Chapter 28 The Engagement Was Broken Off

Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Engagement Was Broken Up

The "snap" sounded particularly crisp in the quiet night.

Shen Tang trembled with anger, glaring at him with fury: "You are utterly shameless and despicable."

Meng Huaiyan tilted his head back, his eyes darkening.

I've never dared to treat him like this before, not even when I was a child.

Meng Huaiyan slightly raised his eyelids, his dark eyes fixed on her.

His gaze was so cold that Shen Tang felt a chill run down her spine.

The excitement I felt just moments ago instantly subsided.

In the candlelight, the clear finger marks stood out starkly against Meng Huaiyan's fair face.

Shen Tang then felt a chill of fear; she had actually hit him...

She hid the hand that had hit her behind her back, and muttered to herself, "You forced...forced a kiss on me first, so you can't blame me."

Meng Huaiyan stood up and slowly walked towards her.

Shen Tang controlled her steps that wanted to retreat. When she saw Meng Huaiyan raise his hand, she was so frightened that she closed her eyes tightly and her body trembled uncontrollably.

The expected pain did not come.

Meng Huaiyan gently tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear, and seeing her frightened expression, chuckled softly: "What are you afraid of?"

"I don't hit women."

His expression was strangely gentle.

Meng Huaiyan was initially a little angry, but seeing how she was clearly terrified yet still trying to hold on, he calmed down.

It resembled a furious rabbit, and for some reason, I found it rather cute.

Shen Tang was driven almost crazy by his neurotic behavior.

One moment he was giving her a cold look that seemed to want to beat her up, but the next second he was smiling and gently tucking her hair in.

Who can laugh after being beaten?

She really thought he was sick.

And the illness is quite serious.

Meng Huaiyan withdrew his hand, his tone indifferent: "Just this once."

Chen Tang breathed a sigh of relief when she was told that they had let her go.

After all, she needed his help, and she was genuinely afraid that he would get angry and change his mind, refusing to let He Jinzhou out.

"Thank you..."

She was the one who was bullied and taken advantage of, yet she still had to thank him for his magnanimity.

Shen Tang was so frustrated she was about to burst.

*

Back in the courtyard, Shen Tang rinsed her mouth three times before she felt a little better.

Her lips were still a little swollen. Looking at herself in the mirror, Shen Tang was a little annoyed. Was Meng Huaiyan a dog? He was so fierce when he bit her.

As Shen Tang applied the medicine to herself, she cursed him in her heart.

Shen Tang didn't sleep well that night. Her mind was filled with many chaotic thoughts, and when she woke up, she had forgotten what she had dreamed about.

Feeling a headache, Shen Tang pressed her head while thinking about how to bring up the matter of breaking off the engagement with the He family with her aunt.

Before I could figure it out, I heard from Ayun that the He family had come to break off the engagement.

My aunt sent someone to ask what happened.

Shen Tang didn't care about her headache anymore. After washing up, she hurriedly rushed to Pear Blossom Garden.

After just one night apart, Mother He looked much more haggard. When she saw her come in, her swollen eyes glared at her with resentment and anger.

Shen Tang felt a dull pain in her heart as she was stung by that gaze.

It seems she knows that He Jinzhou's imprisonment is related to her.

When Madam Shen saw her arrive, she hurriedly asked, "Tang'er, what exactly happened?"

"How did things suddenly come to the point of breaking off the engagement?"

Shen Tang took a deep breath, trying her best to ignore the pain in her heart: "Aunt, Young Master He and I are not a good match."

"Let's call off this engagement."

Madam Shen wanted to say more, but seeing Shen Tang's pained expression and Madam He's sorrowful and resentful face, she ultimately did not continue.

With both sides agreeing to annul the engagement, the Shen family naturally had no reason to obstruct it.

After Mother He left, she took Shen Tang's hand and wanted to ask why.

She had witnessed her interactions with Young Master He during this time, and the two had developed feelings for each other.

And then He Jinzhou suddenly went to jail, and then things escalated to the point of breaking off the engagement. Something must have happened.

"Has someone threatened you or the He family?" Madam Shen asked with a worried expression.

Shen Tang's breath caught in her throat, and she almost burst into tears.

"No, it's just that we feel the two of us aren't a good match."

Shen Tang tried her best to smile, not wanting Shen Shi to worry, but the smile was more painful than a cry.

As Shen watched, her heart clenched even tighter. No matter how she pressed him for answers, Shen Tang remained silent.

What's the point of bringing it up? My aunt is already disliked in this Duke's mansion, and now the Second Master isn't even here.

If this matter were to reach the Old Madam and the Eldest Princess, no one would say anything about Meng Huaiyan.

They'll just say she's wicked and deliberately seduced someone, which will only implicate her aunt in the end.

Upon arriving at the Begonia Courtyard, Shen Tang finally let her tears fall, which she had been holding back.

My chest felt like it was being torn apart; it was both dull and painful.

She collapsed onto the bed, overwhelmed by feelings of grievance, injustice, collapse, and resentment, and finally broke down in tears.

In her past life, she schemed and plotted relentlessly, even losing her life in the end, but still couldn't gain a shred of his pity.

During the two years she was under house arrest, she was resentful and bitter, but as time went on, her love for him slowly faded away.

She gradually felt remorse, and in the final moment of her death, she actually felt relieved.

She didn't blame him. After all, she liked him and forced him to be with her. All the consequences were her own fault.

She was wise enough to avoid provoking him or getting in his way in this lifetime.

But why can't she have an easy time?

Does he like her?

She didn't know, and she didn't want to know.

Having finally been reborn, she will never repeat the same mistakes.

The Duke's mansion was not her refuge, nor was the Shen family.

But where could she go?

In all the vastness of the world, there was nowhere for her to find refuge.

*

Meng Huaiyan kept his word. By the afternoon, Ayun had learned that He Jinzhou had been acquitted and returned home.

Shen Tang's worried heart finally settled down.

I'm glad he's safe.

She sat in the chair, her eyes taking in everything in the room. He Jinzhou had given her a lot of things over the past few days, including interesting ornaments, sketchbooks, snacks, jewelry, and all sorts of other things that filled the room.

She tried to dissuade him from buying more than he could, but he would keep doing it and buy more whenever he saw them.

He said, "I couldn't help it because I thought you would like it."

Shen Tang held the string of glass beads in her hand and slowly brought it close to her cheek. The beads on the bracelet had been held for so long that they were slightly warm.

People like He Jinzhou are gentle and considerate.

An indescribable ache spread from her heart to her entire body. Shen Tang's eyes reddened, and tears welled up in her eyes, but she managed to hold them back.

She looked out the window and spoke softly, as if she were talking to him, or perhaps to herself.

She said, "I'm sorry."