He was caught off-guard by her reaction. He was unbalanced, and his back knocked into the bannister. It caused his injury that was still healing to twitch with pain. The next second, Song Qingchun jumped up from the floor like she had been shot with adrenaline, dashed past him, and down the stairs without even taking a look at him.

Su Zhinian wanted to chase after her, but the pain had incapacitated his body. He could only lie there as he listened to her quick retreating steps, and the door slammed. She left in such a hurry, without hesitation.

She must have felt incredibly dirty, sinful, and unacceptable when she realized that she loved him after hearing that she was his biological sister.

A heavily sense of listlessness seeped from every cell within his body. He leaned against the wall in a gesture of defeat, staring up at the ceiling above him.

Everything that he had tried so hard to conceal for so many years still fell apart.

If he had known this was going to happen when she came to him for help with Song Empire he should have been more adamant in his rejection.

If he had known this was going to happen even after he aided her salvage Song Empire he should have stayed far away from her.

At the very beginning, when they first met, he should not have been so nice to her. When he found out about the truth so many years ago, he really did try to make himself forget her, to make himself stop loving her.

But

She was the sole light in his life when he was a mere child. When everyone abandoned him, she was there to support him without asking why.

He had looked for her for ten years, the motto of his life was, 'I've expended three lifetimes to find you, and now I will use another to make you my wife.' When he still had not known anything, love had already rooted in his heart. At the time, even though she did not even hold him in her eyes, he had silently promised his whole life to her.

When he realized she was his biological sister, he had tried to stay away, but certain relationships would only deepen with distance. He knew it was dirty, sinful, and shameful, but he could not stop himself from crazily and stubbornly loving her.

He really did not want to drag her into hell with him. Just like that night at the hospital, he knew it was wronghe tried his best to stop her from doing the biggest mistake of her lifebut while she was his biological sister, she was also the love of his life. He could never resist her beauty, her seduction. He had thought that would be their last encounter, and he had so dumbly believed that no one would find out about the truth. He was willing to end up in hell alone; after all, he had stayed there for such a long time already, and he did not mind falling deeper into the abyss of hell. He even thought about ignoring the judgment of the society to be together with her but so many things had happened, and he could not even be sure how things had managed to evolve to this stage.

Su Zhinian slowly closed his eyes to rest his brain that was getting tired from the issues swirling in it. His brows burrowed and relaxed continuously. A haze of despair and sadness oozed from his body, forming a suffocating bubble around him.

After Song Qingchun raced out of Su Zhinian's house, she did not return home or to the company. She switched off her phone and completely went off the radar.