Volume 1, Chapter 24: He Wants to Marry Me

Inside the car, Faith Luo Wei held a cigarette between her fingers, the crimson cherry glowing and fading in the dim light. She glanced at Su Yu, then flicked her gaze toward the bodyguard standing loyally behind her, her brow furrowing almost imperceptibly.

She rolled the window halfway down, and the cold wind curled in, carrying a faint scent of smoke. Looking at Su Yu, she spoke in a crisp, decisive tone: "Get in."

Sitting beside Faith, Su Yu spoke with urgency and resolve: "What I said before still stands!"

Faith exhaled a plume of smoke that filled the car, arching a brow. "Heh, Si Yan is playing for keeps, isn't he? To think he'd send so many people to tail you."

She looked at the bodyguards trailing the car and felt a flicker of frustration. She had intended to smuggle the girl out this time, but that was clearly out of the question now. Si Yan clearly valued her too much—sending such an entourage just for a simple trip out.

"Miss Faith, he's going to marry me." Su Yu looked at her, her eyes devoid of the joy one might expect from a woman marrying into a wealthy family, filled instead with an unshakeable distress and resistance. She did not want to marry Si Yan; she wanted it even less than that.

Faith raised an eyebrow, her tone tinged with curiosity: "You don't want to marry him?"

Su Yu shook her head vigorously, her expression unwavering. She didn't want to—not at all.

"Why?" Faith found it somewhat amusing and couldn't help but let out a scoff. It was novel, truly; imagine someone not wanting to marry Si Yan. A man like him, overflowing with raw masculine appeal—so many women flocked to him, how could anyone not like him? Even just in bed, he should be a man worth lingering for. Yet, here was someone desperate to escape. *He must not satisfy her as well as she satisfies him,* she mused.

Su Yu's voice trembled noticeably. She clenched her fists, her eyes reddening with a stubborn defiance. "I... I don't love him."

"Then why are you marrying him!"

As if grasping for a final lifeline, she looked at Faith, her tone urgent and pleading. "Miss Faith, does our previous agreement still hold?"

Faith watched her reddened eyes, a flash of inscrutable light crossing her own. She took a drag of her cigarette, exhaled slowly, and replied in a calm, firm voice: "Of course it holds. I had intended to take you today, but unfortunately... it's not possible now."

"Yes, it's impossible..." Su Yu’s voice dropped, then she suddenly looked up, a glimmer of hope in her eyes. "Miss Faith, I have a friend whom Si Yan has locked away. Could you... could you rescue him first?"

Faith raised a brow, flicking the ash from her cigarette with a casual, indifferent air. "A man or a woman?"

"A man!" Su Yu answered almost instantly, her tone hurried, fearing a refusal.

Faith mused to herself, guessing that this man must be a romantic rival of Si Yan. She was puzzled, though; knowing Si Yan’s nature, he would surely have killed any threat long ago. To keep him alive until now? Was it for Su Yu’s sake? Faith’s gaze lingered on her. *Interesting.*

Inside the shopping mall, Faith walked alongside Su Yu, the two moving across the mirror-polished floors. She leaned in, whispering in a volume only the two of them could hear: "You mentioned he was going to marry you earlier—when?"

Su Yu’s gaze darted around as if on guard, her voice barely a murmur. "About a month from now." Si Yan had already begun preparations; she estimated it was roughly a month away. As the words left her lips, her heart skipped a beat—*Good heavens, why is this massive mall completely empty?*

While they spoke, the two entered the women's restroom, leaving the cluster of male bodyguards to wait dutifully at the door.

Faith pulled a silver communicator, no larger than a palm, from her pocket, her knuckles gleaming with a cold, pale light as she held it out to Su Yu.

"Keep this," she said, her voice flat, as if she were discussing something entirely mundane. "Once Si Yan leaves for a business trip, send me a message. My people will come to meet you."

Just as Su Yu’s fingers brushed the icy metal, she heard Faith add, in a slow, languid tone: "Actually, I could have avoided all this trouble. Killing you would have been the easiest route for me."

Su Yu’s fingers froze. When she looked up, her pupils were dilated, fear rising from the depths of her soul.

Faith, however, suddenly smiled. The curve of her lips held a touch of nonchalance, her tone even bordering on gentle. "Don't be afraid. I don't kill easily; it’s too cruel."

But Su Yu’s heart hammered even harder. If they were in the North, she might have believed Faith—there, even the most brutal figures adhered to a surface level of rules. But here, in this lawless gray zone, the word "easily" sounded like a blade hanging over her head, one that could drop at any moment.

Faith twisted the communicator between her fingers, her gaze sharp as a blade as she stared at Su Yu. "You say you don't like Si Yan. Your eyes can't lie." She pulled her hand back and pressed the device into Su Yu's palm, pushing down firmly with her thumb, her tone carrying an unquestionable certainty. "That is why I am willing to help you."

Su Yu gripped the small object; the chill beneath her fingertips seemed to seep into her very bones. She sighed, a trace of helplessness clouding her features. "Miss Faith, this won't do me any good." She lowered her gaze to the communicator in her palm, her voice dropping lower. "When I go back, Si Yan will search me."

Faith rubbed her fingers against her side, her tone devoid of emotion but laced with an unyielding detachment. "That is your problem to solve." She glanced at Su Yu, her eyes sweeping over the hand clutching the device. "The opportunity is before you. If you cannot grasp it, there is nothing I can do."

With that, she turned away, as if another word would be superfluous, leaving behind only a cold, sharp silhouette, throwing the burden of choice entirely onto Su Yu.