"You don't remember this but we had actually met before we danced. It was before the banquet started when you bumped into me. That's the first time I saw you. But you didn't see me because I was wearing a mask."

Jiang Lanying suddenly recalled such an incident. She had crashed into a man before the party started.

"You bumped into me and you accidentally tore a button off my shirt. Something riled inside me when I laid my eyes on you. And the feeling got only stronger when you offered to fix the button for me," he chuckled. "I remember how panicked you had gotten. You profusely apologized for ruining my shirt. You even bowed before me. But what amused me more is that instead of simply arranging a new shirt for me as compensation, you offered to stitch the broken button."

Jiang Lanying was dumbfounded.

That man was Li who I had bumped into?

She didn't know why but she felt embarrassed. "W-what is wrong with stitching the button?"

Jiang Li raised his brow. "You are a rich heiress yourself. When did you ever see any wealthy man or woman fixing their ruined clothes instead of buying a new set? Everybody has too much money to spend. A new shirt could have just saved us the time."

Her face flushed.

"And then standing in the corridor, you asked a maid to fetch you some thread and needle and you actually started to stitch the button on my shirt as I stood at my place. You were so seriously focused in your task of fixing my shirt that I kind of felt you are dumb but really cute at the same time."

"..."

D-Dumb…Li thought me as dumb...

She wished to bury herself in the ground. Now that she thought about it, arranging for a new shirt was indeed a better option rather than stitching the button.

"To think that somebody would actually think about putting the button back increased my interest in you. You felt different than the rest of the idiotic socialities I met before."

Idiotic...

"That's why I offered to dance with you. You were mine. I already considered you as my woman so how could I have let some other man dance with you?"

She stiffened and blushed hard.

"Then when I was thinking of how to approach you for marriage, your father brought your hand himself but not for me. For cousin Wei. Of course, I couldn't have let that happened. Cousin Wei declined the proposal as I had expected. But I had to divert your proposal for me. So, I asked cousin Wei to say my name for marriage."

Jiang Lanying stared at him with her lips parted in shock. "Y-you asked Wei to…"

He smiled. "Of course. How else would I have been able to marry you? You know how Old Madam is. She wanted you to marry cousin Wei because he is the eldest son. I had to make my own way."

All this time she thought that Jiang Li was forced to marry her because Wei dumped this proposal onto his shoulders and due to Old Madam's pressure, he was in no position to disagree.

She covered her mouth in shock. "You weren't forced?"

Jiang Li pinched his jaw. "I should have asked you this question. All women are dying to marry cousin Wei because of his position. But you had to let him go and marry me."

"Of course not! I willingly married you. I-I always wanted to marry you, n-not Wei," she blushed.

"I know. That's why I was so bold in my approach. You became my wife and I was over the moon when we spent our wedding night together."

Jiang Lanying flushed and lowered her head. She felt as if a huge burden lifted off her shoulders as she heard his confession.

She could only dream of that day when Jiang Li would start to have feelings for her too. But to think that he always had feelings for her made her heart bloom in joy.

"If you…really loved me all this time then why did you hide your troubles from me?" She fidgeted and slowly faced him.

The smile on his lips dimmed and he slowly let go of her. "Because destiny was really cruel to shatter my dreams one day."

Jiang Lanying widened her eyes. "What?"

"I learned one day that I...have problems with my fertility. It wasn't inborn or natural but due to an accident."

"Accident?"

"Yes. I had an accident eighteen months back when I went on a business trip to Shanghai. Underworld business. There were issues in our gangs that I had to take care of."

Jiang Lanying remembered this trip that happened almost six months after they got married. Jiang Li said that he would be away for three days for a trip to Shanghai.

"I remember that…"

Jiang Li said, "It was during that time. I settled the clashes and was about to take my flight back to Beijing. But a small faction of the enemy was still lurking who planned an accident and my car crashed into an abandoned chemical factory. They tampered with my car and made me follow their path that they had chosen for the accident."

Jiang Lanying looked at him in horror. Tears pooled in her eyes. "Y-You had an accident in Shanghai?"

He faintly smiled. "Their plan was to burn the factory along with me and stage it as an accident instead of a murder. But I somehow managed to escape before losing my consciousness. I ran and ran until I fainted. When I woke up, I was in the hospital. A kind elderly couple found me and admitted me. They couldn't contact the Jiang family because all my belongings were in the car. The doctor broke the news to me that the accident had become my nemesis."

"I don't understand…"

"The chemical factory. The doctor said that I inhaled dangerous levels of harmful toxins and chemicals when I crashed into the factory. Because that factory was so old and unused, the remaining chemicals had turned even more lethal and carcinogenic. There was also a faint amount of chemical radiation in the air. That and the toxins rapidly spread in my bloodstream and that... caused serious damage to my fertility."