After the young officer Edward Shaw took first place in a high-profile shooting exhibition attended by senior officials, his family adopted a rather peculiar tradition.

At the annual family banquet, he would perform a blindfolded shooting. Whichever woman's token his bullet struck was taken as a sign that she would become his fiancée.

Determined to marry him, I placed the handkerchief I had carefully chosen as close to him as possible.

Yet, for three consecutive years, his shots hit nothing at all.

I told myself the handkerchief must have been too light, too easy to miss. So each year, I replaced it with something more refined, more eye-catching than before.

That illusion lasted until the night before my eighteenth birthday, when I happened to overhear him speaking with a friend at a reception.

"Miss Jasmine's handkerchief is right in front. Even blindfolded, you should be able to hit it. How do you keep missing every year?"

Edward swirled his glass, his tone casual.

"Tracy's still young. The moment she hears I'm getting engaged, she starts crying.

"I promised I'd wait until she's a little older. As for Jasmine, she's waited for me all these years. It's not like she's going anywhere."

With that, he casually tossed his glass into a metal bucket in the corner. It rang out with a sharp, hollow clang.

I lowered my gaze and thought of my younger sister, only a year younger than me.

So it had never been about the token. It was about the person who placed it there.

In that case, there was no reason for me to keep holding on.

After all, my father had already arranged a marriage for me.

Three days later, at that same family banquet, I would be formally engaged.

I just stepped back into the house when something red slammed hard into my chest.

I bent down to pick it up, and that was when I heard Tracy Lewis crying.

"I'm not getting married. I won't! I'll only marry Edward, no one else!"

She rushed up to me, stomping her foot in anger.

"Jasmine, you did this, didn't you!"

Only then did I realize what hit me. It was my engagement document.

Because the groom's family was powerful and well-known, my father warned me long ago that before the engagement was officially announced, the document had to stay locked in his study. No one was allowed to leak a single detail. Not even me.

Yet somehow, Tracy found it.

My expression sharpened. "You went into father's study without permission?"

Tracy froze for a second, then burst into even louder sobs.

"So it was you! You did this on purpose. You're afraid I'll take Edward from you, so you made father marry me off early!"

Her face flushed red as she turned and ran.

I frowned and went after her, only to see Edward Shaw already holding her in his arms, gently patting her hair.

"Don't cry. I'm here. Who would dare force you to marry?"

Tracy's sobs grew even more pitiful.

Out of the corner of his eye, Edward noticed me. His expression turned icy instantly. "Jasmine, look at what you've done."

My steps came to a sudden stop.

Under the night sky, the two of them looked like a perfect couple.

I watched as Tracy lifted her tearful face from his chest. I forced down the tremble rising in my throat.

"Mr. Shaw, what do you mean? What exactly did I do?"

"You're still denying it?" He pointed at the engagement document in my hand. "I've said it many times. I can only marry you if I hit your handkerchief. If I miss, then it's fate. It has nothing to do with Tracy.

"So how could you push Mr. Lewis into secretly arranging a marriage for Tracy?

"She's still young. Aren't you afraid she'll suffer after getting married?"

I tightened my grip on the document. My heart felt like it was frozen solid.

He would not even look at what was written in it. Just based on a few words from Tracy, he was already blaming me.

Then he talked about fate.

Once, I might have believed him. I would have done anything, everything, just for that one chance. However, today, hearing those words, I finally understood.

That was not fate. He simply did not want to hit my handkerchief. He never wanted to marry me.

I pressed my lips together. My voice no longer shook.

"Mr. Shaw, I think you've remembered wrong. Tracy is only one year younger than I am. She's seventeen this year.

"Girls can be married off at fifteen. How is she 'too young'?"

His back stiffened. He instinctively pushed Tracy away.

Maybe he remembered.

The first year of the shooting match, I was only fourteen.

When he missed, I cried until my eyes turned red, begging him to shoot again.

However, he frowned, clearly annoyed.

"Jasmine, why are you being so unreasonable?

"You'll be of age next year. How can you still act this willfully? Don't you care about the rules of our family?"

I was fourteen then. He told me to be sensible, and for four years, he never once let his shot find its mark.

Then Tracy was seventeen.

Suddenly, she was too young.

What a joke.

Seeing how tense things got, Tracy let out a soft sob. "Jasmine, do you really want to marry me off that badly?"

"However, I can't bear to leave Edward. And I don't want to marry some man I've never even met."

She bit down hard on her lip, then looked up at Edward with tear-filled eyes.

Edward reached out to pull her closer. "Don't be afraid. I won't let you get married."

However, she stepped back, shaking her head, tears clinging to her lashes.

"Edward, Jasmine thinks I've been clinging to you this whole time, maybe I should just die.

"If I'm dead, I won't be forced into marriage. And I won't have to watch you marry someone else."

By the time she finished speaking, she bit her lip hard enough to draw blood. Then she turned and ran back into the Lewis house.

Edward panicked. He took a step to chase after her, then suddenly remembered I was still there.

"Jasmine, she's your own sister. Do you really have to push her to death?

"You think if she gets married, I'll marry you?

"Have you ever thought that maybe the reason I've missed for three years straight is that heaven sees how heartless you are and refuses to let you marry into my family?"

I listened quietly as he finished scolding me, then looked straight into his eyes.

Word by word, I asked, "Edward, three days from now will be the fourth year of the shooting. Will you hit my handkerchief?"

…

Edward frowned deeply. When he spoke, it sounded like he was grinding his teeth.

"Jasmine, your sister is about to kill herself, and you're still thinking about a handkerchief?

"Is romance really that important to you? Important enough to make you this cruel?"

The moon hung high in the sky. It was already late at night.

Edward turned and stormed off, his sleeve snapping in the wind.

I stood alone in the middle of the street, the cold wind making my head spin.

However, the colder my heart felt, the tighter I held onto the engagement document.

All those years of quiet love were shattered in a single moment. When the dream broke, I finally saw him for what he really was. Nothing special at all.

The next morning, I got up early and changed into my engagement dress.

I figured if it did not fit right, there was still time to have it altered.

I turned in front of the mirror and noticed the waist was a little loose. Just as I was about to head out and find a tailor, I ran straight into Edward.

A flicker of surprise crossed his eyes. He stared at me for a second, like he forgot how to speak.

His lips moved slightly. Then, in the next instant, he clenched his fist.

"Jasmine, don't tell me you're planning to wear that to the family banquet."

Before I could even respond, he shook his head, clearly dissatisfied.

"The engagement isn't confirmed unless I hit your handkerchief the day after tomorrow. If you wear something like that and I miss, people will just laugh at how desperate you are to get married.

"Go change. When the time comes, just wear something plain."

He spoke like it was the most natural thing in the world, like I would definitely obey him.

After all, in past years, he said it was to protect my reputation. Before he hit my handkerchief, I could only dress simply and blend into the crowd.

However, Tracy was different.

She was younger. Pure. Innocent.

She could stand right at the front in a bright red dress and call out his name without hesitation.

Thinking of that, I let out a quiet, mocking smile.

"Mr. Shaw, you've misunderstood. I'm trying on this dress for my engagement. If it's an engagement, how could I just wear anything?"

Edward's brows tightened, irritation flashing in his eyes.

"I haven't even submitted an engagement document. What engagement are you talking about?

"And right now, Tracy is on a hunger strike. How can you still be thinking about trying on pretty clothes? Go change, then come with me to apologize to your sister."

A hunger strike?

Before dawn this morning, I clearly heard her cook making meatballs. There was no way she was starving.

"Is Edward here?"

A voice suddenly echoed down the corridor. Tracy came running over in a hurry.

The moment she saw us, she froze. Her pale face trembled, and then tears started falling again.

"Did I interrupt you?"

"Jasmine's wearing such a pretty dress. Are you getting engaged to Edward?"

Edward quickly shook his head. "Tracy, don't overthink it. Jasmine is just trying it on."

"Trying it on? Then it must be real." Tracy was always good at crying.

With her soft, fragile looks, all it took was a few tears for Edward to completely take her side.

"No, there's no engagement. Really."

He rushed over, grabbed my wrist, and lowered his voice.

"Once I hit your handkerchief, I'll naturally go to your family and propose. When that happens, you can wear whatever you like."

"However, right now, Tracy is still young. Go apologize and calm her down. Don't let her do anything foolish."

Edward trained in shooting since he was a child. His grip was so strong that he wrinkled the fabric of my sleeve.

My expression turned icy. When he saw that, he only raised his voice.

"What are you standing there for? Hurry up and explain yourself. Are you really going to push her to her death before you stop?"

I yanked my sleeve free and shoved him away.

"Yes, I should explain.

"This dress is for an engagement, that's true. However, it has nothing to do with you. You, Edward, have no right to interfere."

…

Edward's hand froze midair. He watched as I smoothed out my sleeve and called for the tailor to come inside.

His eyes darkened. He stepped in front of me, blocking my way.

"What do you mean by that? Our engagement concerns me. How do I not have the right to interfere?"

I lifted my gaze and looked at him calmly.

"I'm not marrying you. So what right do you have!"

"Jasmine! Do you even know what you're saying?" Edward exploded, his whole presence turning icy.

"Everyone knows we grew up together. Both our families have long agreed we would become in-laws.

"If you don't marry me, then who will you marry? In the entire capital, who would dare marry someone I, Edward, am tied to? Throwing a tantrum is one thing, but you should know your limits!"

His shout echoed through the entire Lewis residence. The servants and maids all lowered their heads in fear.

Only Tracy stood there, biting her red lip, glaring at me with resentment.

However, as I looked at Edward's chest rising and falling with anger, I suddenly found it almost laughable.

"So you understand everything. And yet you still dragged this out year after year."

Edward stiffened slightly, then spoke in a low voice.

"I have never dragged this out. I said it before. As long as I hit your handkerchief at the family banquet, I will immediately propose to your father. I won't delay."

I let out an icy laugh and met his gaze directly. "However, you've never hit it."

"Missing before was fate. That doesn't mean you'll miss again in the future.

"Whether it's fate or not, you know the answer yourself."

The corners of Edward's eyes tightened. His fingers clenched until his knuckles turned pale.

We knew each other since childhood. We always got along. Every argument between us was because of Tracy.

This one was the worst we ever had.

He gritted his teeth and stared right back at me.

"That's blindfolded shooting. Not some childish game. It's not that easy."

"Is that so? Then how did you take first place at the royal shooting competition, Mr. Shaw? Wasn't it by hitting a mung bean while blindfolded?"

The courtyard fell completely silent.

Edward lowered his gaze, avoiding my eyes. His lips pressed into a thin line.

I had no interest in arguing with him any longer. All I wanted was to fix my dress.

However, suddenly, the silence was broken as the butler, William Gibson, hurried in.

"Some of the wedding arrangements have arrived. Where would you like them placed?"

Edward shot him an icy glance. At that moment, Tracy's crying voice rang out again.

"Jasmine, I told you, I'm not getting married!"

"Where are father and mother? I want to see them. I won't marry, even if it kills me!"

William bowed slightly.

"Mr. Lewis and Mrs. Lewis returned to the old residence a few days ago. They said they needed to retrieve a family heirloom bracelet to use as an engagement gift, so they are not at home for now."

Tracy's small frame trembled violently. She swayed, then collapsed backward.

Edward rushed forward to catch her. As he held her, he heard her sob weakly,

"Edward, Jasmine really can't tolerate me."

"Everything has already been decided. Even that bracelet is being brought back. I'm really going to be married off. However, I don't want to leave you."

He pulled her tightly into his arms, his voice soft with comfort. "It won't happen. I won't let you get married.

"Didn't I promise you? Until you grow up, you won't marry. And I won't take a wife."

Then he turned his head to look at me, his gaze full of accusation.

"Jasmine, this whole engagement of Tracy's started because of you. Go tell Mr. Lewis to cancel it right now.

"Otherwise, at the family banquet the day after tomorrow, I will not hit your handkerchief."

Tracy kept sobbing, her face pale as if she might faint at any moment.

Edward quickly bent down and lifted her into his arms. Without waiting for my reply, he turned and strode out.