Like a child finding solace, Yan Songyu finally had an outlet for all her grievances and could no longer hold back. “Dad…”
Yan Binghua’s eyes reddened at the sound of that word “Dad.” He opened his weathered yet sturdy arms, ready to shield his daughter from the world once more. “Come here.”
“Dad!” Yan Songyu threw herself into Yan Binghua’s embrace, clutching his clothes as she wept uncontrollably. “I’m sorry, it’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have disobeyed you. I shouldn’t have married Jiang Chengli… Sob… I was foolish, blind and stupid. I’m the one who harmed Feifei…”
Since her rebirth, she had been too afraid to wonder what had become of her father afterward? What happened to the Yan Family’s future?
Her mother had passed away early, and her father, who had deeply loved her mother, never remarried. He poured all his affection into her, yet she had subjected him to the agony of losing his daughter in his old age!
She couldn’t bear to imagine how devastating it must have been for her father to bury his own child, especially when his health was already failing…
How could she have been so foolish!
Yan Songyu bit her lip until it bled, the metallic taste of blood spreading in her mouth. She could only swallow it down along with her tears.
Yan Binghua gently patted her back, soothing her in a warm voice, “Don’t cry, my dear. Be good. If you’ve been wronged, tell your dad. I’m not old yet!”
Feng Yu watched the father and daughter embracing, especially seeing Yan Songyu crying as if releasing all her pent-up sorrow. His nose tingled with emotion, and a sharp, aching pain spread through his heart.
Cry.
Let it all out.
He knew the hatred in her heart hadn’t diminished one bit despite years of revenge—it had only grown deeper. Even though she trusted him, he couldn’t break through the barrier around her heart. He could only watch as she buried her pain deeper and deeper. For her to be willing to cry now wasn’t a bad thing.
“Dad, Jiang Chengli… he was scheming against me from the very beginning,” Yan Songyu said after she had cried her fill, finally composing herself enough to speak.
“But I was too foolish to see it. I even threw myself at him with all my heart.”
Yan Binghua stroked her hair. “You’re not foolish. My dear has never been foolish. My dear is pure, kind, sincere with others, clever, and beautiful. The ones at fault are the villains who deceived and plotted against you. You did nothing wrong.”
Hearing her father’s comfort, Yan Songyu couldn’t hold back her tears again. No matter how old she was, whether she was married or not, even as a mother herself, in front of her father, she would always be a little girl seeking his embrace and reassurance.
“Sob… Dad, Jiang Chengli never saved me at all. Those thugs were hired by him. His later refusals were just a ploy to keep me hooked. After he saw I was wavering, he staged another car accident. I didn’t see through any of it and just foolishly fell into the gentle trap he wove.”
The more Yan Binghua listened, the darker his eyes grew, though he wasn’t entirely surprised. He had always felt there was something false about Jiang Chengli. But that damned scoundrel—how dare he treat his dear daughter like this! If… if anything had gone even slightly wrong, his dear…
Feng Yu also clenched his fists, lowering his head in deep thought. If… if he had been braver back then, could Songyu have avoided all this suffering? Perhaps they could have had a future together. He would never have hurt her!
“Not only that, but he also has a childhood sweetheart and first love, Zhou Yue. Zhou Yue knew all about this and even helped him.”
“After we got married, they never stopped seeing each other. Zhou Yue got pregnant almost at the same time as me, and they…”
Something flashed through Yan Binghua’s mind, too quickly for him to grasp, but he instinctively felt that what came next would be crucial.
“They even plotted to switch my child!” The grief and indignation in Yan Songyu’s eyes threatened to overflow.
The final blow had landed. A sense of sudden understanding washed over him—so this was why Nannan continued to be entangled with them even after being discovered. So this was it!
“Outrageous!”
In his fury, Yan Binghua slammed the mutton fat white jade dragon paperweight on the table. Having reached his current status, he hadn’t lost his temper so openly for many years, rarely letting his emotions show on his face.
“Vile insects! They don’t deserve to live!”
Yan Binghua paced back and forth with his hands clasped behind his back before finally suppressing his rage, though his clenched fists remained bone-white behind him. How dare they treat Yan Binghua like a fool!
“Dad, calm down first. I didn’t let them succeed.” Yan Songyu helped Yan Binghua sit down behind the desk. “Zhou Yue deliberately induced premature labor and gave birth to a girl on the same day. Jiang Chengli switched the two babies, but I found out and switched them back. Feifei is my daughter, though they still don’t know it yet.”
Yan Binghua gently stroked Yan Songyu’s hand, wiping away her tear stains. “I’m sorry. Dad failed to protect you, Nannan, and failed to protect Feifei too.”
Yan Songyu shook her head vehemently. “It’s not your fault, Dad. It’s mine. I’ll make them pay! I want to see them suffer worse than death when the truth is revealed.”
“Nannan, have you ever considered that spending so much time entangled with such scum isn’t worth it?” Yan Binghua said with heartfelt concern, his voice heavy with emotion. “Dad can deal with them directly. You still have a wonderful life ahead of you—you shouldn’t waste it on them.”
“Dad, dealing with them is simple, but they have nothing to lose in the first place. Ending their lives would only be a release for them.” To Yan Binghua’s surprise, Yan Songyu revealed a sharp edge he hadn’t seen before. “To defeat a snake, you must strike its head. Only by taking away what they care about and desire most can we make them truly suffer.Yan Binghua didn’t know whether to feel relieved or heartbroken. He had always believed himself to be a good father, a solid harbor where his daughter could shelter from any harm. But now she had grown strong enough to face storms on her own—a growth paid for with excruciating pain.
Ultimately, he had been complacent in his high position, arrogantly believing he could protect his daughter and that no one would dare challenge him. That was why he had underestimated Jiang Chengli, leading to such tremendous suffering for Nannan. Had he known earlier, he would never have approved their marriage, even if it meant Nannan would hate him.
Feeling a profound sense of loss, Yan Binghua’s gaze fell upon Feng Yu, who had been standing quietly in the background. “Xiao Yu.”
Feng Yu inexplicably felt there was deeper meaning in Yan Binghua’s look, but he still responded respectfully, “Uncle Yan.”
Feng Yu was an orphan. After his grandfather passed away, he struggled even for basic sustenance and had given up on his dream of attending university. It was Yan Binghua who gave him hope and a future. At the time, he only knew that a wealthy businessman had donated to a public welfare fund using his daughter’s name, enabling him to continue his education. From that day on, he had remembered the name Yan Songyu.
After graduation, he joined Ruixin Group. Yan Binghua appreciated his sense of gratitude and provided him with considerable mentorship. Yan Binghua had always been the person he respected most.
Later, he met Yan Songyu. The benefactor he had imagined countless times in his mind finally had a face. She was such a gentle, radiant, and kind-hearted girl that he couldn’t suppress his feelings for her—nor did he want to. So he worked hard to climb higher, yet he was acutely aware of his shortcomings and felt unworthy of her…
“Enough, thank you!”
In the end, Yan Binghua only said these words.
“Uncle Yan, I’m willing to do this.”
Yan Binghua waved his hand, “Go out now, let me have some quiet.”
After leaving the study, Yan Songyu suddenly felt much lighter, as if she had shed the shackles that had confined her. How fortunate she was to be born into the Yan Family. This time, she would protect her family well!
“Feng Yu.”