Chapter 1: The Groom Runs Away

September in is much colder than in.

The wind rustles, and Zhen Yao, with her eyes closed, plays with the rose in her hand. Her slender, pale fingertips gently pass through the gaps of the bright red petals.

She suddenly hears faint footsteps. Before she has time to listen carefully, the wind suddenly picks up, and raindrops the size of beans fall sparsely on her face and body, quickly becoming dense.

Zhen Yao hurriedly bends down to pick up the bouquet of roses at her feet. The servant said the thorns had been removed, but her finger is unexpectedly pricked, and she lets go in pain.

There were clearly thorns all over the branches...

She suddenly bites her lip tightly, carefully pinches the end of the branch with her other hand, and walks back hastily, leaning on the tall hedge.

The rain is drizzling, and in the dim vision, she slightly speeds up her steps until she suddenly bumps into something at the corner.

Zhen Yao lets out a confused and panicked cry and immediately loses her balance and tilts backward.

Suddenly, a hand grasps her shoulder.

The damp, cold rainwater is wrapped in the faint scent of cypress and sandalwood, instantly surrounding her. The raindrops falling from above also disappear, leaving only the sound of rain hitting the umbrella.

She bumped into a stranger, who should be a tall man - she just bumped into his chest, and the icy fabric of the suit rubbed against her hand and cheek.

"Thank you," she instinctively said after standing firm.

The hand on her shoulder retracted, and the sensation of long fingers pressing against her shoulder blade through the thin fabric also disappeared. The other party did not speak and stood silently in the noisy rain.

After losing her sight, Zhen Yaos other senses became more sensitive, so she could feel the other person staring at her at the moment.

Or scrutinizing, with an unfamiliar and faintly dangerous presence, in short, the gaze and the mans presence were so strong that she felt a little uneasy.

"Who are you?"

Zhen Yao just opened her mouth to ask when she was suddenly handed the umbrella handle with a dry residual warmth in her palm, and then she only heard the rhythmic footsteps of the soles hitting the ground and crushing the raindrops gradually fade away.

The scent of sandalwood and cypress was diluted by the rain, leaving only a chill surrounding her.

Dressed in a white dress, Zhen Yao stood alone in the large garden, holding a bunch of intense roses and a black long-handled umbrella, and the bloodstains on her right hand had already dried up.

She came to her senses and slowly walked towards the villa in the wind and rain.

...

As soon as she stepped into the living room, Zhen Yao noticed that the atmosphere was a bit unusual. Without thinking much about it, she bent down to put the umbrella at her feet and stood quietly at the entrance, "Aunt Sun."

"Whats wrong, miss?" Aunt Suns voice revealed a somewhat unfamiliar eagerness.

"...This is the rose you said you would take care of for me." Zhen Yao gritted her teeth, and in the end, she only lightly threw the bouquet of roses at her feet.

Her fingers were still hurting, and she wanted to be more domineering, but she couldnt.

The girl was thin, with wet hair strands clinging to her temples, and her hands hanging by her sides were as white as porcelain, making the bloodstains on them more conspicuous.

Everyones gaze fell on her hand, and the living room was terrifyingly quiet.

Jiang Siyan on the sofa suddenly got up and came over, as if she hadnt heard what she had just said, and took her arm affectionately, "Yao Yao, why are you in the garden? We all thought you were upstairs, or we would have taken an umbrella to find you a long time ago."

Zhen Yao felt absurd. Originally, her cousin and the servant were in the garden, so how could they not know where she was? Jiang Siyan used to only call her "Zhen Yao" and would never be so close and friendly to her.

She silently pulled her hand out, waiting for her grandmother to scold her for being "ungrateful." After all, she has been facing the Jiang familys cold words and cold language every day and has been used to it.

However, what she waited for was another unfamiliar voice.

"This is what you call living well." The voice was like a mist, as clear and moist as a pine tree after the rain. The indifferent tone was almost nakedly sarcastic, pressing people to the point of breathlessness.

"Young Master Song, this..."

Zhen Yao was taken aback. Was there someone else in the living room?

No wonder she felt strange as soon as she walked in, and there was an uncomfortable feeling of being watched by strange eyes, similar to the feeling in the garden just now.

She intuitively felt that this was the person she had just bumped into.

Young Master Song...

In the city of Xun, the Song family, whose surname made people respectful to this extent, she only knew one family, and the identity of this person seemed to be obvious.

"Young Master Song," Jiangs old lady smiled at the young man, "Yao Yao is my own granddaughter, how could I treat her badly? Just like Siyan said, we were negligent and thought she was upstairs, or we would never have let her come back in the rain."

"Zhen Yao."

Zhen Yao was taken aback when she heard the man call her name and turned her head towards the sound. However, there was a wall in front of her eyes, and she couldnt see anything.

The living room suddenly fell silent, she held her breath, feeling a bit at a loss and nervous.

He didnt seem to want to talk to others anymore and asked her lightly, "Do you want to leave?"

Zhen Yao was taken aback, "I..."

Leave? Go to the Song family?

"Young Master Song, Yao Yao is my granddaughter, and she is living well in the Jiang family. There is no reason for her to go to the Song family."

"Whether its good or not is not up to you." His tone was light, but he was merciless.

The rain outside suddenly increased, and the urgent noise suddenly made the atmosphere oppressive.

The Jiang family did not dare to stop it. Even if the Song family just wanted to take care of their friends daughter and had no blood relationship with Zhen Yao, they did not dare to bring out the identity of the maternal family.

So they made a final decision, smiling stiffly and letting Zhen Yao go upstairs to pack her luggage, not even asking if she was willing or not.

The servant timidly applied medicine to Zhen Yaos fingers and then helped her upstairs to pack her luggage. She didnt have much to take, except for her parents relics and a few changes of clothes, and there was only a small and exquisite box in the suitcase.

"Miss, are you packed?" the servant asked.

Zhen Yao suddenly came back from her memories, straightened up, and nodded.

The people in the living room sent the person away with a smile. After the black car slid into the rain and left, Jiang Siyan couldnt help but say angrily, "Grandma, just let her go like this?"

Jiangs husband and wife looked at each other and saw reluctance on each others faces.

"How stupid do you want to be to oppose the Song family?" Jiangs old lady scolded in a low voice, "Whats the use of thinking about the inheritance and shares in other peoples hands when things have come to