After returning home with the child, her ex-husband knelt down and gently coaxed her.

The sky was overcast, and a heavy rain was imminent.

At this moment, the bus stop was deserted except for Anning.

The black luxury car stopped at her feet, clearly heading straight for her.

The passenger window was rolled down halfway.

An Ning peeked out, her vision blurred, and met a pair of indifferent, aloof, and cold eyes.

Her heart was pounding even harder.

Lu Xiyan sat in the car, coldly watching her pale face and unsteady stance.

He parked the car there without saying a word, as if coldly watching a dying person try to save themselves.

Anning's fingernails dug into her palms, maintaining her last vestiges of consciousness.

She knew that Lu Xiyan was laughing at her.

Watch how she falls down in such a pathetic state.

With no one around, he was the only one she could call for help.

She sat weakly on a bench at the station, her face pale and her long eyelashes drooping, as if she were struggling.

The person in the car was also very patient, his deep eyes remained calm, and his handsome and refined face showed no emotion.

His gaze was as if he were watching an ant struggling to survive beneath his feet.

One minute later.

"Knock knock knock—"

The car window was knocked on and lowered further, enough to reveal that pale face no bigger than the palm of a hand.

"Could...could I have...a piece of candy?"

An Ning leaned against the dark car window, speaking with difficulty, her voice trembling.

She wasn't sure if the people in the car would agree.

But even if a stranger asks for help, he probably wouldn't just stand by and watch someone die.

"Come up."

The two words were cold and low, muffled and husky.

An Ning's trembling hand rested on the car door handle, but she lacked the strength to pull it open.

The next second, the man stretched out his long leg and kicked open the passenger door.

The car was quite cool, but for Anning, who was sweating profusely, it was like adding insult to injury.

She was sitting in the passenger seat when she saw the man toss a golden box over.

It was a box of chocolates wrapped in gold paper.

Anning had no energy left to think about anything else; her survival instinct made her frantically open the box and tear open the gold wrapping paper.

Like a starving ghost, he wolfed down one chocolate in two bites, then tore open the second one...

She was already in a very sorry state in front of Lu Xiyan.

No matter how miserable you are, you have to survive first.

Li Chunfang still needs surgery, and An Xian is waiting for her to come home...

When sugar enters the body, the confused brain experiences a brief period of clarity.

The trembling hands gradually calmed down.

But her frantic heartbeat continued, erratically.

The first person to give her chocolate in her life was Lu Xiyan.

Same gold wrapping paper, same chocolate.

That chocolate from six years ago was very sweet and fragrant.

This chocolate is noticeably more bitter.

Lu Xiyan's car kept driving forward, not knowing where it was going.

An Ning didn't dare to look up or speak. She just stared at the box of chocolates on her lap, pretending to be busy unwrapping the gold wrapper.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed those hands with distinct knuckles, skillfully maneuvering the steering wheel.

The sky grew completely dark.

The streetlights on both sides of the street came on, and luxury cars stopped by the roadside.

Lu Xiyan leaned back in his chair and glanced at her. She was wearing a simple white T-shirt, revealing two fair and slender arms.

She was very thin, the kind of thin that you could easily grab both of her arms with one hand.

Her face was fair and slender, with several clearly visible red marks, and her long eyelashes drooped down, trembling slightly.

A green silk scarf with a bow was tied around her left wrist. As she unwrapped the packaging, the fluttering ribbon looked like a butterfly dancing in the air.

The car was eerily silent.

The sound of a lighter lighting a cigarette was a "click".

An Ning turned her head in surprise and saw a cigarette burning on the man's fair and slender fingertips. With each puff of his cigarette, the scarlet dot on his fingertips flickered in and out of focus.

He exhaled a light puff of smoke, the pale blue smoke rings enveloping his sharply defined features; his smoking motion was both skillful and sensual.

Four years ago, Lu Xiyan didn't smoke.

An Ning felt a lump in her throat, said nothing, and lowered her head again.

"Finished eating?"

The man next to me spoke in the quiet carriage. His voice, still damp from smoking, was deep and magnetic, and his enunciation was neither loud nor soft, revealing no emotion.

An Ning looked down at the chocolate in her hand. There were six chocolates in total, and one was left.

"Do you... want some?"

She carefully picked up the last chocolate and handed it to the man next to her.

The man's hand, with its distinct knuckles, held the cigarette and rested on the window. He didn't even glance at her, but took out his phone, tapped a few times, and tossed it in front of her.

"Two hundred and eighty yuan a box, scan the code."

His payment QR code was on his phone.

An Ning was surprised; this box of chocolates was so expensive!

To save 150 yuan on bus fare, she chose to take the 6-yuan bus.

I can't believe these six chocolates cost 280!

But since we've eaten their food, there's no reason not to pay.

Come to think of it, there's nothing in Lu Xiyan's pocket that she could afford.

In his past, a chocolate bar costing 280 yuan would have been something he wouldn't have even glanced at.

An Ning opened her mouth, swallowed the bargaining note that was on her lips, and took back the chocolate that had been handed to her.

The man calmly smoked his cigarette, flicked off the ash, and waited for her to pay.

Anning took out her phone, opened WeChat, and subconsciously looked at the profile picture in the middle of the QR code when she went to scan it.

It's changed; it's not the same one as before.

His social media profile picture used to be an intimate photo of him and her.

Then his gaze shifted upwards, and he trembled slightly.

The name is still the same—L.XY.

Two hundred and eighty, payment made.

An Ning's hand trembled, and her balance was insufficient.

I tried to pay with a different card, but my balance was insufficient.

She frowned slightly, her hand gripping the phone she was using to make the payment somewhat awkwardly.

She forgot that she had just paid for the surgery today and had also given the last five thousand yuan to Sister Zhao as an advance payment of her salary.

Now, she has less than a hundred yuan left in her account.

She was so broke that she couldn't even afford a box of chocolates from Lu Xiyan.

"I... um..."

As if afraid he would shatter her fragile pride again, she mustered her courage and asked, "Can I give it to you another day?"

After finishing his cigarette, Lu Xiyan stubbed it out, his shallow gaze falling on her reddened ears, a sneer playing on his lips.

Lying makes you blush and your ears turn red. After all these years, you still haven't improved.

I thought she was doing so well, but four years have passed and she's still broke.

"When is 'another day'? You can't even afford two hundred and eighty?" Lu Xiyan's words pierced An Ning's heart mercilessly. "Should I arrange an installment plan for you?"

He knew Anning too well; he knew exactly where to pierce her to hurt her the most.

He spoke the most cutting words in the calmest tone.

Her slender hands gripped the hem of her skirt tightly, and tears welled up in her eyes almost instantly.

An Ning felt a pang of sadness in her heart, but she tried her best to hold it in.

The phone rang at that moment, breaking the suffocating atmosphere in the car.

Anning answered the phone, and a soft, childlike voice came through the receiver, "Mommy! It's raining, when are you coming back?"

The phone wasn't on speakerphone, but it was especially clear in the extremely quiet carriage.

The man's deep pupils contracted, and his hand on the steering wheel suddenly tightened, the veins on the back of his hand bulging.

She has a child?!