Chapter 1 — The Day My Boyfriend Got Engaged, I Revealed My True Identity

On the very day my boyfriend was holding his engagement ceremony, I publicly revealed my true identity as the heiress of the Xie family right in the middle of the hospital. Originally, I was the sole heir to the Xie family, one of the most prestigious and influential dynasties in Beijing. However, yearning to experience life independently, I had concealed my noble background, left the protective embrace of my parents, and traveled alone to the southern city to work. The place I chose was Ming De Hospital.

Right in my very first year stepping foot into the hospital, I crossed paths with Mo Chuan. At that time, he was the youngest Head of Surgery in the history of Ming De. Just a single glimpse of him standing beneath the bright lights of the operating theater, calmly issuing commands to the entire surgical team, was enough to make me fall hopelessly in love with him. That relationship spanned five long years. Within the hospital, Mo Chuan was my direct superior. Away from the hospital, he transformed into a gentle boyfriend, pampering me and indulging my every whim. He spoiled me to such an extent that he had practically never refused any request I made.

There was only one matter he consistently avoided. That was bringing me to the ancestral estate of the Qin family to meet his elders. Initially, I simply assumed he was excessively busy with his career. Later on, I figured his family perhaps placed an exorbitant value on etiquette and required more time to prepare properly. It was not until much later that I finally understood the real reason. The Qin family had never once considered me worthy of crossing their threshold. After all, the Qin family was the most renowned medical lineage in the southern city. Generations of their household had served as professors, hospital directors, or prestigious medical experts. Meanwhile, in their eyes, I was merely a penniless, powerless girl who had drifted in from some distant, remote county.

As time passed, the gossip within the corridors of the hospital grew increasingly louder. Some whispered that I was shamelessly climbing social ladders. Others claimed that I only managed to stand firm in the Department of Surgery by relying entirely on Mo Chuan. There were even those who asserted with absolute certainty that a romance between us would never bear fruit. I did not want him to bear the burden of pressure caused by those malicious rumors any longer. Consequently, I decided to disclose my true identity to him. I wanted him to know that my family background was by no means inferior to the Qin family. In fact, the moment I agreed to return, everything the Qin family took such immense pride in would appear utterly insignificant before the Xie family.

Yet, right at the moment when I prepared to lay my heart bare and be completely honest with him, Mo Chuan vanished for the entire day. His phone remained switched off. His messages went unanswered. That night, he did not return to our shared apartment either. That marked the ninety-ninth time he had spent the night away from home. I had originally intended to go to the hospital to search for him. To my utter astonishment, upon stepping into Mo Chuan's private office, the first thing that caught my eye was a piece of paper resting on top of his desk. It was an unfinished guest list. At the very top, the explicit purpose of the banquet was written in bold print. An engagement ceremony.

The bride was the daughter of the director of Ming De Hospital, Ruo Lan. And the name inscribed in the groom's position caused me to stand frozen in place for a long, agonizing moment. Mo Chuan. The man who lay beside me every single night. The man who had repeatedly pulled me into his embrace, whispering that in this entire world, he loved only me. Throughout the five years we had spent together, he had never once mentioned any talk of marriage. Yet behind my back, he had quietly acquiesced to the arrangements dictated by his powerful lineage. While continuing to live with me as a devoted lover, he had secretly prepared to bind himself in engagement to another woman.

I did not make a scene. Neither did I immediately demand an explanation from him. I merely performed a quiet action, one of which he remained completely oblivious. I picked up my phone and called my father. Then, I accepted the official family seal representing the successor of the Xie family—a burden my father had tried to pass on to me for many years. If Mo Chuan's heart already harbored another woman, there was no longer any reason for me to linger in the southern city. The life I had stubbornly chosen was finally drawing to its natural close.

Upon hearing that I was finally willing to return, my parents were so overwhelmed with joy that their voices quivered with excitement. My father spoke through the receiver:

"It is good that you have finally decided to come back. Your rightful place within the Xie family has never belonged to anyone else. Your private office has been kept exactly as you left it. Just a few days ago, your mother even sent people in to tidy it up."

Sitting right beside him, my mother immediately snatched the phone away. Overjoyed as she was, she could not entirely mask her lingering anxiety when she brought up the man I had loved in the southern city.

"What about your boyfriend? Do you intend to bring him back with you? Surely you haven't told him that you belong to the Xie family yet, have you?"

I gently tightened my grip around the cold family seal in the palm of my hand. My voice was barely a whisper when I replied:

"No, he still doesn't know."

I paused for a few seconds before continuing:

"And I have no intention of bringing him along."

My mother fell silent on the other end. I calmly added:

"I am going to break up with him."

Merely uttering Mo Chuan's name sent a dull, throbbing ache straight to the deepest recesses of my heart. Even so, my resolve remained unshaken.

"Give me one week. Within that time, I will settle all my remaining affairs in the southern city."

That night, Mo Chuan continued to stay away. This time, I did not call to ask where he was. Nor did I sit in the living room waiting until dawn like I had so many times before. I drifted into a very deep, dreamless sleep. The following morning, the moment I opened my eyes, I went straight to Ming De Hospital and submitted my formal resignation letter.