
Introduction
"Let's break up."
The sudden word was like a heavy stone smashing into the calm water.
The two sides suddenly fell into a stalemate but turbulent silence, and the atmosphere gradually became depressing.
After a long silence, the man's deep voice carried an indescribable anger—
"I admit that I shouldn't have missed the wedding. You have an emotional misunderstanding, and I will explain it to you when I go back. But Zhiyin, don't use such words as canceling the marriage and breaking up. You've crossed the line."
Qin Jue's remarks contained some rebuke, making Ruan Zhiyin dumb for a moment.
They have known each other for eight years and dated for three years. In her impression, he has always been gentle and polite.
When they were abroad, Qin Jue treated her well, and Ruan Zhiyin felt that they could make it to the end. Even in the few quarrels after returning to China, he never had such an uncommon lapse.
However, at this moment, Qin Jue, the groom who escaped marriage for his ex-girlfriend, scolded her for not making a joke about canceling the wedding and breaking up?
Ruan Zhiyin really felt a little ridiculous, but she knew very well that she was not joking at all.
Chapter 1
Ruan Zhiyin had imagined about her wedding countless times.
She was only four or five years old when she was lost due to the neglect of her elders. After hiding with human traffickers for a year, she was rescued by the keen Gu Linlang and went to the orphanage.
Although it is an orphanage, the dean is very kind to the children. When she was a teenager, she and Gu Linlang secretly chatted under the covers, with a longing for their future family in their hearts.
Gu Linlang said that she would wear a wedding dress she designed to enter the palace, and Ruan Zhiyin wanted to buy a large wedding room. The decoration does not have to be luxurious, but it must make her feel like home.
The two often taunt each other.
Then laugh together.
At that time, her wish was very simple-- to go to university, to work hard, and to be able to form her own family. Then, like older brothers and sisters who have left the orphanage, help the children of the orphanage to continue their schooling.
Later, she was taken back to the Ruan family and became 'the rich girl' in the eyes of the children of the orphanage. Many goals were achieved instantly.
It's just that when she was ten years old, her parents unfortunately encountered a car accident on the way to find her, and both died. In the entire Ruan family, only grandfather was a true relative to her.
She still longs for a complete home, and even more for a wedding that belongs to her.
But Ruan Zhiyin did not expect that the wedding she had been looking forward to for many years would become so absurd.
The scene of accompanying Gu Linlang in the orphanage seemed like it was yesterday, but in a flash, she was already wearing a wedding dress designed by Gu Linlang, standing behind the door leading to the hotel banquet hall.
She lowered her head and caught a glimpse of the dazzling shimmer of small diamonds in the white tulle. Every pearl on the wedding dress was sewn by Gu Linlang herself, like a dream.
On behalf of Gu Linlang's most sincere wishes.
Ruan Zhiyin remembered that when she put on her wedding dress for the first time, Gu Linlang held her in her arms, crying with tears in her eyes and out of breath.
Her eyes were slightly astringent, and she let out a long sigh of relief. Any emotion can’t be seen on her face, but she straightened her back silently.
Across from the banquet hall.
The voices of the guests' voices were clearly heard ——
"Master Qin escaped from the marriage and the wedding will not be canceled. Ruan Zhiyin is making a joke out of this?"
"Ruan Zhiyin is pitiful. After following Qin Jue for so many years, she endured hardship with Qin Jue in the United States, and she ended up in such a big embarrassment."
"Lin Jingfei is quite amazing. Young Master Qin went abroad for her back then, and now he is running away from marriage for her. He is really affectionate enough."
"If it weren’t that Mr. Qin is too old-fashioned, based on Qin Jue's feelings for Lin Jingfei, she would have married into the Qin family back then."
Many people know that when Qin Jue and Lin Jingfei fell in love, there were rumors that Young Master Qin wanted to replace the candidate for marriage with the Ruan family to Lin Jingfei.
"She is lucky enough, although she is a granddaughter. Ruan Zhiyin's parents are gone, and Lin Jingfei's father who entered the family will be in power, and Ruan's family will change its surname sooner or later."
"Ruan Zhiyin's hard work made no sense. In the end, she was still abandoned by Qin Jue and lost the capital to challenge Lin Cheng. Even if Mr. Qin refused to let Lin Jingfei marry him, Qin Jue would not fight against Lin Jingfei's father for Ruan Zhiyin."
......
Ruan Zhiyin closed her eyes as if she didn't hear anything.
Standing both sides of her, the waiter slowly opened the heavy door in front of her.
In the banquet hall, the lights dimmed suddenly, and the chatter stopped abruptly.
The venue was decorated in a romantic and dreamy way, with soft-curved lanterns embellishing the flowers and grasses beside the stage, like a sky full of stars and as gorgeous as fireflies.The flowers are fresh and delicate, with a faint scent of flowers lingering on the tip of the nose, just like being in a forest in the dark night.
The gentle beam of light hit the stage, and Cheng Yuelin's face was softened. He wore an elegant and decent dark suit and stood quietly at the end of the guests' sights.
The door of the promenade has been opened. Ruan Zhiyin looked at the groom at the end of the line, and walked forward step by step.
This scene was very much like the dream she had been looking forward to for many years.
The two flower girls were wearing neat little suits and small skirts, and they walked in front with petals scattered. They were the twins that Ye Yanchu had brought from her aunt's house.
After being smeared all over by the children, Xu Ershao, who was leaning on the stage, took the lead in reacting from the sluggishness and muttered, "Wait, why is there still a groom? I am not wrong, right? That looks like Cheng Yuelin? !"
Young Master Wang, who was sitting next to Xu Fei, opened his eyes wide and snorted softly, "Tut, are the Qin family and the Ruan family taking turns to tease us today? The groom was ruthless and ran away from the marriage. He didn't think that the bride was more ruthless, so she changed the groom directly."
"What did the Ruan family nailed it for a person like Cheng Yuelin?"
Wang Xin slapped Xu Fei on the forehead, "What kind of person? The Qin family didn't dare to fight this lunatic, how dare you offend him? Cheng Yuelin didn't deserve to be ridiculed five years ago, so be careful to say misfortune."
Xu Fei rubbed his head in pain: "No, I mean how could someone like Cheng Yuelin appear here and become a groom?!"
Wang Xin looked at him as a fool, "Can't you see?"
Xu Fei stunned and shook his head, "I don't understand."
Wang Xin couldn't say enough, "How can I have such a stupid brother as you? Have you forgotten the grievances between Cheng Yuelin and Qin Jue? When Cheng Yuelin was five years old, he smashed Qin Jue's front teeth with a stone, and was beaten by his grandfather with a feather duster that he didn't get out of bed for half a month."
Xu Fei frowned, thinking that it happened so many years ago, and there had not been anything before between the two of them .
He thought so in his mind, but he was not ashamed to ask, "Even if they don't get well, what about then?"
Wang Xin's face was full of secrecy, and he stretched out his hand to let Xu Fei turn his ear, and his tone was very solemn—
"He come to snatch the bride."
"Don't offend Cheng Yuelin. See? He actually remembered it for twenty years! You give me a beating, and I will rob your bride twenty years later! Ruthless, too ruthless!"
Xu Fei suddenly realized, and nodded in agreement, "Well, Cheng Yuelin doesn't seem to be able to offend, Ruan Zhiyin..."
"I said you're an idiot, don't you understand? She abandoned the man who had been in love with her for seven or eight years when he abandoned her first. And the new bridegroom at the wedding slapped the Qin family’s face hard, completely breaking the possibility of being with Qin Jue. How ruthless this kind of woman is!"
After Wang Xinlu finished speaking, he pouted again, "What's more ruthless is that Cheng Yuelin is still married. Can’t you remember how bad their relationship was back then? Damn, why Ruan Zhiyin take this so hard? It's okay to think about me."
He was embarrassed to say that he secretly had a crush on Ruan Zhiyin back then.
In fact, Ruan Zhiyin is beautiful, and many people liked her in high school. It's just that she is too outstanding, and because she is Qin Jue's fiance. And she also didn’t get along with Cheng Yuelin.
Some of them couldn't figure out what Qin Jue meant, and some were afraid of being targeted by Cheng Yuelin, but no one dared to confess.
Xu Fei didn't pay attention to his friend's careful thoughts at all, and said righteously, "You are right, the woman who can test the first in the class, I thought she was not simple back then. She was a ruthless person! Look at us, the last and the last but one, we were not cruel enough!"
Wang Xin shouted, "Go away!!!"
Looking at Ruan Zhiyin in a wedding dress, Gu Linlang was in a complicated mood at first, but now she was laughed at by two idiots at the same table.
She picked up the wine glass and sipped lightly, then glanced at the woman beside her, "Miss Wang, don't look so ugly. You and Lin Jingfei can play tricks, but others can't retaliate?"
Wang Xiwei and Lin Jingfei had a good relationship. In other words, Wang Xiwei felt that the seats of Ruan family and Mrs. Qin would be in the Lin family's hands sooner or later, so she made a bet in advance to please Lin Jingfei.
At this moment, maybe she wants to see what Ruan Zhiyin is going to do for Lin Jingfei.
The Wang family attacked Cheng Yuelin after Cheng's father was imprisoned. Later, Cheng Yuelin made a comeback and they began to feel guilty again. In the past few years, the Wang family has devised a plan to let Wang Xiwei be with Cheng Yuelin, so that the former feud will be wiped out, and Wang Xiwei is also quite active.
It's just that Cheng Yuelin never paid attention to the thoughts of the Wang family.
While Wang Xiwei was thinking about Cheng Yuelin, she hung her client and boyfriend as a spare tire.
This is unbearable.
So Gu Linlang curled her lips and pointedly towards the groom and bride who seemed to be a good match on the stage——
"Well, Miss Wang, who are you saying is the joke? Yinyin told me that President Cheng was about to take the Wang family."
/ / /
The people in the audience have different thoughts, but the stage has already progressed smoothly to the VCR part.
Because of Kang Yu's arrangement, the groom's part was briefly skipped by the host.
On the flashing screen, old photos of Ruan Zhiyin's are being rotated. There are very few left in the orphanage, most of which were taken back to the Ruan family.
The short film has already been made, and even if it is temporarily deleted, Qin Jue's figure will inevitably appear in it.
Perhaps the photo condensed the memory, or perhaps the background music was too soothing and touching. Suddenly, many vivid images appeared in Ruan Zhiyin's mind——
She thought of the day she first arrived at Ruan's house.
The boy in the school uniform was still a little green. The afternoon sunlight hit him gently. He turned his head, and dark eyes were clear.
Looking at her who pretended to be calm, but was actually uneasy, he smiled and stretched out her hand with warm kindness, "Yinyin, right? I'm Qin Jue. Don't be afraid."
......
She was most depressed when she just transferred schools.
She put away all the edges and corners and carefully integrated into the life around her. But every sentence that meant something was replayed in her ears. Bumper, hillbilly.
Some people sympathize, some despise, but they all make her more silent. It was the youth's maintenance that blocked those discussions and made her feel relieved.
......
The first time she really felt despair was in the airtight equipment room.
She clearly remembered that the darkness devoured her little by little, and the gloomy cold image was like insects digging into the crevices of the bones.
She became short of breath, and when she was about to lose hope, he rushed back from the competition.
......
The name Qin Jue seems to have no shortcomings.
Excellent grades, distinguished status, gentle and polite, and calm and confident. Like a distant existence, a star far away in the sky.
However, the once out of reach boy, when being cut off wings later, hugged her tightly in the basement of New York——
"Zhiyin, after returning to China, we will get married."
......
Ruan Zhiyin had looked forward to life after returning to China.
But at that time, she didn't know that every dispute between the two after returning to China would drain all her strength.
"Zhiyin, your prejudice against Jingfei is too great."
"Zheng said that Jingfei needs some scandals to maintain her popularity when her career is on the rise. Zhiyin, you don't have to worry too much."
"Jingfei made a mistake in attending the event jewelry, I gave her the set of jewelry at the auction... Zhiyin, I know you don't love jewelry. It's not that important to you."
"Jingfei’s assistant said she was drunk and the director had harassed her before. Zhiyin, I have to go there. We'll make up for Valentine's Day tomorrow, okay?"
"Jingfei has already explained to you that we are nothing. Why do you have to be aggressive?"
"Jingfei is your cousin. She also cares about your relationship. Do you have to make me so embarrassed?"
"Zhiyin, you were not like this before. Why did you become so mean?"
The last dispute was when she learned that Qin Jue had arranged Lin Zhe in the Qin family on the eve of the wedding.
She wouldn't give in to the argument that time, and Qin Jue's eyes were full of disappointment with herself.
......
There was a sudden dull pain in the knuckles, the memory came to an abrupt end, and the man's low voice sounded in his ears——
"Ruan Zhiyin," Cheng Yuelin frowned and lowered his voice, "Look up and look at me."
Ruan Zhiyin came back to her senses, raised her eyes in response, and bumped into the dark and deep eyes of the othe, but her expression was still a little dazed.
"Your expression now is uglier than crying. What, regret or admit defeat?" Cheng Yuelin's voice was neither heavy nor light, but there was a hint of cold ridicule.
The dazzling and delicate silver wedding ring was held by someone. It was supposed to be the moment when the bride and groom exchanged rings. But after Cheng Yuelin took her hand, he stopped there with one hand in his pocket.
There were light red marks on Ruan Zhiyin's slender knuckles. The man looked at her coldly and indifferently, and there was an indistinguishable meaning in the bottom of his deep eyes.
She understood what he meant. If she really regretted, this was the last time she could go back.
She can leave behind the crowd of guests, the gossip afterward, and leave this place without looking back—
Disappeared at the wedding like Qin Jue, and at the same time conceded defeat in this match.
Cheng Yuelin's expression at the moment seems to be asking her silently,” Ruan Zhiyin, so will you admit defeat?”
In an instant, she made a decision.
Ruan Zhiyin took a deep breath and completely calmed down.
She took the silver-glowing male ring, and her eyes seemed provocative, "Cheng Yuelin, are you here to mock me?"
"What do you think?"
Cheng Yuelin raised his eyebrows, watching her push the male ring to the end as if in revenge, and returned to his cynical idleness.
Glancing at the ring on his hand, he took the female ring slowly, lowered his head, and slowly put it on her ring finger.
"Ruan Yingying, didn't you hear Wang Xin's foolish words? I clearly sacrificed my innocence," paused, then raised his eyes and groaned, "Come and snatch the bride."
"I've barely become a groom..."
"so what?"
"I'm expensive, so you gotta play better."
As if to confirm this statement.
The next second, he leaned down—
The thin lips were slightly cold, and he kissed the corner of her mouth.
The warm palm rested on the back of her head. The two were too close, and the tip of the nose was lingering with a refreshing and ferocious pine wood fragrance, and the faint smell of smoke in it.
…………
Ruan Zhiyin's eyes were slightly open, and her eyelashes were trembling. Before she could react, he got up and pulled away.
"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Cheng."
Last Chapters
#31 Chapter 29
Last Updated: 1/10/2026#30 Chapter 28
Last Updated: 1/10/2026#29 Chapter 27
Last Updated: 1/10/2026#28 Chapter 26
Last Updated: 1/10/2026#27 Chapter 25
Last Updated: 1/10/2026#26 Chapter 24
Last Updated: 1/10/2026#25 Chapter 23
Last Updated: 1/10/2026#24 Chapter 22
Last Updated: 1/10/2026#23 Chapter 21
Last Updated: 1/10/2026#22 Chapter 20
Last Updated: 1/10/2026
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I fell to my knees, the cold marble digging into my skin. I had studied for years in the flickering candlelight, memorizing every herb and poison to pass the healer's exam. I wanted freedom. I wanted to save my mother from the servant's quarters. I placed second. I thought I had won my life back.
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"Raven Thorne shall be wed to the King of Grok," he announced, his voice echoing in the silent hall. Princess Ellie, the woman who had tormented me for years, slapped her hands over her mouth to hide her cruel laughter. She was supposed to marry the Beast. Now, I was the lamb being sent to the slaughter in her place.
They say King Liam drinks the blood of his enemies. They say he is more monster than man. And now, I have to walk into his bedroom, wearing the Princess's silk gown, and pray he doesn't tear me apart.
I looked at the King, tears streaming down my face. "I'll do it," I whispered, my voice trembling. "But my mother must be safe."
I sold my body and soul to a monster to save her. But when the carriage door opened and I finally looked into the Beast's golden eyes, I realized the terrifying truth...
He wasn't a stranger. He was the man I met in the woods.












