I'm sorry, but your fiancé loves me.

Upon arriving at the hospital, Qin Qihan lay on a stretcher. Blood loss had turned his lips a pale grayish-pink, his eyelids were half-closed, and his eyelashes cast a small shadow above his cheekbone.

But he was still awake, his gaze straining to focus on her face.

"Yun Muqian," he called her.

She lowered her head, bringing her face close to his. "I'm here."

Qin Qihan's eyes moved slightly, his thin, half-closed eyelids lifted a little, and his pupils focused on her face, then stopped.

"Don't speak, save your strength."

But Qin Qihan didn't listen to her. He moved his lips and said, "Yun Muqian, listen to me."

"If I can't take it anymore," he said, emphasizing each word, "you can't be with anyone else either."

Yun Muqian's eyelashes trembled suddenly.

His voice grew softer, but the last syllable of each word was emphasized firmly: "Did you hear that? You can only be mine."

Before she could respond, a nurse blocked her from entering the emergency room. The red light on the door lit up, and the words "Resuscitation in Progress" were quietly displayed.

Two days later, Qin Qihan was transferred from the ICU to a VIP ward.

Sunlight streamed in through the large south-facing windows of the ward, making the whole room warm and cozy. The air conditioning was set to a gentle temperature, and a newly replaced vase of flowers sat on the bedside table.

Qin Qihan's complexion was much better than that night; her lips had regained a faint rosy hue, and her breathing was steady and deep.

His eyes were closed, his eyelashes casting two small fan-shaped shadows under his eyelids. One hand was placed on the blanket, with the tubing of an IV catheter still attached to the back of his hand, and clear liquid dripping down the tube.

His brows seemed to be slightly furrowed in his dream, as if he were having a rather uncomfortable dream.

Suddenly, his eyelashes trembled violently, his eyes opened, his gaze swept frantically across the air for a moment, and then landed on the empty side of the bed in front of him. He braced himself against the bed frame, trying to sit up.

At that moment, a hand reached out from the side of the bed and placed a soft palm on his forehead.

The hand carried a faint jasmine scent from hand cream, its palm dry yet warm. It gently rested on his slightly sweaty forehead, its fingertips touching his brow bone, its thumb slowly tracing the furrowed lines between his brows, smoothing out the tight wrinkles little by little.

"What were you dreaming about?" A voice came from the direction of the hand, soft and gentle, with a slightly nasal tone, like someone just waking up. "You panicked as soon as you opened your eyes."

Qin Qihan stopped moving.

He froze, then saw Yun Muqian sitting by his bedside.

She was wearing a beige cardigan today, her hair was loosely draped over her shoulders, and her face was clean. "Awake? Would you like some water?"

Qin Qihan stared at her, then grabbed the wrist of the hand she had just pulled back, gripping it so tightly that her knuckles turned white, and the force made her hiss.

He didn't let go: "...Am I dreaming?"

"Feel it, is a dreamer's face this hot?" She placed his hand on her face.

"I thought you'd run away again," he finally spoke. "I thought you'd disappeared again when I woke up."

"Where could I run to?" Yun Muqian tilted her head, rubbing her chin against his palm. "When you stood in front of me, there was blood everywhere. You think I'd run? Would I have any conscience?"

"You've run before, haven't you?" He stared at her, his tone carrying a stubbornness that hadn't completely faded, almost aggrieved.

Seeing his expression, Yun Muqian couldn't help but burst out laughing.

She solemnly promised him that she would never run away again.

On the day Qin Qihan was discharged from the hospital, Yun Muqian walked beside him, her hand lightly supporting his elbow. The two of them walked out of the hospital lobby through the revolving door on a rare sunny day.

Zhou Xue's verdict has also been handed down: seven years in prison for intentional injury. The Zhou family has completely collapsed, and there's no one left to support her. All the necessary procedures have been completed. When she's released, she'll face the enormous debts incurred due to the company's plummeting stock price.

Yun Muqian went to see her once, and the visitation procedures were completed faster than expected.

She sat on a plastic chair in the waiting area, facing a transparent glass partition. On the other side of the glass was an iron door, and footsteps came from the end of the corridor, growing louder as they approached.

The iron gate was opened, and Zhou Xue was brought in by a policewoman. Her wrists were handcuffed, but she was very obedient, with her head down and taking small steps.

She sat down on the chair opposite the glass, and when she looked up, Yun Muqian almost didn't recognize her.

Zhou Xue was so thin she looked like a completely different person. Her cheekbones protruded high, her cheeks were deeply sunken, her lips were bloodless, and her hair was cut short, reaching her ears, and was somewhat messy and stuck to her temples. She was huddled in that orange detention uniform.

She looked at Yun Muqian, her gaze slowly focusing from a blank expression, then slightly narrowing as if pricked by something.

Yun Muqian looked at her through the glass, sitting upright, her gaze fixed on Zhou Xue's gaunt face: "I came to see you."

Zhou Xue remained silent, staring blankly with a deathly pale face.

"Zhou Xue, there's something I've been keeping from you, but I think you've already guessed it. However, you've guessed it too late."

Zhou Xue's eyelids twitched, and she shrank her shoulders warily.

Yun Muqian leaned forward slightly. "Do you remember the person you most wanted to kill back in high school?"

"I'm sorry...I'm sorry...I was so immature back then..." Her shoulders trembled slightly. "Please help me, please help me think of a way. I can't go to jail. My mother's health isn't good, and my father is like that. If I go to jail, the Zhou family will be finished."

Zhou Xue didn't know she was wrong; she was just trying to avoid imprisonment.

But she deserves it all.

"You're doing better than me now, so please don't hold grudges anymore," she pleaded. "Just consider it a win for you, and I'll willingly admit defeat, okay?"

In fact, the key point that Zhou Xue still hasn't figured out is that the most important thing in this whole matter is not who wins or loses.

Rather, it is cause and effect, or retribution.

The real retribution that befell her was all of her own making; she deserved it.

"I won't help you. Everything you've done is your own choice. Sitting here today is also your own choice."

Yun Muqian hung the receiver back on the shelf, opened the door, and went out.

A muffled cry, mostly blocked by glass, came from the visiting room behind me, but the sound grew fainter and fainter until it could no longer be heard.

The sun was shining brightly outside when her phone vibrated in her pocket. She took it out and saw a message from Qin Qihan:

"Are you out yet? I'm waiting for you in the car outside."

She smiled slightly and replied, "Coming."

A wonderful life awaits me.