A woman who was abandoned at her engagement party should have received everyone's comfort and care. However, if it then came out that she'd spent the night fooling around with a mysterious man, in addition to comfort and care, she couldn't escape suspicion and blame.
That was the atmosphere Xia Wanwan faced when she returned to her family's home.
"Wanwan, don't you think you owe us an explanation for this?" Xia Zhenghong slammed his phone in front of Xia Wanwan with an angry face, displaying a conspicuous news headline: Xia Family's Eldest Daughter Dumped at Engagement Party for Already Being Married? Identity of Mysterious Husband Remains a Mystery.
Below was a photo of her and that man in a hotel room.
With a faint tone, Xia Wanwan said, "There's nothing to explain. We have no relationship, and nothing happened."
"Sister, Dad's worried about you," Xia An'an joined them from upstairs, adopting a peacemaker's stance, "You didn't come home last night, Mom and Dad were concerned something happened to you, they didn't sleep all night."
The phrase "didn't come home all night" reminded Yang Susu, who also chimed in with a sinking face, "Wanwan, what exactly is going on with that man?"
"Mom!" Xia Wanwan's eyes, filled with a cold edge, swept over Xia An'an before quickly flashing a look of restraint at Yang Susu, eventually offering only, "I really don't know that man."
"Is that so? Then why does he claim that you two are married?" The one who spoke up was Gu Junhan, who had stood beside Xia An'an in silence, he naturally didn't believe Xia Wanwan and that man to be a married couple, but he was somewhat in disbelief that she had had another romantic interest before their engagement.
If he wasn't a romantic interest, how could it be that immediately after the cancellation of their engagement, she went to a hotel room with another man? The thought of the man in the photo, who exuded an extraordinary temperament, sparked a hidden anger in Gu Junhan's handsome face.
"Do I need to tell you?" Xia Wanwan looked at Gu Junhan, her tone laced with ridicule, "I think by now, I don't need to explain anything to you, Mr. Gu, it also isn't appropriate for you to ask me this question."
Gu Junhan was momentarily stunned. Xia Wanwan had never used such a tone or gaze with him before; her eyes and voice were full of hostility. How had they become enemies?
There was a time when they had been good friends...
"Stop right there!" Xia Wanwan's attitude caused Xia Zhenghong to tremble with anger, "Xia Wanwan, you're an adult, why can't you act sensibly? An'an did indeed do wrong this time, and I have already scolded her. Yet, by releasing those photos right at the engagement party, you were completely reckless! How do you expect the Xia Family and the Gu Family to save face?"
"Wanwan, you really were too impulsive this time. By doing this, where do you put An'an? You... how could you have turned into this?" Yang Susu's voice filled with emotion, and her eyes reddened. Her elder daughter, for some reason, had always been antagonistic towards her younger one, seeming to desire anything Xia An'an took an interest in. Everyone in the family knew she wasn't fond of Gu Junhan, they were all puzzled by why she would insist on being engaged to him.
Now knowing that her younger daughter was also fond of Gu Junhan, everything seemed to make sense. Yet, she couldn't understand why her elder daughter would behave this way when she hadn't been like this as a child.
Xia Zhenghong coldly scoffed, "If she was capable of such thought, she wouldn't need to act like an absentee property owner at the engagement party, nor would she stay out all night!"
Xia Wanwan sneered sarcastically, "I'm not the one who is the 'other woman,' and I wasn't the one who left the fiancée behind at the engagement party. Why should I stay to deal with this mess?"
The disappointed look in her mother's eyes made Xia Wanwan's heart ache. She wanted to tell them everything she knew, but she couldn't.
Xia An'an, feeling incredibly guilty as mentioned, clutched Gu Junhan's arm tightly, and said with seemingly great restraint, "Sister... I'm sorry..."
"There are many things you should be sorry for, aren't there? Which one are you referring to?" Xia Wanwan looked at her with a cold smile, her eyes full of contempt. Though there was no evidence, she knew without a doubt who had drugged the drink. The photos at the engagement party, the spiked drink, the man who tried to take advantage of her, and this morning's horde of reporters flooding the hotel. This chain of meticulously planned events really underestimated her, Xia An'an.
"That's enough, Xia Wanwan." Gu Junhan snapped out of his previous emotions. He felt that regardless of the situation, he was wrong to leave Xia Wanwan during the engagement party, but the aggressive Xia Wanwan and the trembling Xia An'an beside him created such a stark contrast, the latter invoked his sympathy.
"Take your anger out on me, not An'an. She's done nothing wrong, she always tried to encourage me to properly engage with you. If you hadn't brought those photos to the engagement party, she would have given up on being with me a long time ago."
Xia Wanwan glanced coolly at Gu Junhan, about to retort, when a domineering male voice preempted her in the living room, "Really? There are countless ways to get rid of Xia An'an, would Xia Wanwan lose her mind to use such a stupid method?"