Shen Lan met his gaze through her thick glasses, a flicker of his tension not escaping her. A bitter amusement curled in her chest. "Yes," she said. At her single-word reply, the color drained from Lu Yunfan's face. Then, Shen Lan’s tone shifted. "But I tripped at the entrance to the garden and got my dress dirty. I had to go back to my room to change." Lu Yunfan’s eyes scanned her dress. It was different. A wave of relief washed over him, quickly replaced by impatience. "Don’t just wander off," he snapped. "This place is full of important guests. You’re so clueless—what if you offend someone?" His voice was laced with an unconscious contempt, devoid of any concern for her fall. A knot tightened in Shen Lan’s chest. Lu Yunfan's mother, Tao Lan, scanned the room. "Where's Xiao Cheng?" she asked, puzzled. "I can’t find him anywhere. Did he leave early?" The name made Shen Lan’s ears burn. A phantom heat, impossible to ignore, bloomed on the spot where his lips had brushed against her. "I... I think I just saw him head that way." Shen Lan deliberately pointed in the opposite direction of the back garden. Tao Lan’s eyes lit up. She quickly pulled Lu Yunqing aside and whispered something in her ear. A blush crept up Lu Yunqing’s cheeks, a shy excitement in her eyes. "Okay, I'll go alone. Mom, you stand guard for me. Don't let anyone ruin my chance." After smoothing her hair, she lifted her skirt and hurried off in the direction Shen Lan had indicated, her steps light and eager. Watching her retreating figure, Shen Lan suddenly recalled Xiao Cheng's unnaturally high temperature. A sudden realization dawned on her, and she shot a stunned look at Tao Lan. But Tao Lan, preoccupied with her daughter’s success, didn't notice the look and hurried after her to stand watch. Seeing her stare after his mother, Lu Yunfan frowned, his voice cool. "What is it?" Shen Lan quickly looked away, shaking her head. "Nothing." Revealing something like that would do her no good. Her dull, withdrawn expression irritated him. Lu Yunfan yanked at his tie, loosening it and revealing a sliver of his collarbone—and the stark, crimson mark on it. Shen Lan couldn’t stop herself. She shot out a hand, grabbing his sleeve. Her voice came out raw as she demanded, "Lu Yunfan, why is there a hickey on your collarbone?" Startled, Lu Yunfan glanced down and saw it—a large patch of red marks spreading from his collarbone down to his chest. Damn it. He’d specifically told Zhou Xinran not to leave any marks. He hadn't thought she'd be so careless. "What hickey? What nonsense are you talking about?" Lu Yunfan quickly fastened his button, his brow furrowed as he brushed her off. "It’s a mosquito bite." "You're saying a mosquito did that?" A bitter laugh almost escaped her. Did he take her for a fool? As if she couldn't tell the difference between a mosquito bite and a hickey. "The back garden is overgrown. It's perfectly normal to get bitten by a few mosquitos." His cold eyes settled on her, his tone turning flippant and humiliating. "You’re so quick to call it a hickey. What, do you have a lot of experience with them?" Staring at the man she had cared for for four years, Shen Lan felt the softest part of her heart being torn to shreds. "Lu Yunfan, you can't do this to me," she pleaded. "After everything I’ve done for you..." "Trying to guilt-trip me again?" Lu Yunfan cut her off with a sneer. "All you ever wanted was to marry me, right? I've already agreed to the engagement. What more do you want? For me to love you?" He let out a short, cruel laugh, his gaze turning colder than ice. "Don’t you get it? How could I ever love you!" "The one I’ve always loved is Xinran. If you hadn't taken advantage of me four years ago, clinging to me like a fly I couldn't swat away, do you really think you'd be in this position?" "You got what you wanted, so just play your part. Don't dream of anything more, and stay out of my private life." It was the most Lu Yunfan had said to her in four years, and every single word was a deliberate humiliation. Shen Lan had thought her heart was already numb to the pain, but his words still landed like a dull, heavy blow. She bit her lip, tears welling in her eyes, her voice trembling. "Lu Yunfan, I’m not shameless. If you don't want this engagement, you can call it off right now. It hasn't been announced yet. There's still time." The sight of her tears only fueled an inexplicable irritation in him. "Now you're playing hard to get, Shen Lan? You know this engagement has to happen. If I back out now, people will say my family breaks its promises, that we’re ungrateful." "You look so meek, but you’re more manipulative than you let on." Lu Yunfan’s eyes narrowed in a clear warning. "I suggest you behave yourself. Wait quietly until the party is over and don't try any tricks... unless you've given up on finding your brother?" That last sentence was his trump card, and it hit her right where she was most vulnerable. Shen Lan couldn't leave the Lu family. She was powerless on her own. She needed them for her revenge, and she needed their connections to find her brother. She watched him walk away, and with him, the memory of the kind, gentle boy she once knew seemed to fade into nothing. "What are you crying for? A piece of trash like that—are you going to kick him to the curb or save him for a special occasion?" A man's voice, tinged with mockery, cut through her thoughts. Shen Lan turned to find herself face-to-face with an exceptionally handsome man. She hastily wiped away her tears, her usual stoic and aloof expression falling back into place. "Mr. Xiao." Xiao Cheng took a step closer. The faint, pleasant scent wafting from her seemed to instantly soothe him. A flicker of something crossed his eyes. "Shen Lan," he said suddenly, "why don't you come with me? All the grievances you've suffered in the Lu family... I'll help you pay them back, one by one."