Su Lan stood in front of the cosmetics counter at the department store, her crimson-painted fingernails digging so deeply into her palms that they nearly drew blood.
“Lin Xiaoman! Get out here!”
Her shrill scream shattered the quiet of the first floor, causing several customers to jump back in alarm.
The curtain behind the counter twitched, and Lin Xiaoman cautiously poked her head out. Her makeup was still immaculate, but the dark circles beneath her eyes betrayed her exhaustion.
When she saw Su Lan, she forced out a smile.
“Lanlan, why are you—”
“Shut up! Who gave you permission to call me that?”
Su Lan snatched a bottle of perfume from the counter and hurled it at her.
“You shameless bitch! How dare you seduce my father!”
Lin Xiaoman ducked in panic. The perfume bottle grazed her ear before smashing into the mirror behind her.
She and Su Chun had been so careful. How had Su Lan found out?
Her face turned deathly pale, and her lips trembled.
“Miss Su… you’ve misunderstood.”
“Misunderstood?”
Su Lan grabbed a fistful of Lin Xiaoman’s curled hair and dragged her out from behind the counter.
“Then explain the gold lock pendant around that little bastard’s neck! That’s my family’s heirloom!”
Tears streamed down Lin Xiaoman’s face from the pain as she desperately tried to pry Su Lan’s fingers loose.
“I… I don’t know. That was…”
“That was what?”
Su Lan suddenly released her hair and drove a kick into her stomach.
“Say it!”
Lin Xiaoman staggered backward and collapsed onto the floor. Her carefully styled curls were now a tangled mess.
She looked around helplessly.
Customers and sales clerks had gathered to watch, but no one dared step forward.
Some had even taken out sunflower seeds and were happily enjoying the spectacle.
“Miss Su… I really don’t know what you’re talking about.”
She continued to deny everything.
Didn’t know?
Last night, the moment her father saw the child, his eyes had lit up with excitement. He had even pretended to adopt the child as his godson.
If there wasn’t something suspicious going on, then pigs could fly.
Su Chun had always resented Madam Su for never giving him a son.
This child had landed right in the middle of his deepest desire.
Su Lan sneered.
“Lin Xiaoman, I treated you like a sister, and you climbed into my father’s bed! You shameless slut!”
Everything suddenly clicked for Lin Xiaoman.
The child had exposed her.
Back then, she had slept with two different men and genuinely didn’t know who the father was.
She had been deceiving both of them at the same time.
Ignoring her humiliation, she hurriedly wrapped her arms around Su Lan’s leg.
“That child belongs to Xu Mingzhe! He has nothing to do with the Su family!”
“If the child has nothing to do with the Su family…”
Su Lan kicked her away.
“…then I’ll send you to Xu Mingzhe.”
She turned to her attendants.
“Tie this woman up and take her away!”
After reading the newspaper report about his father, Xu Mingzhe hurried home.
From a distance, he noticed a large crowd gathered outside the Xu residence, pointing and whispering among themselves.
Frowning, he pushed through the crowd.
The moment he saw what lay before him, his face turned ashen.
Lin Xiaoman was completely naked, curled up on the ground.
Bruises covered her body, now stained with dried, filthy water. Her long hair clung messily to her face, leaving her in an utterly miserable state.
The moment she spotted Xu Mingzhe, she reached out to him with trembling hands as though grasping her last lifeline.
“Mingzhe… please… give me something to wear.”
The surrounding crowd immediately turned to look at Xu Mingzhe.
“I heard she gave the Xu family a grandson.”
“Seriously? Isn’t Young Master Xu already married?”
“Who knows? A woman like her has probably slept with countless men. Shameless.”
Xu Mingzhe’s face alternated between red and white as rage surged through him.
He took a disgusted step backward.
“Steward!”
The house steward hurried over.
Through gritted teeth, Xu Mingzhe barked,
“Throw a rag over her. Don’t let her filthy body stain the Xu family’s front gate!”
Old Chen hurried to the backyard, grabbed a filthy burlap sack, and casually tossed it over Lin Xiaoman, barely covering her body.
Clutching the dirty cloth tightly, tears mixed with the grime on her face.
“Mingzhe… the child really is yours.”
“Shut up!”
Xu Mingzhe roared.
He kicked her aside before turning to the steward.
“Throw her out! I never want to see her again!”
The steward dared not disobey.
Together with several servants, they wrapped Lin Xiaoman in the rag as though she were nothing more than garbage and threw her straight into the nearby foul drainage ditch.
With a loud splash, she landed heavily in the filthy water.
The stinking mud instantly soaked her body.
She struggled desperately to crawl out, but she had no strength left.
All she could do was lie helplessly at the edge of the ditch, watching as the gates of the Xu residence slammed shut before her.
Standing by the second-floor window, Wen Wan watched the entire scene with icy indifference.
A mocking smile curved her lips.
“So much for everlasting love.”
She murmured softly,
“Men… they change sides faster than flipping the pages of a book.”
Turning away from the window, she strolled leisurely toward the Xu family’s antique display cabinet.
From her sleeve, she produced a counterfeit antique and skillfully swapped it with the genuine piece on display.
Simply emptying the house would be far too boring—and too suspicious.
She intended to replace every valuable possession in the Xu household with convincing fakes.
Only then would Xu Mingzhe truly understand the despair of having nowhere to turn for help.
With graceful steps, she descended the staircase, wearing her usual gentle and elegant smile.
Stopping beside Xu Mingzhe, she lightly patted his shoulder.
“Mingzhe, don’t be angry. A woman like that isn’t worth upsetting yourself over.”
Xu Mingzhe nodded stiffly, his expression still dark.
Wen Wan continued in a caring tone,
“You’ve only just returned from the hospital. Don’t make yourself sick with anger. I’ll make you a bowl of calming soup.”
Distracted, Xu Mingzhe merely grunted in acknowledgment.
She turned toward the kitchen.
Instead of making soup, however, she rummaged through a corner until she found several moldy corn buns.
She tossed them into a bowl and carried them toward the backyard.
Zhang Cuihua and Xu Mingli had already gone an entire day and night without food inside the dog kennel.
Dizzy with hunger, Zhang Cuihua immediately looked up upon hearing footsteps.
Seeing Wen Wan, her eyes lit up.
“Wen Wan! Did you bring us something to eat?”
Wen Wan smiled gently and handed her the bowl.
“Of course. I brought this especially for you.”
Zhang Cuihua eagerly reached for it.
But when she looked inside and saw the mold-covered, rock-hard corn buns, her expression instantly changed.
“Wen Wan! What do you mean by this? You’re feeding us this garbage?”
Garbage?
In her previous life, after being sent away, she hadn’t even had stale corn buns to eat.
The smile slowly disappeared from Wen Wan’s face.
Looking directly at Zhang Cuihua, she said calmly,
“If you don’t want them, then keep starving.”
Without another word, she turned and walked away, ignoring Zhang Cuihua’s hysterical curses behind her.
Xu Mingzhe sat alone in his study, staring grimly at the medical report in his hands.
He still couldn’t believe that he shared no blood relation whatsoever with Xu Zhiguo.
Yet the hospital’s test results were unmistakable.
Looking up at the man seated across from him, he said,
“Dad, someone must be setting us up. There’s no way there’s anything wrong with your health. This hospital must have made a mistake. Let’s go somewhere else and get tested again.”
Although Xu Zhiguo was heartbroken, Xu Mingzhe controlled vast business resources and connections.
Their relationship had long since become about more than blood ties.
Suppressing his anger, Xu Zhiguo nodded.
“Fine. How are things progressing at the port?”
Xu Mingzhe narrowed his eyes.
“I’ve already contacted overseas buyers. As long as this shipment leaves the country smoothly, we’ll make a fortune.”
Xu Zhiguo frowned.
“But customs inspections have become very strict. What if something goes wrong?”
“Don’t worry.”
Xu Mingzhe interrupted confidently.
“I’ve already paid off the right people. As long as nothing unexpected happens, no one will ever trace it back to us.”
He smiled coldly.
“And even if they do investigate, everything goes through the Wen family’s accounts.”
The two continued discussing the matter in hushed voices, completely unaware that the study door had opened ever so slightly.
Outside the door, Wen Wan stood silently, listening to every single word.