"You agree?" Aurel Shen's eyes darkened, his gaze piercing through her. Before Elena Shen could respond, he asked again:
"Because of the Shen Group's crisis?"
Elena could hear the disapproval in Aurel's tone.
Her hands slowed as she peeled the orange.
She meticulously removed the last strip of white fiber and held out a peeled slice to her brother, trying to divert the conversation.
"Brother, have some orange. It's really sweet."
Aurel glanced at the orange in her hand but didn't take it. His deep, unreadable eyes remained fixed on her, clearly unwilling to let the matter drop.
"If you're doing this out of gratitude for the Jiang family's help, Elena, there's no need to trade your marriage for it."
"You're not the only Shen left. I'll repay this debt—we don't need you to pay the price."
Elena's fingers tightened slightly around the orange slice.
She drew it back, and under Aurel's steady, pressuring gaze, her lips trembled slightly before she finally spoke.
"It's not out of gratitude."
"What?"
"The engagement was my own decision. It has nothing to do with any kind of deal or repayment."
Aurel's brows furrowed. "Marriage alliances are by nature transactions. If it's not about repaying a debt, why would you agree? Especially with Ethan Jiang, of all people?"
Elena knew if she didn't give him a convincing reason, Aurel would keep pressing.
This was a debt he could repay on her behalf.
But the price required was too steep.
For years, Aurel had poured everything into building Jinming Group—mostly to repay the Jiang family for their support of the Shen family ten years ago.
But she was a Shen too.
She couldn't push all the burden onto him.
She couldn't selfishly hide behind him forever.
Besides, this engagement had always been her own matter.
It was an agreement made long ago between the two families.
She couldn't just act on impulse as if nothing and no one else mattered.
"I... I like Ethan." Elena clenched her palms tightly, forcing out what seemed to be the most flawless excuse. "This engagement was entirely my decision. No hidden motives."
As soon as she said that, the room fell into an eerie silence.
Aurel's eyes turned impossibly dark.
Like a bottomless abyss, the depth of his gaze was suffocating.
"Elena, what are you saying?"
Elena didn't dare meet his eyes. She kept her gaze fixed on the orange in her hand. But out of nervousness and guilt, one of the slices was crushed slightly, juice oozing out.
"You've never even interacted with Ethan Jiang. You like him? Based on what? A dream?"
In her memory, this was the first time Aurel had ever spoken to her in such an interrogative tone.
Even last year, when he subtly tried to dissuade her from marrying Adrian Jiang, his tone wasn't this harsh.
Elena was already nervous.
Under this pressure, her hands trembled, and the mangled orange almost slipped from her grasp.
She gripped it tighter.
Only to have the juice drip more freely from her hands.
The girl sitting quietly by the hospital bed lowered her gaze, dodging Aurel's sharp stare, trying to stay composed as she pulled a few tissues to clean her hands.
"It's not like we've never met. Ethan came back before Mid-Autumn, and… during the past ten years at the Jiang family, we saw each other now and then…"
Aurel looked at her, nearly laughing in disbelief.
"Elena Shen, do you really like him?"
If she had said she liked Adrian Jiang, he might have believed it—after all, they had spent years together, and it wouldn't be surprising if feelings had developed.
But this was Ethan Jiang.
She had barely interacted with him.
And Ethan wasn't the approachable type. All these years, she had instinctively kept her distance.
Now she was telling him she liked Ethan?
Elena still wouldn't look at Aurel.
But she was firm—insisting that she liked Ethan, and that she was willing to proceed with the engagement.
Elena spent four days abroad.
On the fifth morning, Ethan Jiang sent her a message on WeChat, reminding her to go get the marriage certificate at 10 a.m. on Monday.
Aurel had been discharged from the hospital the day before.
But there was an urgent issue at Jinming's branch office that needed his attention, so Elena used the excuse of a school emergency to slip back home under Aurel's watchful gaze.
Her initial leave had expired, so she requested one more day off. Then she buried herself under her soft blanket, sleeping through a storm of restless dreams.
The next morning—
Her alarm, which she'd forgotten to turn off, rang on time.
Elena's arm reached out from under the covers to silence it. Remembering she had the day off, she tried to pull the blanket over her head again to go back to sleep.
But the words marriage certificate slammed into her mind like a hammer.
She snapped her eyes open.
And practically sprang upright in bed.
Elena ran her fingers through her soft, tousled hair, gathered her thoughts, and reached for her phone to check Ethan's chat.
Nothing new.
The last message he sent was from two days ago, reminding her about today's registration.
It was 7:30 a.m.
There were still over two hours left before 10.
She could have gone back to sleep, but she couldn't. Her mind kept looping over those two words: marriage certificate.
After washing up, she made herself a simple breakfast.
Then she sat on the couch, holding her ID documents, dazed.
At exactly 9:00 a.m., a new message popped up on WeChat.
It was from Ethan.
The message read:
[Awake?]
Elena typed back:
[I'm awake.]
Almost immediately, another message came:
[Come downstairs.]
Elena paused slightly, then instinctively walked to the balcony and looked down.
A sleek, black extended Pullman limo was parked quietly downstairs.
Its license plate was a rare consecutive number.
The car itself was a top-tier limited edition model.
Residents passing by couldn't help but look in curiosity.
Elena didn't dare keep Ethan waiting. She grabbed her documents and phone and quickly made her way downstairs.
Zhou Lin, acting as the driver, greeted her politely.
The rear door of the Pullman opened automatically.
Elena looked inside and immediately saw Ethan Jiang sitting on the leather seat, calmly replying to emails on his tablet.
She clutched her phone and got into the car. The door shut automatically behind her.
Ethan glanced at her.
Then he closed the email and placed the tablet into the storage compartment.
"Did you bring your documents?" he asked.
She nodded obediently. "I did."
In front of Ethan—especially in this nearly enclosed space with the privacy screen up—Elena's back instinctively straightened.
Her posture couldn't be more proper.