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

He Nanxian's pupils suddenly contracted.

"What are you talking about?"

"What do you mean by 'before' and 'now'?"

He Sichen didn't answer immediately. He leaned back in his chair and stared unblinkingly at He Sichen's face.

"You've known her for so many years, you know better than I do what she used to be."

A person's character doesn't change overnight.

"Have you ever seen someone who has been worn down for eight years transform themselves in a short period of time, becoming calm, clear-headed, and strategically reshuffling everyone around them?"

"A person's tastes and aesthetics are deeply ingrained and cannot be completely overturned by being hurt a few times."

He Nanxian's Adam's apple bobbed up and then sank back down.

Of course he felt it.

That sense of unease began two years ago, the day Si Yimian injured her leg.

Later, she became beautiful and intelligent, but she was covered in thorns, and just looking at her made him feel dangerous.

But what he could never let go of was that person who was always cautious yet gave it his all.

That Si Yimian was the most complete page in his memory.

But in the last two years, she has become increasingly blurry in his memory.

It wasn't until now that He Sichen laid this matter out on the table and gave him another explanation.

He suddenly realized that he had been avoiding this question all along.

"When did you discover it?"

"A long time ago."

He Sichen did not give a specific time.

"As for why it was changed, science can't explain it."

"But there are many things that science cannot explain, and I never force myself to find answers."

He Nanxian suddenly smiled.

"So who is she now?"

"You should ask her."

He Sichen met his gaze, his eyes calm and indifferent.

"I respect her secret and I won't pry her out for you."

"This is her past, not mine."

"She'll tell you when she's willing to."

"If she doesn't want to talk about it, that's her choice, and we don't need to make judgments for her."

"But no matter how many owners this body has had, what I care about is the one now."

"I don't need to know her identity or background."

After hearing this, He Nanxian remained silent for a long time.

What he couldn't let go of was a soul that no longer existed.

What He Sichen fell in love with was the soul itself in the present moment.

Then he stood up, placed his hands on the table, and looked down at He Sichen.

Do you know what I hate most about you?

He Sichen looked up but did not reply.

You always see everything before I do.

He Sichen scoffed lightly, with a hint of sarcasm.

"It's not that I saw it earlier than you."

"It's not that you already have the answer in your heart, but you've just been too afraid to admit it."

He Sichen didn't continue speaking, but tilted his chin towards the door.

"Don't come to me until you've figured this out."

"There's no need to look for her."

He Nanxian straightened up and took half a step back.

He looked at the man across the desk and suddenly realized that he had always been this kind of person.

He didn't say much, but every word he uttered hit the nail on the head.

Never explain yourself, never question others, and always stand straight on the boundary line.

He Nanxian suddenly realized that he would never reach his brother's level of character in this lifetime.

……

That night, He Nanxian had a dream.

I dreamt that the world I was in was a female-oriented angst novel.

In his dream, he stood in the perspective of a holographic projection and saw a girl named Si Yimian live out her life.

He saw that she grew up in the mountains, always wearing ill-fitting clothes, and her toes would turn purple from the cold in winter.

She was beaten and scolded by her adoptive father's fellow villagers. She squatted by the stove to tend the fire. A piece of firewood fell out and burned the back of her hand, but she didn't dare to cry.

At fifteen, she found her way back to the Si family home with only fragmented memories, and then began eight years of being gradually devoured by Si Ningyou.

The scene cuts again, showing Si Ningyou plotting to take advantage of Si Yimian's kidney.

Si Yimian donated a kidney to him, but she schemed to get into his bed and used moral blackmail to force him to marry her.

Later, he saw the men that Si Ningyou had arranged.

The lights were dim, and Mianmian was locked in a room without windows.

A man came in, and the door was locked from the inside.

She scratched at the wall with her fingernails until they flipped up, revealing the bright red flesh underneath.

Finally, he saw the rooftop, and she stood on the windowsill and jumped off without hesitation.

Upon seeing this, He Nanxian suddenly couldn't breathe.

He suddenly opened his eyes and gasped for breath.

There was no blood on the walls, and no wind in the air.

It felt like a piece of his chest had been hollowed out, and cold sweat soaked his entire back.

He sat on the edge of the bed, running his hands through his hair.

It turns out that the woman he fell in love with, Si Yimian, has been suffering her whole life.

And he was one of the accomplices.

He Nanxian got out of bed; his legs were a little numb.

He walked to Si Ningyou's room and pushed the door open.

Si Ningyou was sleeping soundly, her breathing even, as if she were having a sweet dream.

They only registered their marriage but didn't have a wedding ceremony, and they slept in separate rooms after the marriage.

He didn't touch her at all.

Now, looking at that face, he suddenly felt nauseous.

On what grounds?

Why is it that after experiencing all of hell, Mianmian can still lie comfortably in his bed?

People who do wrong do not have to pay the price.

Who will repay those debts?

The Si Yimian he once loved is no longer here.

But those who owe her should not have any peace.

……

three days later.

Si Ningyou came out of the beauty salon, her high heels clicking on the secluded path in the eastern suburbs.

She had just had a facial, her skin was radiant, and she was in a good mood.

Although He Nanxian never touched her, the title of Mrs. He was enough for her to roam freely in the circle.

She's flying to Paris next month for a fashion show, so she needs to get herself in shape beforehand.

A white van slid up from behind and the door opened.

Before she could react, her mouth was covered.

Her pupils contracted sharply, and a muffled scream escaped her throat as she was lifted off the ground by being gripped around the waist.

A pungent, sweet, and fishy smell wafted into my nostrils from the damp cloth, and my consciousness began to crumble.

The last frame shows the car door closing and the world going black.

The kidnapper leader was a man in his early forties with an old knife scar on his neck.

He crouched down in the carriage, took a picture of the slumped Si Ningyou with his phone, and then dialed a number.

It rang twice, and then the other end answered.

"Mr. He, we've got the person."

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone.

"Um."

"As previously agreed, send it to the most remote area."

The scarred man licked his lips: "So, what about this woman in the future..."

"The same goods you've handled before."

He Nanxian stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, his own face reflected in the glass.

Expressionless, devoid of warmth.

"Find a village and never leave it for the rest of your life."

He hung up the phone and deleted the number.

He closed his eyes, and the tightness in his chest eased a little.

For the first time in his life, he felt he had done something that didn't require weighing right from wrong.

If Si Ningyou could live comfortably for the rest of her life as Mrs. He, receiving a monthly allowance, then what about all those years Mianmian endured?

She has to live to pay off her debt; that's what punishment is.

Send her to a place without logic, to live with a group of unreasonable people.

Let her experience what it's like to cry out to heaven and be left without an answer, what it feels like to be locked in a room without windows.