“Easy, Yunfan, take it easy!” “Xinran, it’s been four years. When did you get so delicate?” “I saved myself for you all these years abroad, never touched another man. How could I not be? But you… four years in a wheelchair and you’re still so strong. Ah…” Crouched behind a thicket of bushes, Shen Lan listened to the grunts and moans, a glacial chill seizing her despite the June heat. It felt as if she’d been plunged into an icy cavern. Tonight was her engagement party, and her fiancé, Lu Yunfan, was in the garden, cheating on her with another woman. The music drifting from the main hall tangled with the vile sounds from the garden, the combination hitting her like a vicious slap to the face. Shen Lan clutched her coat, her knuckles turning white. She only snapped out of her daze when she heard her own name. “But Shen Lan… she grew up with you, your childhood sweetheart. She waited for you all those years, never left your side after your accident. We’re finally celebrating your engagement. This doesn’t feel right.” Though her words feigned reluctance, Zhou Xinran’s arms only wound tighter around Lu Yunfan. Lu Yunfan sucked in a sharp breath and slapped her on the rear, a clear signal for her to behave. “Childhood sweetheart? Please. She’s just an orphan our family took in. The Shen family went bankrupt years ago. If the Lus hadn’t taken her in, she would’ve been shipped off to an orphanage.” Pleased with his answer, Zhou Xinran’s voice turned syrupy. “Don’t be like that. She did work hard taking care of you. You have to give her credit for the effort.” Lu Yunfan’s movements paused, a flicker of something complex in his eyes before it was replaced by irritation. “She wanted to do it. I never forced her. She was falling over herself to wait on me, like a damn servant.” Moonlight spilled across the ground. Shen Lan felt dazed, a heavy weight pressing down on her chest, making it hard to breathe. She and Lu Yunfan had been betrothed since childhood. But when she was seven, her father was murdered and her brother vanished. With her last breath, her mother had brought her to the Lu family, entrusting them with a large sum of money and begging them to take her in. After her mother’s death, she was too young to manage the family’s affairs, and the once-great Shen family declared bankruptcy. The most prominent family of traditional Chinese medicine in J-cheng had fallen. She had lived with the Lus for over a decade, but Lu Yunfan had never publicly acknowledged her as his fiancée. He’d even started dating Zhou Xinran to get rid of her. That all changed four years ago, when the two of them were in an accident during an outing. Lu Yunfan’s legs were paralyzed, and the doctors said he might never walk again. Unable to accept his disability, Lu Yunfan had sunk into a deep depression, his personality twisting into something dark, volatile, and violent. Even his parents were on the verge of giving up on him. But she hadn't. For four years, she had cared for him tirelessly, preparing medicinal broths for him every day and secretly using her family’s healing techniques to massage his legs late at night. His moods were unstable; he would curse and lash out without warning. For four years, Shen Lan had always borne fresh bruises, absorbing the brunt of his despair. Then, a month ago, he stood up. His recovery was practically miraculous. An ecstatic Mr. Lu immediately announced their engagement party. Shen Lan had thought her suffering was finally over. Instead, she found him here, rekindling an old flame with his ex-girlfriend in the garden. Four years of her devoted care had become nothing more than a punchline he used to amuse another woman. A sharp pain lanced through Shen Lan’s heart. She felt an urgent need to flee, but in her haste, her foot came down on a twig. The sharp crack shattered the night, startling the grappling couple. “Who’s there?!” Lu Yunfan’s voice was sharp with alarm, the amorous sounds ceasing instantly. Shen Lan held her breath, scrambling into a nearby rockery cave. She didn’t know why she was hiding—Lu Yunfan was the one in the wrong. But panic had taken over, and her body moved on instinct. Having lived at the Lu estate for so many years, she knew the layout of the back garden by heart. The cave was deep, and with her slender frame, she could shrink into the shadows where Lu Yunfan would never find her. But then the unexpected happened. As Shen Lan pushed deeper into the cave, she collided with another body. A scream died in her throat as a large hand clamped over her mouth and an arm locked around her waist. The scent of an unknown man enveloped her as her back was pressed firmly against his hard chest. He radiated a heat that scorched her through the thin fabric of her summer dress. The size difference between them was immense; he had practically lifted her off her feet, forcing her to sit on his lap. She looked up in terror, her eyes meeting a pair of cold, fathomless ones in the darkness. Instinct screamed that this man was dangerous. Realizing this, Shen Lan tried to pull away. The moment she lifted her hips, the hand on her waist yanked her back in warning. The man lowered his head, his voice a low, husky rumble by her ear. “Hush. Don’t move. Your fiancé is coming.” Just as he finished speaking, the sound of footsteps echoed from outside the cave. Every hair on Shen Lan’s body stood on end, her muscles coiling tight as a spring.