The engagement ceremony was about to begin.
Before going on stage, Zhu Liuyue had just seen Mr. and Mrs. Zhu to their seats, and also exchanged greetings with Mr. and Mrs. Ye.
Both sets of parents wore satisfied and proud smiles.
Ye Yunjin stood right beside her, in a light gray suit that made him look steady and mature, with sharp brows and starry eyes, and a strong, handsome face.
The two of them looked like a perfect match, a beautiful couple.
Just then, the phone in Ye Yunjin's pocket buzzed.
Ye Yunche said, "Brother, just let it ring. It's almost time for you two to go on stage."
Ye Yunjin shook his head.
He turned sideways, looking at Zhu Liuyue with an apologetic expression, his tone extremely polite, almost formal.
With impeccable manners, he said:
"Sorry, Liuyue, it might be something with the company. Could I step out for a moment to take this call?"
Zhu Liuyue knew perfectly well it wasn't a company call.
But she didn't care.
After all, this time her target wasn't this CEO, Ye Yunjin.
"Alright, go ahead." She smiled lightly and nodded.
Ye Yunjin gave an apologetic nod toward both sets of parents, then turned and walked out to take the call.
"You're quite the dutiful wife, aren't you?" Watching Ye Yunjin leave, Ye Yunche's gaze landed on Zhu Liuyue, his tone a little sour.
Today she wore a white mermaid gown, perfectly fitted, with a waist so slender it seemed as if one hand could encircle it.
The V-neckline revealed her smooth shoulders and collarbones.
Around her neck hung a pink gemstone necklace designed with a star motif.
She looked like a sheltered heiress from a wealthy family, untouched by the hardships of the world.
The kind who might cry if you teased her a little.
Ye Yunche thought this with a hint of mischief, and his tone deliberately turned snide, wanting to see how she'd react.
Zhu Liuyue remained elegant.
Her tone was gentle, and she smiled lightly. "Yes, Yunjin is busy with work, so of course I need to be understanding." She paused, then added, "Including you, my dear brother-in-law—if you ever do something bad, I'll understand that too."
Ye Yunche let out two dry chuckles.
He looked a little guilty.
"What bad things could I possibly do?"
He just wanted to let Bai Shurou come and cause a scene.
The ultimate goal was to stop the engagement from going through smoothly.
After all, right now, he was very interested in Zhu Liuyue!
...
When the call connected, an unfamiliar female voice came through on the other end.
"Hello, is this Mr. Ye Yunjin?"
"Yes, this is he."
"We're at the emergency room nurse's station of Mushu City First Hospital. A female accident victim was just brought in after a car crash. When we checked her phone, we found only one number saved—yours."
Ye Yunjin was confused, but still asked, "What's the victim's name?"
"Bai Shurou, Ms. Bai. Since we can't reach any of her other family members, could you please come over as soon as possible?"
Ye Yunjin's expression changed.
He knew Bai Shurou had returned to the country.
But why would she suddenly get into a car accident?
"But I..." He hesitated.
Today was his engagement ceremony. How could he abandon everyone—abandon Zhu Liuyue and both sets of parents?
After thinking it over, he said, "I'm sorry, I'm not able to come right now. I'll relay the message to her family."
The nurse spoke urgently, "Please do it quickly then. The patient's condition is critical right now, and someone needs to sign the emergency treatment form. The longer it takes, the greater the danger."
"Alright."
Ye Yunjin found the number he had stored for Bai Shurou's father and dialed it.
But the number turned out to be disconnected.
He tried the Bai family's eldest son's number—also disconnected.
He knew something about what had happened to the Bai family. Roughly, the eldest son had been tricked by a group of bad friends and lost himself in gambling and excess.
In the end, he'd lost a huge sum.
Wiping out the Bai family's assets.
The father could only scramble to clean up his son's mess and could no longer afford to support Bai Shurou's extravagant lifestyle abroad, which was why she'd been forced to come home.
But now, neither the father's nor the son's numbers were working.
Were they hiding from debt collectors? Had they just cancelled their numbers to evade creditors?
Ye Yunjin hesitated.
He had no good feelings toward the Bai family, but Bai Shurou... she was the only one who had ever shown him kindness during his university years.
In fact, he had felt a vague sense of gratitude toward her. But he knew his own condition—this body, which shared sensations with his twin brother, wasn't suitable for a relationship.
He couldn't burden someone else like that.
His phone rang again.
When he answered, it was the same emergency room at First Hospital.
"Sir, have you reached Ms. Bai's family? Her condition is really serious now. If no one arrives within fifteen minutes to confirm and sign, then..."
Ye Yunjin's eyes flickered with inner conflict.
This was a human life.
And someone who had helped him before.
He lowered his lashes and closed his eyes.
When he opened them again, his voice was firm. "Alright, wait for me. I'll be there within fifteen minutes."
After hanging up, Ye Yunjin jogged straight toward the parking lot.
No time to type.
He sent Zhu Liuyue a sixty-second voice message on WeChat.
The gist of it was that a friend of his had been in a car accident and needed surgery, with no family by her side, so she needed him to sign the paperwork.
He asked her to help postpone today's engagement ceremony, or just go through with it alone.
Zhu Liuyue stood in the hallway.
She opened the voice message.
Listening to Ye Yunjin's words, she couldn't help but let out a snort of laughter.
What on earth?
Have her complete the engagement ceremony alone?
How was she supposed to do that?
Just as she was about to tell both sets of parents and call off this ridiculous engagement, a voice suddenly came from behind her, ghostly and sly.
"My brother went to find Bai Shurou."
Zhu Liuyue turned around to find Ye Yunche leaning lazily against the hallway wall, his posture slouched and careless, a smirk of undisguised mockery on his face.
Then he added in a low, teasing tone,
"You're not going to be my sister-in-law after all."
His voice carried a note of delight and satisfaction.
He clearly looked pleased.
And Zhu Liuyue didn't want Ye Yunche to be pleased.
She stepped forward in her high heels, walking lightly and briskly, until she was standing in front of him.
She stopped at a distance that was far too close.
Ye Yunche was much taller than her.
But wearing her heels today, she only had to tilt her head up slightly to see the mischief and excitement glittering in his amber-colored pupils.
"So you really don't want me as your sister-in-law?" Zhu Liuyue curved her lips slightly and asked.
The distance between them was a little too intimate.
Ye Yunche's expression stiffened, and he instinctively took a half-step back, muttering,
"That's—that's not it. It's just that I heard my brother's voice message—he went to the hospital, so the engagement is obviously going to fall through!"
"Who said so?"
Zhu Liuyue's brows arched with charm, her lips curling upward.
She wasn't angry. She wasn't furious. She wasn't even flustered.
The next second, before Ye Yunche could react, Zhu Liuyue had already grabbed the gray tie around his neck and yanked him toward her.
Ye Yunche was forced to stumble half a step forward, his head dipping down.
The warm breath from his exhale nearly brushed against the tip of her nose.
The pose was intimate, almost scandalous.
A clear, wild voice sounded against his ear.
"Aren't you two twins?"
"He's gone. But you can take his place."
