Chapter 18
"It was the subscription contract I signed with their bookstore."
Qin Jinnan's voice was quiet—but it filled the room like thunder.
Everyone went still. Heads lowered immediately, as if struck by invisible force.
But the ones who responded first—were the white texts.
They crowded my vision, noisy and frantic:
[Wait—what did I miss?][Did I black out? Why is the villain here?!][No seriously, someone explain this episode—][I watch this girl like a hawk, and somehow she's out here with developments I don't know about?!]
I stood frozen, unable to move.
Qin Jinnan's black leather shoes stopped just in front of mine.And then—his hand closed around my wrist.
His fingers were cold. Commanding.He held me in place with no effort at all.
I didn't resist. Couldn't.
The books in my arms slipped and fell to the ground.
Slowly, I lifted my gaze.
Our eyes met—his dark and unreadable, mine likely wide with shock.
He looked at me deeply.Too deeply.
Just as I was about to search for something—anything—in his gaze, he turned his head away.
"Still the same," he said softly, almost to himself. "No growth at all."
But his grip on my wrist didn't loosen.