"Jingshan, believe me, how could I want to kill you, if you don’t believe me, ask those two..."
"Do you want to confront the dead?"
"You... you killed..." Yuan Min stared steadily at Lai Jingshan, tears spilling over, and her body quickly started to tremble uncontrollably.
Could the gentle and refined him have actually killed someone?
"Scared now, are you?"
"No, it’s not that, I... why?"
"Big sister-in-law, I’ve always treated you, Zishen... and Zihan well over the years," Lai Jingshan paused, his eyes bloodshot. "Remember when you first came to the Leng Family, I was only 15. Big brother moved to Li Garden to live alone, leaving you neglected, which led the servants to disrespect you as well. But I have always treated you as my big sister-in-law, afraid you might feel wronged, often helping you."
These words filled Yuan Min with immense guilt.
"And then... that incident happened, I was in so much pain, but you told me some things are meant to be, and once done, there should be no regrets." Follow current ɴᴏᴠᴇʟs on novel[f]ire.net
"I don’t regret it, not even now!"
"After all, I’m the one who wronged big brother, so in this lifetime... I’ll never compete with Zishen over anything, but today you actually... actually wanted to kill me?"
"Zihan is yours, he’s your son, how could I possibly... want to kill you!"
"It’s impossible, didn’t you say..."
He was prepared to go for the gun when suddenly he heard Yuan Min say this, and his heart became a mess.
"The remaining samples in the sperm bank... Zhenshan had destroyed them long ago, and when I found out it was my brother who stole them, that’s why I broke his ribs. He never touched me, not even once; I’ve always been... except that time when I returned to my hometown in Blue City and was with you... it was my only time. I’ve always been living like a widow, always."
How stifled she had felt these years, she alone knew, without a soul to confide in.
years ago, she had been infatuated with Li Zhenshan, willing to undergo IVF despite knowing it would cause gossip, just to force Li Zhenshan to marry her.
But now, all she felt was hatred, resenting how he had neglected her, pining for Yi Xiaodan until death.
"Zihan is my child? No wonder his temperament doesn’t resemble big brother’s at all, so that’s it... my own child, Lai Jingshan’s son?"
"He really takes after you, in many ways."
At that moment, Lai Jingshan didn’t know whether he should be happy or repentant, his mind full of the odd things his brother once said.
Should we adopt Zihan to you?
While he’s still young and knows nothing.
He grabbed Yuan Min, her eyes brimming with tears, and looked at her incredulously.
"Did big brother know about this all along?"
"Yes, he found out right after I became pregnant, and said that as long as it’s Leng Family’s blood and not an outsider’s, it’s fine. I thought he would kill me in a fit of anger, but he didn’t; he just put me under house arrest and wouldn’t let me go out."
The reputation of the Leng Family was very important, and surely it couldn’t jeopardize the future of his brother Lai Jingshan.
"Big brother... did he do it to protect me?"
"Later, when Zihan was born, Zhenshan would occasionally bring toys over. He called him by the wrong name twice, mistaking him for you when you were a child."
These words pierced Lai Jingshan’s heart, deepening his guilt.
Indeed, his big brother had cared for him like a father.
"Jingshan, the most important thing now is... we can’t let Wang Junchen get a hold of any leverage. He already knows, a few days ago... I received an envelope with photos of you and Zihan choosing dinnerware for the restaurant, shot very clearly."
"A few photos don’t prove anything."
"No, he must already know, so he used those photos to threaten me."
"Threaten you with what? Preventing you from attending last Saturday’s... 8028 launch event? In doing so, delaying Zishen’s retreat, and in turn affecting our Leng Family..."
"All of it, he did it on purpose."
"He’s trying to provoke you, waiting for you to reveal yourself. He doesn’t actually have anything substantial..." Lai Jingshan’s words were cut off halfway as he suddenly thought of the teahouse, "This morning in the tea room... you mentioned Blue City!"
These words woke Yuan Min from her dreamlike state, and she felt as if all her energy had drained away. If Lai Jingshan hadn’t held her, she might have collapsed.
She had fallen into the trap.
She had admitted with her own lips that she had spent a night alone with Lai Jingshan and even mentioned that her eldest son, Li Zishen, was conceived through in vitro fertilization.
"What should I do, what can I do?"
"Xiao Dan is back for revenge! She hates me; she could never forgive me, she won’t forgive me!"
"Will Wang Junchen... Yes, he must know by now, know that it was me back then... but at that time, I really... I..."
In a state of extreme emotional upheaval, Yuan Min finally spilled all her secrets, including how she bribed Song Dapeng and harmed Yi Xiaodan.
"Why did she have to jump?"
"I didn’t want her dead, I just wanted her away from Zhenshan, I really didn’t want her dead."
"What should I do? Jingshan, what should I do?"
Lai Jingshan gently patted her back, his heart filled with mixed feelings, his eyes deep and cold.
At the same time, in Country T.
The morning session of the yacht race had ended, and now Tang Xiaowan was leaving the VIP area with Leng Lingxiao, hand in hand, heading toward the parking spot.
A lady of high society looked in surprise at Tang Xiaowan, this young girl who was unfamiliar to her.
It was the ruby hair clip that drew her attention.
She suspected that Tang Xiaowan’s identity was no small matter: either she was a princess from some country, or perhaps the wife of a duke—or at the very least, the treasured daughter or new bride of some financial magnate.
Her black hair paired with the vintage butterfly clip gave off a sense of regality laced with elegance.
Additionally, Tang Xiaowan, dressed in a pink floral maxi dress, had a graceful figure and an outstanding temperament, so it was naturally common for her to attract attention and interest.
Following that, two other opulent ladies looked toward Tang Xiaowan as well.
They used fans to obscure their faces as they talked in hushed tones.
"Huahua, quickly check for me, is there something dirty on my face?" Tang Xiaowan quietly asked Leng Lingxiao, unconsciously touching the tip of her nose.
"There’s nothing. They’re looking at your hair clip."
Upon hearing this, Tang Xiaowan exhaled in relief: "Oh, that explains it, you startled me."
She knew there would be reporters from various countries today, and the VIP section was filled with prestigious figures, so she made sure to apply light makeup and even double-checked it in the mirror before getting out of the car.
After all, as a married woman, she was indifferent to others, but she couldn’t tarnish her husband’s reputation.
"Probably just curious," Leng Lingxiao said, his thin lips curling into a smile as he lightly kissed Tang Xiaowan’s hand. "They say it was the most cherished hair ornament of the queen mother of M country before she passed, intended for the next queen. However, her son ultimately inherited the throne."
At these words, Tang Xiaowan felt a jolt in her heart, completely taken aback that the butterfly hair clip originated from royalty.
This item was actually worn by the queen?
My goodness, the queen!
No wonder all those people were staring so hard.
Seeing his Little Wife’s shocked expression, Leng Lingxiao quickly kissed her fair hand again and helped her adjust her bangs, which had been tousled by the sea breeze.
"The one who lived to be a hundred?" Tang Xiaowan suddenly asked, soft enough for only them to hear.
"Yes, the only queen of M country."
Meanwhile, two reporters who had been lying in wait nearby began snapping a barrage of photos of them.