She laughed lightly and grabbed his hand. "Mr. Wan, I have something to show you." She gestured to her diploma, degree certificate, and a pile of graduation photos, all aglow with excitement. "I never even thought I’d pass Level 8 English..." She gave a little laugh. "I thought I’d forgotten it all these years. Look..." "Mr. Wan, look, this is a group photo of the entire class... HEH, I don’t even know most of these classmates’ names. It’s so awkward. If we bump into each other in the future, we won’t even recognize each other, and yet we were classmates..." He listened to her happily chirping away. She hadn’t been this ecstatic in a long while. "Look, isn’t this photo pretty good?" Content originally comes from novel✦fire.net "And this one, this is my favorite. Look... HAHAHA, don’t these look awful? They seem so contrived..." Wan Donglin looked carefully at each one, smiling and utterly absorbed. "They’re gorgeous. Xixi, you always look good in photos, no matter how they’re taken." "These few are really ugly..." "No, they’re not ugly at all..." "Oh, I finally graduated from university! HAHA, I’m so happy!" He put down the graduation certificate, marveling at her youthful, beautiful face. Her smile was like spring flowers blooming. The wilted, haggard look from when she was discharged from the hospital had completely vanished. She grasped his hand and said sincerely, "Mr. Wan, thank you so much. Without you, I can’t even imagine having today." Slowly, he said, "Xixi, I’ve contacted a university in Paris for you. Would you like to go there for a while?" Go to Paris! Endless fashionable clothes, beautiful houses, limitless credit cards... If I got used to this, I could live comfortably for the rest of my life. However, after thinking it over seriously, she shook her head. "No, I’ve already found a house and contacted a job. Mr. Wan, I can’t trouble you anymore." Tonight, we must part on good terms. I’m not willing to wait for him to tell me to leave, nor do I want to go to Ba City and become his de facto ’kept woman.’ After all, he’s getting married. If I stay any longer, I’ll become a true mistress—and I’ve always despised being one. He hugged her from behind, his breathing rapid. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, and what’s more, they had been apart for three to four months since her pregnancy ended in a miscarriage. His breath brushed against her neck and ear, his voice surprisingly tender, "Xixi..." She immediately recognized his familiar body language. Suddenly, she remembered the awful pain of the cold instrument moving inside her on the operating table... That experience had left a psychological scar. She was terrified and instinctively pushed him away. He clearly felt her resistance, but his large hands still held her tightly, his voice rough and husky, "Xixi..." His warm breath tickled her ear, and her heart pounded with fear. No, absolutely not! I can’t bear that kind of pain again! She vaguely remembered a news report about a girl who had five abortions in one year. When the doctor asked her about it, the girl had confidently replied, "It didn’t hurt at all." She was using abortions as a method of birth control. It’s understandable for a child to be that foolish, but for a 26-year-old to be so ignorant is incomprehensible. The psychological trauma was still fresh, the pain vivid in her mind. Terrified, she instinctively shoved him. With surprising strength, she pushed him so hard he stumbled. She quickly retreated, putting three or four meters between them.