No reconciliation, no forgiveness! Mr. Pei leaves with nothing.

"...This is the last time I'm letting you go. There won't be a next time."

Jiang Hua: "Pei Zhan...this is the last time..."

Forgive him one last time…

Her voice was soft, yet it was like a pebble thrown into a calm lake, creating ripples.

When that time comes, if she wants to leave, Pei Zhan won't be able to stop her.

After uttering those last words, Pei Zhan dared to reach out and stroke her face again. His fingers ran through the strands of hair at the back of her head, slowly drawing closer to her, forehead to forehead, nose to nose, "...Huahua, Happy New Year."

According to the time, France is six hours behind Beijing. Based on this time, listening to the sound of the church bells ringing outside, there is still enough time.

Let's treat it as their first New Year...

Jiang Hua didn't like being inexplicably sentimental. Even if it was meant to be romantic, Pei Zhan was injured and couldn't stand up straight. She pushed him away, pressed the button on the bedside table, and within half a minute, the servants outside quickly came in.

"Young Madam, is there anything you need?"

Jiang Hua: "I'm hungry."

The maid said, "I'll have someone serve you the food right away, young mistress, please wait a moment."

After everyone left, she discovered that all the servants had been replaced by Chinese.

As Jiang Hua got up, the man on the bed suddenly grabbed her hand, preventing her from leaving. "I'll have someone bring the food to your room. You don't need to come downstairs." Pei Zhan now wished Jiang Hua would stay within his sight and not leave for even a moment.

She stared at him intently for a long time, but still didn't like his unkempt appearance. It wasn't that he looked bad, but she felt he looked too old.

There was already an eight or nine-year age gap between them. Pei Zhan was almost thirty-two, and he would be thirty-three soon after his birthday. Jiang Hua was only in her twenties. Compared to him, Pei Zhan did look quite old, not to mention that he had grown a beard and looked like he was in his forties.

They don't even look as young as their fathers.

Jiang Hua also heard it from her maternal grandfather. When her father was young, he looked like a dashing and elegant scholar from ancient times. He exuded the air of a well-read and refined person with beautiful features. It was said that her father's face was exactly what her mother liked. In addition, her father was known for his good temper and was a slow-to-get-angry person.

However, after some events, she developed premature graying of hair just one month after giving birth. Her father was only twenty-five at the time.

After recovering his health, Jiang Weiguo, who is now in his forties or fifties, pays attention to health preservation and looks only about thirty-five or thirty-six years old.

Jiang Hua smiled and, as always, reached out and patted his face. "You look so ugly right now... I don't want to eat with that face on my face."

"Take good care of your injuries."

"I don't want to become a widow at such a young age."

Jiang Hua had just gotten up halfway when a powerful force suddenly pulled her back. There was a moment of darkness before her eyes, and when she came to her senses, she was already lying on the bed with someone on top of her. Jiang Hua didn't understand his actions, but she heard him call out, "Kagel."

Kagel appeared as soon as he was called, pushing open the door and saying, "Young Master."

"Have the servants bring the food to the room."

"It's Young Master." Upon seeing this, Kagel remained expressionless, quietly pushing open the door and stepping out.

“I will not let you remain a widow,” Pei Zhan told her.

This action caused the needle in Pei Zhan's hand to fall off, revealing the crisscrossing veins on the back of his hand and a visible bruise. Using IV drips and nutrient injections to maintain his vital signs was a form of self-torture, ultimately turning a proud and unyielding person into something like this, neither human nor ghost.

Unfortunately, he wasn't a good person, and she was just too soft-hearted; she just happened to fall for his self-inflicted suffering.

Jiang Hua knew he was gambling with his life, but her heart couldn't bear to watch him die...

“Pei Zhan… if I’m still the same as before, arrogant and unreasonable, would you get tired of me and fall for someone… who is gentler, more understanding, and makes you feel sorry for and love them.”

"No!" Pei Zhan answered without the slightest hesitation, "I have never thought about divorcing you."

"I won't start easily, and I certainly won't... end easily."

Their beginning was something he had planned long ago, and even more so... the result of his painstaking efforts.

Pei Zhan has never been a casual person. If he had never been attracted to Jiang Hua, he would never have given her any chance to get close to him when they first slept together at the hotel.

Aside from when Jiang Hua was abducted to Wuchuan as a child…

They first met at the branch office in Haishi; Jiang Hua was only seventeen at the time…

The second time they met was after Pei Zhan had been promoted and transferred to the head office in the capital. At that time, she was nineteen... She was a notorious troublemaker in the glitz and glamour, who did whatever she wanted because of her wealth and her relationship with the Shen family, and had no sense of right and wrong.

As she once said, human life is worthless...

Although she said it in a moment of anger, over time, these words will remain deeply ingrained in her mind, and going to prison will be just a matter of a moment's hesitation.

Her temper was all due to being spoiled and pampered. If Pei Zhan wanted to subdue her, he had to be even more ruthless than her and make her taste the bitterness. Only when she knew fear would she not go astray and learn to restrain herself.

Jiang Weiguo doted on her too much, indulging her in everything. He was already too busy with company matters to spare, let alone have the time or energy to discipline her properly.

The circle she was in consisted of spoiled rich kids who lived a life of extravagance and debauchery.

Once people no longer lack material things, they will seek out some kind of stimulation.

Pei Zhan witnessed firsthand how Jiang Hua was almost dragged into the abyss in a private room at the Golden Splendor Club. Taking advantage of her ignorance, he tried to lead her to things she shouldn't have.

He stood in the corner, watching Jiang Hua's every move. She casually accepted the cigarette without any guard up, and he realized that no matter how arrogant and domineering Jiang Hua was, she was naively unguarded in front of a group of people in the same circle, which was simply foolish!

That night, Pei Zhan took her away, tossing the cigarette from her hand, probably not wanting her to know the darkness she shouldn't know, without saying a word...

The last few were also secretly dealt with by Pei Zhan and sent to prison.

He eventually softened and pulled the person back from the brink of disaster.

He had countless opportunities to turn a blind eye to everything about her; if he simply ignored everything, it would only be a matter of time before she became a cripple…

Jiang Hua is not worth his time or effort to deal with...

Even if it's not worth it...

Regarding her, honestly... he still couldn't do it, and just let it go.

Back then, Jiang Weiguo valued his abilities and used every means to get him to take over the Jiang family business. He did want to bankrupt the Jiang family business, but at that time he only wanted to use the Wang family to achieve his own goals.

When they had sex, Jiang Hua was only twenty years old, while Pei Zhan was already twenty-eight. In his eyes, Jiang Hua was just a young girl…

Jiang Huawu drank wine that someone had drugged him, and that very night... completely disrupted all his plans.

In the end, he chose to go with the flow...

Over the course of three years, Pei Zhan not only managed the company but also dealt with the shady and corrupt people around Jiang Hua. Unbeknownst to them, after three years of getting together, it seemed as if a mysterious hand was guiding them from behind the scenes, leading them to be together naturally.

In the three years since they met, how could Pei Zhan not have had his own selfish motives...?

Gradually, her desire for revenge against the Jiang family faded.

Upon seeing the crystal ball... no one knew how surprised and delighted Pei Zhan was... that Jiang Hua would reappear by his side in this way.

He was even more grateful that he hadn't ignored her back then...

Step by step, she was led into the abyss.

If before Jiang Hua turned eighteen, Ji Liangchuan was the only one who existed…

After Jiang Hua turned eighteen, it was him…

In the future, there will only be him...

Even without Ji Liangchuan, they should have been together...

Thankfully... it's not too late yet.

Pei Zhan's thoughts returned. "Before Mrs. Pei came along, many wealthy and powerful women had tried to bribe me. If I were truly that greedy, I would have had countless opportunities to leave the Jiang family..."

Even if she initially joined the Jiang family only for revenge, people's hearts always change.

Even if he didn't join the Jiang family, he had countless ways to make them disappear from the capital. Moreover, at that time, the Jiang family was besieged on all sides, and it wasn't just the Wang family that was watching it.

Jiang's Jewelry Group is a company that everyone wants a piece of.

Even without the crystal ball, even without knowing that she was the girl from back then, Pei Zhan would still be moved by her.

"Is it Mrs. Mo from the oil conglomerate? And Mrs. Jin from the Yantian Port Group?"

"If you had to choose, who would you pick?"

Pei Zhan hugged her tightly, "Isn't the answer... obvious enough?" He looked at her with burning eyes.

"And what made you choose the Jiang family?"

"Just because I'm pretty?"

Pei Zhan: "Isn't that reason enough?"

Jiang Hua: "You're so superficial."

It wasn't until Pei Zhan leaned down and whispered a few words in Jiang Hua's ear that her hard, bluish stubble stung her delicate face. At the same time, the sound of his warm breath made her ears burn, and her eyes glared at him with such hatred that she wanted to kill him.

You despicable bastard.

She shouldn't have given him the time of day.

"Young master, young mistress...it's time to eat."

In the large room, there was a dining table. Kagel helped Pei Zhan to sit down at the table and took out a handkerchief from his suit pocket to wipe away the remaining bloodstains on the back of the man's hand.

The dishes on the table were mostly Jiang Hua's favorites.

Pei Zhan was still a bit weak and couldn't eat meat all at once. Even if he did eat, he could only drink some porridge first to nourish his stomach. Little did anyone know that Pei Zhan was having trouble even holding chopsticks, but he still put some food on Jiang Hua's plate, saying, "Try this."

Jiang Hua sat down next to him and took his chopsticks away. "Alright, take care of yourself first."

"I really don't want to be a widow."

"I'm still very young."

Pei Zhan's lips curled up, and he chuckled softly, "Okay."

Jiang Hua was indeed hungry, but she ate slowly, chewing each bite carefully. It took her almost an hour to finish eating.

Passing a screen, Kagel was applying medicine to Pei Zhan, who was covered in wounds, by the bedside in the bedroom. A white bandage was wrapped around his chest, and as far as she could see, there was hardly a spot that was unharmed…

His legs were now completely exposed to Jiang Hua's view. His left leg was supported by mechanical assistance, and the screws connecting and rotating it seemed to have drilled into the bone. The pain was unimaginable and indescribable, a hundred times more terrible than she had imagined.

Just then, a maid came in from outside with a microphone in her hand and respectfully said to Jiang Hua, "Young Madam, someone from China called you, saying it's your father."

Jiang Hua didn't have time to go forward. She simply took the phone handed to her with both hands, walked out of the room, came to a quiet corridor, stood by the stained-glass bed, and put the phone to her ear, "Daddy~"

"It's just nonsense!"

"Do you know how dangerous it is? In a blizzard, a plane could crash at any moment. What if something happens to you... what will your father do!"

"Are you with Pei Zhan?"

"Is he alright?"

Her father's voice sounded like he was trying to get information out of her.

"If Pei Zhan really can't hold on, Dad... do you still want to use me as a bargaining chip and arrange for me to go on blind dates with other scions of prominent families again?!"

The person on the other end of the phone was clearly stunned.

After a long silence, Jiang Weiguo finally spoke, "I'm doing this for your own good."

“If Pei Zhan really can’t make it… at least you’ll have another option, Huahua… Dad doesn’t want to see you sad and heartbroken because of him. Ever since you came back from France, your reaction… Dad has seen it all…”

I'm unhappy no matter what I do.

Jiang Hua's long eyelashes trembled slightly, then slowly lowered, a shadow falling over her eyes. "Where is the acting president?"

"Isn't Dad trying to turn me into an object to bind the other person?"

Jiang Weiguo's tone turned cold. Hearing these words, he felt a sharp pain in his chest. "Is that how much you miss your father?"

“These things should be kept separate. The acting president is only temporarily stabilizing the company’s situation.”

"The scions of prominent families I've arranged for you to associate with are all grandsons of your maternal grandfather's students, the future heirs of their families. Father... right now, I just hope you can be happy."

"Sigh... never mind."

"Now that you're over there, take good care of yourself. If you need money... tell your dad."

Jiang Hua felt her eyes tighten, tears welling up like the moon veiled in drifting clouds. She felt an urge to cry. "I'm sorry, Dad..."

"Alright, why are you crying for no reason!"

"You really think your father would sell you out for the sake of the company?"

"No...no." Jiang Hua's voice was a little choked up. "I'm sorry, Dad, I...can't be with you for Chinese New Year this year."

"You don't need to worry about Dad. He'll come back when Pei Zhan's injuries have almost healed."

"Ah."

imperial capital.

After Jiang Weiguo hung up the phone.

Wang Qi also heard the conversation on the phone, and his face showed worry. "What if the person who sent the message is telling the truth..."

"Then, Miss Pei... and everything that happened before, wasn't it all done by Young Master Pei?"