“Dad, the girls’ birthday banquet is about to start. Don’t take Xiaoyue away,”
Lin Jianyu said, returning from mingling with guests.
With so many people present, Grandpa relented.
“Yanran, here’s a longevity locket from Mom,”
my mother said, showing me a dazzling gold locket.
“Mommy~”
I blurted out, overwhelmed with emotion.
Lin Yuxin, strong as an eagle, teared up.
“Yanran, this is from your uncle…”
“Yanran, this is from your second uncle…”
“Yanran, this is from your first aunt…”
“Yanran, this is from your second aunt…”
And so on.
The time was right—I no longer had to babble meaninglessly.
I called out to each one sweetly, making them beam with joy.
Staring at the pile of gold, I drooled.
Mine, mine—one day, all of this would be mine!
“Yanran, call me Daddy,”
Lin Jianyu appeared, interrupting my happiness.
[Wow, at the birthday banquet, the first thing Dad did was check on Lin Xiaoyue?
And now he wants me to call him Dad?
My heart only has Mom—I don’t want to love this scummy dad!]
My face fell.
I turned away, ignoring him.
“Yanran, why won’t you look at Daddy?”
Lin Jianyu frowned, puzzled but unconcerned.
“Mommy, hug!”
I reached for my mother, while Lin Jianyu looked on, jealous.
[Let’s ignore this scummy dad.
Oh, and he has no idea his head’s already green—Lin Xiaoyue isn’t even his real daughter.
Too bad, he’ll be in the dark for years.]
I dodged his hands, humming to myself.
Lin Jianyu’s eyes suddenly filled with anger—
but not at me.
His fury was directed at Auntie Wang.
“What? My brother-in-law actually thought Lin Xiaoyue was his biological daughter when he adopted her?”
My younger uncle, Lin Haoran, nearly jumped out of his seat as he blurted this out, his voice echoing through the Lin family’s grand dining hall.
“My poor sister, you went through all that trouble raising someone else’s child and were kept in the dark the whole time!”
The moment it was just us family members left, Haoran’s laughter rang out, almost maniacal.
“Haha! But heaven never lets the wicked go unpunished! Lin Xiaoyue isn’t even his kid! Serves him right!”
The whole family fell silent, every eye turning to Lin Jianyu.
Grandpa Lin, who’d always prided himself on his composure, finally snapped. He rose from the head of the table, cane in hand, and gave Jianyu a sharp whack on the back.
“You fool! I thought you were adopting this child to bring good fortune to Yanran.
But you’ve done something so outrageous!”
Jianyu winced, stumbling forward from the pain.
“Yanran is our precious treasure, and you treated her like she was nothing!
Do you know how long we waited for this niece?”
Uncle Lin Mingde and Uncle Lin Mingyuan both stepped forward, each giving Jianyu a swift kick for good measure.
Auntie Wang and the villa’s staff tried to slip away, but the family quickly blocked the exits.
[Hold it right there! To put this to rest, let’s get a DNA test.]
Grandpa Lin made the decision with a wave of his hand.
Jianyu’s face fell, the color draining from his cheeks. He’d always thought he was the one manipulating others, but now he’d been played by Auntie Wang.
“Yuxin… let me explain…
Yanran… Daddy… Daddy didn’t mean for this to happen…”
He finally seemed to awaken from the barrage of accusations, glancing at my mother and me, desperate for forgiveness.
“It was a moment of weakness—I betrayed you, and I deserve whatever comes.”
I remembered the twisted history between my father and Auntie Wang.
Despite her title, Auntie Wang, whose real name was Wang Lifen, was about the same age as my father.
She’d always been diligent and unassuming, which caught my father’s attention.
In the world of the wealthy, marriages might start with love, but pride often gets in the way.
Wang Lifen, however, was always willing to listen, nodding along to my father’s complaints about life.
One thing led to another, and Lin Xiaoyue was born.
Originally, Wang Lifen didn’t want to stay with Jianyu without a proper title.
She tried to swap me and Xiaoyue, but my crying ruined her plan.
So she begged my father to let Lin Xiaoyue stay, hoping she’d receive the same education and treatment as me.
With the DNA results in, the truth was undeniable:
Lin Xiaoyue was only Wang Lifen’s child, with no blood ties to Jianyu.
Grandpa Lin finally breathed a sigh of relief.
“So Xiaoyue isn’t my granddaughter at all?
Wang Lifen, you deceived me so thoroughly!”
Jianyu lunged at Wang Lifen, gripping her by the neck.
“You told me your parents forced you into marriage, and you barely escaped. That’s why I took you in!
You swore Xiaoyue was my child, which is why I didn’t see Yanran right after she was born!”
Wang Lifen’s face twisted in pain, but there was also a hint of satisfaction in her eyes.
[Someone should give Dad a full medical checkup.
Who knows what else he’s caught…]
Back in my previous life, Lin Xiaoyue and Wang Lifen had teamed up, leaving my father with nothing.
“You should get checked out. I wouldn’t want a man like you, not after all this!”
My mother, Lin Yuxin, delivered the final blow, her voice icy. The tension between them was palpable.
Jianyu slunk off to the hospital, only to receive a piece of news that would haunt him for the rest of his life:
He might never be able to have children again.
Wang Lifen’s supposed tenderness had been nothing but a series of daggers.
To secure Xiaoyue’s place, she’d ensured Jianyu could never have another heir.
“Haha! Jianyu, this is karma for your cheating!”
Wang Lifen, mask off, glared at him.
“Madam Lin, you really shouldn’t keep a man like this around,” she advised my mother with a sneer.
Under Grandpa Lin’s orders, the scandal was quietly covered up.
Wang Lifen was sent off to a remote mountain village, never to return.
With Wang Lifen gone, what to do with Lin Xiaoyue became the next big question.
A year ago, the Lin family had made a spectacle of adopting her. Now, her presence was a thorn in everyone’s side.
After much deliberation, the family decided to let her stay.
After all, she was still a child, and sending her to an orphanage would tank the Lin Corporation’s stock price.
“We’ll hire a new, thoroughly vetted nanny for Xiaoyue.
If she’s raised well, she might even be useful for a strategic marriage alliance someday.”
Just like that, Lin Xiaoyue’s future was decided.
I glanced at the sleeping Xiaoyue with a twinge of pity.
[How fake. The moment Dad found out she wasn’t his, he tossed her aside.
Where’s all that devotion now?]
But to the outside world, I was still just an innocent, naive little girl.
All I wanted was to make money—lots of it—to keep Mom and me safe.
“Mommy, hug!”
I clung to my mother, plotting our financial future.
[Mom, let’s invest in this project—it’ll be a goldmine.
Mom, tell Uncle to buy that plot of land.
Mom…]
“Mom, don’t forget your annual checkup!”
Chapter 03
*
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