There are still five minutes until the hero escapes from marriage.

“What news has you so worried?” Wen Zhao asked with a smile.

“Gu’s family has been unstable recently, with intense internal struggles. Gu Xianting’s sister, Ruoxian, has been in contact with several major shareholders in private these days. 

I’m worried she’s up to something.” 

“Xianting doesn’t seem to know what to think. His sister clearly has ambitious intentions. Despite being harmed by her in the past, he’s actually reconciled with her.”

“Someone must be mediating between them.” Wen Zhao naturally knew what was going on.

In ancient Mary Sue stories, the male lead must have experienced some hardships and had a strained relationship with family, waiting for the female lead to heal.

Seeing her indifferent expression, Jiang Xinyan frowned slightly. “Zhaozhao, you and Xianting…”

Wen Zhao’s smile faded slightly. “Mom, don’t worry, Xianting and I are doing fine now. We even went fishing this morning.”

“Zhaozhao, you’re our cherished daughter. Our Wen family doesn’t need to arrange marriages for our daughter. Do you understand what I mean?” Jiang Xinyan naturally understood the situation between her daughter and Gu Xianting.

The Wen and Gu families’ old residences weren’t far apart, and later they both bought villas in the same neighborhood in the city. Gu Xianting was two years older than Wen Zhao, and the two children grew up together.

She was smart, so she skipped two grades just to be in the same class as Gu Xianting.

The two children had a good relationship, and both families were happy about it. Their bond from childhood was precious, and both families were compatible. If they could really be together, it would be a strong alliance.

Thus, when Wen Zhao was eighteen, the engagement banquet was held for them.

This engagement banquet was not a so-called arranged marriage, but a result of the feelings between the young couple.

But no one expected Gu Xianting to change his mind.

Jiang Xinyan had watched Gu Xianting grow up almost as if he were her own child. In her eyes, he had always been disciplined. Unlike Wen Zhao’s capriciousness, he seemed like the kind of person who, once he decided on something or someone, would stick with it for life.

In the end, she was wrong about him.

“Zhaozhao, when something changes its nature, it’s best to get rid of it in time.” Jiang Xinyan was Wen Zhao’s mother, and she knew her daughter best.

 Wen Zhao seemed carefree on the surface, but she was actually more sensitive than anyone else. Her inherent stubbornness sometimes left Jiang Xinyan at a loss.

If it weren’t for Wen Zhao’s insistence, she wouldn’t have agreed to hold that wedding. In her eyes, no matter how good Gu Xianting used to be, it couldn’t hide the fact that he had changed. At this point, cutting losses was the best option.

But Wen Zhao just wouldn’t let go. She deluded herself into thinking that as long as they got married, everything would be fine.

She was still the same Wen Zhao, hiding her paranoia, madness, and dominance. What was hers, she would never let go of.

“I know what I’m doing. After our honeymoon, I’ll come back to see you.” Wen Zhao smiled at her.

Watching her calm smile and warm eyes in the video call, Jiang Xinyan felt a little sad.

She couldn’t say why, but she always felt that Wen Zhao seemed normal on the surface, but she had gone crazy inside.

The outward signs of madness weren’t scary, but the quiet madness was.

She had some guesses about Gu Xianting’s situation.

But a son-in-law who had changed his mind, whether he lived or died, whether he was good or bad, what did it have to do with her?

If it could calm her Zhaozhao down, vent her emotions, and return to her former self, then he still had some value.

After ending the video call with Jiang Xinyan, Wen Zhao slowly finished her lunch.

Back in her study, she contacted Xu Nian directly, coincidentally, he was also about to contact her.

“Tell me, what’s been happening in Li City these past few days?” She asked.

He replied, “You asked me to keep an eye on that Miss Gu from the Gu family before, and these past few days, I did receive some interesting news. She’s met with several major shareholders of Gu’s family privately, and they seemed to have had pleasant conversations. 

It’s not long until the triennial shareholders meeting of Gu’s family, and she might be planning something for it.”

“I already know about that.” She wasn’t surprised by Gu Ruoxian’s actions. After all, in her past life, Gu Ruoxian did the same thing, and she succeeded.

“How about Su Mengyao?” She asked.

“Last night, there was a charity gala at Qianyuan Manor, and she went with Shen Han Feng. My people said she was looking for someone at the gala. I suspect she wanted to meet the people from the Gu family.” There was no need to elaborate on what she wanted to do after meeting the people from the Gu family.

“Thank you, you’ve worked hard,” she said. “I’ve already instructed someone to push forward with the Blue Sky project.”

“You’re welcome, General Wen. After all, I’m just repaying a favor. I’ll continue to keep an eye on things.”

“Please do.” She thanked him.

After hanging up the phone, she tapped her fingers on the table. Memories of her past life flooded her mind.

In her past life, after Gu Xianting ran away from the wedding, Gu Ruoxian took the opportunity to seize the CEO position, and at that time, he and Su Mengyao were busy dating and had no time to focus on the company’s affairs.

Later, Wen Zhao began to attack Gu’s family madly in order to force him back to her side. Unfortunately, the businesses of the Wen and Gu families overlapped a lot after the engagement of the two people…

In the end, Gu’s family swallowed up the Wen family, and Wen’s family went bankrupt. From a wealthy heiress, Wen Zhao fell into the mud overnight and lost the qualification to stand by Gu Xianting.

She would have lost even if she hadn’t fought. In the business world, Gu Ruoxian started early, and however, the outcome of this life is not certain.

She was busy for an afternoon, and by the time she finished her tasks, it was already dark outside.

At this moment, the butler knocked on the door and informed her that Gu Xianting had woken up.

She leisurely took a bath and freshened up before going to see him.

He was lying in bed, exuding an aura of desolation, as if all the vitality had drained from him.

She stood by the bed, looking down at him.

She didn’t say anything.

He slowly turned his eyes and fixed them on her face.

There was nothing in his eyes, like a mannequin in a shop window.

She furrowed her brows. Before coming, she had considered how Gu Xianting would react upon seeing her. It could be anger, since she had pushed him into the sea and pulled him up when he was dying, or it could be fear, as she might be a devil to him now.

But whether it was anger or fear, it was a strong emotion.

She didn’t expect this person to become like this. She couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed. Was he too weak and worthless?

However, just as she was about to leave, his eyes slowly regained a glimmer of light. In his originally hollow pupils, her figure was reflected.

“Wen Zhao,” he spoke, his voice dry and hoarse, not pleasant to hear.

She raised an eyebrow. Had he recovered so quickly?

“When I was almost dying, I saw some images,” he closed his eyes. “I’m sure that I’ve never lost my memory in my life.”

After regaining consciousness, he carefully examined every memory he could remember, frame by frame.

His memories began at a very young age. Since childhood, he had a good memory. After he became self-aware, he remembered every single thing he experienced very clearly.

When he was five years old, he met Wen Zhao, and since then, this little tail always followed him. However, he found this kid annoying and didn’t really like playing with her.

When he was twelve, he inadvertently got her involved in a kidnapping incident. The sense of powerlessness during the kidnapping, and the regret that she had to save him in the end, made him not want to deal with her for a long time. Because every time he saw her, he would be reminded of the embarrassment of being kidnapped and rejected by his own sister.

So, their contact gradually decreased.

Later, Wen Zhao seemed to unilaterally develop feelings for him. In order to arrange a marriage between the Wen and Gu families, they held an engagement ceremony when she was eighteen.

He didn’t like it. He didn’t like this arranged life, and he hated the feeling of being unable to control it.

Later, he met Su Mengyao…

Thinking of her, his heart, which had been somewhat cold and stiff, began to feel alive again.

Yes, why was he wavering?

He loved Su Mengyao. He didn’t love Wen Zhao.

When he saw those fragmented residual images, he had a moment of confusion. He really wanted to ask Wen Zhao if they had ever liked each other during the time he didn’t know about, but

How could that be possible? He didn’t know what those images were, but he was absolutely sure which person made his heart beat.

He didn’t like Wen Zhao.

He didn’t like Wen Zhao.

He didn’t like Wen Zhao.

As if confirming it to himself, he said so.

“What?” She couldn’t wait for his next words and asked impatiently.

“Wen Zhao, why are you so persistent with me?” He didn’t understand. “Between us, it has never been love, right? I’ve never liked you; I just treated you as a sister.”

She couldn’t help but chuckle. “Of course, you can’t like me. The person you like is only Su Mengyao.”

Because that’s the original setting. In the original setting, he only realized what true love was after meeting Su Mengyao, and he felt genuine happiness.

“So… why are you so persistent?” He stared into her eyes. He had always thought that she was a malicious woman, and he still believed that now.

But if she was just malicious, just bad, why did she have to do all this?

“Why?” She tilted her head, pondered for a moment, and finally said, “Probably because if it’s mine, even if it’s destroyed, I won’t give it to anyone else.”

After saying that, she turned and left without looking at him again.

Why so persistent?

In fact, she herself was a bit confused. It seemed that subconsciously, there was a voice telling her not to let go, never to let go.

Her loss in her past life was not unjust.