Shen Chi Yan looked at Lin Qiu Tong expressionlessly, feeling like he was seeing a stranger for the first time.
If it hadn't been for Lin Lan Xing's words, if he hadn't pieced together all the minor details, he might have believed her again.
"You certainly have reasons to lie. In fact, you knew all along that the person in my heart was Song Qi Nian. Song Qi Nian likes snowy days and starry skies, neither of which you enjoy. You only said those things to make me doubt if it was you I liked."
Lin Qiu Tong felt an immense panic. Shen Chi Yan was speaking the truth, and his tone was so certain, as if he already knew everything, not just testing her.
"A Yan, I..."
"And before, right here, you said Song Qi Nian drugged you, intending to ruin your reputation. That was all your own elaborate scheme, wasn't it?"
Lin Qiu Tong's face was filled with guilt and unease, but she refused to admit anything. "No! I didn't! A Yan, you can dislike me, but you can't frame me. Did Song Qi Nian say something to you that made you think..."
Seeing Lin Qiu Tong's stubborn denial, Shen Chi Yan interrupted her, filled with disappointment. "Gao Kun Lun, bring her up!"
Her?
Who?
Lin Qiu Tong's heart grew more uneasy. When she saw the waiter she had sent abroad, her face turned ashen, and her hands clenched into fists. In that instant, only one word came to her mind.
It's over!
Shen Chi Yan's dark eyes swept over the ashen-faced Lin Qiu Tong, his words as cold and merciless as possible. "Did you tell me yourself what happened that day, and why you did it, or should he tell me?"
Lin Qiu Tong gritted her teeth, lowered her head, and remained silent.
No wonder Shen Chi Yan had looked at her with such cold, terrifying eyes that night. No wonder he hadn't even greeted her. It turned out he knew about this.
No wonder she had been feeling restless and uneasy all this time. The answer was here.
Shen Chi Yan didn't want to make things too awkward, but seeing Lin Qiu Tong's silence, he coldly addressed the terrified, trembling waiter, "You speak!"
Terrified by Shen Chi Yan's powerful aura, the man's legs went weak, and he immediately fell to his knees. "Miss Lin... she gave me fifty thousand yuan and asked me to drug the prepared wine, saying she would take full responsibility for the consequences."
Recalling what had happened that day, Lin Qiu Tong squeezed her eyes shut. She had thought everything was foolproof, but she hadn't expected Shen Chi Yan to find out.
"Fifth Master, I truly only acted on Miss Lin's orders. I didn't hurt anyone. Please give me a chance. I will reform and never do such a thing again."
As he spoke, the man grabbed Lin Qiu Tong's skirt. "Miss Lin, I just did as you said. You have to help me!"
Lin Qiu Tong wished she could kill the man begging her. She had told him to hide well abroad and not return to Jing Hua City for three to five years. How could he have been found by Shen Chi Yan so easily?
Then, she realized that since Shen Chi Yan had his suspicions, even if this man fled to the ends of the earth, Shen Chi Yan would find him.
After all, he would risk his life for Song Qi Nian, so this little matter was nothing.
She wished with all her heart that this was all a nightmare, but no matter how much she pinched herself, everything before her remained real.
Knowing that further denial was useless, Lin Qiu Tong looked at Shen Chi Yan calmly. "Let him go. I'll tell you whatever you want to know."
Shen Chi Yan nodded to Gao Kun Lun. Understanding his cue, Gao Kun Lun grabbed the waiter by the collar and dragged him out.
Lin Qiu Tong looked at the table full of her favorite dishes, her heart aching.
Before coming, she had been overjoyed that Shen Chi Yan had invited her to dinner, thinking he was going to leave Song Qi Nian and be with her.
Now, it seemed, it was all her foolish wishful thinking, her one-sided affection.
Shen Chi Yan hadn't invited her to dinner; he was clearly here to judge her!
"Why did you do it?"
Hearing Shen Chi Yan's question, Lin Qiu Tong suddenly let out a laugh, but it was filled with bitterness and sorrow.
"A Yan, you're so smart, do you really not know why I did it?"
Shen Chi Yan frowned, his expression unusually grim. He could roughly guess that Lin Qiu Tong had done those things for him, but he couldn't understand how someone who was originally so kind and cheerful could have hurt others.
"You're right, I don't like starry skies. In fact, I detest them, because every time I see them, I'm reminded of Song Qi Nian!"
"I also dislike snowy days. Snow wets my clothes and dirties my shoes. Moreover, my brother died on a snowy day, so I get moody whenever it snows."
Lin Qiu Tong stared at Shen Chi Yan, her eyes red. "But for you, I could accept starry skies and endure snowy days."
With that, Lin Qiu Tong chuckled self-mockingly. "Yet in the end, I still couldn't win your heart, nor even a shred of your affection."
Lin Qiu Tong picked up a glass of wine and drank it down in one gulp.
Shen Chi Yan frowned, watching Lin Qiu Tong not refuse. "At Shen Yu Shu's wedding, you also fell into the water yourself and framed Song Qi Nian for pushing you, right?"
Seeing Shen Chi Yan looking like he was going to settle all accounts with her, Lin Qiu Tong's heart ached. He was only mentioning Song Qi Nian now, completely disregarding her feelings.
"Yes, it was me! I love you, and I wanted you to divorce. But I didn't expect her to be so thick-skinned, refusing to divorce you even when she knew you didn't love her!"
Shen Chi Yan looked at the agitated and furious Lin Qiu Tong, as if he had never known her before.
He took a deep breath and said seriously, "Have you ever considered that it's not that Song Qi Nian refused to divorce me, but that I have been unable to leave her all along!"
When Shen Chi Yan and Song Qi Nian first got married, Shen Chi Yan had amnesia and mistakenly believed that Song Qi Nian had used seduction to marry into the Shen family. He was furious and constantly thought about divorce.
When divorce proved impossible, he stayed away from home all the time, busy with his career, completely forgetting he had a wife.
One night, he returned home drunk and, somehow, ended up with Song Qi Nian. From then on, he felt as if he were addicted, wanting to be intimate with her whenever he saw her.
Over time, divorce became increasingly distant for him. Even after Lin Qiu Tong woke up, he had considered divorcing Song Qi Nian to give Lin Qiu Tong an explanation.
But when it came to actually divorcing, he felt an immense reluctance and anxiety.
Therefore, when Song Qi Nian proposed divorce, he had become so angry and uneasy.