Shen Yu.
Hearing that name, Ruan Yao’s body instinctively stiffened.
Those days in her previous life, imprisoned in Shen Yu’s villa—that cloying, nauseating tenderness, like damp moss, had crawled over every inch of her limbs, making even breathing feel suffocating.
Ruan Yao tightened her arms around the umbrella, a wave of physical nausea rising in her stomach.
Her voice was very soft, trying her best not to let Ruan Sheng notice her unusual reaction.
“I don’t like him. I only see him as a friend.”
“That’s a shame.” Ruan Sheng clicked his tongue. “Mom, Dad, and I, along with Uncle and Aunt Shen, all thought you two liked each other. Watching you grow up together, childhood sweethearts—what a perfect match.”
He tsked and continued, “Dad likes Shen Yu so much, says he has a good temper and is steady in everything he does. Mom even treats him like half a son-in-law. And on the Shen family’s side, Aunt Shen practically sees you as half a daughter-in-law.”
“Just the other day, Mom and Dad were feeling sentimental, saying that in another couple of years, our little princess might have to marry into the Shen family,” Ruan Sheng said with a laugh. “Who would’ve thought we were tying the wrong red thread?”
Ruan Yao knew everything Ruan Sheng said was true.
Both sets of parents were very satisfied with each other’s children.
In her previous life, it had been the same. At a family dinner after she graduated from university, the elders had half-jokingly brought up the topic of marriage between her and Shen Yu.
At the time, she hadn’t objected, and Shen Yu, with his usual gentle smile, had tacitly agreed.
She still remembered her mother laughing and saying she wanted to keep her at home to pamper her for a couple more years.
From then on, her future with Shen Yu became an unspoken understanding between the two families.
Even she herself had once believed she would definitely marry Shen Yu someday.
Who could have known fate would take such a turn?
Seeing her remain silent for a long time, just hanging her head with an unreadable expression, Ruan Sheng’s smile faded slightly. He asked again, as if to confirm, “Yao Yao, you really don’t like Shen Yu? I can tell—Shen Yu likes you.”
“I don’t.”
Ruan Yao’s reply was resolute, without a hint of hesitation.
Ruan Sheng was taken aback.
His sister’s gaze was serious, not like she was joking or throwing a tantrum.
He clicked his tongue regretfully.
“You didn’t even take a liking to someone as good as Shen Yu—your standards are too high,” he muttered. “Who would’ve thought Shen Yu’s been carrying a torch all these years, and it’s one-sided.”
Ruan Sheng seemed to remember something and tsked again.
“But what I told you earlier about Huo Yanzhi possibly having a psychological disorder—that wasn’t made up.”
Ruan Yao turned to look at him.
“Don’t you remember? I heard people say before that Huo Yanzhi was abducted as a child,” Ruan Sheng said, recalling the details as he drove.
“The Huo family searched for almost a year before they found him. After he was brought back, Huo Yanzhi didn’t appear in public for several years. The Huo family protected him meticulously, refusing all media interviews.”
“At the time, some people said Huo Yanzhi had been abused and developed some kind of psychological disorder, and he was treated at home for a few years.”
Ruan Sheng shook his head, growing more convinced of his own speculation as he spoke.
“No wonder he seems so strange and cold. Think about it—if you go through something like that as a child, how could your mental health be normal? You absolutely can’t marry someone like that. Who knows when they might snap?”
Ruan Yao’s mind buzzed.
It seemed… there was such a thing.
In her past life, she had accidentally overheard a maid from the Huo family mention that Mr. Huo was afraid of the dark—no matter the time, a lamp had to be left on in his bedroom.
It seemed to be related to this incident.
Ruan Yao strained to search through the memories of her past life, trying to uncover more traces of Huo Yanzhi's past.
She realized she had paid far too little attention to Huo Yanzhi.
They had been married for a year, yet she knew nothing about his past.
"When was he abducted?" Ruan Yao's voice tightened slightly. "Where was he taken?"
"I don't know that. The Huo family kept it tightly under wraps," Ruan Sheng said. "It was around when he was ten, I think. I heard it wasn't just a simple abduction—it was the Huo family's rivals who deliberately kidnapped and sold him as revenge."
"It caused quite a stir back then, and many media outlets reported on it. But after the Huo family found him, they suppressed all the news. No one knows what happened afterward."
Kidnapping.
Ruan Yao's face paled.
A dull ache spread through her chest.
So, he had experienced something like this in his childhood.
She had always thought Huo Yanzhi was a favored son of heaven, born with everything,
never knowing there had been such a dark period in his life.
Ten years old.
Still just a child.
First kidnapped, then trafficked, drifting outside for a year before being found.
He… must have suffered a great deal.
A sudden image flashed through Ruan Yao's mind.
A dimly lit bedroom, only a warm yellow nightlight by the bed.
Huo Yanzhi's scorching body pressed against hers, his breathing heavy, carrying restrained gasps.
Her hand unconsciously wandered across his broad back, her fingertips suddenly brushing against rough, uneven textures—a crisscrossing network of old scars.
"What are these?" she had asked curiously at the time.
His movements against her neck didn't stop. He only turned his head very slowly, very deliberately, rubbing his nose against the side of her neck as if confirming the scent of his prey.
Then, he caught her "mischievous" hand.
He answered with a seductive tone that seemed to rise from the depths of an abyss.
"From when I was little."
Then, he guided her hand downward, pressing it against his chest.
There, too, was a longer scar, like an ugly crack marring that perfect body.
He wrapped his hand around hers, as if afraid she might pull away.
"Don't despise me."
He pressed his lips against her knuckles, leaving a damp, cool kiss.
"From now on, if you scratch hard enough, all the scars on my body will be yours."
The tide of memories abruptly receded. Ruan Yao was still sitting in the car, but the dull ache in her chest felt all too real.
So that was it.
No wonder he never turned on the main light when they were in bed.
She had touched his wounds so early on, yet she had known nothing.
In their year of marriage, she had overlooked so much, so many truths about him.
Her nose suddenly stung, and tears welled up without warning. Ruan Yao quickly lowered her head, blinking hard to force them back.
Seeing her silent for so long, head bowed as if about to cry, Ruan Sheng thought his story had frightened her.
He freed one hand and patted her head.
"What are you thinking? Don't dwell on it," Ruan Sheng said, his voice softening. "When Huo Yanzhi was kidnapped, you were only six. Our family was still in Nancheng—how could we have known about news from Jingbei?"
Nancheng.
Ruan Yao's heart was gently pricked once more by those two words.
Yes, when she was six years old, they were in Nancheng.
The Ruan family had built their fortune in Nancheng, and it wasn't until she was nine that the whole family moved to Jingbei.
"Alright," Ruan Sheng said, noticing she was still feeling down, and changed the subject. "Let's not dwell on this. Where would my little princess like to go? I'll drive you there."
Ruan Yao looked up, her eyes still slightly moist.
"Brother, I'll go to the company with you."
Ruan Sheng was somewhat surprised. "What for? You're not actually interested in those financial reports, are you?"
"I want to submit a resume," Ruan Yao said. "I'd like to ask Lin Weiwei for advice on how to write one, and while I'm at it, I'll go see my cousin."