Li JingHua met Xue Rui outside Li XinWen's hospital room and together they walked down the hall towards the elevators. They were both silent partway when Li JingHua spoke. "Rui, how about we go to a nearby cafe and have a chat? I have something important to tell you," Li JingHua said as she gazed at her fiance.

Xue Rui looked back at her almost lovingly. Remembering how work has been hard on her these past couples of days, he decided to indulge JingHua and accepted her invitation.

"Alright, let's go."

They entered the elevator and headed towards the hospital's basement parking. They left in Xue Rui's silver Maserati Quattroporte and drove to a nearby café. Xue Rui parked the car in the first empty slot near the entrance and hurried to Li JingHua's side and opened the passenger door for her. ‘Still acting like the perfect boyfriend…’ Li JingHua thought as she alighted the car and hesitantly took Xue Rui's extended hand. When they reached the café entrance, Xue Rui held the door for her as she entered.

Xue Rui escorted her to a cozy corner of the café before heading to the counter to place their order. Li JingHua followed Xue Rui with her gaze and recalled that they used to spend some of their afternoon dates there. Nostalgia was hitting her hard. ‘He was such a gentleman…’ she thought to herself.

Xue Rui came back holding a tray with two cups of espresso and a slice of opera cake. He set them down on their table and made himself comfortable. "This pairing is the best, don't you agree, my JingHua?" gazing at her as he lifted the cup to take a sip.

For a moment JingHua felt her heart skip a beat, just like how it was before. In her mind, she thought, ‘It seems that he has not forgotten how much I love this dessert. Perfect with a hot cup of espresso.’

"Mn…" she answered as she took a sip from her cup.

They spent a couple of minutes silently sipping coffee as if to brace each other for what was to be discussed. Finally, JingHua set down her cup and looked Xue Rui straight in the eye, all nostalgia and affection erased.

"Rui, let's end our engagement," Li JingHua said nonchalantly and at the same time thinking: ‘It's sad…To think that I used to love this man and how much I thought of him…but that's all in the past.’

Xue Rui was honestly surprised at her words and for a moment he was unable to react. He never took JingHua as the sort of woman to take the initiative to break off their engagement, especially when their family needed his support.

"Why all of a sudden?" he finally managed to ask. "Aren't you afraid of the consequences? Your brother's treatment for example."

A part of him rejoiced at the idea of breaking off the engagement as he thought about Li XinWen. Li JingHua scoffed at Xue Rui's statement and stared at him with a mix of pity and disdain. It was the same expression she had when she met with Li XinWen earlier.

"I believe that even if we break off the engagement you will still continue to support Ah'Wen's treatments until he makes a full recovery. After all, do you not hold feelings for him? Didn't you use me to get close to him?" Li JingHua remarked, all the while trying to maintain her composure.

Xue Rui was taken aback but managed to recover his surprise. He smiled and almost laughed at himself and at the thought that he had been found out. "Since when did you realize this?"