Chapter 278 It's Not Her Fault

Fu Shenyuan stared at the old man in disbelief. He knew how ruthless his grandfather was and how deep his scheming was, but he had never doubted that his marriage had been planned from the beginning.

"Grandpa, so you knew all along that Ranxing wasn't an ordinary girl, which is why you agreed to our marriage, right?" Fu Shenyuan lowered his head, staring blankly at a glass of water on the bedside table.

Old Master Fu chuckled, but the laugh was brief and lacked any real joy.

“Shen Yuan, you are my most valued heir. Marriage is a major life event, especially for you. I will not let you marry just anyone. Six years ago, when you had not yet established yourself, even if you wanted to go to Lin Xuesha, I would not have agreed. Her family background was not good enough for you.”

Upon learning all this, Fu Shenyuan felt as if a corner of his inner world had collapsed.

All the memories and past events surfaced, revealing that nothing was ever forced. This marriage was not something Jiang Ranxing forced; rather, from the very beginning, she had been chosen to be his wife.

After saying so much, Grandpa Fu seemed to be a little exhausted and took a few deep breaths.

"Grandpa, why are you telling me all this now?" Fu Shenyuan asked.

Grandpa Fu sighed, "Perhaps he almost lost his life in all that trouble, so he wanted to do something. I'm not telling you this, but mainly for Ranxing's sake. If I don't tell her, she's afraid she'll never be able to go back to the Jiang family. It's not good for a rich young lady to be wandering around all the time."

"Furthermore, I also want to reduce your misunderstandings about Ranxing. You always thought she forced you to get married, but that's not true. It's true that you two have a marriage agreement."

Fu Shenyuan frowned, looking at his grandfather with even greater disbelief.

“My grandfather and I were old friends. When we were young, we made a pact to arrange a marriage for our children so that our families could become even closer. Unfortunately, all of my grandfather and I have sons in this generation, so we couldn’t arrange a marriage. Therefore, the marriage was naturally passed on to your generation. Your father is my favorite son, so you are naturally my first choice. The Jiang family has only one son, but in your generation, you have a son named Jiang Yan and a daughter. So, you and the Jiang family’s daughter were engaged a long time ago.”

"In other words, your engagement with Ranxing has been going on for many years."

“I was worried that Ranxing wouldn’t want to marry you, but I didn’t expect that she liked you a lot at that time. I asked her if she wanted to marry you, and she agreed immediately. At that time, I thought that maybe the two of you were destined to be together.”

"Later I found out that your heart was not with her, but with Lin Xuesha. But the Lin family's status was not good enough for you. I couldn't let anyone do such unconventional things, so I forcibly kept you here. You know what happened after that. That's basically it."

After speaking, Old Master Fu felt as if a heavy weight had been lifted from his heart, and he let out a long sigh of relief.

"I don't know if you two are destined to be together or not, you've been through so much and there's still no result. You'll always be going your separate ways."

After Old Master Fu finished speaking, he realized that Fu Shenyuan seemed to have no reaction at all. He sat there as if he had no presence, neither speaking nor making any gesture.

"Shen Yuan? What's wrong?" Old Master Fu asked.

When Fu Shenyuan looked up, Old Master Fu noticed that his eyes were moist and red.

"It turns out I've been misunderstanding her all along... I once thought she was the one who tied me down, that she was forcing me, but I never imagined... she was always meant to marry me..."

Fu Shenyuan's somewhat distraught attitude left Old Master Fu at a loss, but he understood the situation perfectly.

He had always known his grandson's mentality: he was too sentimental, to the point that he would sometimes give up other things for the sake of feelings, even the position of the head of the Fu family that everyone wanted.

It's good that those in high positions are ambitious, but being too ambitious can be a burden.

In order for Fu Shenyuan to secure his position and become a qualified leader, he had already clipped his wings and done too many irreversible things, but he never regretted it. A person who is not ruthless cannot stay in this position for long.

As for the other matter, after thinking about it, Old Master Fu decided not to tell Fu Shenyuan.

Firstly, he had no intention of telling Fu Shenyuan; secondly, Jiang Ranxing had asked him not to say anything; and thirdly, their current situation was not suitable for them to know these things. He could wait until a suitable opportunity arose to tell them later.

Grandpa Fu kept observing Fu Shenyuan's reaction.

This one thing alone has stirred his heartstrings, so it's best not to put more pressure on him at this time. Taking it easy on him would be a good approach.

"Shen Yuan, in the end, it's nothing serious. Even if you had known back then, given your personality, it wouldn't have changed your feelings for Ranxing much. So don't blame yourself. It's just something you two had to go through. Don't make things difficult for yourself."

Despite saying that, Fu Shenyuan couldn't help but put himself in a difficult position.

"If I had known how to cherish it back then, and if I had known how good the Burning Star was, I wouldn't be in this situation today."

These words are words of repentance spoken after the heart has endured countless hardships.

If only he hadn't done that back then, he would have known better. But there are no "ifs" or "what ifs" in life. What's done is done, and all he can do now is try to win back the love he's lost.

At this moment, he felt more than just regret; he felt fear. He was afraid he couldn't win Jiang Ranxing back, afraid that the Jiang Ranxing who once looked at him with such love in her eyes had truly disappeared, afraid that no matter how hard he tried, he might never be able to piece together that love again. He was afraid of so many things, all about Jiang Ranxing…

Grandpa Fu seemed to have seen through Fu Shenyuan's thoughts. He sighed and said, "I'm asking you, do you really insist on getting back together with Ranxing? Think it over and answer me seriously. If you are half-hearted and still have someone else in your heart, then the answer is no."

This time, Fu Shenyuan did not hesitate at all. He said firmly, "Yes, my heart only has Ranxing, and it can only have her."

“Alright, alright,” Grandpa Fu said as if he had made up his mind. “Since you’re so determined, Grandpa can help you.”

"As for how your future with Ranxing will unfold, it depends on your efforts and the fate that brings you together."