Fancy Me, Professor!

Pan An excused himself from the crowd. He felt so ecstatic to know that he is now engaged to his girlfriend, Ruo Xi, making him grin ear to ear as he got another glass of wine and drank it in one down.

He was happy that he asked help from his family. They were planning this for a month already, and this was already the most awaited day.

Well, mostly, he had been planning with his mother. His older sister was helping from time to time, and for his father being so busy, what he only did was pay for the finances.

Pan An is not actually close with his father so much. He is close with his sister, yes, but ever since she married and is managing both the family's and her husband's company, she had been so busy that they would only catch up through video calls.

With Pan An now deciding to take a breather from the crowd as well as he also wanted to have some alone time with Ruo Xi, he decided that he would go and have a walk around their residence in search for her.

He went up the stairs. Ruo Xi knows her way in their home since she has been visiting frequently and Cai Li has allowed her to go around the house as if it was her home since she likes her.

Usually, when Ruo Xi visits, she would prefer to go on the second floor veranda and enjoy the view of their garden maze, or sometimes, she would just look up in the sky and see the countless stars above.

As Pan An was smiling while looking for Ruo Xi, he then started to walk towards the veranda. As he was about to push the curtain to the side and open the glass sliding door, Pan An was surprised to hear what he has heard through the gaps, making him open his eyes wide in disbelief.

"If you don't leave my son alone, you will not only lose the connections you have with us, but your whole family will lose the connections of other people who are in the business world."

He knew that voice well. Oh, he really knew that voice well.

It was his mother's, Cai Li's, and with her saying to leave her son alone, of course it meant Pan An, and of course, he could deduce this much that Cai Li is talking to Ruo Xi.

"M-mother, I—"

"Don't 'mother' me," Cai Li said with a scoff, "I never would have thought that—"

"No! What you heard was wrong! I really love your son and—"

"Oh? And this is just an act?"

Both of them kept interrupting each other, Pan An, not understanding why he has mixed feelings.

Like he was starting to feel bad that Ruo Xi is being this way, and at the same time, he was being curious as to why his mother was acting this way.

Ever since they started dating, Cai Li has been kind to Ruo Xi. With this happening now and the kind of conversation that they are having, why does it seem that Cai Li doesn't want Ruo Xi to be his fiancée anymore?

With Ruo Xi not saying a word, Cai Li spoke again after she let out a sigh.

"I want you to cancel off the engagement—or else, I'm really meaning what I said. The only affiliations you can get is the businesses outside of the country if you're not going to push through with what I said. Moreover, if you continue to do what you're doing, even the businesses outside will be useless to you."

"But—"

"Enough! I'm serious here! Leave my son alone!"

No longer liking what he was hearing, Pan An pulled the sliding door open, surprising both Cai Li and Ruo Xi. With their eyes now on Pan An, Pan An both looked at them in wonder, not understanding why they are both acting this way.

"What's wrong? Why are you talking to Ruo Xi like this?"

Cai Li suddenly furrowed her brows together, the tone of Pan An's voice accusatory on the actions and words that she has been doing when it's only for his sake.

"Pan An," Cai Li started, "I'm just looking out for you—"

"Oh, Pan An!"

Ruo Xi then burst into tears, crashing her body on Pan An as she embraced him and wailed on his chest.

"I—I didn't expect that Ma'am Cai Li would be this cruel towards me! I… she wants me out of everyone's connections! She is threatening me to call our engagement off!"

Even though Pan An eavesdropped on them and knew this already, still, hearing this from Ruo Xi made his blood boil, making him look at his mother with angry eyes.

"Mother… why? Why are you doing this to Ruo Xi?"

"Son…" 

Cai Li closed her eyes for a moment and calmed herself for three seconds before talking to her son again.

"That woman is not what you think she is. I heard that she was planning something against you. She's been planning to marry you from the start for something else."

"What?"

Ruo Xi looked up at Pan An. With tears then streaming down her face, her lips trembled and then she spoke in her softest voice, still enough for Pan An and Cai Li to hear.

"I… I was only planning ahead of time of how your family can help with our family companies. I was not conniving something o-or anything."

"Lies!"

Cai Li immediately burst in anger, pulling Ruo Xi from Pan An. She then gave her a hard slap on the face as she already lost her cool and of course, her patience.

"How dare you lie to my son and to me!? I mean what I said! You have pushed me this far and—"

"Mother!"

Pan An interrupted, his eyes pooling tears as he shook his head in disbelief, not believing that Cai Li had landed her hand hard on his fiancée's face.

"How could you do this to Ruo Xi!? How could you—"

"Enough!"

Cai Li interrupted even her son.

"You are to cancel this engagement. I don't care if I will look like a villain—I no longer want that woman for you! If you force this, oh, Pan An… that woman will not even dare step a foot inside this country!"