I'm sorry, but your fiancé loves me.

She tossed and turned all night, unable to sleep, her mind filled with that name.

Jiang Xiaohua.

She lay on the bed, burying her face in the pillow, trying to shake those three words out of her mind, but she couldn't.

High school. That was many years ago.

The Zhou family is a prominent family in the financial circles, so her status at school is naturally different. Teachers nod and smile when they see her, classmates surround her, and everyone asks her to make decisions about class activities.

She was sixteen or seventeen years old at the time, and she felt that she was the most carefree person in the world, and that everything could be done according to her wishes.

In her second year of high school, she was transferred from her original class to the science class.

The day the seating chart for the new class was posted, she stood in the corridor and glanced at it. Her name was in the fourth row of the third group, by the window, and right behind her was a name she didn't recognize—Jiang Xiaohua.

The three characters were written neatly and cleanly, exuding a simple and unpretentious charm.

She pursed her lips at the time, thinking the name was too corny.

Later, she went into the classroom, found her seat, and sat down. After a while, she saw the person named Jiang Xiaohua come in through the back door.

She was thin, with short hair and bangs that were a bit long, covering half of her eyebrows. She walked with her head down, barely looking at anyone, and quietly sat down in the row behind Zhou Xue.

When putting the schoolbag in the desk drawer, it was done quietly, and the zipper was pulled open softly, as if afraid of disturbing anyone.

Zhou Xue glanced back at her and thought to herself, "She really does have a face that matches her name perfectly."

She had the kind of face that would be easily lost in a crowd; she looked away and stopped paying attention.

Later, she gradually realized that this person was somewhat different.

Jiang Xiaohua studies very hard. She arrives at the earliest and leaves the latest during morning self-study every day. While others chat and play during breaks, she sits in her seat doing problems or reading books, occasionally looking up at the window before looking down again.

On the day the first monthly exam results came out, the homeroom teacher read out the rankings on the podium. When she read out the top three, Zhou Xue heard her name—third.

Then the second one was a name she didn't pay much attention to.

Then, firstly—"Jiang Xiaohua, total score 687."

Someone in the classroom exclaimed "Wow!" Zhou Xue tilted her head slightly and saw the girl behind her with her head down, her ear tips slightly red, and the curve of her lips very faint.

Zhou Xueqing suddenly felt uneasy.

A strange, tingling sensation, like a thread tied in a knot in her chest.

She hadn't taken this person seriously before, thinking she was unsophisticated, dull, and like a silent shadow. But this shadow actually scored higher than her. In fact, she was number one.

After class, Jiang Xiaohua was surrounded by several classmates who asked her how she learned math. Zhou Xue, sitting in front, heard her cautious tone and suddenly felt even more uncomfortable.

That tone made her feel inferior.

How can someone who doesn't even dare to speak loudly get a higher score than her?

She leaned back, the chair leg scraping against the floor. The talking behind her paused for a moment, then resumed.

From that day on, Zhou Xueqing set her sights on her.

Those bad things don't require much cost to do; all you need is a thought, and then you reach out and do it.

Later, the situation escalated further, and Jiang Xiaohua took a week off.

When she returned, her seat had been empty for several days, and the desk drawer was clean, as if someone had tidied it up.

Zhou Xueqing occasionally glanced back; the empty seat was too inconspicuous.

On the fifth day, the homeroom teacher announced in class that Jiang Xiaohua had transferred schools due to family reasons. Several students exclaimed "Ah!" and someone asked where she had transferred to. The homeroom teacher said she wasn't sure.

Jiang Xiaohua did not come back to pack her things. Her desk was later taken by another classmate, and everything was returned to normal.

Zhou Xueqing sat by the window, sunlight streaming in and falling warmly on the back of her hand. She stretched, feeling that the classroom was finally more spacious.

Once the person who made her uncomfortable left, everything went back to normal.

She never thought of Jiang Xiaohua again. Her name and face were erased from the page of her memory as if wiped clean, without a trace.

She grew up as a matter of course, moved to a different city for university as a matter of course, got engaged to Qin Qihan as a matter of course, and felt that everything was what she deserved.

Until tonight. Until that private investigator said, "Think carefully about whether you have offended anyone in the past."

That name resurfaced from the dust of years ago.

Zhou Xue sat on the bed in a daze for a long time, motionless, just sitting there hugging her knees, until her phone screen lit up with a message from Zhou Yao:

"Sis, are you awake? Dad's going to the law firm today, do you want to come with him?"

The Zhou family is in chaos now, and she needs an answer.

That name churned in her mind all night. She had to know where Jiang Xiaohua had gone, what she was doing now, and whether she might be the one behind it all.

She pulled out her phone's contacts, scrolled for a long time, and stopped at a name with the nickname "Yuanyuan".

Zhao Yuan.

My best friend in high school was also a rich girl. We laughed and joked together. After Zhao Yuan graduated from university, she married a cadre in the next province. The two of us gradually lost contact. We would send each other a blessing message during holidays and occasionally like each other's posts on social media. We never had any deeper interaction.

Zhou Xue hesitated for a moment as she looked at the name.

Her thumb hovered above the screen, hesitant to press it. She didn't know how to begin.

Should I just say, "Do you remember Jiang Xiaohua, the girl I bullied in high school? Where is she now?" That sounds like... like someone who's done something wrong and is finally starting to feel guilty.

The dial tone rang three or four times before the call was answered. Zhao Yuan's voice carried a hint of sleepiness: "Hey? Xiaoxue? What made you think of calling me?"

"Yuanyuan," Zhou Xue cleared her throat, trying to sound casual, "Are you busy?"

"I'm not in a hurry, I just got up. What's wrong? Your voice sounds off."

"It's nothing," Zhou Xue said. "It's just... I suddenly remembered some things from the past and wanted to ask you about them."

There was a pause on the other end. "What is it?"

Zhou Xue tightened her grip on her phone. She leaned against the headboard, pulling the blanket up a little, as if trying to find some support. "Do you remember a girl in our high school class named Jiang Xiaohua?"

There was a few seconds of silence on the other end of the phone. "Jiang Xiaohua? Why are you suddenly asking about her?"

"I've recently...run into some things," Zhou Xue said carefully, choosing her words. "I want to know where she went afterward; do you remember?"

Zhao Yuan remained silent for a while. Zhou Xue could hear rustling sounds on the other end, as if Zhao Yuan was sitting up in bed. Then her voice came through, much softer than before:

"Xue, you're not still thinking about those things from the past, are you? So many years have passed."

"I'm not thinking about it," Zhou Xue said. "I just want to know where she is right now."

"I don't know," Zhao Yuan answered quickly. "I haven't heard from her since she transferred schools. She hasn't told anyone."

"And what about her family? Do you know where they moved to?"

"Her home..." Zhao Yuan seemed to be recalling:

"I only remember that her mother was a sanitation worker, and her father worked in some factory. I don't know which of her family members died in an accident, but anyway, she transferred schools."

"And then?" Zhou Xue asked, almost forcing herself to continue, "What else happened to her?"

"I never saw her again after that," Zhao Yuan said. "At the time, I didn't think much of it; you'd have peace and quiet now that she's gone. But later, I would occasionally think about it. That day you were bullying her in the bathroom, I saw her come out, her face covered in water, I don't know if it was tap water or tears."

"What did she say?"

"She didn't say anything," Zhao Yuan said softly. "She just glanced at your back. I still remember that look in her eyes. It wasn't hatred, nor fear, I can't quite put my finger on it. My heart skipped a beat, and I couldn't sleep well for several days afterward."

"Have you heard where she went since then?"

"No," Zhao Yuan said. "I asked a few people out of curiosity, and they all said they didn't know. She didn't have any particularly good friends in class at the time, and no one contacted her after she left. It's like she never existed."

"Then, will she...?" Zhou Xue hesitated before speaking, "will she still remember me?"

"You suddenly asked about this?" Zhao Yuan's voice carried a hint of caution. "Is something wrong?"

"Our family has recently run into some trouble," Zhou Xue said, her voice very soft and even.

"Someone's sabotaging us. My dad's company is in trouble; the stock price has plummeted, and his partners are withdrawing their investment—it's all aimed at our family. I hired a private investigator today, and he told me to think about whether I've offended anyone."

Zhao Yuan listened quietly, then said, "You suspect it's her."

"I don't know," Zhou Xue's voice was a little unsteady, "but these past few days, she's been constantly on my mind. Just thinking about that name sends chills down my spine."

Zhao Yuan suddenly called her name, her tone much more serious than before, "I have a question for you."

"you say."

"Do you remember when Jiang Xiaohua went to the school to complain about it?"

Zhou Xue was stunned for a moment, then complained.

She vaguely remembered that there seemed to be such a thing.

"She went to see the homeroom teacher," Zhao Yuan said. "The homeroom teacher then went to see your father."

Zhou Xue's mind went blank.

"Your dad went to the school, and that afternoon the principal spoke with Jiang Xiaohua. She didn't come to school the next day, nor the third. Then her homeroom teacher said she had transferred schools."

Zhao Yuan's voice was low, "Xue didn't want to transfer schools herself. Your family made her leave."

"So you said that Jiang Xiaohua transferred schools due to family reasons," Zhou Xue's voice was so soft it was almost inaudible, "that actually..."

"It was your father who spoke to the principal," Zhao Yuan finished for her. "She didn't want to leave. She was forced to leave."

After a long pause, Zhou Xue finally spoke, her voice hoarse, "Don't you think I went too far back then?"

"To be honest," Zhao Yuan said, "I didn't think much of it back then because you were my best friend, but now that I have a child of my own, I can't help but think that if my daughter were bullied like that at school, I might go crazy."