Seduced Me into a Deep Fall - Chapter 36.1

“How did you handle this? You actually let her escape.”

Song Yi first embraced the nearly fainting Ling Xi before speaking.

“The situation is complicated. I suspect there’s a mole in the team otherwise, how could she have gotten away? If she can break through even this level of security.”

Yun Fengzhi sighed after saying this.

“It’s going to be difficult to handle. Right now, we don’t have enough evidence to convict her, so we can only dig deeper along the clues she left. Next time, we might not even be able to arrest her.”

Hearing this, Song Yi noticed Ling Xi trembling in her arms.

Not out of affection.

Ling Xi didn’t dare imagine how devastated she would feel.

Just the thought of that possibility made her heart clench.

“Right., I can’t show you the design yet. She hasn’t told you, so she must want it to be a surprise.” Shi Xinyu wiped nonexistent sweat from her forehead.

“Or maybe she just didn’t think it was necessary.”Ling Xi  slumped back into her seat, visibly dejected.

Shi Xinyu didn’t hear her.

Otherwise, she would’ve argued.

Given Song Yi’s obsessive tendencies, if she had casually thrown together a wedding dress, why would she have pressured Ling Xi to revise it repeatedly?

“Anyway, think carefully about my suggestion.” After a while, Shi Xinyu sent over the tenth draft and patted Ling Xi ’s shoulder as she sat there dazed.

She had wanted to pat her head, but Shi Xinyu valued her life too much to risk Song Yi’s wrath.

“General Manager Shi,  my hiring wasn’t related to Song Yi, was it?”

From the whirlwind of thoughts, Ling Xi plucked the most prominent one and asked.

“How could it be? When I sent you the offer, I didn’t even know ‘Jiang xinyuebai’ was you.”

Hearing her boss casually mention her online alias, Ling Xi shuddered, embarrassment creeping up from her toes.

She curled them. “Then,  does Song Yi know too?”

Shi Xinyu looked at Ling Xi .

What was up with this couple? Why were they keeping so many secrets from each other?

“And there’s the risk of tipping her off. We’ve already sent people to continue tracking her movements, but who knows if she’ll lay low after this.”

Yun Fengzhi had an idea, one that required Ling Xi ’s cooperation.

But seeing how terrified Ling Xi was, she hesitated to bring it up, afraid of provoking Song Yi’s fury.

“She’s really bold. Knowing she’s being pursued, she still dares to show herself. She must have plenty of cards up her sleeve maybe even anticipated being captured.”

Yun Fengzhi shook her head. It seemed they’d been outmaneuvered by Mu Xie.

By conventional logic, after being hunted once, Mu Xie should’ve learned her lesson and at least stopped harassing Ling Xi . Yet she had struck again in such a short time.

Twice, no less.

She really had no respect for their security team.

“Tell your wife to be careful lately. With Mu Xie’s capabilities, who knows what she might.”

Before Yun Fengzhi could finish, Song Yi hung up.

“What a temper. I was just trying to help.” Yun Fengzhi grumbled, clutching her phone.

“Ling Xi was probably right beside her. Saying that only added fuel to the fire and scared her even more.”

Tan Nijun tossed a USB drive into Yun Fengzhi’s hands. “If it were me, I’d have hung up on you too.”

“…always picking on me.” Yun Fengzhi let it slide, they had a heavy workload today and still had overtime ahead.

After hanging up, Song Yi noticed Ling Xi ’s terrible mental state and immediately regretted putting the call on speaker.

“Sister Song.” Ling Xi clutched Song Yi’s sleeve, curling into her embrace.

“I don’t dare go out. Sister, I’m so scared.” Ling Xi couldn’t even cry properly.

Her tears had turned into cold sweat, continuously seeping out, draining her strength.

“I’ll have Shen Feique accompany you.” Song Yi wrapped an arm around her waist, holding her tighter.

“You can’t just stop leaving the house because of one scumbag, can you?”

Song Yi thought Ling Xi wouldn’t throw out the baby with the bathwater, hence the suggestion.

But Ling Xi was genuinely terrified now.

She shook her head frantically, clearly not in her right mind.

“Rest at home for a few days first, or you could come to work with me.” Song Yi sighed.

Truthfully, Song Yi hesitated to take such initiative.

She feared this might be an indirect way of controlling Ling Xi.

Yet Ling Xi’s fear was palpable.

If in their “previous life,” Ling Xi had been imprisoned by Mu Xie, it wasn’t hard to understand this reaction.

Anyone would collapse after being frightened twice in one day by someone who’d once controlled them.

That Ling Xi could still hold herself together while quietly weeping showed remarkable strength.

“Okay,  Sister Song, don’t leave me.”

“But Mu Xie did do terrible things to you, didn’t she?”

Song Yi laced her comfort with a barely detectable personal agenda.

“Yes,  Sister Song, I don’t know how to explain. The harm she caused me lasted far longer than six months.”

Those years of imprisonment in their past life had nearly broken Ling Xi .

Even in this new life, Mu Xie’s pursuit prevented her from securing graduate jobs,

maintaining unstrained relationships, or living alone without constant fear.

Mu Xie’s shadow loomed too large.

“Take your time explaining.” Song Yi knew about their so-called “past life.”

“My heart aches for you.” Song Yi sighed.

“Did you ever seek help?”

Ling Xi nodded. “I tried. I even attempted to escape.”

“I refused, fled, begged for help but none of it worked, Song Yi. She kept dragging me back, forcibly confining me in her home, forcing me to endure her nauseating confessions. I even got friends who tried to help me into trouble.”

Ling Xi blinked, tears clinging to her lashes.

She inhaled sharply, fighting to keep them from falling.

“Tell me, what kind of person. what did she even see in me?” Ling Xi couldn’t comprehend.

“This wasn’t your fault.” Song Yi held her tighter. “You fought so hard. Really. You never gave up, never resigned to fate. The problem was always hers.”

“If she truly is a Tiancan, and what you smelled was her medication, then her psychopathy makes sense, doesn’t it?”

After all, Tiancan were bitter enough to develop harmful drugs collectively.

That Mu Xie possessed such restricted medication suggested she belonged to that mysterious organization.

“If she really is Tiancan no wonder she never forced my mark. But she did extract my pheromones.”

Somewhat comforted, Ling Xi began piecing together past-life memories.

This explained why Mu Xie claimed devotion yet avoided intimacy.

“Did she extract your pheromones?” Song Yi’s focus, however, was on the latter point.

“Yes. Quite frequently. It used to be once a month.”

“Did she ever test any drugs on you?” Song Yi frowned, pressing her fingers against Ling Xi’s scent gland.

“Not while I was conscious. But those days were so dark, I was often in a daze, so I don’t know if she ever did.”

Ling Xi pursed her lips and squeezed Song Yi’s hand, silently reassuring her not to worry too much.

“It’s all in the past. At least now, there’s no sign of any drug damage on me.”

Her body had reset after rebirth.

Even if Mu Xie had done those things in her past life, it had nothing to do with the present Ling Xi.

“That’s not true.” Song Yi sounded slightly angry.

“Ling Xi, don’t you remember what Ji Heng said when you first came home? She said your pulse was erratic and told me to take you for a check-up.”

Ling Xi gasped in pain, startling the person beside her to tears.

She turned her head and saw the “Lianlian-jiejie” who often appeared in her dreams now flustered over her injury, face streaked with tears.

“I just fell. Don’t cry,” Ling Xi managed through gritted teeth, still trying to comfort this older girl who acted more like a child.

“It doesn’t even hurt,” she lied.

“It does.” The girl gripped Ling Xi’s hand, pulling her toward the hospital. “I know it hurts.”

When she spoke, Ling Xi caught a glimpse of her eyes, phoenix-shaped, adorned with a dark mole that shimmered like a gemstone.

So familiar.

That mole.

By the time Ling Xi relived that day in her dream and opened her eyes again, she found herself in Song Yi’s arms, unable to fall back asleep.

Who knew how many years had passed since that incident in the dream?

If that person really was Song Yi.

It wasn’t unreasonable for her appearance to have changed.

Ling Xi quietly traced the mole on Song Yi’s eyelid.

Are you,  the same person?

Song Yi’s eyelid twitched slightly like a silent answer.

Ling Xi closed her eyes, not daring to look or think further.

She picked up her phone, trying to find that news article she’d glimpsed by chance before.

Instead, she stumbled upon a flood of tabloid gossip about the Song family.

Frowning, she scrolled down.

[The Song Family’s Most Promising Young Heir Entangled in Major Scandal Fate Unknown! Will the Tiancan Organization Respond?]

[Heir in Delirium! What Lies Ahead for the Song Family?]

[The Gold-Digging Son-in-Law’s Rise! Click to See How Much He’s Profited from the Song Family]

Then she spotted a headline that caught her eye:

[Fu Youyou and Song Yi: Father and Daughter Estranged! Can the 18-Year-Old Young Heiress Revive the Song Family? Will She Succeed in the Next Leadership Election?]

[Fu Youyou Represents Daughter at Shareholder Meeting, Claims Song Yi’s Condition Too Unstable to Assume Mother’s Role]

Just as she was about to click on the last article, a voice sounded behind her.

“What are you looking at?”

Ling Xi set her phone down. “Couldn’t sleep, just browsing the news.”

“…About me?” Song Yi bit Ling Xi’s earlobe playfully. “I saw my name.”

“Sorry! I was just curious.” Ling Xi shivered from the ticklish sensation.

She turned to look at Song Yi, unable to muster any annoyance, and simply pulled her into a hug.

“It’s fine, I’m not blaming you. This kind of news is public for anyone to see.” Song Yi simply hadn’t expected Ling Xi would actively search for it.

Was she that interested in her?

“Mmm…” They held each other in silence for a while before Ling Xi finally spoke.

“What exactly happened between you and Fu Youyou?”

If anyone else had asked this, Song Yi would have ignored them, maybe even given them a cold stare.

But it was Ling Xi asking.

“Just what it seems. You saw the news, he was my mother’s husband, what people used to call a live-in son-in-law of the Song family. He was good at keeping my mother happy, fooled everyone before her accident. But the moment the hospital confirmed she wouldn’t recover, Fu Youyou couldn’t hide his ambitions anymore.”

“The benefits he siphoned from the Song family built his own career and his maternal family’s fortune. Then he brought outsiders to my side, saying I should learn from them, let them inherit the company while I played second fiddle.”

“I was young then. I refused to cooperate, so we broke ties and fought for years.”

Fu Youyou was, after all, a cunning older adult and Song Yi’s nominal father.

At first, she’d been fooled too, suffering his abuse before seeing through his schemes.

Song Yi sighed softly.

It was during those days her most wretched period that she’d met Ling Xi .

Without Ling Xi , she might never have found the strength to expose Fu Youyou’s lies and reclaim the Song family.

These were things she couldn’t tell Ling Xi now.

Because Ling Xi didn’t remember their summer anymore.

“That’s disgusting.” Ling Xi frowned, putting her phone on the nightstand to focus on Song Yi. “Was he really your father?”

“Who knows? Normally, after having me, my mother shouldn’t have kept contact with Fu Youyou. Colloquially speaking, they should’ve divorced. But he schemed to maintain his position in the Song family.”

“Had my mother known how venomous he was, she’d never have kept him around.” But there were no what-ifs.

“And your mother?” Ling Xi only knew Song Yi’s mother had fallen ill like hers.

“It was no accident, someone orchestrated it. The Tiancan Organization was likely involved.” Song Yi’s mother had also been an S-rank omega. Being targeted made sense.

“No wonder you helped me deal with Mu Xie. Did you suspect her connection to Tiancan all along?” Ling Xi even found justification for Song Yi.

Song Yi felt helpless.

Ling Xi truly remembered nothing.

“Not just that.” Song Yi hadn’t suspected Mu Xie’s ties to Tiancan only knew she had outside forces and wanted to usurp the Song family. Ling Xi ‘s situation became the pretext to act.

Who knew it would uncover so much, even clues to her mother’s murderer?

Ling Xi didn’t follow.

“Figure it out yourself.” Seeing her confusion, Song Yi’s frustration had no outlet but to poke Ling Xi hard before turning away.

“Song-jie.” Ling Xi obediently followed, embracing her. “How can I know if you don’t tell me?”

“I acted against her for you. That much is undeniable.”

Song Yi couldn’t stand Ling Xi’s persistent nuzzling anymore and finally turned to acknowledge her.

With a sigh that carried a hint of displeasure, Song Yi had to gently pat Ling Xi’s head to coax her beloved to sleep. “If you won’t sleep, I will. Be good now.”

“Okay,” Ling Xi quieted down.

Having convinced herself, her emotions settled somewhat.

Perhaps for this reason, if she had really sought out Song Yi in her previous life, Song Yi would have helped her too.

Ling Xi felt only a slight regret.

At least Heaven had shown mercy, allowing her to meet Song Yi in this lifetime.

This was the greatest fortune she had encountered since her rebirth.

Ling Xi secretly planted a kiss on Song Yi.

Song Yi’s eyelashes fluttered slightly, and the arm around Ling Xi’s waist tightened imperceptibly.

Ling Xi had been working from home until the 6th.

On the morning of the 6th, Song Yi pulled her out of bed before she could even react, leaving her standing there in a daze.

By the time she was fully awake, she saw Song Yi picking out clothes.

A row of outfits was laid out on the bed, suggesting the selection process had been going on for a while.

“What are you doing?” Ling Xi lost her balance and plopped back onto the bed.

“Still half-asleep?” Song Yi patted her head.

“Sweetie, what’s the date today?”

Ling Xi blinked groggily before her eyes suddenly flew open.

“Ah.” November 6th. She was 22 now.

“Happy birthday,” Song Yi pinched Ling Xi’s cheek affectionately.

“I almost forgot,” Ling Xi replied with a goofy smile.

Finally fully awake, she grabbed her phone from the nightstand and saw a flood of birthday wishes from friends.

Of course, there was also a message from her sister.

Ling Xi replied to her sister first.

【I should be able to make it to Yanjing tomorrow. I have a flight later tonight.】 Ling Yue had finally wrapped up her arrangements.

Ling Xi sent back a sticker.

She would see her sister tomorrow.

Her heart, which had been heavy for days, began to lighten.

“Help me choose,” Song Yi said, nodding toward the outfits on the bed once Ling Xi had finished replying.

“Do we need to be this formal?” Ling Xi glanced at the selection all formal wear.

“We’re taking photos. These will go on our marriage certificate, and I don’t want to look bad in them.”

Ling Xi came to her senses. “But I don’t have any formal clothes.”

“We’re about the same height. You can borrow mine. Pick something for yourself too,” Song Yi said, handing her a brand-new outfit she had prepared in advance.

“This one should suit you.”

Ling Xi held it up to herself.

It was a peacock-blue dress with an intricately designed top and a flowing, lightweight skirt.

Perfect for Ling Xi’s temperament.

Song Yi looked pleased. “Want to try it on?”

“Right away,” Ling Xi accepted the dress.

Her eyes immediately landed on the mermaid dress Song Yi had worn while drunk.

The dress was like a rose under moonlight striking yet elegant.

Song Yi followed her gaze.

It seemed that drunken episode had left quite an impression on Ling Xi.

“You like this one?” Song Yi picked up the dress.

The top was a bit plain for a wedding photo, which would only capture the upper half. She’d need to add a little jacket.

Ling Xi nodded shyly.

“Then I’ll try mine on too.”

“I’ll go to my room,” Ling Xi said, grabbing her dress and scurrying off.

Song Yi watched her hurry away as if afraid of seeing something she shouldn’t, finding it endearing.

After all their intimate moments, Ling Xi was still such a bashful girl.

Afraid of seeing her.

It wasn’t as if Song Yi was deliberately teasing her.

They had seen each other naked so many times, what part of each other’s bodies hadn’t they seen?

After marriage, why would they still need to avoid such things?

Sooner or later, she would change clothes right in front of Ling Xi.

After putting on her formal attire, Ling Xi even applied some powder to brighten her complexion.

She stepped out of the room and saw Song Yi waiting at her door.

This was the second time she’d seen Song Yi in this outfit.

Yet the feeling was entirely different.

That day, Song Yi had come to her drunk, wearing this dress beautiful, yes, but lacking her usual sharp aura.

Softened to the point where Ling Xi only remembered how special the silk and tailoring of the dress were, how stunning Song Yi’s figure looked.

Today, Song Yi was sober, and her eyes alone were enough to carry the fiery, sunset-hued fishtail dress.

Ling Xi ‘s gaze remained fixed on Song Yi’s face, unable to look away, not letting the dress steal the spotlight.

Then her eyes trailed over the mole hidden by Song Yi’s double eyelids, the newly changed glasses frame, and finally landed on the Buddhist prayer beads around Song Yi’s neck.

“You’re wearing them for the wedding photos too?” Even though Ling Xi already knew Song Yi wasn’t devout.