I'm sorry, but your fiancé loves me.

The Zhou family fell from power faster than anyone expected.

First, news of the broken funding chain leaked from within the company. Then, several key partners announced the termination of their contracts on the same day. The media swarmed in like fish smelling fish, and the financial headlines reported on Zhou's predicament in different ways every day.

From "Zhou Group's Debt Crisis Erupts in Full Force" to "Zhou's Heiress's Former Glory is Gone," the headlines are increasingly jarring.

The accompanying photos are all of Zhou Xue's face when she enters and leaves the court and bank.

She was so thin that her cheekbones protruded, her dark circles were so thick they couldn't be concealed, her lips were chapped, and her hair was casually tied back. She was completely different from the Zhou family's eldest daughter who had been chatting and laughing with champagne in the world of fame and fortune just a few months ago.

She tried to save it.

countless times.

She tried calling everyone she could, going through all the contacts she'd built up over the past decade, one by one. The responses went from "I'll think about it some more" to "Ms. Zhou, I'm so sorry," and eventually, she simply stopped answering altogether.

it's useless.

It's completely useless.

Qin Qihan's words, "All cooperation is temporarily suspended," were like an invisible seal placed over the Zhou family's head. No one dared to risk offending the Qin family and become the lifeline that Zhou Xue offered.

Meanwhile, Yun Muqian's program aired.

That episode of "She Says" broke viewership records on the night it was released, and the next day, the show became the number one trending topic on social media.

Yun Muqian's story on the show—that of a "girl who came from a small town alone"—touched many hearts, and business offers poured in.

Magazine covers, brand endorsements, and regular appearances on variety shows—the agent's schedule is booked for the next three months.

Yun Muqian didn't accept too many at once, but picked two that she thought were suitable.

She still has many things to do.

His fame, media exposure, and public favorability are still far from sufficient.

This was an offline event hosted by the brand, and Yun Muqian, as their newly signed brand ambassador, attended. Her hair was styled in an updo, revealing her long, slender neck, and she wore a pair of small emerald earrings, which looked very beautiful.

The event went very smoothly.

She followed the host's instructions, took photos with the brand's representatives, and posed for several more photos in front of the backdrop.

Flashes went off one after another, but her smile remained steady on her face. She turned slightly to the side, changing angles, and cooperated with the photographers' instructions.

It was almost nine o'clock when it ended, and Qin Qihan was still with her. They walked out through the back door, through a corridor covered with a beige carpet, and prepared to get into their car and leave through the side door of the hotel. The agent was walking a couple of steps ahead, looking down at a message, with two security guards following a short distance behind.

But when they reached the middle of the corridor, the door to the emergency exit on the left was suddenly pushed open.

The door had been closed. The lock had been pried open from the outside by something, the metal latch was deformed and hanging on the door frame, and the door slammed against the wall with a dull thud.

A figure rushed out from behind the door at incredible speed. Yun Muqian turned her head, but before she could see the face clearly, she saw the knife first.

The hand holding the knife was thin, with prominent knuckles and taut, pale skin. The tip of the knife was aimed at her, less than an arm's length from her waist.

In that instant, her brain reacted before her body did.

Her pupils suddenly contracted, and she subconsciously took a half step back. But the dark green dress was too tight and too long, and her heel landed on the edge of the hem, causing her to lean back and lose her balance.

Then she heard a muffled groan.

Then came the sound of fabric being torn. Qin Qihan stood in front of her, the blade of the knife embedded in his lower left rib, the hilt still sticking out, held by that thin, white hand.

Screams echoed down the corridor, the agent's phone slammed onto the carpet with a dull thud, and security personnel rushed up from behind, their footsteps chaotic and heavy.

Everything was in chaos. Flashbulbs popped up from nowhere, the corridor was packed with people, and screams, shouts, and the sound of dialing phones were all mixed together.

The hand holding the knife loosened its grip, leaving the knife inside Qin Qihan's body. The owner of the hand took a step back, and a face emerged from behind Qin Qihan's shoulder: disheveled hair, prominent cheekbones, and two bright red eyes that seemed about to burst open.

It's Zhou Xue.

She was wearing a dusty old coat, with grime stuck to it from who-knows-where. As she looked at Qin Qihan, the expanding dark red hue seeped out from the fabric of her black coat.

Her voice seemed to come from a very, very far place, sharp and fragmented, carrying a kind of panic that she herself was unaware of, completely out of control.

"Qihan, are you alright...? Say something, Qihan—"

Her voice grew increasingly shrill, "I didn't mean to! I didn't want to stab you! I wanted to stab her, I wanted to stab that bitch, Qi Han, why did you block me!"

She was being supported, her feet still kicking the ground, one of her high heels had been kicked off, and her bare ankle had left a red mark on the cold carpet.

The situation was then brought under control, with police cars and ambulances arriving almost simultaneously.

The moment Qin Qihan was lifted into the ambulance, the blue lights came on, the doors closed, and the siren pierced the night.

Yun Muqian got into the car. Before the door closed, she glanced at Zhou Xue, whose wrists were being held by the police in the corridor. Zhou Xue's face was expressionless.

Zhou Xue was held down by two policemen, a pair of cold handcuffs on her wrists were stuck on her bones, and it hurt painfully. She stopped struggling and her whole body went limp as she was carried towards the police car.

She was led into the back seat of the police car, the door was closed, and the enclosed space smelled of disinfectant mixed with leather.

The policeman opposite her looked at her, opened his notebook, and pressed the pen tip against the paper.

Why did you hurt people?

Zhou Xue looked at the nib of the pen. "I didn't do anything wrong."

She said, her voice hoarse, "My only mistake was... accidentally stabbing the wrong person."

She looked up at the policeman opposite her, her eyes bloodshot. "I was going to stab that woman. She ruined my family. What did I do wrong?"

The police realized that they couldn't get any information out of them during questioning.

The police car started, the deep roar of the engine filling the entire cabin. Zhou Xue leaned back in the back seat, her voice shrill and fragmented, screaming like a madwoman:

"Why are you protecting her like this?!"

As soon as she finished speaking, she began to weep silently, realizing—

I have lost completely.