"I'm sorry, Miss Tang, we did our best."
Tang Su sat motionless, as if she hadn't heard the doctor's words.
It was her first experience with a big dog killing a small one.
Earlier that day, she went to her boyfriend's house to help him tidy his room and feed the little dog.
Afterward, she took the puppy for a walk downstairs when an unleashed large dog pounced on them.
It attacked the puppy, and the terrifying scene of the big dog savagely tearing at it was still fresh in her mind, her fear lingering.
Having been chased by a dog as a child, Tang Su didn't like dogs, especially not big ones that could jump higher than people, like the one today.
Tang Su snapped back to reality, her appearance completely disheveled, her once delicately rosy cheeks now ashen.
When Ye Sichen's dog was being mauled, she had overcome her fear and desperately tried to save it.
Now, her clothes were torn, and her knee, scraped from running too quickly, throbbed with a dull pain.
Her right ankle had two large bloody holes, still oozing blood.
The gauze that the nurse had given her was now soaked red.
She sent a trembling message to Ye Sichen with pale face and trembling hands: "Sichen, Tiantian has had an accident."
Ye Sichen replied instantly: "I'm on my way."
Twenty minutes later, Ye Sichen arrived.
He glanced at Tang Su, but her disheveled state was completely ignored by him.
His first question was about his dog.
"Where's Tiantian?"
"...Inside."
Tang Su hesitated slightly, Ye Sichen was her boyfriend, and they had already agreed to register their marriage in two days.
She thought that she would soon become his wife, and he would at least show some concern.
But he didn't.
A pang of sourness hit Tang Su's heart.
"What happened?" Ye Sichen's brows furrowed deeply.
"It was chased and bitten by a big dog, lost too much blood, and couldn't be saved."
"What?" Ye Sichen's face changed dramatically, and he stared at Tang Su in disbelief.
How could Tiantian, his dog that had been fine for a year, die just one day after he left it in her care?
He dragged Tang Su by the hand, pulling her into the alley outside the pet hospital.
"Our community doesn't allow residents to keep large dogs," he believed Tang Su was lying, "so how could there be such a vicious big dog? Tell me the truth, Tang Su, what exactly happened?"
"You don't believe me?" Tang Su, who had just felt heartache, now felt chilled.
Indeed, Ye Sichen didn't believe her.
"Ye Sichen, I..."
"I've been raising it for a year, and just today I asked you to walk it for me, and then something happens to it. Tang Su, did you do this on purpose?"
Before Tang Su could finish her sentence, Ye Sichen lashed out again.
"I did it on purpose?" Tang Su sneered, lifting her right foot, "Would I, someone who is afraid of dogs, go save it for you if I had intended harm?"
"Ye Sichen, are you even speaking human language? If I had intended harm, why didn't I just turn around and run, leaving it to fend for itself? Am I physically disabled and unable to run?"
Ye Sichen found himself at a loss for words.
Tang Su was afraid of dogs?
How could he not know about this?
But that wasn't the point—the real issue was—
"Tang Su, I want you to swear that you truly didn't know it was a dog Shen Tian gave me and that you held a grudge against it?" Ye Sichen needed to confirm again.
"What are you talking about? Shen Tian's dog? Your ex-girlfriend Shen Tian?" Tang Su pushed him angrily.
After doing such a disgusting thing, he expected her to swear?
Such a great face!
"Regardless of who sent it, you didn't lie to me, did you?"
"I lied to you, Ye Sichen, it was me who found a mad dog, had it bite Tiantian, and made it bite me as well..."
"Ye Sichen, you're a fucking bastard."
Furious, Tang Su spoke without thinking.
"Slap——"
A harsh slap came down, Tang Su's head turned to one side, her hair clip loosened, a few strands of hair fell down, and she looked even more disheveled than before.
At the same time, her mind went blank, a ringing sound buzzed in her ears, and a distinct taste of blood was in her mouth.
Her fair little face instantly became swollen and red.
Tang Su was in pain, her knees hurt, her ankles hurt, but what hurt the most was her heart.
Her eyes reddened, her eyelids finally could not hold back the tears, and they fell heavily.
Blurred by tears, Tang Su looked up, gave a cold smile, and the blood on her lips made Ye Sichen shudder.
He was just too angry and didn't mean to hit her that hard.
Just as he was about to explain, Tang Su gritted her teeth, "Ye Sichen, you're very good!"
Having said that, Tang Su turned around and ran.
Her car was still parked at the entrance of Ye Sichen's residential community. Tang Su ran all the way to the gate, her hair clip teetering on top of her head, giving her a disheveled look that drew many glances.
Her vision was blurry, her consciousness unclear. She bumped into someone and her hair clip fell to the ground without her noticing.
"I'm sorry." Whether the person was a man or a woman, Tang Su didn't see clearly, and hastily left behind an insincere apology before walking away.
She didn't need the other person to reply that it was okay.
The man was tall, about 185 centimeters, with a cold demeanor and profound eyes, which made him appear particularly wise and mature.
He had long legs, so it wasn't hard for him to bend down, pick up the hair clip from the ground, and catch up with Tang Su.
"Miss, this miss, you dropped something."
The man called out to her, but Tang Su had no reaction, as if she couldn't hear him at all.
Indeed, Tang Su didn't hear the man's voice. Since Ye Sichen's slap, her ears buzzed, and the surrounding sounds became much quieter, something she hadn't realized yet.
Just as she reached her car and buried her head in her bag to find her keys, her shoulder was patted from behind by the man. Turning around, she saw a man.
He was tall, and they were so close that Tang Su had to look up to see his face clearly.
After patting her, the man took a big step back.
Upon seeing the man's face clearly, her heart clenched tightly.
The man before her was tall and handsome, taller than Ye Sichen, and even more handsome.
Was that... him?
Tang Su's first awakening of love happened when she was sixteen.
They met during the citywide high school basketball championship. He was the star player of the neighboring high school's basketball team, and she was one of the cheerleaders.
They had never spoken; it was a one-sided crush from her.
Eight years had passed, but she could vaguely recognize some features from eight years ago in his contour.
The man's lips moved as he spoke to her, but Tang Su, still reeling with a buzzing in her ears and in a daze, didn't catch a single word.
The man directly handed her the hair clip. Taking it from his hand, Tang Su looked down and thanked him, "Thank you, sir."
She almost called him "senior."
"Don't mention it."
The man's gaze was deep, and he seemed to want to say more, but seeing her continuously looking down, avoiding further engagement, he didn't want to impose and turned to leave.
After he left, Tang Su quickly got into her car and leaned her head on the steering wheel.
Was that... a reunion after a long separation?
Why did it have to be on her most disheveled day?