Zhao Ruoruo was finished.
Her voice echoed through the courtroom again and again: “So you did it on purpose—luring me here, deliberately causing that car accident, just wanting me dead?”
“It’s worse than death.”
“As long as I feel one ounce of pain, Xi Zhi will hate you one ounce more. I want you completely disgraced, reduced to nothing but repenting daily before the white walls of a prison cell, regretting the day you ever crossed paths with me.”
…
Zhao Ruoruo suddenly remembered—that night, Yan Yi’an had also said, “Zhao Ruoruo, I’ll make you regret ever meeting me.”
At the time, she had replied, “I will never regret it.”
Right. I will never regret it…
She looked up and met Yan Yi’an’s eyes. Beneath the calm in those eyes was a flicker of something—triumph, perhaps?
Zhao Ruoruo’s gaze held only defiance and venom… Her palms were clenched so hard they bled. She truly couldn’t accept it…
It was Yan Yi’an—all of it was Yan Yi’an setting her up… The camera she had deliberately left behind…
“So all of this was Zhao Ruoruo’s own doing—a scheme she staged herself. She never… even had a leg injury.”
Though Yan Yi’an had her back to Zhou Xizhi, that last sentence was meant for him.
Zhao Ruoruo had no leg injury. She had been lying.
Unfortunately, she didn’t see Zhou Xizhi’s expression—so furious, shifting through a storm of emotions.
Because the new evidence Yan Yi’an provided was verified to have undergone no editing or manipulation whatsoever. The evidence was ironclad. The blinding light and piercing horn that caused the accident—behind that light was unmistakably Zhao Ruoruo’s face, along with Zhao Ruoruo’s voice…
Yan Yi’an was acquitted on the spot, while Zhao Ruoruo was detained and imprisoned on charges of deliberately causing a car accident, false accusation… and more.
As Zhuang Jinghao and Yan Yi’an walked out together, Zhou Xizhi stood blocking their path in his suit like an avenging demon, the chill in his eyes wishing he could slice Yan Yi’an apart.
Zhuang Jinghao shielded her behind him, cutting off the threat of Zhou Xizhi’s glare.
“You’d better be able to protect her for the rest of her life.”
Zhou Xizhi didn’t take him seriously at all—just a frail, sickly weakling.
“Zhou Xizhi, you should get your facts straight. Zhao Ruoruo got exactly what she deserved, and it has nothing to do with An’an. Besides, shouldn’t Mr. Zhou’s biggest concern right now be how to get Miss Zhao’s sentence reduced?”
“Tsk tsk… praying and repenting daily before the white walls of a prison cell.” Zhuang Jinghao’s specialty was his sharp tongue, striking straight at the heart.
“Zhuang Jinghao.”
Zhou Xizhi’s voice was low, seething with rage.
Yan Yi’an gently tugged at Zhuang Jinghao’s clothes from behind. Zhou Xizhi was a madman—don’t provoke him.
Zhuang Jinghao struck the pose of an eagle shielding its chick. South City was the Zhuang family’s territory anyway—could Zhou Xizhi really snatch someone from right under his nose?
The two men—one refined and delicate, the other ruthless and fierce—Zhou Xizhi raised his eyes over Zhuang Jinghao’s shoulder and happened to catch sight of the top of Yan Yi’an’s head.
“Yan Yi’an, you’d better pray you can hide from me for the rest of your life. Don’t let me get my hands on you.”
Zhou Xizhi gritted his teeth, his face taut with heavy menace.
Yan Yi’an’s scalp went numb. She shrank her neck further behind Zhuang Jinghao. Zhou Xizhi’s pupils contracted, his face full of cold fury: Fine. She already had a safe harbor with another man.
Only when Zhou Xizhi’s footsteps faded into nothing did Yan Yi’an dare to peek out from behind.
“You… what’s going on between you and Zhou Xizhi?”
Yan Yi’an didn’t want to lie to him. “I’ve been by his side for the past two years.”
“Did you really… carry his child?”
“No,” Yan Yi’an said, her eyes clear and untroubled as she looked up at him seriously. She truly hadn’t.
“An’an, you can’t just because he—”
“Jinghao-ge.”
Yan Yi’an’s tone turned stiff, and in an instant her eyes were filled with helplessness, desolation, and despair. Her nose tingled slightly. “I really can’t help it. The moment I see Zhou Xizhi’s face, I can’t stop myself from going soft, getting addicted to being near him.”
“But… I’ve already decided to leave him.”
“He has Zhao Ruoruo. He’s not mine.”
Two years by his side had been enough. Even if the rest of her life was nothing but memories, she would behave and live on properly.
Hearing her say she was leaving Zhou Xizhi, Zhuang Jinghao felt a weight lift off his chest. Zhou Xizhi was too dangerous…
“An’an, stay. I can protect you.”
Yan Yi’an’s heart stirred. She wanted to—she really, really wanted to agree. But her gaze fell on Zhuang Jinghao’s legs, and a faint smile flickered across her face. She neither agreed nor refused.
Then Zhuang Jinghao remembered something else. He couldn’t figure out what Elder Zhou had actually done in all this. “Can you tell me now what your deal with Elder Zhou was?”
“Elder Zhou helped shield me from Zhou Xizhi’s pressure on all sides. Once he saw that I was capable of bringing Zhao Ruoruo down, he naturally stepped in to make sure she got a few extra years behind bars. Zhao Ruoruo was never the granddaughter-in-law he had in mind.”
Sure enough, despite Zhou Xizhi pulling every connection he had, Zhao Ruoruo was still sentenced to five years.
Five years.
By the time Yan Yi’an heard the news, she was already in a car heading to Lincheng, having left a note for Zhuang Jinghao. She wanted to start a new life—to live well without relying on anyone.
She was going to stay completely away from Zhou Xizhi now, even though she believed he was someone carved into her very bones.
Yan Yi’an quickly found a job at a nursing home. No one knew her there.
Starting over—it wasn’t so bad.
Three months later.
Yan Yi’an had fully adapted to and grown to love life there. She loved it so much she truly wished she could live like this forever—peaceful, comfortable, slow. Listening to the elderly talk, dancing, doing activities.
She was pretty, patient, and earnest, which made her very well-liked. There was just one nuisance: everyone was fighting to set her up on blind dates…
On a rare day off, Yan Yi’an was arranged to meet yet another match. He was a doctor around thirty named Wen Feng. He wore glasses and had ordinary looks, but his fair, cool-toned skin gave him an air of refined elegance.
After dinner, the two walked along the street. Wen Feng kept subtly shielding Yan Yi’an from passersby—steady and considerate.
But Yan Yi’an was distracted. Ever since they sat down to eat, she’d felt a pair of eyes boring into her from behind, making her deeply uneasy.
Her heart inexplicably raced. She turned her head and swept her gaze backward—nothing but people and cars.
“Careful.”
Wen Feng chuckled softly and timely blocked a passerby from bumping into her. Yan Yi’an’s cheeks flushed slightly with embarrassment, the neon lights shimmering in her eyes. “Sorry.”
“It’s fine. Mind if I hold your hand as we walk?”
Wen Feng’s hand was large and broad. Before Yan Yi’an could answer, he had already taken her hand and led her across the street…
In a car not far behind them, Zhou Xizhi slowly, deliberately tapped his wristwatch, his gaze locked unwaveringly on the woman in the dress. He was like a hunter lurking in the dark, eyes gleaming with predatory excitement.
Three months. Yan Yi’an, I told you—don’t let me catch you.
A gentle breeze escorted Yan Yi’an to the entrance of her building, and he watched until she had gone upstairs. Not long after, Yan Yi’an heard a soft knock on her door. “Hello, property management.”
Yan Yi’an suspected nothing, but the moment she opened the door and saw the man in a suit standing outside, her pupils suddenly dilated, and her heart seemed to stop for an instant.
Zhou Xizhi wore a faint smile at the corner of his lips, yet there was not a trace of warmth in his eyes. “Long time no see.”
Yan Yi’an instinctively tried to dodge back and shut the door, but the man stepped forward with his long legs, leaving no room for refusal—just as domineering and unreasonable as the man himself.
Zhou Xizhi’s expression turned cold, and the wrist bearing his expensive watch clamped down on Yan Yi’an’s neck.
“Ah!”
With one hand, he dragged her into the room and flung her heavily onto the sofa.
Only then did Yan Yi’an notice that someone else had been dragged in behind him—it was Wen Feng, the very man she had been with just moments ago.