Chapter 48: Ambiguous Photos

"My marriage to Ye Xuan was arranged by my grandfather," Lin Aoxue said, her expression indifferent. "The agreement was for five years. Once the time was up, Ye Xuan and I were free to divorce."

"So what you’re saying is that you and Ye Xuan divorced solely because the agreement expired, and not because he had an affair with Miss Yang?" the female reporter pressed.

"That’s correct. Ye Xuan and Yang Bingyu met after the divorce. He never did anything to betray me during our marriage."

Lin Aoxue wasn’t spinning a web of lies; she was simply telling the truth. Although she didn’t know how Ye Xuan and Yang Bingyu had met, she was absolutely certain that he hadn’t done anything to betray their marriage while they were together.

"Miss Lin, you and Ye Xuan divorced on May 12th, and he took up the position as Miss Yang’s bodyguard on May 15th. In just three short days, your ex-husband ran into the arms of another woman. Don’t you find that highly suspicious?"

The female reporter was clearly not going to let Lin Aoxue off the hook easily, throwing out one sharp question after another.

"I have no idea how the two of them met. I think you should be asking them that question." Lin Aoxue genuinely didn’t know the circumstances of their meeting, so she tossed the question directly to Ye Xuan and Yang Bingyu.

All the cameras that had been trained on Lin Aoxue instantly swiveled in their direction.

"I will explain this," Elder Yang spoke up from the side, looking at the female reporter with a cold gaze. "I hired Ye Xuan specifically to protect Bingyu, and they met through my introduction. Are you satisfied with this answer?"

Yang Zhennan’s fierce glare made the female reporter’s heart quail. She swallowed hard involuntarily, then awkwardly sat back down.

"As far as I know, when Ye Xuan was with the Lin Family, he was just a useless freeloader. Elder Yang, hiring a piece of trash to protect Miss Yang doesn’t make sense logically or emotionally, does it?"

Everyone thought the matter was settled, but the moment the female reporter took her seat, a man immediately stood up. Meeting Yang Zhennan’s eyes without an ounce of fear, he launched another attack.

"Since when do I, Yang Zhennan, need to explain or report my actions to any of you? Even if I found a piece of trash to protect Bingyu, that’s the Yang Family’s own business. What does it have to do with you?"

These domineering words completely shut the male reporter up, though it was obvious he was still unwilling to let it go. Yang Zhennan wasn’t afraid of him in the slightest. He shot him a razor-sharp glare full of warning. No matter how disgruntled the male reporter felt, he didn’t dare press the issue any further.

"Miss Yang, what is your current relationship with Ye Xuan? Are the two of you already together? Don’t you mind that he was married to Miss Lin for five years? Aren’t you afraid that Ye Xuan hasn’t given up on Miss Lin and that their old feelings might rekindle?"

Before the male reporter had even sat down, a woman in her forties stood up in the corner and fired a rapid volley of questions at Yang Bingyu. One after another, the questions made Yang Bingyu’s eyelids twitch.

"Professionally, Ye Xuan and I have an employer-employee relationship. Privately, we are good friends. We are not together as the rumors suggest. As for his past with Lin Aoxue, I care about it as a friend, but it doesn’t bother me.

"As for whether Ye Xuan still harbors feelings for Lin Aoxue, asking me won’t give you an answer. Whether they will rekindle their romance is their private business. You aren’t their parents, so you’re really just sticking your noses where they don’t belong."

Having grown up by Yang Zhennan’s side, she had absorbed his influence and adopted his personality completely. Yang Bingyu wasn’t the least bit afraid of the reporters’ questions and snapped back sharply.

Seeing that they couldn’t dig up any explosive news from either Lin Aoxue or Yang Bingyu, the reporters had no choice but to turn their sights on Ye Xuan.

"Ye Xuan, between Miss Yang and Miss Lin, who would you choose?"

"No comment."

A stunned silence fell over the room, leaving the reporters collectively speechless. They had thought Ye Xuan would be easier to bait than the others, but who knew he wouldn’t even open his mouth?

Then what was the point of holding this press conference? Just to come and look at their sour faces?

Unable to extract any useful news, the reporters were starting to get resentful. Suddenly, an exceptionally scrawny man stood up, his tone utterly malicious.

"Miss Yang, you just said you and Ye Xuan are merely friends. Then what’s the deal with these photos? Do friends engage in such intimate behavior?"

As the man spoke, he projected several photos onto the screen behind Ye Xuan and the others. The moment the photos appeared, the entire venue erupted in an uproar.

At the Su Family villa.

"Heh. Ye Xuan, I’d like to see how you explain yourself this time." Su Xiaobai lay comfortably on the sofa, watching the live broadcast of the press conference on the television.

These were the exact photos Lin Jiaxing and his group had taken, though Su Xiaobai had doctored some of them. It was no longer just a simple princess carry; the images now looked far more suggestive.

"What is this? These photos are photoshopped! Ye Xuan and I never did such things!" Yang Bingyu shouted, both embarrassed and furious upon seeing the images on the screen. She instantly flew into a rage.

Ye Xuan’s expression also turned ugly. Whoever took these photos had absolutely done it on purpose. Holding onto an incident from the morning just to expose it at the afternoon press conference—it was a blatant attempt to humiliate them in public.

Lin Aoxue’s face turned slightly pale. Some of the photos showed Ye Xuan and Yang Bingyu inside a car, acting incredibly intimate with one another. She realized that Yang Bingyu’s earlier claims about them being together must be true after all. Ye Xuan truly no longer belonged to her.

At this thought, Lin Aoxue couldn’t sit still any longer. She stood up abruptly and rushed out of the room.

Seeing her frantic retreating figure, Ye Xuan’s heart jumped into his throat. He wanted to chase after her, but the swarming reporters completely blocked his path.

"Ye Xuan, Miss Yang, do you have any explanation for this? Why are you hiding the fact that you’re dating? Does Miss Lin’s departure confirm your affair during the marriage?"

"Ye Xuan, it’s obvious Miss Lin still has feelings for you. Can you live with yourself, being with Miss Yang?"

The reporters continued to hurl questions from all sides. Agitated by the relentless crowd, Ye Xuan clenched his hands into tight fists. He swept a freezing gaze over the room, a tyrannical aura rolling off him in waves.

"Get lost!"

Those two simple words stunned the hot-headed reporters into silence. They stood frozen in place, not only forgetting their questions but also automatically parting to clear a path for Ye Xuan and the others.

At that moment, Ye Xuan was like a king that no one dared to disobey.