“So even after all this, why did you come back!? Still trying to seduce my husband?”
Li Huila suddenly shook off her hand and pushed her hard to the ground. Her expression was twisted and frenzied, as if she had been provoked. “Didn’t I tell you to disappear from my sight forever?”
Song Zhenxian clutched her arm and looked up, trembling. “Do you think I want to appear before you?”
“Slap—”
Li Huila rushed over and slapped her hard across the face, turning her head aside.
“Do you have the right to talk to me like that now? The Song family is bankrupt. You’re nothing but a beggar now, a stray dog. Know your place!”
“Mom, what are you doing over there? Come here quickly.”
A sudden sharp shout snapped Li Huila back to reality.
She turned her head and saw Jin Mingzhu walking toward them. With icy indifference, she hurriedly spat out, “Get out of Zhongdu while I still have some patience left, or I’ll remind you of the consequences of angering me!”
Song Zhenxian sat on the ground, breathing heavily. She looked up and saw Li Huila affectionately embracing a young girl in a gown. Both were adorned with gold and silver, looking exceptionally luxurious and noble.
If she listened carefully, she could hear fragments of their conversation.
“Who is that? What were you doing over there?”
“Nothing, just a lowly servant. She’s not worthy of seeing our beautiful and noble Mingzhu.”
“The Han family is really strange. Last time at Han Shixu’s villa, we also encountered a mother-daughter pair of maids. They were especially detestable, ugly and poor. You have no idea how ridiculous they were.”
“Huh? Did they insult my precious? How dare they…”
As the figures walked away, their voices grew fainter.
Song Zhenxian, who had been suppressed for over a decade, finally couldn’t hold back her sobs in the darkness.
She glanced at her tattered fingers and her worn-out clothes, feeling nothing but endless helplessness and self-mockery.
How did her life end up like this?
How did the life that belonged to Song Zhenxian end up like this?!
She didn’t know how long she had cried when she heard a deep male voice in the distance. Song Zhenxian hurriedly wiped her tears and stood up from the ground.
She had vented her emotions but had also accepted reality.
Song Zhenxian wanted to hide, but through the foliage, she caught sight of a man standing by the lake, talking on the phone.
It was Jing Yuan!
Her steps halted, and her gaze fixed intently on the figure by the lake.
Those beautiful memories surged back like a frenzy.
The happier the memories, the more painful she felt now.
Song Zhenxian suddenly didn’t want to hide anymore.
The arrogant and disgusting expressions on Li Huila and her daughter’s faces when they spoke of the maids, and the image of her own daughter crying in pain—all of it suffocated her.
But why?
All their children could live carefree lives, acting recklessly!
Song Zhenxian’s heart slowly calmed. She gently pushed aside the branches and walked over.
“…We’ll discuss the specific plan at tomorrow’s meeting. My secretary will compile the materials and send them to you…”
Jing Yuan heard movement behind him but waited until he finished the call before turning around.
Seeing the woman’s attire, he frowned slightly. “What do you want?”
He didn’t remember her at all.
“My name is Song Zhenxian,” the woman said.
Jing Yuan’s gaze, which had shifted away, slowly returned.
He studied her for a moment, unable to immediately connect the middle-aged woman before him with the Miss Song from his memories.
“Hmm.” He acknowledged with understanding, then continued asking, “Didn’t you leave Zhongdu?”
Song Zhenxian turned her head to gaze at the lake surface, her hand hanging at her side clenched tightly into a fist.
She wanted to demand whether he knew about all those things Li Huila had done back then, and even more, she wanted to question why he had been so heartless back in the day.
Yet, no matter how intense her emotions were, they were diluted by the words “arranged marriage” before they could reach her lips.
Indeed, back then, the Jing and Song families were merely in an arranged marriage—where was there any genuine affection to speak of?
The Song family went bankrupt, and the Jing family calling off the engagement was perfectly reasonable.
Whether it was because the other side was too calm or because she suddenly realized she had always been so utterly alone—whether it was familial love or romantic love, both could abandon her at any moment.
A wave of sorrow surged in Song Zhenxian’s heart. She looked at him and said, “She is your daughter.”
Jing Yuan didn’t react immediately. “Who? Yuanxi?”
Yuanxi… was that the girl surrounded by admirers she had just seen at the Han family?
Song Zhenxian let out a self-mocking laugh, wiped away her tears, and said, “Song Enya.”
“Impossible.” Jing Yuan almost blurted it out.
His tone was terrifyingly cold. “You can’t just say it’s true and expect me to believe it. We were only engaged back then.”
Jing Yuan knew clearly that even if they did have a secret child, there was absolutely no way he would let her return after all these years outside.
“You’ve forgotten that night, haven’t you? Yes, after we got engaged, the Song family went bankrupt. You abandoning me is understandable, but she is your daughter!”
Song Zhenxian’s emotions suddenly grew agitated, her voice piercingly sharp in the darkness.
“Calm down first. So, what do you want? Money? Or a house? You know very well I would never let her return to the Jing family…”
Watching Jing Yuan say these words with an expressionless face, Song Zhenxian felt an inexplicable sorrow.
Perhaps in the eyes of all of them, her only purpose in returning was to ask for money.
And indeed, that was the truth.
As for past grievances—who cried, who laughed, who pitied, who triumphed—they had all been cast aside.
“Let her go to school.” Song Zhenxian interrupted the man across from her. “Let Enya attend the best school. That’s my only request. This is what you owe her!”
Jing Yuan silently stared at her for a moment.
Her face, aged beyond recognition; her dusty, worn clothes; her broken body; and those lifeless eyes.
Perhaps out of pity, Jing Yuan agreed.
He said, “I’ll only help you this once, no matter whose child she is. After this, don’t come looking for me again. There’s no need for a paternity test either. No matter what, I will never acknowledge her. I hope you understand.”
…
Meanwhile, Song Enya, finally able to rest for a day, was lying in her small partitioned space reading a book.
Knock, knock, knock—
“Come in.”
Song Enya turned her head to see Han Shixu standing at the doorway with one hand in his pocket. Before she could stand up, Han Shixu had already walked in.
Song Enya had no choice but to shift to the side, making room for him.
Han Shixu placed a box on the table and opened it. “I brought you some food.”
Song Enya stared at the beautiful pastries, swallowing hard. “How much do these cost? They look really expensive.”
“They’re from the banquet. No charge.”
Song Enya gave an embarrassed smile, dipped her finger in a bit of cream, and put it in her mouth. “Then I’ll dig in?”
Seeing her asking for permission like this, Han Shixu couldn’t help but chuckle. “Mm.”
“Have you found a school yet?”
“Ah, this… not yet.” Song Enya felt too embarrassed to tell him she hadn’t gathered enough for the tuition yet.
“If you need any help, you can come to me. After all, we’ve known each other for quite some time now, we could be considered… friends.”
Counting the time spent in the hospital, they had already known each other for a good while.