Rainwater slid down the roof of the black car, pooling into a small puddle at Yan Xiao’s feet. He stood perfectly still, like a statue, letting the wind and rain batter him.
Shen Wan did not reach out to take it; she simply stared coldly at the man before her.
Her voice cut through the storm with a chilling clarity. “You know very well that the person I love is not you.”
Yan Xiao slowly lifted his head, revealing a sharply defined, almost unnaturally handsome face. His deep-set eyes carried a hint of cruelty and dominance, his thin lips pressed tightly into a straight line.
“I know,” Yan Xiao said, his voice low and hoarse, yet brimming with unwavering determination.
Rainwater trickled down the smooth lacquer of the redwood box, as if it were silently weeping.
Shen Wan did not reach for it. She stared straight at Yan Xiao, her gaze as cold and sharp as ice. “Yan Xiao, I don’t love you. The Shen family has no value to you now. Even if you marry me, there is nothing I can do to help you.”
She tried to reason with him, making one last attempt to resist.
A faint smile tugged at the corner of Yan Xiao’s lips. “Shen Wan, you have no right to negotiate with me.”
So, there was nothing to discuss.
“Moreover ”
He stepped forward suddenly, his tall frame casting a shadow over Shen Wan. His voice was dark and forbidding. “What do I want with the Shen family? The only thing I want is you.”
Shen Wan’s heart clenched. The oppressive aura radiating from him made it almost impossible to breathe.
A mocking smile played on her lips. “Then Governor, you better keep an eye on me. I’m not exactly the type to obey without question.”
Yan Xiao stared at her, his eyes deep and unreadable, hiding whatever emotions were inside.
After a moment, he suddenly reached out, grabbed her wrist, and pressed the redwood box into her hand. “In three days, I will come again.”
With that, he turned and strode toward the car.
Shen Wan stood frozen, watching his retreating figure. The redwood box lay heavily in her palm, as if it carried a burden of immense weight.
“Miss…” the maid Xiao Cui ran over, holding an umbrella, worry etched on her face. “Are you alright?”
Shen Wan shook her head, took a deep breath, and handed the redwood box to Xiao Cui. “Put this away.”
Her aunt had spent the entire afternoon crying over Shen Wan’s marriage to Yan Xiao. She hadn’t come down for dinner and had gone back to her room to sleep.
Shen Wan sat with Shen Mingyuan’s eldest daughter, Shen Miao.
It was only today that she noticed Shen Miao had styled her hair in fashionable curls.
Before they even finished eating, Shen Miao poked Shen Wan’s arm with her chopsticks. “Today the Governor came by to give you the bride price. You should let our father hold onto it. Father spent a lot on your brother studying in Germany it’s only right that you show your filial respect.”
Shen Mingyuan was her grandfather’s most beloved son. Three years ago, when Shen Wan’s family of four went to visit relatives, they were ambushed by bandits. Her father and mother died protecting her and her brother.
Seizing the opportunity, Shen Mingyuan took over the family property of his own brother Shen Wan’s father.
Yet, constrained by the gossip of relatives, he had to justify his actions by claiming he was “keeping” the estate until Shen Wan and her brother came of age.
The properties left by her father were rightfully hers and her brother’s. If her father and mother hadn’t died three years ago while she and her brother were still underage, Shen Mingyuan would have had no right to “manage” their inheritance.