Xuan Yanyu’s long lashes gave a faint tremble. “Xuan Xīxī, I’m sorry — it was all my fault.” “I shouldn’t have wandered off on my own.” “Xuan Xīxī, I’m sorry.” “My legs deserved to be broken. Xuan Xīxī, the baby is gone, isn’t it?”

A girl’s broken, tearful self-reproach flashed through his mind again and again. The face remained unclear, the voice slightly blurred — yet there was no denying it: what Shiyao was describing might very well have truly happened.

Xuan Yanyu felt a wave of panic wash over him. He was afraid — afraid of Yan Yunning finding out.

“Xuan Xīxī, I… I’ve remembered everything now. We won’t be separated anymore.” Shiyao cautiously drew closer to him.

Xuan Yanyu stepped back a few paces. His voice was cold, utterly devoid of warmth. “Shut your mouth. If I hear my name from your lips one more time, don’t blame me for showing you no mercy regardless of Qingchen.”

Shiyao let out a self-mocking laugh. “You don’t love me anymore, is that it?”

The man’s eyes darkened. He stated with certainty, “I never loved you. Not once. And as for what you’ve described — none of it was something I did willingly.”

Shiyao was stunned. Not willingly — someone had forced him into it?

She had truly underestimated the depth of Xuan Yanyu’s love for Yan Yunning. He loved Yan Yunning herself — only Yan Yunning — not the girl from those memories.

She had originally believed that since he couldn’t remember, a few well-chosen words would be enough to make Xuan Yanyu’s whole attitude toward her change.

Wasn’t that exactly how every short video drama she’d ever watched played out? The male lead had known the female lead long ago, then lost his memory in an accident. The second female lead would say a few things about their shared past, and the male lead would mistake her for the right person — lavishing the second lead with affection, even indulging or helping her to harm the female lead. Why was reality nothing like that?

How could Xuan Yanyu say that none of it had been willing?

Those short videos had deceived her. In truth, when a man really loved someone, it didn’t matter how much she talked — it didn’t matter whether Xuan Yanyu remembered Yan Yunning or not. The moment Yan Yunning reappeared in his life, he would fall in love with her all over again.

He would not, just because she had revealed his past with Yan Yunning, suddenly switch his attention and treat Yan Yunning coldly in favor of her.

She had never understood before why, in those short videos, the female lead could be right there beside the male lead and yet he would still, upon hearing the second female lead recount his and the female lead’s history, ignore the female lead entirely and shower the second lead with kindness. As it turned out — it was all just performance.

All fiction. Not even close to reality.

Still, at least Xuan Yanyu believed her. He had accepted that Yan Yunning was the one from his memories.

That, at least, was the one small consolation from today.

Xuan Yanyu’s expression remained stormy as he issued his warning. “From this point forward, no one is to breathe a word of any of this. If anyone does, I will not let it go lightly.”

Shiyao’s lashes trembled slightly. “Xuan…”

Remembering his warning, Shiyao caught herself and changed course. “Little President Xuan, our shared past — you’re wiping it all away with a single sentence about it not being your choice? You don’t want anything to do with me anymore, is that right? You used to care for me so deeply.”

Xuan Yanyu’s handsome face darkened, his expression dropping several degrees colder. “I said don’t bring it up again. Don’t you understand plain speech?”

“Ha.” Shiyao crumpled to the floor in anguish, tears streaming down her face. “You’ve forgotten — so what am I supposed to do? Every time I close my eyes, all I see is the child we lost. What do I do?”

“Shut your mouth. That child should never have existed.” Xuan Yanyu’s expression was deeply ugly. “All of that was false. Transmigrating into a novel is nonsense to begin with — it was nothing but a dream. All of it. Do you understand?”

“But I can’t forget it.” Shiyao bit her lip, tears falling silently. “You said you would only ever want me.”

“Lies.” Xuan Yanyu had been pushed to the edge of fury. He kicked over a chair, his eyes red-rimmed as he bore down on the trembling Shiyao.

“I’ll say this one last time. We have no relationship — none. I never loved you. If you say a single word of this nonsense in front of Ningning, I will make every breath you draw feel like torment.”

A knot tightened in Shiyao’s chest. This move — it might have been the wrong one…

Or maybe not quite…

“Close your mouth. Do you understand?”

Shiyao forced a strained smile. “I never imagined you would deny what happened between us so completely. I thought… even if we couldn’t be together, we could at least be friends.”

“We were never together. The person you were with was always Qi Qingchen. You’ve got the wrong person.”

Shiyao gritted her teeth. It felt like landing a punch on cotton — completely ineffective. In all honesty, she had never imagined that after she laid everything bare, Xuan Yanyu would still find one excuse after another to deny it all.

Her worst-case scenario had been that he would simply try to pay her off.

“I broke up with Qi Qingchen.” Shiyao’s voice came out muffled.

“That’s your business. It has nothing to do with me.”

“I’m saying it’s because of you. I’ve remembered all our memories together — how could I possibly stay with Qi Qingchen after that?”

Xuan Yanyu had no patience left for her. He issued one final warning to Shiyao, then left the private room without sparing another second.

——

Zhaolanggé Villa.

The moment Xuan Yanyu stepped into the living room and saw Yan Yunning draped lazily across the sofa, he crossed the room without a second glance at anything else, wrapped his arms around her slender waist, buried his face against her shoulder, and said, his voice trembling almost imperceptibly: “Ningning, let’s get married.”

He had turned it over in his mind the whole way home. This was the only solution he could see.

“Hm?” Yan Yunning reached up to run her hand through his soft hair, her mouth curving gently. “What’s brought this on so suddenly?”

Xuan Yanyu’s breath caught, and unbidden, the thought surfaced in his mind: “I’ll put it this way — even if he’s never been married, if he’s been with another woman, I wouldn’t consider him.” “Xuan Xīxī, the baby is gone, isn’t it?” “Shall I carry Little Sleepyhead to dinner?” “Sure, carry her to dinner.” “Xuan Xīxī, promise me — you’ll live well.”

He kept trying to convince himself that everything Shiyao had said was false, but the more he tried to forget, the more convinced he became that it was all true. What could he do?

He didn’t even dare ask his father whether what Shiyao had said to him right after he woke up had been real or not. What if it was — what if Ningning found out and didn’t want him anymore?

If he pretended he didn’t know, then even if Ningning found out the truth someday, maybe she wouldn’t blame him anymore.

He hadn’t known, after all.

“What’s wrong with you?” Yan Yunning pulled the trembling Xuan Yanyu into her arms. She could see the low, desolate look on his face, and something in her chest ached. She asked gently, “Are you cold?”

Xuan Yanyu steadied himself and pulled her close. “Ningning, let’s get married. Will you?”

He couldn’t be without her.

He could not lose her.

“Why are you in such a rush to get married?” Yan Yunning couldn’t quite follow his reasoning.

The man shook his head. “I’m not rushing. Not at all. I just want to be with you every day.”

“Xuan Yanyu.” Yan Yunning cupped his face in her hands, her eyes narrowing slightly. “Did you do something behind my back?”

He wasn’t acting like himself.

Xuan Yanyu’s heart lurched. He kept his expression steady. “No. I’m just afraid you’ll leave me.”

Yan Yunning pressed her finger to his forehead with an amused smile. “Even if we get married, I could still divorce you if I wanted to, couldn’t I?”

“We will never get divorced. I won’t allow it.”

Yan Yunning gave a helpless sigh. “Alright. I’m not going to leave you. Don’t overthink it.”

“I don’t feel secure.” Xuan Yanyu took her hand, his lips pressing together softly. “Let’s get married — will you?”