But just then, the driver pulled over. Two people got in—Jiang Ke’s parents.
Not only was Jiang Ke shocked and angry, but Xu Yinian also felt a wave of unbearable shame because Shen Yi had been extending her influence into the Jiang family’s business.
“I thought you weren’t coming back…!”
“Fuck it, the meeting broke up early because of some bullshit.”
Xu Yinian’s Uncle was reeking of alcohol and couldn’t even speak clearly. He was swearing profusely, clearly having been humiliated. When he heard Xu Yinian’s weak greeting of “Uncle, Auntie,” he finally noticed the figure huddled in the shadows.
“Xu Yinian…?” Her Aunt furrowed her brow and chimed in.
Jiang Ke explained about the fleas and having Xu Yinian stay over.
“But we have things to do tomorrow,” her Aunt said in an unwelcoming tone, her typical polite facade crumbling the moment her social-climbing interests were threatened. “But since it’s so late, come along. Just know you’ll have to find your own way back to the dorm tomorrow morning. We’ll be busy preparing from early morning, so we can’t have the driver take you. At most, we’ll call a taxi for you.”
Xu Yinian sensitively picked up on the side of her Uncle and Aunt she had never seen before—this cold, unwelcoming air. She bit her lip. “Thank you, Auntie. I… I should just go back to the dorm…”
“Sister, it’s eleven o’clock. Curfew has already passed. You can’t go back,” Jiang Ke said, looking at Xu Yinian with none of the disgust she had shown her parents. She squeezed Xu Yinian’s hand comfortingly.
Xu Yinian noticed Jiang Ke’s attempt to smooth things over. Not wanting to make things difficult for her, she agreed. “Tomorrow… I’ll just take the bus. I… I know the way.”
As the car drove toward the Jiang family villa, her drunken Uncle suddenly spoke to her, his tone hostile. “Niece, why do you have to act so tough? Do you really think your little part-time job is enough to live on in The Capital? What about your tuition?”
Xu Yinian opened her mouth to explain that she had enough money, but he just kept talking over her.
“You’re just like your mother. So high and mighty! Look at the state your mother is in now. Do you want to be like her? A widow at such a young age, stuck in that backwater countryside for the rest of your life?”
The man, who had just been looked down upon in high society, was now seeking satisfaction by bullying someone weaker. His words became increasingly reckless.
“You and your mother must be laughing at me behind my back, aren’t you? Laughing at me for being a dog for the Bai and Shen families! I tried to climb the ladder to reach CEO Shen, and what happened? I couldn’t even see her face!”
“Isn’t that right? You look down on my money. I knew it—”
Hearing the title “CEO Shen,” Xu Yinian’s face grew even paler. Then, she heard him laugh with a sudden, vicious joy.
“Yeah! Your mother’s grades were so much better than mine. A real scholar, so high and mighty, always talking like she was better than everyone. And what did all that ‘superiority’ get her? She ended up pregnant out of wedlock and brought back a kid. Her husband was just a replacement who took her in…”
These were the “drunken truths” Jiang Rui spat out regularly in front of the Jiang family.
“Jiang Rui!” His wife, Chang Dai, snapped, cutting him off.
She knew all too well that her husband had always been consumed by jealousy toward his foster sister, whose academic brilliance had consistently put him to shame. Every time he had offered the other woman “charity” after his own circumstances improved, it was never out of kindness—it was solely to feed his sense of superiority.
He looked down on her poverty yet burned with envy over her intellect. Nothing rankled him more than her quiet dignity, and he wanted nothing more than to crush that lofty pride into the dirt.
That was why, when his foster sister had come to him, begging for help to pay for her husband’s medical bills, he had used every excuse imaginable to delay the payment until the very last second. He had intentionally waited until the deadline was nearly past, all so he could savor the sight of her in a state of pathetic desperation.
The Jiang family had refused to pay for an adopted daughter’s university education. Then, the sudden arrival of a child had completely derailed Xu Yihe’s plans to work her way through college.
Raising a child, scraping together money for the medical bills of a husband she had married in haste…
Despite her brilliance, the lack of a degree forced her to toil as a substitute teacher for a pittance, only managing to secure a permanent, licensed position many years later.
Chang Dai had once been curious about the child’s biological father. However, when she looked into the past, she discovered a web of inconsistencies.
Xu Yihe had only been away working and studying for a single year. How could she have returned with a baby that was already several months old?
…Whose child was this?
Chang Dai didn’t know the answer. She also didn’t know that while she was digging into these secrets, a young Jiang Ke had been watching her. Because of that, even the final vestiges of familial taboo had vanished from Jiang Ke’s mind.
A child out of wedlock…
Not her biological father.
The revelations hit Xu Yinian like a sledgehammer to the chest.
For eighteen years, she had lived in total ignorance. She found it impossible to reconcile the image of her steadfast, independent, and strong-willed mother with the sordid labels being tossed around now.
Xu Yinian kept her head bowed, remaining silent, but her trembling hands betrayed her utter devastation.
Malice flickered in Jiang Ke’s eyes. She had never wanted this power-hungry, snobbish, and petty man to drop dead more than she did in this moment.
Her Little Aunt had spent a lifetime keeping this secret buried. How dare he speak of it like this in front of Xu Yinian? How dare he rip open a blood-soaked wound so carelessly?
Did he even realize that his precious family business—the one he had spent over a decade groveling to maintain, only for it to nearly collapse overnight—had been saved on a whim by Shen Group?
The “ruthless woman” he was so desperate to impress at tomorrow’s banquet, the one he was scheming just to get a few words with, had only shown him mercy because of the girl he was currently insulting. It was nothing more than a case of loving the dog for the sake of its owner.
