Standing Next To You-Chapter 482: Sleep Well, Madame

"I don’t know what made them change," Lin Sunji admitted. "But since then, my brother—who used to live in his own little world—started opening up to us. My mother wears less makeup now and attends fewer banquets. Instead, she plans family trips. And those trips... ugh, I hate them."

She patted her legs and added with mock frustration, "You see these muscled thighs? I don’t know who told my mother that hiking strengthens family bonds, but every weekend, there we were—hiking together."

Bei Sangyun blinked, surprised. She hadn’t heard anything about this.

"But Zhong Cheng is still better at running than me," Lin Sunji said, grumbling. "That guy always manages to escape. Did you also make him hike?"

Bei Sangyun chuckled softly, finding this amusing. "No. My butler keeps him busy running errands."

Lin Sunji clicked her tongue in annoyance, setting down her empty glass. She was about to complain about her lack of wine when a server, who seemed to have been waiting for the moment, stepped forward promptly and refilled her glass.

The server also poured wine into Bei Sangyun’s glass. However, as he finished, his hand slipped, and the remaining contents of the bottle spilled directly onto her dress.

"Oh no! I’m so sorry, Madame!" The waiter stammered, his face pale with panic.

Bei Sangyun’s purple dress was now stained with red wine, the sweet, heady scent of alcohol filling the air around the table.

Lin Sunji’s expression darkened, and she scolded the server sharply. "What the hell? Can’t you be more careful? You poured half the bottle on her dress! Who even hired someone as careless as you?"

Bei Sangyun raised a hand to stop her. "Don’t make a fuss, or everyone will start noticing."

The cheers at the front were still loud, capturing everyone’s attention. If more people noticed the scene unfolding here and made a big deal out of it, it would ruin the fourth branch’s moment of celebration.

Lin Sunji understood this well and immediately lowered her voice. However, she still shot a glare at the apologetic waiter. "No one this careless and inexperienced should be serving in a place like this."

"Calm down, Sunji," Bei Sangyun interjected calmly. "You have an extra dress, don’t you? Let me borrow it for the night."

Lin Sunji clenched her jaw, sparing one last glare at the server. Her brother and parents had entrusted Bei Sangyun to her care, and now something like this had happened. What would they say when they found out?

"...I do have a spare," she said reluctantly. "Let’s go to my room." She turned to the waiter. "You stay here. I’ll deal with this matter personally." Lin Sunji began to rise, ready to escort Bei Sangyun herself.

But Bei Sangyun stopped her with a firm gesture. "There’s no need to escort me," she said, her tone measured. "Stay here. Even if you don’t want to join the celebration, you’re still a member of the fourth branch. You need to be present. Don’t create unnecessary drama when your brother has just secured his position."

Lin Sunji stared at her for a moment, then reluctantly nodded. She understood the weight of Bei Sangyun’s words.

"Alright," she said after a pause. "I’ll tell my maid to send the dress to you."

Bei Sangyun gestured to a staff member nearby. "I’ll head to the guest room. The staff can show me the way."

With that, she stood and left the table, leaving Lin Sunji biting her lip as she watched her go.

Lin Sunji watched Bei Sangyun leave with a sigh and called her maid, instructing her to bring the extra dress to the guest room where Bei Sangyun would be.

Bei Sangyun was right. If she left the celebration now, it might stir rumors and lead to assumptions that she wasn’t on good terms with her brother, potentially turning this incident into an issue for their branch.

She needed to stay, no matter how uncomfortable it felt, to show her support for her brother—even with the embarrassing history of her past hanging over her.

She glanced toward her family. She should report this small accident to them. But....where was her brother?

She looked around but did not see her brother. Where the hell did he go?

Suddenly, a shadow loomed over her.

"Where did she go?" Fei Chuan stood before her table, his tone direct and devoid of any greeting.

Lin Sunji raised an eyebrow at him. Momentarily forgetting that she was looking for her brother.

Though she immediately knew who Fei Chuan was referring to, she didn’t feel like answering him right away—especially given his abrupt and rude demeanor.

Memories of how he used to irritate her back in high school flashed in her mind. She still hadn’t forgiven him for how often he got under her skin.

She crossed her arms and replied coolly, "Who are you talking about? Everyone left the table except me."

Fei Chuan frowned and glanced toward the spot where Bei Sangyun had been sitting moments ago. The faint but sharp smell of wine lingered in the air.

Dropping any pretense of politeness, he looked directly at Lin Sunji. His deep, piercing eyes, carrying a coldness that could make anyone uneasy, fixed on her.

"What happened here?" he asked, his voice low and firm.

Lin Sunji clicked her tongue in irritation, her dislike for those intimidating eyes flaring up. She hated how they made her feel small—just like Bei Sangyun’s eyes sometimes did.

She glared back at him, masking her unease with irritation. These two truly do suit each other, she thought bitterly.

"Some server spilled drinks on her. She’s changing in the guest room," Lin Sunji replied curtly.

Fei Chuan’s sharp gaze turned to the nearby staff. "Which server?"

Lin Sunji glanced to the side, only to realize the server she had told to stay put was nowhere to be found. Her expression darkened.

"Did he leave? Damn. I should bring this up with the head butler," she muttered, standing abruptly.

Fei Chuan didn’t respond. He seemed lost in thought for a moment before looking back at her. "Which direction is the guest room?"

...

Meanwhile, Bei Sangyun was led to one of the guest rooms by a staff member.

Once inside, she put her purse carefully on the table, removed her wine-stained dress and changed into a bathrobe. She made her way to the bathroom, rinsing away the smell of wine until she was satisfied.

Returning to the main room, she sat down to wait for Lin Sunji’s maid to deliver the dress.

Moments later, a soft knock came from the door.

Bei Sangyun stood and opened it to find a maid standing there, holding a neatly folded garment bag. The maid extended it toward her, her expression unreadable.

Bei Sangyun reached out to take it, but the instant her fingers brushed the bag, she felt a sharp sting on her wrist.

Her eyes darted down in alarm, catching a glimpse of a small syringe withdrawing from her skin.

The maid smiled faintly, devoid of emotion. "Have a good sleep, Madame."

Bei Sangyun remained calm, her mind racing with different scenarios and names, trying to piece together who might have sent this person and what their intentions were. freёnovelkiss.com

Yet her body betrayed her—her limbs grew heavy and weak. Stumbling back, she fought to stay upright, but the world around her blurred.

She had been careless, letting her guard down. How could she have forgotten where she was? This was the Lin mansion. No matter how much it seemed the fourth branch had changed, it was still the same Lin family that had once forced her to become cold-hearted and ruthless.

Her eyelids grew heavier with every passing second. The last thing she saw was the maid’s cold, detached expression before darkness consumed her.