Volume One, Chapter Two: Marry Him?

In her line of sight, the hand holding the teacup gently traced the rim with the pad of its index finger. The atmosphere was subtly tense.

Yan Yan, noticing this, offered a conciliatory smile to Lu Wenzhou. “Cousin, please don’t mind her. This child grew up in a modest household, hasn’t seen much of the world. It’s her first time meeting someone of your stature, so it’s only natural she’s nervous.”

Ji Jiali chimed in, sensibly pulling Jiang Wan aside. “Wanwan, why don’t you go help in the kitchen? Leave this to me and Huai Xu’s mother.” Her smile was ingratiating. “Does Huai Xu’s cousin like fish? Our Wanwan is an excellent cook, especially skilled at preparing fish. How about pickled fish stew?”

“Fine.” Lu Wenzhou replied coolly, his gaze shifting from Jiang Wan to Ji Jiali. “Just call me by my name.”

He had said nothing out of the ordinary, yet Ji Jiali felt a chill down her spine. She forced a smile and squeezed Jiang Wan’s hand tightly, signaling her to leave quickly.

Jiang Wan wasn’t fond of being ordered around, but now she relented, half willing, and made her way toward the kitchen.

The servants were busy preparing ingredients. The countertop was laden with a variety of fresh produce, all carefully selected for quality. On the chopping board lay a freshly cleaned grass carp, descaled and gutted, its eyes dull and lifeless.

Jiang Wan stared at it, and a sudden pang of sorrow washed over her. Her father had loved fish above all. When his career began to falter, she experimented with countless fish recipes to cheer him up. After he passed away, she never touched fish again. Her mother, meanwhile, never missed a chance to tear open her wounds and rub salt in them.

Frustrated, Jiang Wan left the kitchen and wandered out to the backyard for air.

The Gu family’s presence in Rong City was a frequent topic of conversation, their status rising year by year. Gu Huaixu’s uncle, by marrying into the family, had led them to an astonishing reversal of fortune. Their story was always fodder for local gossip.

Yet Jiang Wan hadn’t expected his aunt to be Lu Wenzhou’s cousin. The world was truly small.

Lost in thought, she heard Ji Jiali apologizing to Yan Yan from afar. The more Ji Jiali lowered herself, the more Yan Yan pressed her advantage, sneering at Jiang Wan’s fallen status—a once privileged daughter now left with a father who had taken his own life and a mother who remarried. Had Gu Huaixu not threatened death if he couldn’t marry her, she’d never have been allowed through the door.

Yan Yan’s words were biting. All Ji Jiali could do was endure or call her new husband, asking pitifully why he hadn’t arrived yet.

Jiang Wan’s mood darkened further. She circled from the backyard to the front, only to encounter the one person she most wished to avoid as she turned a corner in the long corridor.

Lu Wenzhou stood there, lifting a cigarette to his lips with one hand and slipping the pack into his pocket with the other. The golden rays of the setting sun bathed him, but added no warmth.

Trying to leave unnoticed, Jiang Wan turned away, only for his voice to ring out, accompanied by the click of his lighter. “Why are you running?” His tone was calm, yet charged with an oppressive force. “Like you’ve seen a ghost. Am I dead to you?”

She was forced to halt, his gaze on her back chilling her to the core.

He wasn’t wrong. From the day he left without warning, vanished without a trace, she had treated him as dead. Otherwise, she would never have managed to convince herself, enduring that isolated and helpless darkness through sheer willpower.

“Come here.” Lu Wenzhou’s words brooked no argument, his command laced with threat.

Jiang Wan drew a shallow breath, suppressing the flicker of emotion in her eyes. When she turned around, her beautiful almond eyes held only a feigned brightness, masking the truth.

“Is there something you need, cousin?” she asked with a smile, polite yet distant, treating him as a stranger met for the first time.

Lu Wenzhou’s brow furrowed faintly. He took a drag, exhaling smoke.

“Call off the engagement,” he said, drawing again on the cigarette. His cold, handsome features blurred behind a haze of smoke. “He’s not the man you should marry. The wedding hasn’t happened yet; I’ll handle everything that comes after.”

His voice was steady, as if discussing something utterly mundane.

Jiang Wan laughed. “Cousin, I thought you were here to attend the wedding.” She deliberately stressed the word, as if marking a boundary between them.

Lu Wenzhou turned his sharp gaze toward her, dark eyes intimidating.

Jiang Wan didn’t flinch. She met his stare, her resolve clear.

Lu Wenzhou lowered the cigarette, ash falling softly to the ground. “Did we break up? Are you really marrying someone else?” The former calm in his tone was now replaced by irritation, his gaze fixed on her.

She felt the weight of his judgment.

Jiang Wan feigned surprise. “We didn’t break up? I almost forgot… You disappeared so quickly, you didn’t even mention it.” Before he could reply, she gave a cold laugh. “Since you care so much about ceremony, then right here, right now—let’s officially break up.”

She looked him straight in the eye, pronouncing each word with deliberate clarity.

He grew visibly angry.

“Jiang Wan, I know you resent me,” Lu Wenzhou said, his tone almost conciliatory. “You can be angry with me, but don’t vent your feelings in this way.” “I’m back now. You still want to marry him?”

“Why not?” Her expression remained cool, unaffected by him. “Lu Wenzhou, you think far too much of yourself. I’m marrying Gu Huaixu because I choose to. It has nothing to do with you.”

The oppressive aura deepened; even the open corridor felt suffocating. The early autumn air seemed to chill, as if winter had come.

Lu Wenzhou’s face darkened, a storm of restrained emotion brewing in his eyes.

Jiang Wan smiled at him, faint and detached. She turned to leave, but his voice followed her, half inquiry, half threat.

“Does he know you were with me?”

Her body tensed, memories surging. She forced them down, taking a deep breath.

“He’ll never know,” she replied without looking back, resolute. “Everything from our time together has been burned. Just like you—gone without a trace.”

As her words hung in the air, she took another step forward, only to have her wrist seized in a vice-like grip. His hold was so strong, it felt as if he might crush her bones.

The cigarette fell to the ground. A breeze carried its glowing ember, reflecting in his eyes.

“I…” Lu Wenzhou started, lips parted.

But another clear, youthful male voice rang out, drowning his words.

“Wanwan!”