She calmed herself and rolled her eyes. Who knew how many women he had said those words to? She must be just one of the many. Yeah, that must be it!

    He must think that she was naive enough to fall for such a meaningless talk.

    But although that was what she said, she couldn''t deny that those words she found meaningless had made her heart race.

    As though her hands had brains of their own, she unlocked her phone and checked through her phone call data, completely forgetting about the novel she was supposed to read.

    Her phone was set to record every phone call automatically. The one that ended just now was no different.

    She replayed it on loop, almost shrieking every time she heard his voice once again. It sounded so seductive!

    Eventually, she fell asleep, cradling the phone like a baby and slipping into a sweet slumber.

    ___

    The next day, thanks to that pervert''s persistence, they were going to make a public appearance for the media''s sake. She would go after her Art class, but first, she had matters to settle at home.

    No matter how much she wanted to evade her mother''s questions, she still had to answer them.

    So that morning, when they were having breakfast, she carefully brought up the subject. "Mom, Ji Xiehan, and I..."

    "You finally decided to explain it? My hair grew whiter just from waiting." She half-joked.

    "Well..." Li Lanni stuck her fingertips together, wondering how she was supposed to explain to her mother that she was in a fake engagement with a man because he needed to distract his parents, and she needed a favor in return.

    Last night, instead of reading a detective novel, she should have read a romance one about contract marriage or engagement. That way, she would have known what the female leads of those novels do when their mothers comfront them about the sudden engagements.

    Was it too late to cough up an excuse and hide away to read an episode or two?

    Looking at her mother''s ''you-better-start-speaking-up-young-lady'' expression, she knew that it was too late.

    "Well, mom... the thing is..."

    Li Lanni''s mind was in a mess. Why did she come without preparing?! When she saw her mom watching her every expression with eagle eyes, she gulped.

    What could she say now! Could she tell her mom  ''I am in love with Ji Xiehan very much and want to marry him?''No, her mother would definitely drag her to the hospital to have her head checked.

    ''Actually, this is all fake, and we will be done once his parents are fooled''?

    No, that was even worse. She would end up in some mental institution for sure.

    Ahuh. If anyone was going to a mental institution, it should be both of them, right? Why would she carry the burden alone?

    She was still rambling mentally when Li Yuming finally spoke. "Lanni, I''m not against you getting engaged or even getting married. I''m just afraid you are rushing into it too fast.

    Ji Xiehan is a nice young man. I know that by heart. But will you be happy? Are you sure that this is what you really want?"

    Li Lanni fluttered her eyelashes. "Yes, mom. This is what I really want."

    She did not dare to look her mother in the eye.

    Never would she have thought that she would have to tell her mother a lie about such an important matter.

    Thinking about how they would break up in three months, her heart broke.

    ''Mother would be very upset. Lanni, you silly girl. What have you gotten yourself into?'' Just to get back at Ji Feifei, how could she stoop so low as to decieve her mother?

    She should have told her the truth.

    Oh well....

    "Is anything bothering you?" Li Yuming saw that her daughter was still unsettled and asked worriedly.

    "No. Nothing that''s important." She lied. Yet again. "I''m just scared that his family might not like me. Actually... I know they don''t like me and..."

    Li Yuming unknowingly gripped her fork too tightly. She swallowed a bitter gulp of saliva.

    Was history really set on repeating itself?

    If this were before, she would have straight away asked Li Lanni to break up with Ji Xiehan.

    But after witnessing how much Ji Xiehan loved her daughter and how much her daughter was attracted to him too, she couldn''t bring herself to make them unhappy.

    She reached for Li Lanni''s hand and gently stroked it. "Since you have chosen to be with Xiehan, you must understand one thing.

    Your husband''s name will be Ji Xiehan. Not Ji Huifen, not Wen Lin and not Ji Feifei.

    You should never care whether they like you or not.

    I''m not saying that you should be rude to them, but if they do not appreciate you, it''s their loss then. Just focus on your happiness."

    When she heard her mom console her, Li Lanni''s eyes stung. Her heart was filled with guilt. Her mother was saying all this because she thought she was really in love with Ji Xiehan, yet in actual truth was...

    She couldn''t keep this up anymore. "Mom, actually..."

    "Look at the time! Go; you will be late for your art class." Li Yuming reminded her when she suddenly saw the time.

    Li Lanni sighed and left the dining room. Never mind! She could explain to her mother later.

    But as soon as she reached the institution, she was again interrogated. Among the people bombarding her with questions, Cheng Yu was definitely among them. As soon as the class was over, she dragged Li Lanni to a spot near the parking lot and cornered her. "Did you two do anything interesting yet? Did you make it real? Come on, tell me."

    Er..." Li Lanni was speechless.

    Shouldn''t she be asking when this relationship started, when they even got engaged and why she had not told her?

    Besides, "Haven''t you always hated Ji Xiehan?" Of course Li Lanni had realized how displeased Cheng Yu always was when Ji Xiehan was around.

    Cheng Yu dramatically did a hair flip and said, "Luna said he is a good person, so he has to be. Now that you both are together, you should treasure your relationship."

    Li Lanni felt her heart break. "You believe Luna more than you believe me? Just who is your best friend?!"