For the entire afternoon, Xia Xiaowan was in no mood to do anything.

Originally, she wanted to use this opportunity to sound Gu Nianbin out. But before she could open her mouth, Gu Nianbin took the initiative to bring it up and frightened her the moment he started to speak.

They grew up together, so she knew his temperament. Gu Nianbin was a very, very cool-headed person. At that time, everyone said that he loved her to the bone. However, when she went abroad, he did not chase after her. Instead, he continued to go to the company in the morning and get back home in the evening every day as usual, living a very regular life. Because of this, Xia Nanze had been angry with him for a long time. It was only when she returned that their relationship improved.

But now, Gu Nianbin was no longer cool-headed. He finally could no longer remain cool-headed due to Du Xiaoxian.

Xia Xiaowan carefully reviewed the whole thing. The more she thought about it, the more she felt that she was wrong. Although she was not a good person, she did not want to see Gu Nianbin in such pain. She had already ruined herself. She could not destroy Gu Nianbin as well.

She had taken so much effort to force Gu Nianbin to propose to her. So she needed a bit of courage to refuse him now.

After thinking for a long time, she finally made up her mind. Without Gu Nianbin’s help, it would be very hard for her to take revenge. But she could not get Gu Nianbin into trouble because of her selfishness.

When Xia Xiaowan made up her mind, she was sitting on the terrace and looking at the stars in the sky in a daze.

The night sky in the suburbs was very beautiful. In the grayish-blue sky, the stars appeared big and bright, like countless dazzling silver nails, which crowded so tight that a few of them might fall accidentally.

Despite such a beautiful view, she just sighed. She promised to give him an answer at night. She wanted to go to tell him now before she regretted it.

Just as she got up, she heard unhurried footsteps, which were steady and powerful. Gu Nianbin came over. Thus, she sat down again. It was good that he had come. It would save her from going to him.

Gu Nianbin handed her a cup of coffee and a shawl. “The weather is chilly. Put it on. Be careful not to catch a cold.”

Xia Xiaowan obediently put the shawl around her shoulders and tilted her head to look at him, sighing.

Gu Nianbin asked curiously, “What’s wrong? Why are you sighing?”

Xia Xiaowan smiled but did not say anything. After a while, she said, “You made me hesitate.”

“What do you mean?” Gu Nianbin was even more puzzled. “What are you talking about?”

Xia Xiaowan took a sip of coffee and seemed to be a little emotional. “You are so thoughtful and considerate. Anyone who marries you should be happy, right?”

Gu Nianbin laughed. “So don’t hesitate anymore. Moreover, our marriage will meet everyone’s expectations!”

Xia Xiaowan curved her lips, “I’m afraid I will disappoint everyone.” Her habit was that once she made up her mind, she would do it without delay in order to avoid future worries.

Gu Nianbin was indeed a little surprised. “You were absent-minded all the afternoon. Is this the decision you’ve finally made?”

“Yes, I have decided not to marry you.”

“One afternoon is too short. You haven’t thought about it thoroughly. Why don’t you think about it much longer?”

“No, I have thought about it clearly,” Xia Xiaowan said, “Brother Nianbin, it’s all my fault. Because of this, I feel that I can’t continue to be wrong.”

“Xia Xiaowan,” Gu Nianbin’s voice turned angry. “You used all your tricks and finally achieved your goal. Why did you go back on your words? If you had known this would happen, you should not have acted thus. Did you make fool of me?”

Gu Nianbin’s angry look was a little scary. But Xia Xiaowan was calm and indifferent. It was all her fault. No matter how he treated her, it was not excessive.

When she was sitting here, she composed a lot of words in her head and thought about how to persuade Gu Nianbin. But in the end, she did not say what she originally wanted to say.

She just told the truth. This was also the first time she had expressed her feelings to Gu Nianbin since she came back. She told him about the unknown secrets between her and Jiang Kaiwei. On this starry night, she told Gu Nianbin everything about her unbearable past that even she herself did not want to recall.

Gu Nianbin was shocked. He looked at her for a long time and was speechless. The cup of coffee in his hand was already cold but he did not drink a mouthful.

After Xia Xiaowan said this, she felt relaxed. The past was like a mountain pressing down on her heart. She could not tell anyone. She could not even tell her parents. But now, she finally said it.

Her psychiatrist had told her that she needed to pour when she was unhappy. But she never did it and did not want to reveal her pain to others. She just kept it in her heart and let her hatred grow, which made herself more and more irritable day by day.

Now, she felt that the psychiatrist was right. It really made her feel relieved when she poured out her thoughts. She even shared things that she had thought she would not say.

Gu Nianbin placed the cup of cold coffee on the table and held her hand. “I’m sorry, Xiaowan. I didn’t know you suffered so much.”

Xia Xiaowan shook her head. “Brother Nianbin, it’s none of your business. I brought it upon myself. I can’t blame anyone else.”

“Then” Gu Nianbin hesitated for a moment before asking, “Jiang Kaiwei still doesn’t know the truth, does he?”

“He is not qualified to know.” Xia Xiaowan gritted her teeth when he mentioned Jiang Kaiwei.

Gu Nianbin was silent for a while and said, “Nanze shouldn’t have concealed it from me.”

“If he told you, would you go to me?”

“Yes.” Gu Nianbin looked at her. “If I had known it, I wouldn’t have let you stay so far away alone.”

“It was not his fault. It was my own idea.” Xia Xiaowan looked up at the stars again. “I don’t want my parents to be sad, and I don’t want others to know about this. So I can only hide far away.”

“So, you came back this time to take revenge on Jiang Kaiwei?”

“Yes, he caused me to be so miserable.” Xia Xiaowan said hatefully, “I can’t let him off easily.”

“Does Nanze know what you are thinking about?”

“He doesn’t. He doesn’t allow me to have anything to do with Jiang Kaiwei. So you have to keep it a secret for me.” Xia Xiaowan said sincerely, “I’m sorry, Brother Nianbin. For my own selfishness, I have caused you to suffer as well. I don’t ask for your forgiveness, I only hope that you can treat yourself well. Don’t treat yourself the way I did to myself. My life has been ruined, but you still have more choices. Don’t act out of spite, and don’t do things that you’ll regret.”

Gu Nianbin let go of her hand and slowly leaned against the rattan chair. He also looked at the bright starry sky and said after a long time, “I don’t regret my choice, and I’m not doing things out of spite. I’m just tired. When I made the five-year engagement, I told myself that if you didn’t come back, I would listen to my family’s arrangements and find someone to marry and live a peaceful life. Now you are back. Although something happened during this period, you and I are destined to get married. Isn’t this an end which pleases everyone?”

“But Brother Nianbin, you don’t love me, and I don’t love you either. Two people who don’t love each other will not be happy after they get married. Don’t deceive yourself!”

“We had a well-built relationship. We can try to love each other. This is not difficult for us.”

When she saw Gu Nianbin was still stubborn after saying so much frankly, Xia Xiaowan was a little anxious. “Brother Nianbin, you can’t force me!”

Gu Nianbin said aggressively, “When you forced her away, did you have any consideration of what she felt?”

Xia Xiaowan’s face darkened. “I know you won’t forgive me.”

“Forget it, let’s not talk about the past.” Gu Nianbin looked at her. “I won’t force you. I’ll give you time. Xiaowan, I already talked about this matter with your parents this morning. They agreed and were very happy. Maybe they have already started to make arrangements for it. I also said this to my family. You know how eager my mother has been to see me get married. Do you have the heart to let them be happy for nothing?”

Seeing that Xia Xiaowan had lowered her head and remained silent, he continued, “The purpose of your marriage to me is to let me deal with Jiang Kaiwei. No problem, I will agree with whatever you want. What are you hesitating for?”

Xia Xiaowan finally smiled helplessly. “I am really caught in my own trap.”

At this point, Xia Xiaowan knew that it was useless to say anything more, so she pulled the shawl on her shoulders together and went back to her room.

The next morning, Xia Xiaowan proposed to return to the city after breakfast. Gu Nianbin did not object. He ordered Little Ding to start the car and leave immediately. It seemed that they were here only for talking about that matter. After that, there was no need to stay.

When they were on the way here, the two of them had their own worries hidden, so the atmosphere was not bad. When they were on the way back, they still had worries, but they had shown their hand, so there was no need to pretend anymore. They dispensed with courtesy and almost had no communication throughout the journey. Little Ding secretly glanced at them through the rear-view mirror a few times. He was puzzled but did not dare to ask, so he focused more on driving.

The side of the road was full of small wildflowers in white, yellow, and pink that appeared amid the lush green plants. They looked like a long embroidered carpet that was extremely beautiful. Xia Xiaowan was leaning against the window, looking at them in a daze. Things had come to this, but it was not the result she wanted. It was too late for her to turn back now. Gu Nianbin was sitting next to the window on the other side. Separated by the one-seat distance, she could still feel the heavy hostility and a hint of killing intent from the man.

Xia Xiaowan suddenly felt vexed.

But when she returned home, she found that vexing things had just begun.

When Madam Xia saw Xia Xiaowan entering the door, she was a little surprised. “Xiaowan, why are you back so early? Didn’t you say that you would be back in the afternoon…”

Xia Deren looked at her with a smile. “Where’s Nianbin? Why didn’t he come in?”

What was even more surprising was that Xia Nanze was also home. He leaned against the sofa and looked at her with a meaningful smile.

Xia Xiaowan suddenly remembered Gu Nianbin’s words: “Do you have the heart to let them be happy for nothing?”

Seeing her family’s eager eyes, she really had no heart to let them down. Originally, she wanted to lay everything bare to her parents as soon as she entered the door, but she couldn’t open her mouth. So she could only say perfunctorily, “Brother Nianbin has something to do, so we came back earlier.”

Madam Xia heaved a sigh of relief and looked at her expectantly. “Xiaowan, do you have any good news to tell us?”

Xia Xiaowan took a cup of coffee from a maid and took a sip, looking rather impatient. “What good news?”

“Look, she’s embarrassed!” Madam Xia smiled from ear to ear. “Yesterday, Nianbin told your father and me that he wanted to take this opportunity to propose to you. Did he do it?”

Xia Xiaowan was even more annoyed. “What kind of proposal did he make? He didn’t even prepare a ring.”

“He didn’t prepare a ring? No wonder my daughter is unhappy.” Madam Xia was suddenly enlightened. “I will talk with Nianbin about this. How can a proposal be made without a ring? This is too casual.”

“Then did you accept his proposal?”

“I didn’t.” As soon as these two words were spoken, Xia Xiaowan noticed that everyone’s eyes immediately widened, and three pairs of round eyes stared at her.

The courage that Xia Xiaowan had mustered up with great difficulty instantly vanished. She smiled awkwardly, “I said I have to consider it.”

“Yes, you should string him along! Nianbin is really careless. He didn’t even prepare a ring for his proposal. You should teach him a lesson.” Madam Xia chuckled and said, “But Xiaowan, you should know when to stop. Nianbin is not someone else. Do you still doubt his sincerity?”

Xia Xiaowan smiled bitterly in her heart. How could Gu Nianbin be sincere? He was clearly going to play with fire!