Hui Yin was taken aback, and unconsciously exclaimed, "Yes!"

She realized that her reaction was a bit too excessive when surprise flashed across his eyes.

"I mean...Miss Nian invited us. And it's your friend's birthday party. We can't miss it."

Hui Yin's brain was working in overdrive. Was he planning to not go to the party? But he can't! He needed to go.

Otherwise...

Lu Shen snorted.

"He's not my friend."

Of course he's not your friend. Hui Yin rolled her eyes. It was not a secret that Wang Yong secretly liked Nian Zhen. He was basically Lu Shen's rival in love. It would be more abnormal if the two of them had a close relationship.

"But Miss Nian specifically invited the two of us. She would be disappointed if we didn't come. And you were going to introduce me as your fiancée in that birthday party."

Wait...Hui Yin slowly realized.

Was that why he didn't want to go?

Because he didn't want to introduce her as his fiancée?

Hui Yin's guess was right. Lu Shen did not want to announce to everyone that she was his fiancée. Their engagement had been a small, tight-knit affair, so only a few people knew about it.

He had been a target of countless kidnappings in the past, because he was the Lu's only heir. As he grew up, he thought he could finally defend himself. His fighting skills weren't something to be laughed at either, because he made sure to specialize in several types of martial arts. He mastered them, and practiced them everyday to the point of perfection.

Excluding the bodyguards surrounding him around the clock, Lu Shen thought that there was no way he could be as helpless as he had been before.

And then the accident happened.

Lu Shen finally learned that as long as he was on the spotlight, he would have innumerable enemies hiding in the dark.

A moment of weakness, and they would immediately attack, taking away the control he had so painstakingly built over his life. He had always been alone, so aside from his parents who almost did not leave the old family house, there was no one they could use against him.

Except for this girl.

In fact, it did not even matter if they liked each other or not. She was his fiancée—she had a connection to him, and therefore she was a chink in his armor. A perfect, exploitable flaw. His enemies would be tempted to use it.

Although Lu Shen was planning to divorce her straight after the wedding, it was to her benefit as well. The brighter the light, the darker the shadow lurking behind it. Instead of dragging her to a dangerous situation, it would be better for her to live somewhere far, far away. And of course, he would make sure that she was compensated for it. Because she saved him, he would save her as well.

But as the engagement dragged on, and the two of them spent more and more time together, it made Lu Shen become acutely aware of something that he had been decidedly trying to ignore.

This girl...he did not want her to leave him.

If she indeed left him...would he even be able to let her go?