Lin Wan’er’s poise and grace were built up with money and resources.
By contrast, she had nothing.
The Lin family could give her neither much love nor much money, yet they still blamed her for not being gracious and poised enough.
To this day, she still didn’t understand why they brought her back.
Her only purpose in this family was to serve as a foil, highlighting how beloved Lin Wan’er, the fake heiress, was.
Isn’t there a saying that the one who isn’t loved is the third party? That saying fit her situation surprisingly well.
Back then, she would be hurt by their unfairness. Now, she no longer cared.
She scanned the storage room. The only clothes available for her to change into was that blue-and-white high school uniform.
Five years ago, she had received an acceptance letter from Qingbei University, the top institution in Hua Country.
Yet the Lin couple only held a grand graduation banquet for Lin Wan’er.
That banquet had invited every notable figure from all walks of life in Hai City.
Eighteen-year-old Lin Wan’er, wearing a million-dollar haute couture princess gown and a crown studded with diamonds, stood between the Lin couple, doted on by all like a princess.
And she, dressed in her shabby, unfashionable clothes, like an ugly duckling that had wandered into a flock of swans, was taken away by the police in front of everyone, spending the next five years in prison—years that should have belonged to her university life.
……
Five minutes later, Lin Qian, having changed her clothes, walked toward the Lin family’s banquet hall.
On the way, servants passed by and looked at her curiously.
“Who is this person? Why is she wearing a high school uniform?”
“She must be a waitress brought over from Shengshi Hotel. Looks like a high schooler working part-time over the summer.”
“Our master and madam are so good to the young miss. To celebrate for her, they even invited the head chef of Shengshi Hotel to cook at home.”
“Isn’t that the truth.”
A servant came over, and passing Lin Qian, didn’t forget to instruct her, “The banquet is about to begin. Go change into the standard uniform right away. You must not be careless when serving the guests—today’s attendees are all prominent figures in Hai City.”
The servant left, and Lin Qian stood where she was, suddenly no longer wanting to go to the banquet hall.
Lin Yanshu had only said that Father Lin and Mother Lin had prepared a welcome banquet for her, but he hadn’t told her that outsiders had been invited.
Being released from prison was nothing glorious—was it necessary to make such a grand affair of it?
Back then, she had been handcuffed and taken away in front of all of Hai City’s elite.
Now, they were going to celebrate the return of her, an ex-convict, with great fanfare in front of that same crowd of high society.
In her view, this wasn’t a welcome ceremony—it was more like announcing all her shame to the world, without leaving her a shred of dignity.
Bitterness mixed with threads of anger surged up in her heart. Lin Qian no longer wanted to stay a moment longer.
She turned to leave.
But Lin Yanshu came walking toward her, and upon seeing what Lin Qian was wearing, his eyes instantly filled with disgust.
He frowned and strode over quickly, loudly reprimanding her: “Didn’t I tell you to change into a formal dress? Why have you come dressed like this? Don’t you know what kind of occasion today is?”
Lin Qian opened her mouth to explain, but was ruthlessly cut off by Lin Yanshu.
“When you got out of prison, you looked like a wreck, and now that you’re home, you want to play the victim in front of everyone, putting on that face like we owe you something, so people will think the Lin family mistreated you. Lin Qian, your tactics are as despicable as ever. You’re hopeless.”
With that, he reached out to grab Lin Qian, still cursing crudely, “Go back and change your clothes. Stop embarrassing yourself here—”
Lin Qian sidestepped out of the way.
Lin Yanshu grabbed at empty air, fury boiling inside him. “You dare dodge me?”
Lin Qian looked up at him. The way he looked at her was as if she were his mortal enemy.
That contemptuous, impatient look of disgust—she had endured it for three years in the Lin family.
Every time their eyes met, it felt like an invisible pair of hands tearing at her heart. The wronged tears welling in her eyes only ever earned her a single remark from him: “What a performance.”
Perhaps she had grown used to that look.
Or perhaps the five years in prison had worn away her self-respect.
Now, meeting his gaze brimming with loathing, she felt nothing at all.
Whether he liked her or hated her could no longer stir even the slightest emotion in her.
Lin Qian lifted her eyes to him, her expression indifferent and distant, yet her gaze neither servile nor defiant. “I don’t have a gown.”
At that, Lin Yanshu’s rage grew even fiercer. “If you don’t have a gown, couldn’t you have bought one?”
Lin Qian drew a deep breath. Lin Yanshu’s prejudice against her ran too deep—nothing she said would ever make him believe her.
In the past, she had tried to explain.
But the more she explained, the more he believed she was covering something up, and the more brazenly he wronged her.
She felt helpless. She didn’t want to explain anymore, so she said coldly, “I have no money.”
Lin Yanshu’s brow knotted, the fury in his chest blazing beyond control.
“For the three years you lived at home, you wanted for nothing—food, clothing, everything provided. The company’s finance department even transferred five hundred thousand a month to your card as allowance. That’s eighteen million over three years. Wasn’t eighteen million enough to buy yourself a few decent outfits and gowns? Yet you deliberately wear cheap street-stall clothes—isn’t that just telling everyone that the Lin family mistreated you?”
“Lin Qian, don’t be so selfish. You’ve made your scene, and we’ve given you all the compensation you were owed. Be satisfied with that.”
“Keep making a fuss, and you’re just being dramatic!”
Lin Qian had known it would be like this. Whatever she said, the result would always be disbelief.
She stared at him without blinking.
For some reason, meeting those clear black-and-white eyes of hers, Lin Yanshu felt a flicker of guilt.
“Why are you looking at me like that? I haven’t said anything wrong.”
He wasn’t wrong?
Hah!
Lin Qian sneered inwardly.
She hadn’t wanted to make a scene, but Lin Yanshu’s aggressive, pressing manner stirred a surge of malice in her heart.
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed someone walking toward them.
If she was going to make a scene, she might as well make it a big one.
She had already lost all dignity. She had nothing left to care about.
She just wondered whether Lin Yanshu, a man so obsessed with face, could stand being publicly executed like this.
“I never received a single cent from the company’s finance department. Forget five hundred thousand—I never even got fifty yuan. Young Master Lin, if you’re going to wrong me, at least come up with a more convincing reason.”
The disgust in Lin Yanshu’s eyes deepened as he looked at Lin Qian.
“You really won’t shed tears until you see your own coffin. Lin Qian, you forced this on yourself. Don’t blame me for not sparing your dignity.”
With that, he pulled out his phone and dialed the company’s finance department, turning on the speakerphone.
“Check how much money the company has been transferring to Lin Qian’s bank card every month.”
A hesitant voice came through the receiver. “Lin Qian? Do you mean the eldest young miss?”
“Yes.”
“President, if it’s Miss Lin Qian, there’s no need to check.”
Hearing this, Lin Yanshu said displeased, “What do you mean?”
“Well, the company’s finance department has never transferred any money to Miss Lin Qian’s bank card.”
“What did you say?” Lin Yanshu could hardly believe what he was hearing.
No matter how unwelcome Lin Qian was, she was still a member of the Lin family. How could she not have any allowance?
The very night Lin Qian was brought back, he had discussed with his parents in the study how much allowance would be appropriate for her.
To avoid showing favoritism, Lin Qian’s allowance was set the same as Lin Wan’er’s—five hundred thousand a month.
He couldn’t have remembered wrong.
“Didn’t I give instructions on this?”
“President, you didn’t know? Madam said that Miss Lin Qian came from a place like an orphanage, that she was shallow and kept unsavory company, and that suddenly giving her five hundred thousand in allowance might lead her astray. Besides, Miss Lin Qian was still a high school student at the time—she wanted for nothing at the Lin family, food and clothing provided, so there was nowhere she needed to spend money. So the allowance was waived…”
As Lin Yanshu listened to these words, his brain buzzed.
The allowance was waived?
That meant that during those three years Lin Qian spent at the Lin family, she hadn’t received a single cent.
“Oh, right. Madam also raised Miss Wan’er’s monthly allowance from five hundred thousand to one million, saying that now that Miss Lin Qian was back, she was worried Miss Wan’er would be sad, and the extra five hundred thousand each month would serve as compensation for Miss Wan’er. You should know about this, President, right?”
Lin Yanshu felt as if someone had seized him by the throat, suffocating.
He didn’t know.