The Trap He Crafted

Chapter 3: Briar Qin Is Different

Everything came with a price—Briar knew that.

And Ewan was famous for being a playboy. For now, the only way Briar could think to repay him was this.

Giving her first time to Ewan—she wouldn’t be losing anything.

The coat slid slowly to the floor.

Underneath was a champagne-colored silk slip dress Ewan had someone prepare for her earlier. She’d been soaking wet and had no other clothes to change into.

The champagne color complemented her skin tone perfectly, and the expensive silk made her skin look as smooth and soft as satin, delicate enough to break with a touch.

Ewan admitted he wasn’t a gentleman.

But Briar was different.

He stared at her slightly red eyes for a moment.

Bending down, he picked up her coat from the floor and draped it back over her shoulders. "Briar Qin, you’re Nolan’s fiancée."

"Not anymore," Briar said softly, holding back her emotions.

"Barring any accidents, your wedding will be next year," Ewan said, slowly buttoning the coat for her one by one. "Can you really bear to hand over the position of Mrs. Xu to someone else?"

Briar was proud. What she disdained most was also what she cared about most.

She’d once thought that as long as she held onto the position of Mrs. Xu, she could hold her head high—even if Zoe wanted to steal Nolan from her.

But today, she’d realized that Nolan’s heart was no longer hers. Being Mrs. Xu without his love would be meaningless.

She’d do anything she was willing to do, but no one could force her to do something she didn’t want to.

The trash she didn’t want—let Zoe pick it up. She didn’t care.

"So the second thing I’m here to ask, Uncle, is to speak to Nolan’s parents on my behalf. I don’t want to marry Nolan anymore," Briar said clearly and firmly, word by word.

But Ewan laughed softly. "Do you really think you’ve thought this through? Can you really let go of more than ten years of feelings for Nolan?"

Yes—more than ten years.

Since the first time Briar had met Nolan as a child, she’d followed him around like a shadow. To put it bluntly, she’d been a yes-man.

She was two years younger than Nolan, and they’d attended the same primary school, middle school, and university. Wherever Nolan was, she’d looked up to him, striving to keep up with his footsteps.

And to be honest, the only reason Nolan had dated her was because she was presentable.

She’d heard him say those exact words to his friends just last month.

But at the time, she’d been blinded by infatuation, thinking Nolan had just been saying things in anger—thinking he had his reasons.

Ewan saw that she didn’t respond, fell silent for a few seconds, then said: "So you haven’t really thought it through."

Ewan didn’t like forcing people to do things they didn’t want to do.

Especially not Briar.

"Go back. I’ll have Shen Chuan send you," he said, pressing the call button on the desk to summon Shen Chuan.

Within seconds, Shen Chuan was waiting at the door.

"I have thought it through," Briar insisted, looking at him seriously. "I’ll prove to you that I’m serious."

Ewan smiled. "Very well."

It would be good if she could truly let go—he hoped she could.

His tone was somewhat perfunctory, as if he were humoring a child. Briar couldn’t help but frown.

She didn’t say anything else, just turned and walked out.

Shen Chuan followed a few steps behind. When they got to the car, he handed the card to Briar again.

"Master said that your worth, Miss Qin, is far more than three hundred thousand yuan."

"This card is a small birthday gift from him."

Briar froze, taking the card from Shen Chuan.

Through the car window, she looked in the direction of Ewan’s study.

Memories flooded back. She and Ewan hadn’t had much interaction over the years, but every encounter had left a deep impression.

The Fu family had three children in Ewan’s generation. Nolan’s mother was the second oldest. Her eldest sister ran a business overseas and rarely came back. As the youngest son, born when the Fu family’s grandfather was in his forties, Ewan had been spoiled rotten since childhood.

The Fu family was an aristocratic clan with a history of hundreds of years. Xiyuan Garden, covering thousands of mu, was just a small part of their property.

Furthermore, several generations of the Fu family had been enfeoffed as princes in the early years. By Ewan’s generation, he was the only heir for three generations.

Spoiled to be willful and unrestrained, he was known as the "Young Prince" in social circles.

He was her elder, and he’d even hit Nolan in front of her. Nolan was afraid of him, so Briar was a little afraid of him too.

But today, this elder—who had a bad reputation and terrified her—was the only person who had given her trust and respect.

Ewan Fu... didn’t seem as unbearable as others said.

She clenched the card in her hand and replied softly to Shen Chuan: "Please, thank Uncle for me."

Shen Chuan glanced at Briar in the rearview mirror, hesitating to speak.

After a long while, he replied: "Yes, I’ll let him know."

In fact, it had been Ewan who’d saved her when she fell into the lake, but Ewan had told him not to say anything.

At least for now, Briar was still Nolan’s fiancée. As an uncle, he naturally needed to avoid suspicion. Briar had already suffered enough—he couldn’t let her reputation be ruined further, adding insult to injury.

As the car turned around and drove away, the snow fell harder.

Ewan watched the car’s taillights disappear around the corner. His phone vibrated again on the desk. He glanced at it, picked it up, and held it to his ear.

"...Did you order this? Are you sure you want to do this?" The person on the other end sounded surprised.

"I said it. Any hospital that dares to treat Zoe Qin can close down starting tomorrow," Ewan replied coldly, his expression emotionless.

"What did the Qin family’s little princess do to offend you? Didn’t she go to your Xiyuan Garden for dinner today?" The other person’s tone was playful. "Or did that old man Ronan provoke you? His eldest daughter is your niece-in-law!"

"Guess," Ewan said, then hung up the phone and threw it onto the sofa beside him.

Just as he was about to leave, the corner of his eye caught a jadeite ring on the carpet.

It looked familiar. He bent down to pick it up. It must have fallen off accidentally when Briar took off her clothes.

She was so poor that she had to borrow three hundred thousand yuan from him, yet she couldn’t bear to sell this ring. It must be very important to her.

When Briar arrived at the hospital, it was already late. The military hospital had an earlier curfew than other hospitals, and the lights in the inpatient building were already out.

She used her phone’s flashlight to climb up to the sixth floor via the fire escape.

Just as she was about to enter, the flashlight beam swept over a figure standing in the corner. Even with her courage, she couldn’t help but jump in fright.

"It’s me," the person said softly.

Briar recognized the familiar voice and couldn’t help but frown.

A faint smell of tobacco lingered in the corridor. She stared at the faint red glow of the cigarette between the person’s fingers, her brows furrowing even deeper.