"Enough."
Ning An raised her hand to cut him off. "I didn't come here today to argue with you."
"I'll find a chance later to tell Grandmother about calling off the engagement..."
"An'an!"
Qin Wang grabbed her shoulders and pulled her into his arms. "Calm down and listen to me first."
"I have been in contact with her, but only because my parents went too far back then, and I wanted to make it up to her."
She had guessed right after all. The only person Qin Wang truly feared was his grandmother. After he had dropped his dignity to play-act for so long, the mere mention of his grandmother made him overturn every excuse he had concocted since last night.
"The entertainment industry is a cesspool, and all sorts of 'hidden rules' are common. She has no background and no support, so she's easily bullied. If I look out for her, it avoids a lot of unnecessary trouble, so we meet up occasionally."
"I didn't explain in time at the club last night because the son of an entertainment agency CEO was there. If I had been too clear, everything I’d worked for would have gone to waste," Qin Wang added.
Ning An remained unmoved. "So you sacrificed me to accommodate Tang Meng?"
Qin Wang tightened his arms. "I'm sorry. I didn't think Tang Meng would show up."
"If you don't like it, I won't see her again."
Qin Wang leaned his head in, attempting to kiss her cheek.
Ning An pushed his face away and mocked, "Didn't you say you wanted to compensate her? Why stop protecting her now..."
Her voice trailed off abruptly. Ning An's eyes widened, her jaw dropping as she stared at a fresh, red hickey hidden beneath the collar of his shirt.
Her already dizzy head felt as though it had been struck by a blunt object. Her mind went blank, and a bone-chilling cold spread from the soles of her feet. She had still underestimated Qin Wang's ability to lie through his teeth. The jury at yesterday's film awards ceremony had clearly been lax; Qin Wang was the one who truly deserved an award.
"Qin Wang, I'm tired."
Suppressing her nausea, Ning An pushed him away. Assuming an expression of disappointment and hurt, she said wearily, "I am grateful for the care you've shown me in the past, but I don't want to like you anymore."
"For the sake of your grandmother, let's part on good terms and end this here."
Ning An had a reserved personality and rarely wore her emotions on her face; often, the angrier she was, the calmer she appeared. Qin Wang knew this well, and an unprecedented panic began to spread from the bottom of his heart.
Her slender fingers slowly withdrew from his chest, and it felt as if something was being ripped from him. Qin Wang hurriedly grabbed her hand.
"I don't allow it."
"I do not agree to cancel the engagement."
Ning An remained unmoved. "Then I'll have no choice but to ask Grandmother for help..."
A ringtone suddenly interrupted her. Ning An pulled out her phone, saw it was Xi Siyuan calling, quickly hung up, and stuffed it back into her pocket.
Qin Wang hadn't seen the screen clearly. Seeing her rush to hide the phone, he assumed it was out of guilt and demanded, "Whose call was that?"
"It has nothing to do with you."
No sooner had she spoken than her phone chimed with WeChat notifications. They came one after another, ringing incessantly.
Qin Wang watched her, thoughtful. "The security guard at the club last night said you left with a man. Who was that?"
Ning An was bewildered. "What man?"
"Then what about this?"
Qin Wang suddenly gripped her chin, his thumb pressing against her lips. As he rubbed, the lipstick faded, revealing a small, jagged cut on her lip. He pressed his thumb harder into the wound, causing her lower lip to turn slightly outward, clearly exposing a green-bean-sized injury on the inside.
It was a bite mark.
"What is this?"
Qin Wang's dark eyes were somber, and an unjustified rage surged toward her. "Which man bit you?"
Ning An glanced at the hickey on his neck. "You don't seem to have the right to question me."
"What is that supposed to mean..."
"Knock, knock—"
"Young Master, Miss Ning, lunch is ready."
"Alright, I'll be down in a moment."
Ning An slapped Qin Wang's hand away and walked toward the door without looking back.
Qin Wang called after her, "An'an!"
Ning An stopped with her back to him. "Once I've eaten, I will find a chance to tell Grandmother we are calling off the engagement."
"Do you really have to make things this difficult?"
Qin Wang reached out from behind, trapping her between his chest and the door. His voice was cold, completely devoid of his usual gentleness.
"We've been engaged for over a year, and both families are discussing wedding dates. Are you sure you want to cancel the engagement?"
Qin Wang dropped the act entirely, threatening, "Have you told your parents about this?"
Ning An tightened her grip on the doorknob and turned slowly to look at him. "So now you're saying you have nothing to do with Tang Meng?"
His grandmother might not be fully aware of how the Xiao Family treated her, but having relied on Qin Wang since she was young, Ning An would instinctively turn to him whenever she encountered trouble. Just as she understood Qin Wang, Qin Wang understood everything about her.
Only yesterday, he had been bad-mouthing her behind her back, saying she didn't dare defy her adoptive parents, and today he was using that same fact to threaten her to her face.
He had truly studied her thoroughly. But those were only surface things; he had never truly understood her as a person or her heart.
Qin Wang realized something, his expression shifting. "Are you doing this on purpose?"
"I really wanted to believe you."
Qin Wang stood behind her, his head lowered, and as Ning An looked up, their noses were almost touching. She looked straight into his eyes. "But then I realized, it seems I was just fooling myself."
Qin Wang: "..."
"Brother Awang."
After several years, Ning An used this form of address once more, and it would be the last time. "You know, the old me would have done anything you asked, provided you needed it."
"But why did you have to lie to me?"
"You knew better than anyone that I hate being deceived."
And that she was most afraid of being abandoned.
Ning An hadn't been born into an orphanage. According to the orphanage director, she was one year old when her family abandoned her and dropped her off there. After the Xiao Family adopted her, they had given her the warmth of a home, only to abandon and abuse her for no reason just as she had finally accepted that she had a family.
From then on, Ning An realized that to avoid being abandoned, one must learn to be content and to let go. Over the years, whether it was a person or a pet, once she sensed even a hint of resistance or avoidance, no matter how good the relationship had been, she would withdraw without hesitation.
As long as she never possessed something, she would never be hurt by losing it. As long as she took the initiative to let go early, there could be no such thing as being forced to be abandoned.
If Qin Wang had told her everything from the beginning—that he wanted to get back together with Tang Meng and needed a fake engagement to hide it from his family—she might have agreed to his request and helped him convince his parents and grandmother.
At the very least, she wouldn't have been left believing that her secret crush would eventually be rewarded, dreaming unrealistic dreams, only to be hated and cast aside by him.