Chapter 222


    Corinne grabbed Jeremy’s arm firmly and shook him. “Mister! Hey! Wake up! Don’t scare me like


    that…”


    The man closed his eyes to calm himself and was silent for about a minute before he opened his mouth


    again. “Why didn’t you continue what you just did?”


    ‘What I just did…? Corinne immediately understood what he meant, and her lips twitched as she


    looked at him with disdain. “Tch, all men are like this! Don’t try to take advantage of me!”


    Corinne was very upset when she realized he tried to trick her. She shoved the remaining ss of


    water to him and said angrily, “Drink it yourself! I took a lot of effort to bring the water back for you, and


    it’ll leak out if you don’t drink it quicker!”


    Jeremy was not thirsty, but he decided to drink it nheless because it was rare for her to be so


    conscientious. He opened his handsome eyes, reached out to take the leaf cup handed to him, and


    raised his head to drink the water that remained inside.


    Then, he seemed to have a sudden realization as he stared at the empty cup made of reed leaves. His


    dark pupils contracted as he asked pensively, “Have we met somewhere before?”


    Corinne was hugging her knees as she sat to one side, and his question made her feel that he was


    trying to tease her again. She rolled her eyes at him and said, “Don’t act like you’ve lost your memory!


    It’s hardly the time and ce for that.”


    Jeremy’s expression remained stern. “What I mean by that is, have we met somewhere a very long


    time ago?”


    Corinne could hear the seriousness in his tone, which was unlike what she would have expected if he


    was trying to tease her. She then eyed him strangely and said, “Probably not. I lived in a remote ce


    before I turned eighteen. I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to meet a rich man like you.”


    Jeremy narrowed his eyes slightly and had aplicated expression. Ten years ago, he went to the


    countryside to inspect the poverty alleviation projects that thepany had nned for certain


    poverty–stricken areas, but his enemies plotted against him and injured him severely while he was on


    the way to the site.


    In those dire circumstances, he hid in the forest of a small mountain vige and waited for his


    subordinates toe and get him. While waiting in the forest, he lost consciousness due to excessive


    blood loss, and the smell of blood lured in a venomous snake that bit him.


    He nearly died that day, but a little girl passed by and saved him. The girl was small–perhaps about ten


    years old–but she was calm, mature, and methodical. She tied his arm with a hair tie to stop the toxin


    from spreading along his blood vessels. Then, she sucked out the venomous blood for him with her


    mouth and spat it out. Lastly, she found an herb in the surrounding grass and chewed it before applying


    it to his bite.


    The girl told him that the herb, known as broadleaf ntain, grew in areas that were known to harbor


    snakes and could remove the effectiveness of most snake venoms.


    After that, she took out her handkerchief and helped him bandage another wound on his body.


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    Since there were traces of snake venom left in his body, his eyes were blinded temporarily, and he


    could not see what her face looked like the entire time.


    For the next three days, the girl would visit him with a bun, and she poured a ss of water from her


    water bottle for him to drink too.


    She also folded a makeshift cup out of reed leaves to contain that water.


    On the day that her subordinates found him, the girl had note yet, and he did not have time to wait


    for her because he had to rush back to deal with something urgent. He therefore left one of his


    subordinates there to wait for her. He then left a string of beads–which his mother gave himn as a lucky


    charm–with that subordinate and instructed him to give it to the girl who saved his life as a keepsake.


    The girl was also told that she could visit the Holdens‘ estate in the city and look. for him if she was in


    any trouble.


    Jeremy, on the other hand, took her makeshift leaf cup as his keepsake.


    Not longter, a girl came to the Holdens‘ estate to look for him with the string of beads. That was when


    he found out that the girl who saved him was the Riveras‘ second daughter, Anya, who happened to be


    recuperating in the summer resort in the countryside a few days prior.