Grandpa’s gaze lingered on me for a few heavy seconds before shifting to Hua Rang.

“Rang, come up to my study in a bit. We need to talk.”

Hua Rang acted as if he’d seen it coming all along. Lowering his head in silence for a brief moment, he gave a curt answer. “Yes, sir.”

I had no idea what kind of “heart-to-heart” Grandpa wanted to have with him. But when I headed back to my room later, I caught Hua Rang stepping out of the study. His stride was slightly uneven, and his hand was gently rubbing his knee. The moment our eyes locked, I immediately looked away. Because of that, I completely missed the look in his eyes right then—a glare so ravenous, so fiercely possessive it bordered on madness.

He turned back toward the study. The door’s soundproofing was far from perfect, and his unwavering voice carried through crystal clear:

“I only want her.”

Immediately after—SMASH!—a piece of porcelain met its tragic end for the sake of family drama. Even though I knew they were both sensible men, my heart hung in my chest like a lantern swaying in a storm. My biggest fear was that he was taking a physical beating in there.

I couldn’t stay in this old family estate much longer. With my atrocious acting skills, it would only take a few more lingering looks from Hua Rang for my cover to be completely blown.

One morning, as Hua Rang passed by me, he suddenly stopped in his tracks.

“The scent on you, Luo Luo… it smells familiar.”

My heart plummeted into my stomach. Oh, damn it. The weapon of the crime! It was the exact perfume I’d worn during those sneaky, desperate nights in his room. I had to wrack my brain to frantically deflect the conversation to the weather. Even though I managed to dodge the bullet, the half-amused, knowing smirk playing on Hua Rang’s lips almost left me paralyzed on the spot.

To make matters worse, Grandpa made a point to “casually” bring up marriage arrangements every single day, and Mom eagerly backed him up. If Hua Rang hadn’t been blocking every move, I’d probably be on enough blind dates by now to write a memoir. So, I made up my mind: time to move out. I needed to run before I got exposed.

Over the weekend, my dad returned from his business trip. Grandpa hosted a family dinner, announcing that he had “important news” to share. The atmosphere at the dining table was as thick as a pressure cooker. Grandpa wore a stern face, Hua Rang remained dead silent, and only my dad was still blissfully out of the loop.

“Luo Luo, eat more. Look how skinny you’ve gotten,” Dad urged warmly. “You didn’t come home for three whole years. Your mother and I missed you to death.”

I mumbled softly under my breath, “I was busy with school…”

Mom chimed in, not missing the chance to throw fuel on the fire. “When she was little, she was stuck to Rang like glue—cried her eyes out whenever they were parted. When Rang got into that accident, she cried endlessly. I was honestly worried her eyes would give out before we even got a chance to fix Rang’s.”

A burning, intense gaze shot right toward me. I didn’t even need to turn my head to know who it belonged to. Forcing a tight, awkward smile, I stammered, “I… I was just concerned about Uncle’s health. Completely natural.”

Mom nodded along, and then casually dropped an absolute atomic bomb:

“That time was truly terrifying. To keep his business rivals from targeting him, your uncle actually feigned his blindness. Kept the whole family in the dark, too.”

My chopsticks nearly slipped from my fingers.

“He… faked it?”

“That’s right,” Mom said nonchalantly. “Playing the fool to catch the tiger, completely blindsiding his opponents.”

My brain exploded with a deafening BOOM. The entire room started spinning around me.

He knew every single thing, yet he never put a stop to it. Why?!

I sat there, my soul practically leaving my body, while Hua Rang casually ate his meal like nothing out of the ordinary had been said. Only his eyes occasionally swept over me.

I just wanted to run. Run as far and fast as humanly possible!

But beneath the tablecloth, a hand silently slid across the gap.

Before I could react, ten fingers were tightly interwoven with mine. Startled, I jerked my head to look at Hua Rang. He remained as cool and unbothered as ever, but his grip on my hand was locked solid, leaving me zero room to pull away.

A strange, inexplicable warmth seeped through my chest. He flicked a glance at me, his eyes practically conveying the message: Stay calm. I’ve got you.

A sudden, wild thought crossed my mind: Could it be… that Hua Rang actually likes me back?

Grandpa frowned, stepping in to directly cut off our silent eye contact.

“Rang, it’s time we settle your marriage with the Zhou family heiress. I’ve checked the lunar calendar—the fifth of next month is an auspicious day.” He paused, his tone dropping into a guilt-inducing, emotional lower register. “I’m an old man now… Before I pass, all I want is to see you start a family, so I have something to show your parents when I see them.”

Mom hurriedly tried to smooth things over. “Oh, Dad, don’t talk like that! Once Rang gets married, you’ll be holding great-grandchildren in no time!”

“I am not marrying the Zhou family heiress.”

A single sentence sliced through the room, cutting off all chatter. Hua Rang stood up. The entire table fell into a dead silence so intense you could probably hear a mosquito flap its wings.

Dad knit his brows. “Why? Are you unhappy with this match?”

“I cannot marry her,” Hua Rang repeated, his voice eerily calm.

He glanced down at his hand, still tightly interlaced with mine, before looking up with absolute determination in his eyes.

“Because I already have someone I love. I have for a very long time. Aside from her, I will not marry anyone else.”

My heart hammered so hard against my ribs I thought it was going to burst right out of my chest. Game over. It’s totally over. He… he actually likes me.

Mom was the first to break the paralyzed silence. “Having someone you love is a good thing! Whose daughter is she? How old is she? What’s her family background?”

“She is—”

“Enough!”

BAM! BAM! Grandpa’s cane slammed violently against the hardwood floor. “This marriage is non-negotiable!”

Mom still tried to advocate for him. “Dad, we live in a modern era now. Our family doesn’t need a political marriage.”

Grandpa gave a cold scoff. “Then ask him who this girl is before you take his side!”

Only then did my dad realize something was deeply off. He turned to Hua Rang, his expression darkening. “Rang, the girl you like… who is she?”

“It’s me.”

I stood up, stepping right alongside Hua Rang. The two of us exchanged a brief look—our fingers gripping each other even tighter.

“Luo Luo! Don’t make a scene right now!” Mom cried out in sheer panic.

Taking a deep, shaky breath, I held my ground. “I’m not making a scene. Hua Rang and I… are in love. Three years ago, everything that was supposed to happen… and everything that wasn’t… already happened.”

Mom collapsed heavily back into her chair. Grandpa broke into a violent fit of coughing. Dad struggled to maintain his composure, his voice shaking with anger. “Shen Luo! Do you even realize what you’re saying?!”

“Every single word… I take full responsibility for. I love Hua Rang. I want to marry him. So he… cannot marry anyone else.”

“Shut your mouth!”

A sharp sting cracked across my face. Both Dad and I froze on the spot. It was the first time in my entire life he had ever laid a hand on me. His hand hovered in midair, trembling uncontrollably.

In a flash, Hua Rang yanked me behind his back, putting himself directly between me and the oncoming storm.

“Brother, don’t hit her! I was the one who fell first. I was the one who did everything to make her like me. If you want to hit someone, hit me.”

“I am NOT your brother!” Dad exploded, his rage boiling over. “The Shen family raised you for so many years, and you dare—”

“Dad, Mom, Grandpa,” I spoke up from behind Hua Rang, my voice quiet but ringing clear as a bell. “We love each other. And we don’t share a single drop of blood. So why can’t we be together?”

Dad clenched his fists, his voice dropping into a dangerous, deadly rasp. “Do you have any idea what people outside will say? On paper, he is your young uncle!”

The air in the room froze completely into ice. Yet through the suffocating silence, Hua Rang’s hand and mine remained fiercely locked together, refusing to let go.