Volume 1 Chapter 5 I Want You to Take Full Responsibility for Me

Qiao Nian'an’s slender shoulders were tense.

Six years after their breakup, she had never intended to see him again. Yet, after this wretched reunion, she had encountered him repeatedly!

She tried to turn her trembling body aside, making room for him to enter. As their bodies brushed against each other, a thousand emotions welled up in her heart. She kept her head bowed and walked toward the exit.

He had come to take his revenge on her. And why not? He had every right to hate her.

Back then, she had pursued him relentlessly. After he rejected her, she ignored him entirely until graduation, when he hooked his legs around hers to keep her from leaving, pulling her onto his lap to kiss her.

They were admitted to the same university and dated for two years before she dumped him. After they broke up, he was involved in a horrific car accident, barely escaping with his life.

Since then, they had vanished completely from each other's worlds. She had fallen from a pampered heiress into the mire, while he, once a penniless boy, had transformed into the crown prince of the Beijing social circle.

Their social statuses were worlds apart, and with her father branded an economic criminal, she could not drag him down. His mother had knelt before her, begging her to leave him. She had said he was her only chance at redemption, but he could not have a girlfriend whose father was a felon; it would do him more harm than good in reclaiming his status as a scion of the Fu family.

Fu Yunzhen watched her keep her eyes lowered, refusing to look at him. He, too, lowered his gaze slightly, masking the dark red at the corners of his eyes.

Hearing footsteps approaching from behind the private room, Qiao Nian'an seized the chance to hurry away.

Wen Yusi stepped out and handed Fu Yunzhen a glass of wine. "Yunzhen, do you remember Qiao Nian'an? The woman who just ran off? She’s working here as a waitress. We can see she’s not doing well—shall we give her a little tip?"

Wen Yusi never imagined that the poorest boy from their high school days would turn out to be the crown prince of the Fu family. Now, having become a business prodigy through his own merit, he stood at the pinnacle of the pyramid. Even her father wanted her to use their status as former classmates to secure his investment in certain projects.

"How much do you intend to tip?" Fu Yunzhen’s handsome, arresting face remained calm, his deep eyes devoid of ripples. His presence was overwhelmingly oppressive.

Wen Yusi held up five fingers. "...”

Before she could speak, Fu Yunzhen interjected, "Five hundred thousand? As classmates, we should help one another."

Wen Yusi’s eyes widened. What? Five hundred thousand? She meant fifty!

Her annual salary wasn't even five hundred thousand. But because her father insisted she secure Fu Yunzhen’s investment, she had no choice but to bite the bullet and "tip" the five hundred thousand.

At the same time, Huo Jianting hurried to tell the other classmates in the room, "Our class representative, Wen Yusi, knows that our classmate Qiao Nian'an has fallen on hard times. As classmates, she has sent a gift of five hundred thousand to help her get through this crisis. Everyone should show some gesture to help her out, too!"

"Furthermore, everyone here was classmates with her for three years—surely you didn't spend little of her money back then? And it was more than this amount... now that you have the means, it’s time to pay her back."

Although Qiao Nian'an’s family had fallen, her former boyfriend, the poor boy she’d dumped, had transformed into the crown prince of the Beijing circle. She could have asked him for help. Why did they have to end in a breakup?

The other classmates looked at the elegant and low-key Fu Yunzhen; this was their chance to make an impression. Being generous to a classmate might just lead to a business partnership! After all, being associated with a century-old family meant a lifetime of financial freedom.

Everyone gritted their teeth and began making their "tips." Originally intending to donate only a few hundred, they felt pressured by Fu Yunzhen’s presence and Huo Jianting’s words, which left them unable to hold their heads up. Every single one of them ended up donating five hundred thousand.

Thirty people attended the reunion, totaling fifteen million yuan. This money was transferred in full to Qiao Nian'an under the clubhouse's name.

The reunion came to an end, but everyone was curious about the woman who had dumped Fu Yunzhen. They all guessed it must be Qiao Nian'an. Looking at how Fu Yunzhen had stood up for her, it was all but confirmed.

After escaping the clubhouse, Qiao Nian'an braved the rain on her electric scooter. As she crossed an intersection, a car flashed its high beams at her. She couldn't brake in time and crashed, falling along with her scooter.

Her fair knees scraped against the concrete, drawing blood, and her palms were badly grazed. As she tried to lift her scooter, the door of a Maybach less than half a meter away opened. Shining leather shoes emerged from beneath black suit trousers, raindrops splashing onto the leather.

Looking up, she saw a custom-made suit. He held a black umbrella in one hand, his tall, imposing figure walking toward her, his innate nobility impossible to hide.

As he drew closer, his handsome, rain-obscured features became familiar, sinking deep into Qiao Nian'an’s eyes. The man’s face was stern, his deep eyes cold. The hand holding the umbrella revealed a wrist adorned with a faded red string, looking entirely out of place against his expensive attire.

A profound, bone-deep sense of oppression washed over her.

Looking at his cold, refined face, her thin frame froze. Every time she encountered Fu Yunzhen, she felt an inexplicable nervousness. The man who had been partying in the clubhouse just moments ago was now standing right before her. The crown prince of a century-old Beijing family, the new darling of North American international finance.

"Get in the car," he commanded. His hand, holding the umbrella, drifted instinctively toward Qiao Nian'an.

"No need," Qiao Nian'an said, trying to steady her scooter, only to realize her hands and feet were too injured to function.

He hated her to the bone; why would he hold an umbrella for her?

Fu Yunzhen stared at her with dark, inscrutable eyes. His thin lips curled slightly, hiding a deeper meaning. "Ex-girlfriend, it seems you enjoy being held by me."

Without another word, he discarded the umbrella, stepped forward, and swept her up into his arms, heading straight for the car.

Suspended in the air, Qiao Nian'an instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck. His chiseled, handsome face was inches away, his broad shoulders and narrow waist exuding the raw, magnetic tension of a mature man. His sexy Adam’s apple bobbed.

She swallowed hard, inexplicably. He had only grown more bewitching with time.

He placed her in the backseat and climbed in after her, his clothes soaked through. Their skin pressed against each other.

Qiao Nian'an reflexively pulled away. "Mr. Fu, let’s consider this accident my bad luck. I scraped your car with my scooter—I’m very sorry."

She had been the one blinded by his high beams and left injured, after all.

Hearing how she addressed him, a coldness flickered in Fu Yunzhen’s eyes. Mr. Fu? Years had passed, and his little ex-girlfriend, who used to cling to him and call him "honey," had drawn such a distant line between them.

Fu Yunzhen stared at her, his long, knuckled fingers tightly clenched. His sexy voice was clear and cold.

"I don't need an apology."

"You need to take full responsibility for me."