A group of people were pointing and making comments, none of them kind.
An Yuxian listened with great satisfaction.
She wanted that cheap woman An Lan to know that she was utterly undeserving to compete with her!
An Lan glanced at An Yuxian indifferently, dodging her feigned affectionate gesture, and swept her gaze over the gossiping guests, "It was Dad who asked me to come. Zhan Ting is busy with work and couldn't make it, so I'm representing him."
Upon hearing Huo Zhanting's name, the guests who had been chattering eagerly immediately changed their expression, not daring to utter another word.
"Is that so?"
An Yuxian boasted with a smirk that didn't reach her eyes, "Director Huo is indeed busy with work, unlike Yihe, who clings to me all day long, accompanying me even when I go shopping!"
A trace of loss flashed in An Lan's heart, yet her expression remained unchanged, "Is that so? That's nice."
Seeing that An Lan wouldn't take the bait, An Yuxian felt like she had hit cotton with her punch.
However, just the thought of Huo Zhanting marrying her instead of An Lan, whom he had once been desperate to wed, brought her considerable joy.
"Yuxian, do you have guests?"
Xiao Yihe, dressed in a white suit with a flower pinned to his chest, matched An Yuxian's gown. Seeing An Lan, he looked flustered.
"Why are you here?"
An Lan smiled politely, "Congratulations to you!"
She really wanted to beam brightly, but her heart ached, making her smile seem forced.
To Xiao Yihe, her smile felt so painful that he furrowed his brow, "Come with me."
Ignoring the crowd, he reached out to pull An Lan.
"Yihe!"
An Yuxian grabbed Xiao Yihe's arm, "What secrets do you have to whisper to my sister? I want to hear too!"
Xiao Yihe's frown deepened, and he pulled his arm away, "Stop it."
After speaking, he tried to grab An Lan again, but his hand closed on air.
An Lan stepped back, "Let's talk here, whatever it is."
Xiao Yihe's tone was pleading, "An Lan..."
He really wanted to tell An Lan that his engagement to An Yuxian was all to save the An Family, and that he didn't like An Yuxian at all!
From beginning to end, the only one he wanted was An Lan!
As An Lan watched Xiao Yihe move forward, intending to dodge him, she suddenly caught a whiff of a familiar cold fragrance.
"What, does Mr. Xiao have some secrets to tell my wife?"
The austere voice of Huo Zhanting resounded.
An Lan was startled and turned to look, with Huo Zhanting standing between her and Xiao Yihe.
His eyes were dark and indifferent, and his lips curled with an inexplicable smile, "Why not share it with me as well?"
Nobody expected Huo Zhanting to show up.
Xiao Yihe's hand froze for a moment, his face showing clear displeasure, "Director Huo, isn't it a bit inappropriate for you to come so abruptly?"
"I came to give the An Family face," Huo Zhanting said with a slight tilt of his chin, his smile concealing a threat, "Even if it's abrupt, it's not your place to say so."
Xiao Yihe turned pale. Despite An Yuxian frantically tugging at his sleeve, he still managed to retort, "There should be some reason in everything, Director Huo. Do you really think you can cover the sky with one hand in Binhai?"
Huo Zhanting laughed scornfully, "Isn't that the case?"
"You!"
Xiao Yihe, who was usually eloquent, was rendered speechless by Huo Zhanting's retort.
With the Huo Family's significant influence in Binhai, Huo Zhanting had only expanded it further after taking over, to say he had far-reaching power was indeed no exaggeration.
"If you know I have such power, then you should stay away from my wife. If I'm not mistaken, today is your engagement party."
Huo Zhanting still wore a smile, but his gaze was cold as frost, and his tone was full of threat.
An Lan shivered next to him.
As she knew Huo Zhanting well, this arrogant and unpredictable man, if truly angered, would spare no one—neither Xiao Yihe, nor the entire An Family, nor even herself.
"Zhan Ting..."
An Lan gently took Huo Zhanting's arm and lightly pecked his cheek, "Today is Mr. Xiao and Yuxian's engagement party; he will be my brother-in-law in the future."
Huo Zhanting didn't expect An Lan to be so proactive. He turned and raised his eyebrows at her.
This woman always manages to surprise me.
He reached out, seized An Lan's chin, and kissed her dominantly before finally letting go after a long while.
"Shall we go back first?"
An Lan nuzzled affectionately into Huo Zhanting's neck crease, "Consider it as me begging you, okay?"
Huo Zhanting's mind inexplicably flashed back to the day he coerced An Lan, demanding she beg him.
That day, she held her head high, her spine straight, like a desert poplar that would never bend.
Tough, stubborn.
Even though Huo Zhanting knew that An Lan was only acting weak intentionally to stop him from going after Xiao Yihe, he had to admit…
She had succeeded in pleasing him.
The corners of Huo Zhanting's lips curved imperceptibly. In a good mood, he no longer wanted to squabble with her and was about to declare victory and retreat, with An Lan in his arms…
But Xiao Yihe seemed to be provoked by this scene, his eyes bloodshot as he stared at An Lan unabashedly, "Even if it's an engagement, it doesn't mean anything, even if you're married, you can still get divorced!"
As soon as these words were spoken, Huo Zhanting, who was about to turn around, came to an abrupt halt.
The faces of three out of the four people present changed.
"Yihe! What are you talking about!"
An Yuxian couldn't save face, glancing sideways at the surrounding guests, "There are still so many friends here!"
Huo Jiajia's clique never wanted to include her, thinking her status wasn't high enough. Now, only barely squeezing in due to her engagement with Xiao Yihe, his words risked exposing everything, didn't they?
An Lan frowned, looking towards Xiao Yihe.
She had just managed to smooth things over with Huo Zhanting. Why would Xiao Yihe say something like that now?
"Zhan Ting..."
An Lan tugged cautiously at Huo Zhanting's sleeve, "Shall we go back?"
Huo Zhanting had not the slightest intention of leaving. He stood his ground, his face devoid of laughter, "Say that again?"
His anger was palpable, and his overwhelmingly commanding presence made everyone hold their breath. The vast hotel fell silent as a tomb.
"Ah! Director Huo!"
An Guohua and Zhou Huimin hurried over, "Why didn't you tell us in advance that you were coming!"
"An Lan! You too, why didn't you tell me as soon as Director Huo arrived?" An Guohua glared at An Lan, "This makes our An Family look very impolite!"
"I decided to come at the last minute."
Huo Zhanting took the fall for An Lan, "I thought it was just to attend the engagement banquet, but it turns out there was an unexpected gain."
After saying this, he looked towards Xiao Yihe with a pointed look.
"The feeling is mutual."
Xiao Yihe retorted in kind.
The two men locked eyes, neither willing to back down first, the air filled with the smell of gunpowder.
Old foxes like An Guohua could naturally see what was going on, so he tried to smooth things over, "Anyway, I'm honored that Director Huo could come to my event!"
"Yes, yes!" Zhou Huimin took over the conversation, tirelessly signaling An Yuxian with her eyes, "Yuxian! Take Yihe over there and help me entertain the guests."
An Yuxian was taken aback, "Ah? Didn't we just entertain them?"
Zhou Huimin gave her a fierce glare, and only then did An Yuxian come to her senses, "Ah right, Yihe bro, please come with me over there?"
Xiao Yihe's eyes were still fixed on An Lan, but he was dragged away by An Yuxian who was insistent.
With Xiao Yihe gone, the atmosphere eased considerably. An Guohua made small talk, "Director Huo, An Lan has lacked discipline since she was young. I didn't manage her well three years ago, so if she does anything wrong at the Huo Family, just tell me! I definitely won't spare her!"
An Lan looked coldly at An Guohua, never having thought her father could be so shameless!
What did he mean she lacked discipline?
If he hadn't tacitly allowed Zhou Huimin to drug her, how would she have gotten involved with Huo Zhanting?
Moreover, her mother came from a scholarly family—if she hadn't been deceived by that scoundrel An Guohua, she wouldn't have ended up with her family's wealth scattered, eventually tortured to death by illness in the hospital!
An Lan replied with a forced, insincere smile, "Dad, to raise is to educate; are you admitting you were wrong?"
Zhou Huimin's face dropped immediately, "An Lan! How dare you speak to your father like that!"
Just as An Lan was about to retort, Huo Zhanting cut in, "Since An Lan married into my family, she is now a member of the Huo Family."
Without any concern for the fact that this was the An Family's engagement party, he said coldly, "It's not your place to teach her how to speak."