Chapter 1 He's Engaged
The car had just been parked when it started raining heavily outside.
Five years later, Si Yuan returned to the place where she had suffered bullying for a year during her high school years.
Today, she has to face the people who bullied her.
And the root of that bullying was her foster brother, Song Yan.
Si Yuan unconsciously rubbed the scar on the inside of her wrist.
Five years have passed.
The city was even more extravagant than when she left, but the gray hues remained unchanged.
It was as oppressive as ever.
Si Yuan snapped out of her daze, adjusted the collar of her beige trench coat, took a deep breath, opened her umbrella, got out of the car, and walked towards the banquet hall.
The psychologist said that if you want to fully recover, you have to face what you were most afraid of.
Therefore, she absolutely had to come.
"Si Yuan?"
She heard someone calling her name.
"It really is you, Si Yuan!"
Turning around, Si Yuan saw a girl wearing a chestnut sweater running up to her in a few quick steps.
It took Si Yuan three seconds to recall the girl's name from her memory.
Zhou Xiaoxiao was one of the few classmates who were kind to her in high school.
"It really is you! You've changed so much, I didn't even recognize you for a long time!"
Si Yuan nodded.
"I heard you're a designer now? That's amazing! I remember you were really good at making all sorts of little things back in high school!"
Si Yuan smiled. She was naturally fair-skinned and slender, but when she smiled, the small mole under her eye moved slightly, making it impossible to look away.
"Art installation and landscaping design, please contact me if you need it."
Si Yuan handed over his business card.
"Perfect timing! Our company is having a female celebrity's birthday party in a few days, so we'll contact you then!"
Zhou Xiaoxiao pushed open the hotel door and pulled Si Yuan inside, saying, "It's freezing! Let's go in quickly. I heard everyone has arrived."
Si Yuan shrank her neck. Yes, autumn in Haicheng was colder than before.
The revolving door led them into the warm room, but Si Yuan felt a chill creep up her back.
On the poster at the entrance of the banquet hall, the words "Fifth Anniversary Reunion" in gold lettering were particularly eye-catching, and below it was a group photo of the whole class from back then.
In the photo, she stands in the far corner, her bangs almost covering her eyes. She is a petite and thin person, while everyone else is smiling brightly.
Lin Shuangyu stood in the center, surrounded by admirers, her arm linked with Song Yan's.
Song Yan, the most admired high-class beauty in Shanghai's elite circles, is polite, well-mannered, and has a promising future. He is currently enjoying extreme success.
Si Yuan had called him "brother" for eight years.
However, his former pride was almost destroyed because of her.
So now that I think about it, his cold treatment of me back then wasn't wrong.
"Si Yuan?"
A gentle and alluring female voice came from behind, like a sharp ice pick, piercing Si Yuan's eardrums unexpectedly.
Si Yuan turned around.
Lin Shuangyu, dressed in a stunning red dress, walked gracefully towards them.
He was accompanied by several of his former followers.
Five years have sculpted Lin Shuangyu into an even more radiant and beautiful woman, and even her former sharp and sarcastic edge has faded away.
"It really is you?"
The moment Si Yuan saw Lin Shuangyu, she tensed up almost reflexively, as if countless tiny electric currents were shooting up her spine.
The cigarette burns on my back, which had long since healed, suddenly began to burn painfully.
That was a "mark" that Lin Shuangyu and his men had left on her body when she was in school, after they cornered her in the equipment room and branded her with cigarette butts.
And the murderer is smiling at her at this moment.
Si Yuan felt her throat tighten and her ears ring, as if she had been transported back to the days when she was bullied.
"Lin Shuangyu?"
Si Yuan heard her own voice coming from a great distance, dry and unlike her own.
Lin Shuangyu walked over, smiling at her, seemingly somewhat surprised: "You've become so much prettier, I almost didn't recognize you."
Si Yuan quietly clenched her thumb against her palm, the pain bringing her back to her senses.
She forced herself to look up and stare directly into Lin Shuangyu's eyes.
She took a deep breath and counted silently in her mind.
one two three……
Just like her therapist taught her.
"Thanks."
Si Yuan wanted to hear his own calm reply.
This time, she didn't run away in panic, nor did she cower in a ball like before.
"I heard you went abroad," Lin Shuangyu said with a forced smile, her red lips like a bright, gaping wound. "I really didn't expect you to come today."
Si Yuan nodded calmly: "Yes, it's been a long time."
The air froze for a few seconds, then Lin Shuangyu suddenly sighed dramatically: "Speaking of which, we had some... misunderstandings back in high school."
Lin Shuangyu is now like a carefully dressed doll, gentle, delicate, and even understanding.
She put her hand on Si Yuan's shoulder, "You were young and didn't know any better back then, don't take it to heart."
Si Yuan looked at the hand and remembered how it had poured cold water on her head, trampled on her dignity, and nearly ruined her studies.
Si Yuan's heart skipped a beat, but she maintained a polite smile: "It's alright, after all, you're not young anymore."
Lin Shuangyu blushed, and any other words he had prepared caught in his throat.
She is three years older than Si Yuan. Being three years older is like being thirty years older between them.
Lin Shuangyu's gaze turned cold, and he was about to say something when a voice suddenly rang out.
"Xiao Yuan".
The entire banquet hall on the first floor fell silent instantly.
Si Yuan's heart felt as if it had been squeezed tightly.
She knew who it was without even turning around.
Song Yan, the person she had a crush on throughout her youth.
He was also the person she had called "brother" for eight years.
Yes, if it weren't for her crush on him, Lin Shuangyu wouldn't have... done those things to herself.
In the beginning, she endured their bullying time and time again so that Lin Shuangyu wouldn't tell Song Yan about it.
Si Yuan only realized later that Song Yan had always known.
The memory ended, and Si Yuan turned around to look at Song Yan.
Song Yan stood under the crystal chandelier, the warm yellow light giving him a soft golden edge.
He was born with exceptionally handsome features—his well-defined face was framed by a pair of slightly drooping, almond-shaped eyes, and his gaze always carried a hint of gentleness despite his usual aloofness.
When she was young, she thought that this smile was her brother's tenderness towards her, an exception to her.
But even when she looked at him in the pouring rain that day, he was just as gentle.
Then he walked away coldly.
Si Yuan only found out at that moment.
That smile was simply a sign of Song Yan's good upbringing.
It's not that I like her.
It was even a distance that was deliberately maintained only towards her.
"elder brother."
Si Yuan called out softly, her throat tightening.
The moment they looked at him, everyone else seemed to lose focus; Si Yuan could only see Song Yan's gaze meeting hers.
Song Yan's gaze lingered on her face for a few seconds, showing the same surprise as Lin Shuangyu had just shown, only with an added touch of delight.
He seemed to be about to say something, but was eventually interrupted by Lin Shuangyu.
"Ayan, your sister has changed so much! I almost didn't recognize her!"
Si Yuan looked down and saw Lin Shuangyu taking Song Yan's arm.
Song Yan snapped out of his daze and frowned slightly as he looked at Lin Shuangyu's hand.
After a pause, he asked Si Yuan first, "Xiao Yuan, you're back. Why didn't you tell your brother first?"
Si Yuan withdrew her gaze and smiled calmly: "It's also because of work. I wanted to give you and Mom and Dad a surprise!"
Seeing that Si Yuan didn't seem to hold a grudge about sending her away five years ago, Song Yan breathed a sigh of relief.
"By the way, this is Lin Shuangyu, my... fiancée. You should know her."
Si Yuan froze for a moment.
It turns out that Song Yan's fiancée is Lin Shuangyu.
No wonder that in the few emails they exchanged while abroad, Song Yan always gave a vague answer to this matter.
Because he knew it too, right?
She knew how Lin Shuangyu had bullied her in the past.
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