It was fair to say that Ning Ran escaped from the café.
She did not expect that she would be so flustered.
I had never thought about marrying Nan Chen. Have I ever? She asked herself, but there was no answer to her question.
Nan Chen came out after her, looking livid. He did not utter a single word.
In the car, the tension in the air was so thick one could cut it with a knife.
Ning Ran knew that she had upset Nan Chen, but she did not know what she had done wrong.
It was not her intention to disappoint him. However, she did not want to make a rash decision.
For some reason, she always felt that it required strenuous efforts on her part to marry herself into the Nan family. There seemed to be many known and unknown challenges that she had to go through in order to be accepted into the family. It was very difficult for her. She could not pinpoint what those obstacles were, but they existed. She had been staring at the problems from afar and never thought of overcoming them. She might be timid, but she did not want to force herself into it because she knew she would get hurt if she failed.
Life could be exhausting at times, so Ning Ran did not want to see herself getting hurt.
She wanted to preserve her time, energy, and love to care for her own children. Nothing else mattered to her.
However, Nan Chen did not think that was the case. He perceived Ning Ran's response as a form of avoidance because she did not want to marry him, and it embarrassed him, making him feel really frustrated.
“Actually, that's not what I meant...” Ning Ran tried to explain herself.
Nan Chen fell silent. He did not feel like talking, not even one word.
On the other hand, Ning Ran felt bad too. “I'm sorry. I didn't mean to embarrass you. I just haven't thought it through.”
Still, Nan Chen refused to say anything. He gestured for the driver to start the car engine.
Ning Ran turned her head and looked out of the window since Nan Chen ignored her completely.
As she felt wronged, she started shedding tears.
Her action simply challenged Nan Chen's level of tolerance. Why are you in tears? You're the one who refused to marry me. I haven't even shed a tear, so why are you crying?
The bizarre thing was the more Ning Ran thought about it, the more aggrieved she felt, and she became even more miserable.
Nan Chen pressed the button to raise the divider that blocked the back seat from the driver's view. With that, the driver in the front seat would not be able to hear or see what was going on at the back.
“Why are you crying?” Nan Chen asked coldly.
Ning Ran remained silent and continued weeping.
Nan Chen was rendered speechless. Is this woman out of her mind? What triggered her series of reactions? She laughs and cries as she likes without any reason.
“That's enough,” remarked Nan Chen frostily.
His comment only made Ning Ran wail harder.
With grievances in her heart, she found adulting to be extremely difficult. At that moment, all her pent-up negative emotions eventually erupted and were set free.
Nan Chen was so flustered that he did not know what to say or do in response, whether he should continue reprimanding her or console her.
Hence, he chose to do nothing. He turned his head toward the window and let her continue crying.
Since he was quiet, Ning Ran also stopped crying. She then took a piece of wet tissue to wipe her face.
“If you don't want to get married, why did you say yes when I proposed?” Nan Chen took a glance at her.
The award ceremony was broadcast live to the entire world. Had I rejected you then, it would have been so awkward for you. Faced with such a situation, I had no choice but to say yes. Do you understand the quandary I was in? Ning Ran thought to herself, but there was no way she could express her true feelings to him.
“It's not that I'm not willing to marry you. I'm just not ready yet,” she said calmly.
“We even have children already. What do you mean you're not ready yet? Should you wait till you have grandchildren in order to consider yourself ready for marriage?”
Ning Ran knew his intention. He wanted to prepare everything discreetly, act first, and then announce their marriage to the world like a bolt from the blue.
When the deal had been sealed, people's objections no longer meant anything.
Even if anyone wanted to settle scores with them thereafter, Nan Chen vowed to take care of it alone.
Although Ning Ran had complete faith in his abilities and did not doubt his courage and determination, that was not the path she wanted to take.
She never wanted her marriage to be a bet where risks were involved.
“It's okay, Nan Chen. I thank you for your good intentions, but let's discuss this another time,” said Nan Chen as she lifted her head.
“You don't want to marry me, or you don't dare to do so?” Nan Chen pursued the matter further.
“I don't think it's time yet. I'm not confident.” Ning Ran was honest about her feelings.
“Then when is the right time? In your opinion, when can we consider a period as the right time?”
“We should at least find out why our families are sworn enemies first. We need to know if you'll be kicked out of Nanshi Corporation if you insist on marrying me.”
“I don't care about that!” Nan Chen raised his voice all of a sudden.
“But I do!” Ning Ran got worked up too.
“What do you care about? If I'd still be the CEO of Nanshi Corporation?” Nan Chen blew his top.
“Yes! It matters to me to know what you're going to lose as a result of marrying me! Your position in Nanshi gives you access and control over various resources, and it reflects the value of your life. The reason why you are who you are is largely due to the fact that you're sitting in this coveted position. If you're no longer a CEO because you give it all up for a woman, are you still the same Nan Chen? Do you think our marriage has any meaning if you lose your identity because of me? Your children are your pride and joy. What will happen when Dabao and Erbao find out later in life that their dad betrayed his family and gave up his career to marry their mom? What do you want them to think of you? Moreover, if you're not Nan Chen, will you still be able to provide for us and guarantee us a comfortable life? Can we really sacrifice our children's future for the sake of our marriage? Do we have the right to do so?”
Nan Chen was rendered speechless after listening to Ning Ran.
He realized his thinking was being too gullible. The reality was far more complicated than what he had expected.
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: My Wife Is a Superstar