it means…” Jiangg Ning shrugged, a look of indifference on her face.

“No way… you didn’t do *that*, did you? Shameless!” Her sister’s face flushed red then pale, her wide eyes filled with disbelief and even a trace of disgust. She shot to her feet.

“See? Getting worked up again?”

“You’ve only been talking for a few days, and you’d dare do something like that? You two haven’t even gotten back together! That’s just getting drunk and—”

Jiangg Yao’s finger trembled as she pointed at her sister, looking like she wanted to jab it right in her face, but Jiangg Ning remained exceptionally calm.

“And that’s why we need this session of total honesty. If we keep suspecting each other, it’ll never end, and it’s going to seriously affect our normal lives.”

A clear-headed Jiangg Ning had pinpointed the core of the problem. From last night until now, her mind had been completely consumed with this romantic struggle, leaving no room for anything else.

For the past two weeks, even maintaining a normal work routine had been an exhausting struggle. She constantly felt like she was just barely holding on.

It was agonizing.

‘I might as well let Jiangg Yao spill everything. Just let her put me out of my misery.’

The feeling of constantly discovering new betrayals, this slow, layer-by-layer unraveling… it was like being sliced with a dull knife. Unbearable!

“Last night, did you or did you not…”

“You go first! I won’t hide anything. You should trust your big sister, right? I rarely lie.”

The sisters locked eyes. Jiangg Yao narrowed her eyes as well.

She did trust her. When it came to many things, her older sister was actually quite principled.

“Fine. I’ll tell you. In the second week after the breakup, I went to find Chen Yuan… See this scar on my thigh? I got it when I fell then,” Jiangg Yao said, pointing to a faint white mark near the top of her thigh. She continued, “After that, in your office, I apologized again. I pestered him on Green Bubble all day. Basically, I did everything I could, groveling and begging for us to get back together! Why do you think he was so nice to you the moment you started talking to him? It was all built on the foundation of my hard work!”

Furious, Jiangg Yao slammed her hand on the table.

“And then?” her sister asked, unmoved.

“And then, because my little young master likes me so much, he took the initiative to move out and rent a place so we could create our own little world for two, hee hee~”

Watching Jiangg Yao’s sly, innocent-seeming act as she spoke, Jiangg Ning felt a wave of irritation.

She desperately wanted to curse out loud: ”Hee hee’ my ass!’

Taking a deep breath, Jiangg Ning kept her composure. She steadied herself and continued to listen.

“And then, you had to go back to Mingzhu City. That meant I could spend time with Chen Yuan in our own little world without any restraints. Oh my god, it was a true gift from the heavens… We went shopping together, we ate hotpot together… you feed me, I feed you… just like a pair of lovebirds!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep