Chapter 3: Breaking Off the Engagement

The banquet hall had already descended into chaos, sharp questions hurling one after another at Xia An'an. Her pale little face was filled with terror and helplessness, her eyes desperately seeking help from Gu Junhan on the stage amidst the crowd.

"I...I don't know...things...things are not what you think..." Xia An'an stepped back slowly, getting farther and farther away from Xia Zhenghong and Yang Susu, who were originally by her side, as reporters vied to surround her.

Xia Wanwan watched the photos on the big screen, which showed the same ones Gu Junhan had brought to confront her just half an hour before.

As expected, she heard Gu Junhan's angry voice, "Xia Wanwan, you've gone too far!"

"It seems you've already decided it was me." Xia Wanwan felt a stifling discomfort in her heart, a feeling she had been accustomed to since childhood, but it still made her deeply upset.

After all, even if Gu Junhan was not the man she loved, he was someone who had grown up with her.

"You still want to argue at this time? Besides you, does anyone else have those photos? If it wasn't you, could it have been me and An'an?"

Otherwise, what? Xia Wanwan knew better than anyone that she hadn't done such a thing, and she believed that Gu Junhan wouldn't either, but Xia An'an...

At this thought, Xia Wanwan's gaze landed on Xia An'an, who was besieged by reporters, and next to her, Yang Susu and Xia Zhenghong, who were desperately trying to push through the crowd to protect her.

They were also her father and mother.

"Ah!" A scream of terror erupted from the crowd; something had happened to Xia An'an, who suddenly fell backward.

"An'an!" Gu Junhan could not hold back any longer; he strode forward, and as he passed Xia Wanwan, he heard her somewhat hoarse voice.

She said, "Gu Junhan, if I say I didn't do it, would you still go?"

Gu Junhan's footsteps paused because of that repressed and stubborn voice, which had made him feel a twinge of unwillingness to proceed.

Still, Gu Junhan continued his steps and rushed toward Xia An'an at a rapid pace. The Gu family patriarch tried to stop him but was not quick enough. He shoved through a throng of reporters and swept the fallen Xia An'an into his arms, "Direct your anger at me if you must, An'an is not a mistress; she is the woman I want to marry!"

"Junhan! What nonsense are you spouting!" The Gu family patriarch was already furious, he glanced apologetically at Xia Wanwan, then his gaze towards Gu Junhan was filled with a warning, "I know you've always treated An'an as your own sister, and can't bear to see her wronged, but now is not the time for your impulsiveness. This is the engagement banquet for you and Wanwan!"

"Grandfather!" Gu Junhan's voice was clearly defiant, "Have we not gone far enough for you to insist on this? I don't understand, if it's just for the alliance between the Gu family and the Xia family, why can't An'an be the one? Why must it be Wanwan? You know very well that I don't love her!"

"Scoundrel! Wanwan is the one suitable for you!"

The Gu patriarch, furious, raised his cane to strike Gu Junhan, but the banquet hall echoed with Xia Wanwan's serene voice, "If that's the case, then let's call off this engagement."

The hall fell into a murmur, every gaze turned to Xia Wanwan on the stage, standing there alone with a politely smiling lip, looking like the only resolute rose blossoming amid a storm: "Sorry to have troubled everyone for nothing."

Having said that, she nodded in apology, then turned and left without looking back.

"Wanwan..."

Calls echoed from behind her, seemingly including the Gu patriarch's, her own parents', but Xia Wanwan didn't feel like turning back at all.

At that moment, all she wanted was to leave this place.

She suddenly felt very tired, maybe she really was wrong, perhaps as Gu Junhan said, Xia An'an was innocent.

In a corner of the hall, a man dressed in a black suit made a phone call: "BOSS, the plan wasn't executed, some issues arose at the engagement banquet, Miss Wanwan has already cancelled her engagement to Gu Junhan."

From the other end of the phone came a man's authoritative voice, "Explain the situation clearly, and also, keep a close watch on her."