On the day of her return to China, she was tied up and coaxed by the richest man to get her marriage

Collecting her thoughts and considering the circumstances, she looked again at the man before her, his handsome features and deep, dark eyes gleaming with a roguish charm.

For some reason, she felt like he was mocking her.

Because she didn't listen to him back then, she indeed suffered a setback with Jiang Xintong later on.

Although this is true.

But she didn't want to be ridiculed by him; her instinct was to save face.

"I……"

But when I met his eyes again, they were incredibly clear and cold.

It seemed like he just said it offhand.

He probably doesn't know that Jiang Xintong was behind his grandmother's accident.

She swallowed hard, somewhat unable to look him in the eye, and calmly replied, "Actually, you don't need to make it up to me. You don't owe me anything."

As she spoke, her gaze lowered, sweeping across his abdomen.

If you really want to calculate it carefully, he helped her more. Even though his father saved him, he lost half his life in the Yu family's situation, so it's even now.

That fatal scar became a chasm that would never allow them to reconcile.

Si Qing slowly exhaled a smoke ring, blurring his deep, dark eyes. After a moment, his thin lips parted slightly.

“I promised my father-in-law that I would protect your safety and safeguard your rights at all times. I made a three-year agreement with him, and during those three years, I fulfilled my responsibilities without a single failure.”

Yu Jinzhao felt a jolt in his heart, a feeling of mixed emotions welling up from within.

Indeed, he did an impeccable job in protecting her, living up to his father's expectations without a single fault.

As he spoke, seeing her somewhat dazed expression, his breathing became heavier, and he looked up at the azure sky. "Only on the day I left, I failed in my duty."

She blinked her fox-like eyes, a smile playing on her lips, and asked casually, "So, Mr. Si is so clear about separating public and private matters?"

Si Qing flicked his cigarette ash and called her again, "Young Miss."

Yu Jinzhao gently curled her lips, watching his handsome smoking gesture, and ground her teeth against the inside of her mouth.

He met her gaze directly, his expression turning cold and serious.

"The day after Grandma's accident was the full three years."

Yu Jinzhao loosened his grip, letting the crumpled leaves fall to the ground.

She felt her heart sinking with the falling leaves.

When their past was mentioned, his calm eyes showed no emotion; to him, it was just an insignificant experience.

In his eyes, their past relationship was merely that of employer and employee, cold and devoid of any affection.

Because he left a day early, and then she had an accident and was sent abroad, he felt it was his dereliction of duty and a failure.

His compensation was simply because he felt that his perfect life had been marred by an unnecessary failure, so he wanted to make up for it.

That's why I offered to help today, even saying that she should have stayed an extra day, and then brought her to the hospital to help her sort everything out.

After all, he is a perfectionist and has a strong sense of responsibility. His sense of responsibility is reflected in the fact that he will always do what he promises and do it well.

Fortunately, she had already guessed this possibility and didn't blurt out whether they were planning to make up, otherwise it would have been too awkward.

She was thinking about making up, while he was thinking about how to sever ties with her from the past.

For a fleeting moment, she naively thought that his compensation might be because he felt she had been wronged, and therefore he was standing up for her as a friend.

Now, his coldness was like a biting wind, hitting her face again and again, making all her previous reactions seem like wishful thinking.

"That was a day I owed you, Miss, and I should repay you." Si Qing crushed the cigarette, his voice hoarse and deep from the smoke.

Yu Jinzhao looked up at him.

He saw his own reflection in her clear eyes, his expression extremely somber and unreadable.

A pair of jet-black pupils reflected a soft light, yet they were even deeper than before, a darkness that even raging fire could not melt, profound and gloomy.

In that instant their eyes met, she felt the light swirling in the man's eyes converge into an invisible blade, carrying the power to tear through the darkness, severing those things that were intangible and invisible.

She couldn't help but lower her eyes, feeling her face stiffen, and the clear light in her eyes gradually turned into self-mockery.

I knew he was a heartless and emotionless man, so what was she expecting just now?

"I will take responsibility for Grandma's matter," Si Qing said with a dignified and gentle air, as he habitually adjusted his Buddhist prayer beads.

Yu Jinzhao had calmed down and realized that he only saw helping her as an employment relationship, so her attitude became distant without her realizing it.

"Let's go back."

He gave her a cold glance and walked with her across the street.

When Yin Zhuo saw them approaching, his initial excitement suddenly sank.

I don't know what the couple talked about, but why did the atmosphere suddenly become so distant?

They were standing so close, yet it felt as if the Milky Way separated them.

The hug and hand-holding in the elevator, the intimate and ambiguous feelings he had just experienced, were like the winter smog being blown away by a heavy rain, leaving only a blank space.

Walking to the car, watching the handsome and elegant man bow and get into the back seat, Yu Jinzhao, who was standing outside the car door, withdrew her gaze and politely spoke.

"I'm sorry to have taken up your time today. I've called a car and I'm going home to stay for the night, so I won't be going back to Royal Garden."

*

Let's get to the plot you've all been waiting for—Master Si's pursuit of his wife is set to begin!