I'm sorry, but your fiancé loves me.

The streetlights cast a long shadow of Yun Muqian as she stood there, the steam from the oden cup in her hand rising crookedly in the night breeze.

Zhou Xue's gaze slowly slid from her face to the cup of oden, then slowly back. The distance between the three of them was thinned by the night. Yun Muqian walked over naturally and confidently, holding up the oden in her hand, and said to Zhou Xue:

"Zhou Yao said you were here, so I came to find you. You haven't eaten yet, have you?"

She actually came to see Qin Qihan, but seeing Zhou Xue there, she maintained the previous friendly facade.

Now she finally understood why Zhou Xue's attitude had changed so drastically.

But she didn't believe Zhou Xue was genuinely repentant; she just wanted to find another way to stay in Qin Qihan's heart.

A person's image is always complex and multifaceted. In high school, she could be a spoiled rich girl, but at home, she is a caring and gentle daughter and older sister. In front of the person she likes, she is a pitiful person who is deeply affectionate and devoted.

Zhou Xue accepted the oden she was offered. Yun Muqian's appearance made the atmosphere between the three of them a little awkward. After a while, Zhou Xue turned to Qin Qihan and said, "Let's not talk about the past."

Without waiting for any response, she turned and walked towards where she had parked her car, her high heels clicking clearly and decisively on the pavement.

When the car lights came on, she didn't look at anyone in the rearview mirror.

Only after the car disappeared around the corner did Yun Muqian take a few steps forward and gently take Qin Qihan's arm. The two walked along the sidewalk for a while, and Qin Qihan parked his car on the side of the road. He pressed the key, and the headlights flashed twice.

She remained silent the whole way, having overheard everything Zhou Xue had said.

She wondered if Zhou Xue's words would affect Qin Qihan. After all, they were childhood sweethearts. Even if there was no love between them, they had known each other since they were young.

Once in the car, Yun Muqian fastened her seatbelt. A few seconds of silence followed; the heater hadn't come on yet, and a thin layer of condensation formed on the windows. Qin Qihan didn't start the car immediately. She asked:

Will you still help me?

Qin Qihan turned his head to look at her. The car was dark, with only the light from the dashboard reflecting on her face. Her eyelashes were drooping, making it impossible to see her expression.

I will not go back on my promise to you.

"But I want to know," he said, "what's going on between you and Zhou Xue."

Yun Muqian's body stiffened slightly: "So what if you know?"

He leaned over and gently stroked her cheek: "I want to know everything about your past."

If she doesn't want to talk about it, that's fine; he will still stand firmly by her side.

Yun Muqian wasn't opposed to opening her heart to others, but she had always worried about the risk of her secrets being leaked. However, at this moment, she realized that Qin Qihan had completely fallen in love with her and would always stand by her side.

"We've known each other since high school," she began.

Qin Qihan remained silent, listening quietly.

"We were classmates. She initially sat two rows behind me. At first, it was nothing special; we were just ordinary classmates. She would occasionally borrow my notes, and I would lend them to her."

"Then, I don't know when it started, she suddenly started to dislike me. Maybe it was because I did better than her in a monthly exam. One day, she started targeting me. One day after recess, my textbooks were all torn up and thrown on the ground, covered with footprints."

Qin Qihan's fingers tightened on the steering wheel.

"I went to the teacher, but she said she had no evidence. And it just wouldn't stop after that. She threw my schoolbag into the toilet sink, threw my notebooks out the window, and during PE class she pushed me into the equipment room and locked the door, and no one opened it."

The pain she felt back then was so overwhelming and intense that Yun Muqian talked about it for a long time, but she felt that she could never finish talking about it.

"Later, I got into university and left that city," Yun Muqian continued. "I had plastic surgery and changed my name."

"So you approached me in the first place because of her," he said.

"Yes." Yun Muqian raised her head, tears glistening on her face. "Why does she have to live so well? Why does she have a complete family and such a wonderful fiancé like you? Why did she ruin my life like that and then live so easily herself?"

Yun Muqian's voice grew louder and louder, tinged with sobs, "I just hold grudges, I just can't forgive her. I want her to taste what I did back then."

Qin Qihan unbuckled his seatbelt, turned to the side, reached out his arm, and gently pulled her close.

Yun Muqian's shoulders stiffened for a moment, then she seemed to have finally found a place to lean on, resting her forehead against his shoulder, her sobs muffled against the fabric of his coat, indistinct and broken.

He raised his other hand and gently wiped away her tears with his fingertips, again and again. Her eyelashes were wet and clumped together, and her skin was burning from being soaked in tears.

"I understand." His voice was low, so low it seemed he was only speaking to her. "I will help you."

Yun Muqian sobbed on his shoulder, her fingers clutching the fabric of his coat tightly. "You...aren't you going to ask me what I'm going to do?"

"I won't ask. I'll do whatever you want me to do."

Don't you think I'm vicious?

Qin Qihan lowered his head, his chin gently resting on the top of her head. "You're not malicious, you just don't have anyone to protect you, that's why you have to do these things yourself. I will protect you."

Yun Muqian's tears welled up again. This time she didn't hold back anymore. She buried her face in his chest, her shoulders heaving, crying like a child who had been hiding her grievances for many years and was finally allowed to bring them out.

Qin Qihan wrapped his arm around her, placed his palm on her back, and patted her gently, without saying another word.

When she finally finished crying and pulled away from his embrace, her eyes were terribly swollen and the tip of her nose was bright red. She lowered her head and rubbed her face haphazardly with the back of her hand, her voice hoarse and almost inaudible: "I wasn't planning on telling you all this."

"I know." Qin Qihan's voice was very soft, his fingers still resting on her shoulder, not withdrawing.

"My initial approach to you was indeed because of her." Yun Muqian sniffed, leaned back in her seat, and looked at the blurry night outside the windshield:

"I looked into your relationship and found out she was your fiancée and that you were getting married soon. What I was thinking then was, if I took you away from her, would she also experience the pain of loss?"

"But I didn't expect you to be..." she paused, "...different from what I imagined."

"What's different?"

"I thought you were like those rich kids, arrogant and conceited because your family is wealthy and famous. But you... you actually seem to understand what people are saying."

It's not that he's a good listener.

They are all willingly surrendered to love after falling in love.