My online dating circle has millions of followers, why would she put a collar on me?

The black Lincoln drove out of the villa area gate and turned onto the wide Chaoyang North Road.

The car was eerily quiet.

The driver seemed to sense the tense atmosphere in the back seat, which was on the verge of breaking down, and silently raised the soundproof partition, separating the driver's cab and the back seat into two different worlds.

Jiang Yi sat on the left side of the back seat, Jiang Miaomiao huddled in the middle, and Gu Qinghan sat on the right side, close to the car door.

Gu Qinghan did not speak immediately.

She tilted her head to look at the roadside trees rushing past the car window. The poplars in March had just sprouted tender green buds, which looked particularly fresh in the hazy sunlight.

Her fingers rested on the car door armrest, her fingertips unconsciously tapping the leather-wrapped surface, producing an extremely faint, almost inaudible tapping sound.

Jiang Miaomiao huddled between the two people, her body taut like a fully drawn string.

Her gaze darted back and forth between Jiang Yi and Gu Qinghan, her lips moved a few times, but in the end she said nothing.

She didn't even dare to breathe deeply; she took each breath cautiously, as if afraid of disturbing something.

The car stopped at a red light intersection.

The engine vibrations are transmitted to the body through the seat, low-frequency, continuous vibrations, like a heartbeat.

Gu Qinghan finally spoke.

"Jiang Yi."

Her voice wasn't loud, but in the suffocatingly quiet carriage, every word was as clear as if it had been carved into the glass with a knife.

Jiang Yi opened his eyes and turned his head to look at her.

"How long have you been with Xia Anmian?"

Jiang Miaomiao's body jerked violently, as if she had been slapped from behind.

She glanced at Jiang Yi instinctively, her eyes filled with terror at the thought, "How did she know about Xia Anmian?"

Jiang Yi's expression did not change much.

His eyes were still half-open, his eyelashes casting a small shadow under his eyes, his lips were slightly pursed, and his jawline formed a barely noticeable curve.

"I don't understand what you're saying?"

Jiang Yi tried to be stubborn, but Gu Qinghan saw through his act.

"Your tutoring job was arranged by Anmian, and Gu Qingying is my sister."

Jiang Yi's body trembled involuntarily. He had been exposed to his face and there was no way to avoid it.

"More than two years."

He said.

Gu Qinghan stopped tapping her fingers on the armrest.

She slowly turned her head and looked at Jiang Yi.

"More than two years." She repeated the number, her lips twitching slightly, but the curve wasn't a smile; it was more like a chilling "How dare you admit it?"

"You've been in an online relationship with Su Xiaoyue for almost a year, and she's spent 1.3 million yuan on you. And then you tell me you have a girlfriend you've been with for over two years?"

"I didn't make her spend any money," Jiang Yi said.

"She transferred it to you voluntarily? So you accepted it without any qualms?"

Jiang Yi opened his mouth, wanting to say, "I didn't take that money," but he swallowed the words back.

He glanced at Jiang Miaomiao, who was huddled up to the side, almost curled up in a ball, and finally shut his mouth.

Gu Qinghan followed his gaze and glanced at Jiang Miaomiao, her brows furrowing slightly, but she didn't say anything more.

Her attention returned to Jiang Yi, and her tone became even colder than before.

"Do you know, Xia Anmian is my best friend."

Jiang Yi's body stiffened almost imperceptibly.

"We've known each other since we were little," Gu Qinghan continued, her voice trembling with barely suppressed emotion.

"I won't tell you about her family situation, but there's one thing I can tell you: do you know how many times she argued with her father to be with you?"

"Do you know how many things she said against her conscience to protect you?"

"To avoid making you feel distant from her, she rides a shared bike every day, eats at the cafeteria, and wears T-shirts that cost only a few dozen yuan. Did you know that?"

"You're not good enough for her at all. If it weren't for going to college, you wouldn't even have the right to talk to her."

Jiang Yi's fingers slowly tightened.

What did Gu Qinghan mean by that?

Could it be that Mianmian lied to me, and her home wasn't what she described...?

"You know nothing." Gu Qinghan looked at his expression, and the coldness at the corner of her mouth deepened.

"You have no idea how many suitable blind dates she turned down for you, or how many good words she said to her father for you."

"I don't know that she pretended to be an ordinary person just like you in order to protect your pitiful self-esteem."

Do you know why she doesn't tell you about her family situation?

Because she's afraid. Afraid that you'll look at her differently once you find out, afraid that you'll feel you're not good enough for her, afraid that you'll distance yourself from her because she's rich.

She wants you to like her as a person, not her family background or her money.

Gu Qinghan paused here.

She took a deep breath, as if suppressing some emotion about to burst forth, and then slowly, word by word, said:

"And you, you actually went online to find love and deceive other girls."

Jiang Miaomiao finally couldn't hold back anymore.

She sprang from her seat, her voice sharp and shrill, as if someone had grabbed her throat:

"That's not true! The photo was my idea, it has nothing to do with my brother! I secretly used his photo without him knowing! I also received and spent the money, it has nothing to do with my brother! If you want to blame someone, blame me, don't blame my brother!"

The carriage was silent for a moment.

Gu Qinghan looked at Jiang Miaomiao, her brows furrowing even more. Her gaze swept back and forth between Jiang Miaomiao and Jiang Yi several times, as if reassessing the situation before her.

"You?" Her voice was filled with obvious distrust. "You used your brother's photo to have an online relationship with Su Xiaoyue?"

"Do you two think I'm an idiot?"