None of your business!

"Let's go home," she said.

The two of them stood by the bridge, facing the river, letting the breeze blow over them.

"Can you open your hand and let me see?" Jun Yihan intentionally reached out to pull her right hand. He had noticed for a while that she kept her right hand clenched tightly into a fist.

She refused to loosen it, only offering him a brilliant smile.

"Forget it then, I won't look." Jun Yihan said this on purpose, though he could roughly guess what was going on.

She extended her right hand and opened her palm.

A ring. A rose diamond ring.

"He gave this to you?" Jun Yihan smiled. "He certainly moves fast."

The moment he held her hand, the ring pressed against her palm, enclosed within their grasp. "Should I throw it away?" She had no idea what he meant by doing this. In any case, it had kept her heart restless right up until now. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been in such a rush to leave. It turned out he was even more stubborn than she had imagined.

"Do you want to throw it away?" He took the ring from her open palm. "Otherwise, should I help you?" With that, he made a throwing motion, and the object flew out of his hand, describing an arc as it fell into the river.

"..." She wanted to cry out in protest, but felt like she had been struck mute. Her mouth opened without a sound, because the object had instantly vanished beneath the river's surface. What was the use of saying anything now?

"What, do you regret it?"

"I do regret it—it cost a lot of money." Her smile was bitter. Yet, what was lost was hard to regain. Didn't she want to get rid of it? Why was she still feeling a sense of attachment?

He watched her smile, then opened his palm right before her eyes. The ring was undeniably still there.

A sudden flash of surprise lit up her eyes—the joy of something lost and recovered. She was still just as incapable of hiding her true feelings.

"Sometimes, what you think you have lost isn't truly lost at all," he said. "This ring belongs to you. It was born for you, and it can only ever belong to you."

Xia Yuwei looked at Jun Yihan, feeling she didn't understand. He seemed to know so much. He looked both mysterious and familiar, indifferent yet affectionate, far away yet close at hand.

"Then let me keep it safe for you for now," he said, putting the ring away. "When the day comes that you want it, I'll return it to you."

***

By the time Jun Yihan escorted her home, it was already very late.

Xia Yuwei felt drowsy all the way up in the elevator. Fortunately, the next day was her day off. With Yufan away, she could afford to rest a little longer.

Stepping out of the elevator, she kept her head down, searching for her keys until she finally managed to fish them out. The hallway lights flickered on and off.

Suddenly, a tall figure entered her field of vision. She looked up, and without any warning, tumbled straight into someone's arms, pulled into a tight embrace.

"Why..." Why was he here?

Before she could finish a single word, she was met with a fierce, tempestuous embrace and a predatory kiss that brooked no argument or negotiation.

Just like the young man he was years ago, he was conveying a frantic and desperate intensity to her.

Her handbag slipped from her hand and hit the floor.

From the moment he approached, she knew it was him. No one else could be this frantic and willful.

He vented his dissatisfaction as if trying to devour her, grinding, biting, and ravaging her lips. Not satisfied with that, he pressed her entire body against the wall, grabbed her hair to force her head back, and left his mark on her neck...

"You're a madman!" she panted, tormented by him, her back pressed hard against the wall with nowhere to hide and no way to escape. As he kissed her collarbone, she pushed at him and cursed him, her chest heaving.

He snatched the keys from her hand, gripped her waist, pushed open the door, and shoved her inside. He picked up her handbag and tossed it onto the living room sofa, then stepped in and shut the door behind him.

She was shoved inside so hard she nearly stumbled and fell. He was just as barbaric as ever. He wouldn't change even if he lived to be a hundred... she thought.

In the enclosed space, his gaze was dark and brooding. Without a word, his tall figure closed in on her step by step, actually making her feel a trace of fear.

"I... what did I do to offend you..." she stammered, backing away. Her hair was completely disheveled, the elegant updo now coming undone. As she retreated, she almost tripped over her own high heels.

"Stupid woman!" He strode forward, grabbed her waist, and lifted her entirely off the ground. With her feet dangling in the air, she kicked out at him continuously, kicking off one of her shoes. Yet, as if completely insensible to it, he carried her straight into the bathroom, turned on the showerhead, and reached out to start filling the bathtub.

"Ah!" she shrieked as cold water suddenly sprayed out, drenching her clothes. Although it was summer, she had no habit of taking cold showers! "Have you lost your mind?!" Wiping the droplets from her face, she angrily tried to kick him out! He had shown up at her apartment out of nowhere, thrown a fit for no reason, and now was treating her like this!

"I have lost my mind!" he shouted, aggressively tearing her dress down from the shoulders. The gown slid down her body to her waist, leaving the bare skin of her upper body—she wasn't wearing a bra—exposed brazenly to the air. Both of them were soaked from head to toe. Her sensitized skin broke out in a layer of goosebumps...

"You're a lunatic! A lunatic! A lunatic!" she kicked and cursed at him.

"If I'm a lunatic, I was driven crazy by a woman like you! If you want to get married, fine, get married; if you want to have children, fine, have children! Why on earth are you still flirting with other men? Is one man seriously not enough for you? Why go strutting around at places like that?!" As he spoke, he flung her into the bathtub.

"Good grief! Who do you think you are? It's none of your business!" What marriage, children, and flirting with other men? What kind of incoherent nonsense was all this?!