As I neared my eighteenth birthday, I grew more and more anxious, as if something bad was looming.
I’d learned from experience: I had cameras installed in every corner of the villa, just in case.
After learning Lin Xiaoyue wasn’t his, Jianyu promptly changed her surname to Wang, making her Wang Xiaoyue.
“You’re just a child we adopted.
I hope you study hard and make your own way in the world,”
he told her bluntly, even tearing down the apartment he’d once promised her.
As if to make amends, Jianyu became meek and apologetic to Mom and me.
“Yes, sir, ma’am. I’ll study hard and repay your kindness,”
Wang Xiaoyue always replied, quietly and obediently.
I started showing signs of being an unusually gifted child.
Every time Mom took me to a banquet, I was showered with praise.
Meanwhile, Wang Xiaoyue, after her name change, kept her head down and caused no more trouble.
“Dad, Mom, I really am your daughter. Don’t you want me anymore?
I miss you so much, sob sob…”
On my eighteenth birthday, the Lin family mansion was filled with guests.
Just as I was about to cut the cake, chaos erupted.
The whole family’s faces changed.
“What’s going on? Isn’t she just the adopted daughter?”
“Is she jealous of Yanran and trying to make a scene on her birthday?”
The guests whispered among themselves.
Now, Wang Xiaoyue wore a plain dress worth only a few hundred yuan,
a far cry from the custom gowns she’d once enjoyed.
[Could it be… Wang Xiaoyue has been reborn too?]
For years, under the influence of my thoughts, Wang Xiaoyue had quietly focused on her studies,
hoping to join the Lin Corporation and repay her debts.
This was nothing like the resentful, hostile girl she’d become.
“Xiaoyue, I told you—my only daughter in this life is Yanran,”
Jianyu said, instinctively shielding Mom and me.
“Xiaoyue, you’re not my child.
If you don’t believe it, we can do another DNA test.”
He sighed deeply.
“Grandpa, wasn’t I always your favorite granddaughter?”
Wang Xiaoyue turned to Grandpa Lin.
[Yeah, loving you cost him his life.]
“Brother, don’t you love me anymore? You used to give me all your favorite things…”
She looked at Lin Minghao, my brother.
[He loved you so much, but you still ran him over. Incredible.]
Minghao recoiled, remembering the time I’d warned him in my thoughts that Xiaoyue would run him over.
He’d kept his distance ever since.
She turned back to Jianyu.
“Dad, do you really not want me?
You used to skip meetings to drive me to school.
You bought me a five-hundred-million-yuan ring without blinking.
And I…”
Tears streamed down her face.
[So that’s why Dad was so good to her in my last life—even after learning she wasn’t his.
Too bad for me…]
As expected, Jianyu was met with a barrage of glares from the whole family.
“I didn’t… I don’t…
I only love Yanran.”
He swore, once again, in front of everyone.
Wang Xiaoyue couldn’t take it. She tried to run back to her old room,
but the maid stopped her.
“Your room’s downstairs now, the twenty-square-meter one.
This one belongs to Miss Yanran.”
Blow after blow, Wang Xiaoyue finally broke.
“This was my room! Yanran used to live in the storage closet!”
She screamed and ran out of the mansion, but not a single person moved to stop her.
The next morning, I was greeted by a family of zombies—everyone had dark circles under their eyes, especially Dad and Minghao.
It looked like they’d spent the night mining coal.
“Grandpa, Dad, Minghao… what happened to you all?”
I asked, genuinely puzzled.
In this house, only Mom and I had slept well.
The moment I spoke, their eyes filled with tears.
Jianyu rushed over to hug me.
“Yanran, it’s all my fault. Daddy’s so sorry.”
Grandpa Lin took off his glasses, instructing the butler to transfer shares to me.
“It’s all Grandpa’s fault, but at least I have a chance to make it up to you,”
he said gently, looking older than ever.
Finally, Minghao stepped forward.
“Yanran, I’m sorry for everything before,”
he said, now the very image of a future CEO.
Mom’s face was calm, but I was left completely bewildered.
Over the next few days, I was showered with “compensation”:
“Yanran, here are some company shares from Grandpa. Keep them for your future.”
“Yanran, here’s a black card from Dad—no limit.”
“Sister, I’m giving you my most profitable company.”
It was as if they could never do enough to make up for the past.
Their guilt was almost tangible.
As for Wang Xiaoyue, she made several scenes.
Whenever she saw someone, she’d shout,
“I’m the only real heiress of the Lin family! Everything here belongs to me!
Yanran is nothing!”
People just laughed.
“Sis, she’s gone off the deep end. Want me to take care of her?”
Minghao asked, stepping up.
“No… need…”
My refusal stunned him.
Pain washed over his face.
“So you still can’t forgive your brother, can you?”
He lowered his head, shedding his first tear in ten years
Chapter 04
*
Comments
Post a Comment