The engagement was with the younger brother, but I've fallen for the older brother.

He Sichen did not return to his room immediately.

He stood on the balcony for a while, the night breeze blowing through the buildings.

There are many ways to dissolve an engagement.

They cornered Si Ningyou at the edge of a cliff, then drew a narrow path leading to He Nanxian at her feet.

The cleanest solution is to have the breaching party provide written evidence.

He Nanxian and Si Ningyou rekindled their old flame, and with their secrets exposed, neither of them could say a word against it.

He only needs to present this fact to the two families' elders, and the engagement will naturally be nullified.

Si Yimian didn't even need to show her face, nor did she need to give a single explanation.

The knife that breaks off the engagement won't fall on Si Yimian's head; no one will accuse her of being fickle or promiscuous; no one will condemn her for breaking the contract and being untrustworthy.

Public opinion will throw all the dirty water at Si Ningyou and He Nanxian.

The dirty water flowed forward, and she retreated.

Now every link is in place.

All that's left is for the butterfly to run into the net on its own.

Just then, a rustling sound came from the bedroom.

Si Yimian mumbled sleepily, "Dr. He, I'm thirsty..."

He Sichen put his phone back in his pocket, turned around, walked through the living room, and came to the island counter.

I poured about half a cup of warm water into the thermos. The glass was just warm to the touch, with only a thin layer of steam remaining. It was just the right temperature to drink.

He carried a water glass into the bedroom without turning on the light.

Through the sliver of light from the first-tier city filtering through the curtains, I saw a small bundle curled up in the blankets.

The thing rolled over, the blanket slipped down to its waist, revealing a bare shoulder and half of its face pressed against the pillow.

He Sichen walked over and sat down on the edge of the bed.

A hand reached out from the darkness, its five fingers grabbing haphazardly in the air.

He Sichen looked down at the hand, then raised his hand to grasp her wrist, guiding the flailing hand to the side of the cup.

"Don't touch me here."

Si Yimian poked half her face out from under the pillow, her hair covering her forehead and her eyes still squinting.

He brought the glass to her lips, but before he could even feed her the water, she instinctively raised her chin, her lips touched the rim of the glass, and she gulped down two mouthfuls.

She choked, pushed the cup back to him, and fell back into the pillow.

He Sichen looked at the half-full glass of water remaining in the cup, then at the creature on the bed whose eyes were already closed.

Then I placed the water glass on the bedside table and lay down beside her in the dark.

The moment his head hit the pillow, that warm, soft bundle rolled over beside him, burying its face in his shoulder and its legs on his lower abdomen.

The octopus-like sleeping posture is completely unreasonable.

He slipped his arm under her neck and pulled her closer to him.

"Go to sleep."

Si Yimian snuggled closer to him and mumbled, "Dr. He, you're so warm."

The arch is positioned in the wrong place.

He Sichen's Adam's apple bobbed down sharply. He gripped her waist with his hand, pulled her closer to him, and then stopped abruptly.

No.

If it keeps arching, I really won't be able to sleep anymore.

He took a deep breath, placed his arm behind her back, and kept her at a safe distance from danger.

……

He Nanxian stayed in the hospital for three days.

He didn't tell the truth to anyone in the He family.

When confronted by his family on the phone, he only said that he had run into a group of drunk thugs at night and got into an argument, and that he had acted in self-defense and suffered some injuries.

He Sichen has already taken care of everything for him.

He Sichen handled the aftermath so well that even He Huaipu didn't suspect anything.

There was no mention of the chaotic battle that night, let alone Si Yimian.

Si Yimian hasn't come over in these three days.

Not even once.

He Nanxian's phone screen lit up and then dimmed, dimmed and then lit up again.

From the first day to the third day, the WeChat chat only contained one-way messages he had sent.

They all sank to the bottom of the sea; not even a read message was retrieved.

Si Ningyou, however, somehow found out about the news and started coming to fawn over him every day.

Arrive at 8 AM and leave at 7 PM.

When changing his dressings, I handed him cotton swabs. When the nurses came to check on him, I helped him prop up his pillow. For lunch, I went downstairs to the cafeteria and got some porridge to serve him.

He Nanxian advised him twice that he didn't need to run around every day.

Si Ningyou smiled and came the next day anyway.

Without He Nanxian's interference these past few days, Si Yimian and He Sichen have become even more unrestrained in private.

Two doors, one password, one bed.

You can't pretend to be familiar with someone during the day, and you can't pretend to be completely familiar at night.

They were accomplices, addicts, and each other unable to quit their illicit addiction.

Si Yimian learned to unbutton her clothes by listening to the sound of the lock clicking on He Sichen's office door.

He Sichen learned to offer his finger before she bit her lip.

The two of them got more and more creative with their games.

He went to Begin on the first day after He Nanxian was discharged from the hospital.

The notorious den of extravagance in Beijing's elite circles is so dimly lit that it can conceal all the unsavory aspects of their lives.

He sat at the back of the booth, downing one glass of strong liquor after another.

The amber liquid burned down my throat, like water being poured onto a wound. The phone screen lit up and then went dark.

He opened it, then closed it.

Finally, I simply placed it face down on the table.

When Si Ningyou came in, he had already drunk half a bottle.

She sat down opposite him and reached out to snatch the wine bottle from his hand.

"Nanxian, stop drinking."

He Nanxian raised his eyes, his pupils dilating for a moment.

"Why are you here?"

"Your assistant said I was worried about you coming out alone."

"Are you relieved now?"

"I'm not at ease."

Si Ningyou reached out and covered the rim of the cup, her fingertips touching the back of his hand.

He Nanxian didn't look at her and continued drinking.

"Ning You, you should go back."

"I'll take you back."

"Need not."

"You're so drunk, how are you going to get home?"

He Nanxian smiled and said, "I'm not drunk."

Those who are drunk all claim they are not drunk.

He Nanxian tried to push her away, but his hands and feet wouldn't obey him.

Alcohol, like cement, seeps into every part of the body.

All he remembers is being shoved into a taxi.

When I opened my eyes again, there was an unfamiliar ceiling.

Si Ningyou rented a small apartment on the East Third Ring Road. It was 20 square meters, and the bed was next to the window.

He Nanxian lay on that narrow bed, his clothes nowhere to be found.

He sat up abruptly, and the blanket slipped down.

There was a person lying next to me, with their bare shoulders exposed.

Si Ningyou.

He Nanxian's blood froze instantly.

He lifted the covers and looked down at himself.

She wasn't wearing anything.

There was blood on the sheets.

His mind went blank, as if someone had hit him on the back of the head with a stick.

"Ning You".

Si Ningyou opened her eyes, her gaze hazy, before she became alert.

"Nanxian, you're awake?"

"last night……"

Last night you held me and said a lot of things.

She sat up, the blanket slipped down to her waist, revealing a large expanse of skin.

He Nanxian turned his face away and grabbed the blanket to cover her.

"Put your clothes on first."

"What should I wear?"

Si Ningyou tilted her head and smiled gently.

"You tore them all up."

He Nanxian's fingers froze in mid-air.

He tried hard to recall, but his memory was fragmented after that drink at the bar.

"I don't remember..."

"You don't remember, but I do."

Si Ningyou took her phone out from under her pillow and opened the photo album.

In the photo, she is lying in his arms, neither of them are dressed, and they are covered with the same blanket.

He Nanxian's face turned deathly pale instantly.

"Nanxian, you said you would take responsibility."

"I……"

Marry me.

He Nanxian raised his head and looked at her.

Si Ningyou's eyes were clear, without shyness or grievance, only a calm and firm determination.

"Ning You, I can't marry you."

Why?

"Because I don't love you."

Si Ningyou nodded, as if she had expected him to say that.

"That's alright."

She picked up her phone and dialed a number.

Before He Nanxian could react, he heard her say into the phone, "I'm going to call the police."

"I was assaulted."