Chapter 858 — You'll Marry Him Whether You Like It or Not
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
"It was no excuse!" Guan Xiaopeng waved his hand. "Xinxin, you're not a child anymore. It's time you knew. The truth is, before you were born, your mother and I settled a marriage for you. Now that you've grown up, there's no harm in telling you..."
"How can that be?" Hearing her father's words, Guan Xin was thrown into utter confusion. The shock of the news was simply too great. Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined that she was already bound by an engagement, and that a fiancé had sprung up out of nowhere!
"How can it not be? Marriages have always been arranged by parents and matchmakers since ancient times!" Guan Xiaopeng had not expected his usually docile daughter to question him. His brow furrowed even deeper. Could there really be something between her and that Wei Zhao?
"Dad, what century are we living in? How can you still be arranging marriages? I've never even met this man you're talking about—how could I possibly marry him? And after all these years, how could it still count? Please, just call it off for me?" Guan Xin found it inconceivable; the whole thing was absurd beyond belief, and she could not accept it.
"Call it off? Absolutely not!" Guan Xiaopeng left no room for negotiation whatsoever. "You will marry him, and no one can change that!"
"I won't marry him!" For the first time in her life, Guan Xin—always the obedient daughter—rebutted her father so fiercely. This concerned her lifelong happiness; how could she possibly compromise?
"You! You'll marry him whether you like it or not!" Guan Xiaopeng gave a cold snort, his anger rising as well. "I've made up my mind on this matter. It's useless for you to say anything!"
"On what grounds? I've never even met the man, I don't know what he looks like or what he does, and I'm supposed to marry him?" Guan Xin glared, her voice stubborn. "I won't marry him—I don't even like him!"
"If you don't like him, then who do you like?" Guan Xiaopeng shot back.
"I like... I just don't like him, that's all!" Guan Xin had nearly let something slip. Her face flushed, and she hastily clamped her mouth shut.
"Are you in love with that Wei Zhao?" How could Guan Xiaopeng fail to read his own daughter's heart? "You'd better cut ties with him while you still can, or I'll have someone break his legs! Your marriage was decided by your mother and me together. That man showed me a great kindness. Everything I have today was bestowed on me by his elders. I, Guan Xiaopeng, am not one to go back on my word. If you come around to it, well and good. If you don't, you'll marry him all the same!"
With that, Guan Xiaopeng paid Guan Xin no further mind. He rose to his feet and strode out of the villa.
Guan Xin, meanwhile, burst into tears of grievance. She could not fathom how her father could be so domineering and hidebound, forcing her to marry a man she did not love. And even if that man's elders had once done her father a kindness, could he not repay it some other way? Why must it be through her marriage?