"I left in a hurry three years ago."
Fu Han hooked the corner of her mouth sarcastically, with a smile that wasn't quite a smile, and said to Xia Ning, "A few days ago, I suddenly remembered that when I left, I had forgotten to dissolve my engagement with He Xing."
She nonchalantly played with her long hair. "Hearing that the Xia and He families were planning to unite in marriage, I had to rush back and vacate the spot for you, lest Lady Xia marries without a proper title, how inappropriate that would be."
"You! What nonsense are you spouting!"
Xia Ning's face turned unmistakably sour, "Who said that I and Brother Xing…"
"There is no marriage union."
He Xing interrupted Xia Ning coldly, his gaze unwaveringly on Fu Han, "Everyone in City A knows who my fiancée is."
Fu Han did not even glance at him but turned to speak to the He family patriarch, "Grandfather, I want to cancel the engagement."
Although the He family patriarch was lying in bed, he looked hale and hardy, not at all on the brink of death.
With He Xing's capabilities, could he really have let such rumors spread?
A thought flashed through Fu Han's mind, and she suppressed it with a light chuckle.
"Have you really decided?" the He family patriarch looked at Fu Han seriously.
"Grandfather!" He Xing's expression grew even colder.
Without waiting for Fu Han to reply, he once again grasped her hand and enveloped her waist, saying coldly, "We need to talk."
Having said that, he restrained Fu Han and headed toward the second floor.
Xia Ning's composure collapsed completely. She awkwardly greeted the He family patriarch and then beat a hasty retreat.
The He family patriarch rubbed his brow in annoyance and uttered with a sneer, "Had I known this would happen, why did I ever begin?"
In the second-floor bedroom, He Xing closed the door with a snap and said emotionlessly to Fu Han, "Fu Han."
Fu Han rubbed her sore wrist, her eyes sparkling playfully as she looked around the room, "Three years gone, and my room has been kept just as it was."
It was evident that someone had been meticulously maintaining it.
"Fu Han," He Xing's gaze was icy as he repeated, "You want to cancel our engagement?"
"Didn't I leave the ring behind three years ago?"
Fu Han looked at He Xing with feigned surprise, "I thought I had made my intentions very clear."
"Are you still holding a grudge about that incident at the water?"
He Xing took a step forward, his towering figure enveloping Fu Han tightly.
"He Xing," Fu Han sat down on the sofa, supporting her chin with one hand and smiling, without answering his question, "You released the news of Grandfather's critical illness, didn't you? You calculated that I would come back upon hearing the news, which is why you let the rumors spread."
He Xing's face remained impassive, but his eyes deepened, evidently confirming Fu Han's guess.
"I am twenty-five this year, not fifteen. You don't need to be so concerned about repaying a debt to me. Nor do you need to sacrifice your own life for Grandfather. I've been doing just fine on my own," Fu Han said with a meaningful smile.
"You really are still angry," He Xing's face grew even more displeased.
"Why would I be angry at you?" Fu Han sighed helplessly, "Aren't I merely stating the facts?"
Removing her coat, she revealed her slender and exquisite figure, which accentuated her long neck and radiant features.
Shedding the deeply concealed inferiority and endurance of the past, Fu Han now resembled a rose blooming in the wind, noble yet thorny, her gentleness veiling a sharp and mysterious edge.
"I haven't cared about that drowning incident for a long time now, after all, when it happened, you were closer to Xia Ning and it was only natural to save her first. Besides, I wasn't seriously hurt," Fu Han explained understandingly, "Even if I was really upset back then, I've long since let it go. You don't need to trouble yourself anymore."
With a gentle look at He Xing, she said, "My father was just a driver for the He family, and my mother a servant. Although Grandfather raised me as if I were his own granddaughter, I am ultimately a daughter of servants and do not truly qualify as a lady of the He family. It was just because they protected him during a car accident, pulling him from the wreckage with their dying breaths, that Grandfather raised me so kindly. I am already grateful enough; there's no need for you to lose a lifetime over it."
She shook her head with relief, "Three years ago, those young masters and ladies by your side kept repeating these things to me, wanting me to recognize my place, accusing me of coming between you and Xia Ning."
Fu Han got up, approached He Xing, and said, "I never complained to you, for fear of troubling you, afraid that you would grow impatient with me. But when it comes down to it, all this stems from my lack of self-awareness, from my absurd wish on my birthday for something I shouldn't have desired."
On her Coming of Age Ceremony, the He family patriarch asked her what she desired for her birthday, and with all the courage she had in her life, she told the patriarch:
She wanted to marry He Xing.
So, to repay the debt, the patriarch decreed the marriage, binding He Xing to her from then on.
"Luckily, I've already come to terms with it."
Fu Han said with an air of nonchalance, "The past is the past, I wish you and Xia Ning a lifetime of happiness."
After speaking, Fu Han tried to walk past him to leave the bedroom.
Suddenly a forceful grip came upon her shoulder, He Xing grabbed her and spun her around, trapping her against the wall with a firm hold on her waist, "The engagement will not be canceled."
A storm seemed imminent in his eyes, yet he provided no extensive explanation to Fu Han.
"What now?" Fu Han leaned compliantly against the wall, her face showing no signs of panic.
As their breaths intertwined in the charged air, Fu Han looked at He Xing with amusement, "You used to be so indifferent to me, as if spending an extra word on me was a waste of your time. And now you insist on marrying me? Don't tell me, after I was gone for three years, that you suddenly realized the person you truly love is me?"