The Woman I Was Flirting With Turned Out To Be A Chaebol Heiress - Chapter 20

“Everything’s been checked out.”

A girl in a school uniform walked into the office and tossed a document folder onto the desk.

“Information on the eyewitness from last night.”

After saying that, she threw her bag onto the couch nearby and sat down on the swivel chair across from the desk.

“Also, I found something interesting. That eyewitness seems to have quite a close relationship with Suzuki. Take a look yourself.”

Dai tapped her fingers on the wooden desk, producing a dull thudding sound.

Jiang Ji opened the folder. Inside were detailed records of Li Nianyi’s movements after arriving in Tokyo everything from her fixed school routes to her specific part time jobs, and every time and place she met with Suzuki.

Dai’s intelligence network was more expansive than Jiang Ji had expected. It only took a few hours to dig up this much.

“So, it’s possible the USB is with her.”

“And what do you want to do?”

Jiang Ji kept her eyes on the documents. In her hand was a photocopy of Li Nianyi’s admission letter to the University of Tokyo.

In the ID photo was a woman with deep, striking features.

“Of course, keep her under our watch monitor her, test how much she’s involved in this.”

What Dai wanted to say was: Better to kill the innocent than to let the guilty go. But knowing how stubborn Jiang Ji could be, she decided not to say it aloud.

“Do whatever you want. Just don’t mess around on my turf again.”

Without much emotion, Jiang Ji gathered the documents, stuffed them back into the folder, and tossed it carelessly into a desk drawer.

“But I still think her showing up at the scene was just a coincidence.”

This incident didn’t really affect Jiang Ji much to begin with.

Whether it was an eyewitness at the scene or a video taken by a Tokyo University student, Jiang Ji was never truly caught in the storm she was merely the person who provided the venue. Worst case, she’d stop being the boss.

Besides, Dai hadn’t consulted her before doing all this.

“I’m just being cautious.”

Dai laced her fingers and propped her chin on them, grinning like nothing mattered.

“Come on, sis. Stop acting like this has nothing to do with you. You think you’re safe just sticking to your own little turf? If something happens to me, won’t you suffer too?”

Jiang Ji finally lifted her cold eyes and looked at her across the table, lips curling into a smile that held no warmth.

“You should know better than anyone what I really think.”

She was only staying here to manage things for someone else. She wasn’t interested in profit or loss. Once she paid back the favor, maybe she could just leave.

Of course, that was the ideal situation.

Dai already knew Jiang Ji would react this way pretending to be noble and detached. But wasn’t she still living off the Saionji family’s wealth?

“Tch. So boring. Talking to you is like talking to a wall.”

Dai grabbed a lollipop from the candy jar on the desk, slung her bag over her shoulder, and walked out of the office.

At that time, Jiang Ji didn’t know that the “Li Nianyi” she casually shoved into a drawer would become a living, breathing person who’d end up deeply entangled with her.

Once Dai left, the room fell silent, but Jiang Ji’s mind was restless.

Maybe it was the rain lately that constant pitter-patter was driving her insane.

She began to recall what had happened the previous night.

That girl named Suzuki Kazuko had a look of sudden realization in her eyes when Jiang Ji made her request, as if she had seen through all the malice hidden in Jiang Ji’s heart.

Looking back, Jiang Ji realized her words were tinged with hypocrisy.

She couldn’t guarantee Suzuki’s safety not if Dai decided to act against her.

Then she thought of Li Nianyi just an innocent bystander.

She had only just arrived in a new city, about to start her new academic life, and already her peaceful days were being disrupted by them.

Sure, Jiang Ji might complain Why the hell was that woman out buying late-night snacks at 3 a.m.?

But the ones in the wrong were still them.

Even without Li Nianyi, there would’ve been another witness. And even without a witness, there would still have been clues left behind.

In some way, Jiang Ji felt guilty toward Li Nianyi. But she also had no right to stop Dai from trying to pull Li Nianyi into her net.

Remaining uninvolved in other people’s battles was Jiang Ji’s only bottom line.

So when she saw Li Nianyi at BAR Y, her first reaction was shock, and the second guilt.

She always felt sorry toward her.

She always carried a bit of guilt.

So the idea of recompense came naturally if Li Nianyi had any wish she could fulfill, Jiang Ji would do her best to grant it.

But really, it was just to ease her own moral burden.

She never expected that Li Nianyi would be a complete scoundrel.

She didn’t want money or power. What she wanted was Jiang Ji’s body?!

Back when she was mixing drinks, Jiang Ji had already felt the strange gaze lingering on her.

It wasn’t exactly unpleasant, but it made her skin crawl in a way that was both uncomfortable and exhilarating.

She shouldn’t have been afraid of a look.

But yes Jiang Ji used the word “afraid.”

Afraid of those direct, unashamed, almost admiring eyes.

All these years, Jiang Ji had been stared at with malice countless times—and none of those people escaped her revenge.

But what about Li Nianyi?

This ordinary woman she felt guilty toward?

Was she supposed to just beat her up or something?

Besides, as Jiang Ji admitted she didn’t exactly dislike it.

The teasing looks and words were still within her tolerable range. After all, she had already decided to make it up to Li Nianyi if her requests were reasonable, Jiang Ji would comply.

Like offering her a place to stay when she missed the last train.

But Jiang Ji underestimated her.

That woman actually kissed her when she let her guard down.

Unbelievable, right?

At that moment, Jiang Ji’s brain felt like an overloaded computer spewing black smoke completely shutting down.

For someone with zero emotional experience, such an intimate gesture was like dropping a nuclear bomb in the dinosaur era.

Had that woman just stolen her first kiss?

That soft sensation lingered on her lips as if etched into her nerves.

It was the stinging pain afterward that snapped her out of it.

Then came a flood of complex emotions she couldn’t name. Her heart felt swollen, like it was being squeezed tight.

She didn’t know how to respond, while Li Nianyi the cool, composed vixen just patted herself off and was ready to leave like nothing happened.

How could she?!

After much back-and-forth, Jiang Ji managed to get Li Nianyi to come home with her.

Though she knew very well that someone like her was no match for a fox like Li Nianyi the red flags were there, and she cut right through them herself.

Because she had to make it up to her, right?

She cooked for her because she had to make it up to her.

She watched movies with her because she had to make it up to her.

She went to night markets with her because she had to make it up to her.

She even revealed her own vulnerabilities because she had to make it up to her.

What a great excuse.

So good, Jiang Ji herself couldn’t even tell when this “recompense” started to change flavor.

Did you fix that hole in your heart? Jiang Ji asked herself.

She had no answer.

Instead, Li Nianyi had carved a new hole in her.

And whenever the wind blew, it howled with emptiness.

Only by staying close to her breathing in her scent, holding her hand could Jiang Ji feel even a little bit whole.

Jiang Ji had fallen in love with Li Nianyi.

And by the time she realized this, it was already too late.

What should she do?

What should she do?!

Panic surged through her like a virus, infecting every inch of her being.

She didn’t even know what she was afraid of only that deep down, she sensed: being with Li Nianyi… might be a bit too difficult.

If Li Nianyi ever found out Jiang Ji had lied to her, this “happiness” would surely shatter.

When Li Nianyi said she was alone again, Jiang Ji had wanted to say:

If you’re willing, you can consider me your family too.

But she didn’t dare.

She couldn’t move forward, but she couldn’t let go either. She greedily clung to the present.

Faced with Li Nianyi’s sincerity, she felt like a rat scared, small, incapable of honesty. Her disguise was flimsy, yet Li Nianyi continued to tolerate her.

Then came their date at the mall and a sudden phone call from Dai.

Probably to question why Jiang Ji hadn’t backed her up at such a crucial moment, and instead went out on a date with someone “irrelevant.”

They had a huge fight.

Because Li Nianyi was not irrelevant.

Jiang Ji warned Dai she didn’t care what Dai planned to do, but she must not interfere with her and Li Nianyi.

But of course, of all days, she had to go back and argue with Dai today. And of course, Li Nianyi had rescheduled her class to this exact day.

Jiang Ji froze.

Standing at the staircase not far away, she saw Li Nianyi just as frozen and shocked.

She could almost hear a string snapping in her mind.

Then came the question from Li Nianyi.

Her lips moved, but no words came out. Her thoughts had gone numb.

What should she do…?

What should she do?!

Dai’s next words made her entire body tremble.

She watched Li Nianyi’s gaze shift from confused, to shocked, and then to disbelief.

“Jiang Ji, what does she mean by that?”