Xia Wanqing's words made everyone present ponder.
Their gazes towards Xu Ruowei naturally shifted.
"Miss An, apologize to my wife."
Shen Xizhou's sudden voice stunned everyone present.
Shen Xizhou had actually acknowledged An Nuan as Mrs. Shen.
It was well known that Shen Xizhou and Xu Ruowei had been engaged for a long time. Many were anticipating their wedding.
However, the news never came.
Many speculated if the engagement would simply fade away.
But at this moment, Shen Xizhou's words completely shattered their assumptions.
He was indeed angered.
He wasn't angry that An Nuan had harmed Xu Ruowei, but rather, that An Nuan's actions were not for him. They served a different purpose.
If it were for him, he might not have been so furious.
Didn't she have other men around her? Then, why hadn't that man appeared when she was being bullied by so many?
Was all of this just An Nuan's one-sided infatuation?
Or was this all a grand play orchestrated by An Nuan?
And that he, too, had been deceived by An Nuan.
"Apologize?"
"Mr. Shen, are you joking? Do you know what happened?"
"By what right, and with what status, do you demand my apology?"
"Xu Ruowei probably can't afford my apology," An Nuan said, her tone sarcastic and cold.
"Besides, Miss Xia and Miss Xu are very close best friends. Can her words, as a witness, be trusted?"
"Isn't this so-called evidence a bit perfunctory?"
"Who said I injured Miss Xu? Perhaps Miss Xu framed me?"
An Nuan scoffed lightly and looked at Xu Ruowei, saying coldly, "Oh, and Miss Xia, the evidence you mentioned might also be something you said offhand."
"If I say you're framing me, can't I just say that?"
"And I can be my own witness, wouldn't that also work?"
"I..." Xu Ruowei glared at An Nuan with red eyes. She had never imagined An Nuan to be so eloquent.
The An Nuan of the past was not like this. The current An Nuan had truly changed.
However, even if she had changed, she still had her ways.
Her eyes, red from crying, streamed with tears, and she said with immense grievance, "Miss An means that I deliberately injured myself to frame you?"
"But this wound is so deep. Miss An, you say I injured myself deliberately, doesn't your conscience ache?"
"Tell me, who would be so cruel to themselves?"
"Miss An, even if you don't want to admit it, that's fine. But you can't just speak nonsense and put me in a difficult position."
As soon as Xu Ruowei finished speaking, a man arrived.
His gaze fell on Xu Ruowei, and Xu Ruowei gave him a look.
The man instantly understood.
"Miss An, since you don't believe what Miss Xia said as evidence, then I have evidence here, with both video and audio. You should have no room to argue now."
Hearing the man's words, An Nuan froze, her whole body trembling.
Who was this man? She didn't recognize him. However, the way he looked at her was full of calculation. It seemed he was here with malicious intent.
This person was likely found by Xu Ruowei.
She glanced at Xia Wanqing's expression, which had turned unusually grim. It seemed Xia Wanqing was unaware of this man's existence.
It was likely that Xu Ruowei hadn't told Xia Wanqing about this matter, which led to this outcome.
Suddenly, she recalled the look Xu Ruowei had given her earlier.
When she had said those words, Xu Ruowei hadn't rushed to retort, but had instead focused on playing the victim, her eyes red, saying nothing.
So, this was what she had been waiting for.
Xu Ruowei's desire to harm her was truly a meticulously planned sequence of events.
There was no intention of letting her off.
The video began to play, and everyone watched.
The words within were astonishing.
So it really was An Nuan who had done it.
And she still refused to admit it.
Faced with evidence, how could she possibly quibble?
The man's eyes were filled with a smile.
In fact, he wouldn't have made such a great sacrifice if it weren't for the money.
"An Nuan, I've done as you said and injured Xu Ruowei. Shouldn't you give me my money now?"
The man said with a hint of embarrassment, "You asked me to take Xu Ruowei's life, but I lost control."
"However, Xu Ruowei is injured, so you should give me something, right?"
He said this, walking towards An Nuan with a smiling face.
The person who hired him had instructed that as long as An Nuan's reputation was ruined, he would receive more money.
For the sake of money, he had completely put himself on the line.
An Nuan frowned, looking at the man before her, and said coldly, "What are you talking about? I don't know you."
"An Nuan, you can't deny it."
"You're not thinking of welching on the payment now that things have succeeded, are you?"
"Let me tell you, if you don't pay, I'll expose everything you've done. Then, it will be your problem whether you can continue to be a person."
"You'll have nowhere to go to regret it then."
The man looked at An Nuan, "However, if you don't pay, you could spend a night with me instead."
"You do this kind of thing often. I don't think it will be a loss for you," the man said with a smile.
His hand slowly reached towards An Nuan.
Seeing this, An Nuan dodged directly, looking at the man with disgust.
"Xizhou, this can't be true, can it?" Xu Ruowei feigned shock, looking at An Nuan with disbelief, covering her mouth.
Actually, her voice could have been louder.
Xu Ruowei seemed afraid that others wouldn't hear.
She looked at An Nuan and said earnestly, "Miss An, to harm me, you paid such a terrible price. It's truly not worth it."
"I don't know where I offended Miss An to make you treat me like this."
Hearing Xu Ruowei's words, Shen Xizhou's face became exceptionally grim.
Meanwhile, the people around focused all their attention on her, as if watching a show.
"Miss An is truly formidable. To deal with my fiancée, you could make such a great sacrifice."
"If I recall correctly, Miss An, today is your first meeting with my fiancée."
"How could you have planned this in advance?"
"You are An Nuan, aren't you?"
"An Nuan, you're still alive, aren't you?"
Shen Xizhou uttered the question he most wanted to know.
He wanted an answer.
For some reason, he wanted to hear her reply, "Yes, I am An Nuan. I am alive and well, much to Mr. Shen's disappointment."
"Mr. Shen, I don't know what you're talking about. My name is An Nuan."
"However, Mr. Shen seems to have mistaken me for someone else."
"I grew up abroad. Today is the first time I've met Mr. Shen," An Nuan said, her brow furrowed, her expression serious.
"Many people want to strike up a conversation with me. But for someone like Mr. Shen to do so in front of his fiancée is a first," An Nuan said, her voice laced with strong sarcasm.