When Lin Ruyuan heard the words “annul the engagement”, Bai Jingshu’s expression flickered slightly.
“Get out!” Fang’s father shouted, pointing at the door, furious at being talked back to by someone younger—he wanted Lin Ruyuan gone immediately.
In her past life, Lin Ruyuan had been pushed into the water by Ding Yufeng. Back then, she had thought it was just a mischievous boy and hadn’t made a fuss. After that unpleasant incident, Fang Shijun had sincerely apologized the next day, and the matter had been dropped.
But today, Lin Ruyuan was seizing the perfect opportunity—she was the first to formally propose ending the engagement.
At present, the Fang family was still under the old patriarch’s rule, so any matter of annulment had to be officially reported to him.
Thinking this, Lin Ruyuan didn’t bother wasting time arguing. She needed to hurry home and discuss the annulment with her parents! Better to act quickly and decisively. This time, she would never have anything to do with the Fang family, and she intended to reclaim the grievances she had suffered in her past life, step by step.
Glancing down at the military jacket draped over her shoulders, she looked at the man beside her, who was observing her with interest. “Thanks for the coat. I’ll return it to you later,” she said.
Then she turned to leave—
Just as she stepped out of the Fang family estate, a car honk sounded behind her.
Lin Ruyuan turned to see Qin Jianchuan in a black sedan parked not far away. The driver-side window slowly rolled down, and his deep voice said, “Get in. I’ll take you home.”
His tone brooked no argument. Lin Ruyuan thought about how soaked she was, and how walking down the street like this would attract attention. She decided to get in.
“…The back seat will definitely get dirty,” she began to protest, but Qin Jianchuan turned to her and asked, “Do you think I’m just your driver?”
Lin Ruyuan froze.
“Sit in the front!” he commanded, nodding toward the passenger seat.
Reluctantly, Lin Ruyuan got out and took the front seat, meaning both the back and the front seats were now at risk of getting dirty. She wondered if she should pay for a car cleaning fee.
After fastening her seatbelt, the car began moving. Lin Ruyuan glanced out the window at the Fang family estate she had seen all her life, and an impulse flared inside her—she almost wanted to burn it down.
She hadn’t told Qin Jianchuan her home address, yet he had driven her straight there. Lin Ruyuan’s suspicion deepened—had he investigated her?
“Thanks,” she said hesitantly. Then she added, “I’ll return your clothes after they’re cleaned. I’m sorry for dirtying your car seats. I’ll pay for the cleaning next time, along with returning your coat.”
She paused, then continued, “I’m going to annul my engagement with Fang Shijun. I won’t have any further dealings with the Fang family. I hope, Qin Tuan Zhang, you won’t inquire into my family matters.”
She didn’t want to feel like she was being monitored. Her real target was the Fang family, and she didn’t want anyone else dragged into it.
In her previous life, she had no significant interaction with Qin Jianchuan, and this time she hoped it would remain that way. If he happened to interfere in her revenge and protect the Fang family, she could handle it with him together.
Noticing the wariness in her eyes, Qin Jianchuan didn’t speak immediately. He watched her for a moment, then said in a low voice, “Don’t worry. I’m not on his side.”
Lin Ruyuan blinked, slightly surprised.
“Go back and change your clothes. Don’t catch a cold.” His thin lips parted, urging her to leave the car. Wet clothes could make her sick, and while he wanted to be alone with her, her health came first.
Lin Ruyuan got out, closing the car door behind her. Qin Jianchuan’s gaze darkened as he watched her enter the yard before he drove away.
There was something more important to handle now.
“…Xiao Yuan?” Zhao Guixiang was inside preparing the wedding bedding for her daughter. Hearing movement outside, she came out to see Lin Ruyuan—soaked from head to toe!
“Where did you fall? Go change immediately!” Zhao Guixiang barely registered her confusion, focusing only on her daughter’s purple lips and freezing hands. She grabbed Lin Ruyuan’s hands to warm them.
“Mother…” Lin Ruyuan looked at the streaks of white in her mother’s hair and tears fell freely. In her past life, after marrying, she had been busy with work and had no time to truly accompany her parents. She had only sent money home but could not provide companionship. The next time she saw them, it was at their funeral. She had never been a proper daughter.
Now, with her parents only in their mid-fifties, she could truly spend time with them—and it felt wonderful.
“Sweetheart! What’s wrong?”
Zhao Guixiang panicked seeing her daughter cry. What had happened? She had gone to the Fang family to celebrate her in-laws’ birthday—why was she crying and soaking wet?
“Mother!” Lin Ruyuan hugged her, feeling the warmth of her mother’s embrace.
Earlier, it had felt like a dream, but now it was real. She was truly reborn.
Compared with the Fang family’s wealth, her own family’s situation was modest. Her grandfather had served in the military when he was young and had saved the Fang patriarch’s life, sacrificing his own in the process. Her grandmother had cried herself blind over it. The Fang patriarch had arranged for her mother and grandmother to live in the city, giving them a home. After that, her grandmother had never accepted anything else from the Fang patriarch, saying, “They won’t exploit anyone, and my husband’s bravery can’t be measured by money.”
The money they received was actually military compensation for a heroic act.
The Fang patriarch had arranged the engagement because both families had sons, so the engagement fell to their generation.
Her parents had only daughters, and her elder sister’s age didn’t match Fang Shijun’s, so the engagement ended up on Lin Ruyuan.
“Ruyuan, don’t scare me. Tell me, what happened?” Zhao Guixiang pressed urgently.
Lin Ruyuan pulled her mother into the room and sat on the bed. Seeing the wedding bedding, her pupils constricted slightly, then she composed herself.
“Mother, I’m annulling my engagement.”
“Ah?” Zhao Guixiang was stunned. Annul the engagement? Surely her daughter had suffered a terrible grievance!
She had suspected it before—two families of mismatched social status. She had always worried her daughter would suffer in marriage. If her daughter wanted to annul, she would fully support her—but she needed to know why.
“Mother, do you know Fang Shijun has a god-sister?” Lin Ruyuan said calmly.
“Yes,” Zhao Guixiang said, more confused. How could this relate to his god-sister?
“She’s not really a god-sister. In fact, the twin children she bore are actually Fang Shijun’s sons.”
“What?!” Zhao Guixiang gasped. The information was overwhelming—she couldn’t process it immediately.