After Faking My Death, My Iceberg Ex-Wife Went Crazy for Me - Chapter 42

“Your target has become her, hasn’t it?”

Following Ye Ling’s pointed finger, everyone turned to look at Wendy.

Although Wendy hadn’t expressed her feelings as boldly and passionately as other Western girls, anyone with eyes could see she was fond of Lan Xiao. She had already infiltrated Lan Xiao’s social circle, attempting a slow, gradual takeover.

Seeing Ye Ling so quickly single her out, the others present shared Pu Mengyu’s thought: a battlefield of jealousy.

At the center of this vortex, Lan Xiao delivered the final blow, adding fuel to the fire.

“That’s right.”

She didn’t fully understand Ye Ling’s meaning, but she agreed anyway.

As the words fell, Ye Ling’s face paled. She stared intently at Lan Xiao, stepping closer. “Is that why you left back then too?”

Under Ye Ling’s intense gaze, Lan Xiao involuntarily retreated half a step.

They were roughly the same height—Lan Xiao had even grown two centimeters taller since coming to Europe. Theoretically, she shouldn’t be afraid of Ye Ling.

Yet under that terrifying stare, Lan Xiao felt inexplicably intimidated.

“I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

Lan Xiao avoided Ye Ling’s gaze, retreating further as Ye Ling closed the distance, until she had nowhere left to back away.

Her back pressed against the display case. The moment her hand brushed the cabinet handle, Lan Xiao bent at the waist, ready to slip past Ye Ling to the side.

But Ye Ling seemed to have anticipated her move. She lunged forward, colliding directly into Lan Xiao’s chest.

Lan Xiao instinctively recoiled, her back now flush against the display case, leaving no space between them.

A hand with visible blue veins reached up, clamping onto her chin. Lan Xiao was forced to tilt her head back, meeting Ye Ling’s ice-cold, deep, and suppressed black eyes.

The emotions churning within Ye Ling were so intense, it felt as if a torrential downpour was about to erupt from that dark, stormy night.

And Lan Xiao was just a fish, gasping for air in the boundless humidity.

Her heart skipped a beat. The hand Lan Xiao pressed against the display case clenched so hard her knuckles turned white.

She should have dodged, but as Ye Ling closed her eyes and leaned closer, Lan Xiao trembled, her own eyelids fluttering shut.

The anticipated storm never came. Their breaths hung suspended, a mere inch apart.

Lan Xiao quietly opened her eyes, the sorrow in her dark eyes so intense it threatened to pull her into the rain.

“See? I told you I wouldn’t mistake you.”

Her voice was low, almost a whisper.

Lan Xiao opened her mouth to speak, but before she could say anything, darkness fell over her eyes.

The hand covering them was delicate and dry, its cool touch burning her eyelids.

“Back then, you got what you wanted from me and left.”

Lan Xiao paused for two seconds, realizing this was Ye Ling’s explanation for her previous question.

Ye Ling, confident in her answer, didn’t wait for a reply.

Lan Xiao’s eyelids trembled, her vision blocked, her other senses heightened.

The scent of shampoo mixed with the medicinal spray of Yunnan Baiyao, creating a strange, bitter aroma. Through the thin skin of her eyelids, she could feel the hand covering them trembling, its pulse indistinguishable from her own racing heart.

And the owner of that hand was now carving her own heart with each word, each syllable.

“You never loved me, did you?”

“Enough!”

The voice didn’t belong to either of them. The moment the hand covering her eyes vanished, Lan Xiao trembled violently, wrenching herself free from the sticky, mire-like state she had been trapped in.

It was terrifying. For a fleeting moment, Lan Xiao had believed Ye Ling knew her deepest secret.

Does she know? She shouldn’t know.

Her heart pounded erratically, her vision blurred. Lan Xiao blinked repeatedly, struggling to focus her gaze.

The dark eyes had been replaced by striking golden hair. Wendy had rushed forward, positioning herself protectively in front of Lan Xiao.

The words rang in her ears, but it took several seconds for Lan Xiao to process their meaning.

“Lan said she doesn’t know you! Can’t you understand? It’s just…”

Overwhelmed by emotion, Wendy had already switched to her native language, peppering her tirade with sht and fck, like a furious lioness.

Lan Xiao frowned, feeling no joy at this blatant display of protectiveness.

Pu Mengyu, who was closer to her, stood aside, refraining from interfering in this obvious personal matter.

Wendy’s underlying motive was clear: she had unilaterally claimed Lan Xiao as part of her own domain.

Lan Xiao disliked this possessive, protective behavior.

She took a step sideways, withdrawing from Wendy’s protective circle.

Pu Mengyu stood three or four meters away, shrugging and mouthing, “I couldn’t stop her.”

Though Pu Mengyu always exuded a chaotic energy, reveling in drama, she was reliable in critical moments. Lan Xiao didn’t believe she would deliberately escalate the situation.

Then where was Ye Ling?

The thought had barely formed when a suppressed groan reached her ears.

Lan Xiao followed the sound and saw a woman in a bear-print pajama set slumped on the ground. The chopsticks she’d been using as a hairpin lay beside her, her long hair cascading around her like a fragile protective shell.

She had one leg bent, her hands hovering protectively over her ankle, afraid to move, only occasionally letting out a soft moan.

Anyone could see what had just happened.

Lan Xiao’s gaze turned icy.

Having vented her emotions, Wendy had calmed down considerably. She stammered, “Lan, it wasn’t me! I just gave her a gentle tug.”

“It’s not her fault,” Ye Ling interjected, seizing the chaos to speak. She lifted her head, her pale face betraying her pain. “I just lost my balance.”

“Exactly! I only pulled her gently. She just lost her balance.”

Wendy stepped into the trap, oblivious, and grabbed Lan Xiao’s arm, trying to demonstrate how “lightly” she had pulled.

But Lan Xiao evaded her hand.

“Apologize.”

“…What?” Wendy froze, stunned.

Lan Xiao walked over and helped Ye Ling up from the ground, not even glancing at Wendy as she spoke. “You knew Ye Ling had sprained her ankle. You shouldn’t have pulled her. Apologize.”

“But I was trying to help you…”

Wendy tried to approach and explain, but Lan Xiao’s gaze pinned her in place.

As she watched Lan Xiao help Ye Ling into a chair, only one thought ran through her mind:

She’s angry. Why?

This wasn’t the Lan Xiao she knew.

The first time Wendy had seen Lan Xiao, when confronted with racial discrimination, she hadn’t even gotten angry.

Wendy still remembered her calm, detached tone as she retorted, making those bigots look as ridiculous as monkeys jumping through flaming hoops in a circus.

That initial impression of Lan Xiao had become her most vivid memory.

Later, Wendy deliberately created opportunities to infiltrate Lan Xiao’s social circle, where she discovered more facets of her.

Lan Xiao always appeared effortlessly composed in her studies and daily life, yet she would frantically power-walk through the park when struggling to write her thesis.

In Wendy’s eyes, these minor “glitches” in Lan Xiao’s life didn’t diminish her allure. Instead, they filled the skeletal framework of her image with more intricate flesh and bl00d.

Mysterious and powerful, elegant and captivating—these remained Wendy’s most enduring impressions of Lan Xiao.

It was utterly absurd that she was now angry at her over some strange, inexplicably appearing person.

We’re friends, aren’t we? Wendy couldn’t understand, glaring fiercely at Ye Ling and blaming her for everything.

Sensing the hostile gaze, Ye Ling lifted her eyelids, a smirk playing on her lips beneath her dark hair, perfectly mimicking Wendy’s earlier expression.

“You!” Wendy took the bait immediately, shouting, “Lan, look! She’s smiling! She’s doing this on purpose!”

Ye Ling blinked innocently, lowering her gaze to Lan Xiao, who was checking her ankle for further injury. Her dark eyes radiated pure, guileless innocence.

Lan Xiao shifted her gaze and stood up.

She couldn’t possibly not know whether Ye Ling’s actions were intentional or accidental, but this time, Wendy had clearly crossed the line.

“I’ll handle my own affairs,” Lan Xiao said, her tone subtly drawing a boundary as she looked at Wendy. “But let’s be clear: you were the one who started this.”

Wendy clenched her fists and bolted out of the room without looking back. “I didn’t do anything wrong!”

“Hey, Wendy, wait up!” Pu Mengyu called after her, taking a few steps before glancing at Lan Xiao, whose expression was equally grim. With a sigh, she sent two of the more reliable girls to chase after Wendy while she stayed behind.

She patted Lan Xiao’s shoulder. “Didn’t you say you needed an ice pack? I think I know where to find one.”

Understanding that Pu Mengyu had something to say, Lan Xiao nodded and followed her out.

Just as they took their first step, someone grabbed Lan Xiao’s wrist.

Lan Xiao looked down to see Ye Ling gazing up at her, her long lashes fluttering slightly, casting shadows beneath her eyes.

“Are you leaving again?” Ye Ling asked softly.

Lan Xiao stared at her, speechless.

Under Pu Mengyu’s teasing gaze, Lan Xiao expressionlessly pried Ye Ling’s hand off her wrist. “Enough with the theatrics.”

“Let’s go,” she said to Pu Mengyu.

As the two figures disappeared, the remaining occupants of the living room exchanged uneasy glances. They dared not approach Ye Ling or speak to her until the delivery call came, at which point they scattered like pardoned prisoners.

In the now-empty room, Ye Ling lowered her head and stared at her palm, letting out a soft sigh.

“But… it worked.”

Pu Mengyu led Lan Xiao around the villa several times before finally finding an ice machine.

“We’re probably out of ice packs. Would using ice cubes in plastic bags work just as well?”

Lan Xiao nodded and went to look for appropriately sized bags, Pu Mengyu following behind, watching her movements.

“I mean,” Pu Mengyu said slowly, giving Lan Xiao plenty of time to react, “aren’t you being a little too concerned about Miss Ye?”

“What, should I just leave her to fend for herself?” Lan Xiao retorted.

“That’s not what I meant.”

Pu Mengyu’s eyes swept over Lan Xiao twice before she said with a sly smile, “Just the other day, you said you look for a connection when dating. So, does this Sister Ye… catch your eye?”

She deliberately emphasized the word “sister,” and Lan Xiao’s face flushed faintly for a moment. Shaking the bag, she muttered, “I have no interest in being anyone’s substitute.”

“If you hadn’t mentioned it, I would have completely forgotten about that.”

Pu Mengyu thought for a moment, then said, “The person she’s looking for is named Geng Xiaoxiao, right? It’s almost the same name as yours. I wonder if it’s just a coincidence or if they look alike… Given her mental state, I doubt we’d get any coherent answers even if we asked.”

“Hey,” Pu Mengyu glanced around furtively, then whispered, “It’s just us here. Be honest with me—are you into her?”

Lan Xiao: “Absolutely not.”

Pu Mengyu scoffed, unconvinced. “I’ll let the pool incident slide since you were caught off guard. But this is the second time now. If you weren’t interested, you would have pushed her away by now. How could you let her kiss you twice?”

Lan Xiao’s hand froze mid-scrape. She blinked, genuinely confused. “What do you mean, ‘let her kiss me twice’?”

After a moment of incomprehensible chatter, Lan Xiao finally understood: from Pu Mengyu and the others’ perspective, Ye Ling pressing her against the display case had looked like a kiss.

Impressive, she thought. Testing me with her pitiful act while simultaneously provoking potential “enemies.”

Truly her, Lan Xiao mused, grinding her teeth. Even in that situation, she’s still thinking about maximizing her gains.

She dumped the shoveled ice into the water basin in one go.

Pu Mengyu let out a couple of “Hey, hey”s, her hand grasping at empty air. “So you didn’t kiss after all?”

“No! I didn’t!” Lan Xiao shook off the last ice crystals, turned on the faucet, and washed them away. “She just said some nonsense to me! That’s all!”

“Fine, fine, no need to get so worked up.” Pu Mengyu muttered, stepping back a little. Seeing Lan Xiao about to leave, she deliberately added, “But I saw Ye Ling twist her ankle again when she fell. If she doesn’t ice it quickly, it’ll swell up.”

Lan Xiao paused, turned back, scooped up a spoonful of ice, then shook half of it off.

She shoved the bag into Pu Mengyu’s arms. “That’s all you’re getting! Use it or don’t!”

Pu Mengyu’s eyes lit up with understanding, her gaze softening into maternal affection, as if looking at a rebellious teenage daughter.

She accepted the bag and patted Lan Xiao’s head. “Even when you’re angry, you’re still so cute, my precious Xiao Xiao~”

Pu Mengyu, well-versed in the art of “act like a jerk and run,” vanished in a flash.

In the small dining room, besides Wendy and the two people trying to comfort her, there was one more person than before. This newcomer had likely arrived late to witness the commotion and missed everything.

See? That’s what happens when you slack off—you only get secondhand gossip.

As the eternal first eyewitness, Pu Mengyu puffed out her chest and strode toward the dining table.

Two seats remained open. Without hesitation, she claimed the one next to Ye Ling and handed her the items she was carrying.

“The ice is too cold. You should put something between it and your skin. Here’s a tissue and a ribbon—you can manage, right?”

“Yes, thank you.”

Ye Ling turned sideways, bending over to adjust and secure the ice pack.

Pu Mengyu shifted her chair, giving her ample space.

Since Ye Ling’s injury was to her foot, not her hand, Pu Mengyu didn’t offer to help, content to watch from the sidelines. She was already thinking about finding Ye Ling a change of clothes. This pajama set… would Wendy even want it back?

Just as she was pondering this, a flash of green caught her eye. Pu Mengyu instinctively followed the movement, but Ye Ling had already lowered her accidentally rolled-up sleeve, completely concealing her arm.

Pu Mengyu blinked in stunned confusion.

Had she just seen a vibrant green… bamboo tattoo on Ye Ling’s arm?