At the Presidential Suite of Jianglin Hotel in Shengjing.
Early in the morning, the heavy curtains that had remained tightly drawn all night were pulled open, allowing sunlight to flood the room.
On the messy king-sized bed, the sleeping man and woman slowly awoke. As they opened their eyes and found themselves staring at unfamiliar faces, they awkwardly separated.
A few minutes later—
“It was I who brought you here last night. I took your first time, and I’ll take responsibility for it. Let’s go register our marriage now. What do you think?”
Jing Mocong stood at the foot of the bed, already fully dressed. Tall and slender, he carried an air of nobility and elegance. His narrow eyes were cold and imposing.
His gaze settled on the figure hidden beneath the blanket. Recalling everything that had happened after he had lost control the previous night, his expression turned complicated. Within two seconds, however, it became resolute once more.
He was not the kind of man who would take advantage of a woman and refuse to accept responsibility. He would take responsibility.
“N-No need.”
A hoarse female voice came muffled from beneath the blanket.
Hidden underneath it, Yan Yu supported her forehead with one hand while rubbing her aching waist with the other. The memories of last night gradually returned to her mind.
She had gotten drunk.
At the entrance of a restaurant, she had clung to someone and refused to let go.
“Please… help me find my Father. As long as you help me find him, I’ll do anything. Do you want me to be your wife, or do you want me to give birth to your baby?”
“I’ve never been in a relationship before. I’m… very pure.”
As those words replayed in her mind, Yan Yu felt utterly humiliated.
Thinking about how she had been the one who drunkenly flirted with him, she was too embarrassed to ask him to take responsibility. Besides, she didn’t have the courage to marry a complete stranger.
“Then what about everything you said last night…?”
“N-None of it counts! You only need to give me money to buy emergency contraceptives!”
Yan Yu’s memories of the previous night were hazy and fragmented. She had no idea which words he was referring to, so she instinctively denied everything.
Jing Mocong fell silent, his sharp brows knitting together slightly.
Then again…
She had been crying in his arms all night, begging him to help her find her father.
She had probably just been talking nonsense while drunk.
“I’m infertile. You won’t get pregnant, so there’s no need to take medicine that harms your body.”
Yan Yu blinked.
Something this good actually existed?
“Then let’s just pretend none of this happened. You don’t need to give me any money either. Please leave first, sir. I’m not dressed.”
Jing Mocong raised an eyebrow. A trace of disappointment, so faint that even he failed to notice it, flashed through his eyes.
His long legs carried him to the bedside. Looking down at her from above, he asked once more,
“I’ll ask you one last time. Answer me again. Do you want me to take responsibility?”
The man’s sudden approach frightened Yan Yu so badly that her entire body stiffened.
Was he hard of hearing?
After freezing for two seconds, she hurriedly gave the same answer.
“N-No.”
Jing Mocong: “…”
At that moment, his phone rang, interrupting his thoughts.
He turned and walked out of the room to answer it.
“I understand. I’ll be there right away.”
After hanging up, his gaze instinctively drifted toward the woman on the bed once more.
Then, remembering his own hidden condition, his heart sank.
He withdrew his gaze, quickened his pace, and left the hotel to return to the company for a meeting.
Once the room had fallen silent, Yan Yu finally crawled out from beneath the blanket, got dressed, and left Jianglin Hotel.
She took a taxi back to the Yan Family Residence.
Just as the taxi arrived, she saw a maid throwing her suitcase out through the front gate.
The taxi came to a stop. Yan Yu quickly got out, picked up the fallen suitcase, and glared at the maid in displeasure.
“What are you doing? Isn’t this the suitcase from my room?”
“It is yours. That’s exactly why I’m throwing it out.”
The maid rolled her eyes impatiently.
“What gives you the right to throw away my things?”
Yan Yu glared back angrily.
Over the past year, the servants in the house had treated her worse and worse. Some had even started bullying her openly.
A year earlier, her father had traveled overseas to negotiate a business deal when he had been kidnapped and taken to a scam compound.
The kidnappers had contacted the Yan Family Residence, demanding one hundred million yuan in cash.
Her grandparents and uncle had hesitated for several days.
By the time they made up their minds, they had already lost all contact with the kidnappers.
The Yan family had reported the case to the police.
Although the police had accepted the investigation, it was an extremely difficult case. Too many people had already been trafficked into those scam compounds, and not a single one had returned.
Everyone said that once someone was taken there, they were as good as dead.
Yesterday had been Yan Yu’s birthday.
She had gone to the police station to ask about the investigation, only to be told that there had been no progress whatsoever.
Heartbroken, she had drowned her sorrows in alcohol and had not returned home all night.
“Yan Yu, I was the one who ordered her to throw your things out.”
Old Madam Yan stepped forward, her expression icy.
“That old blind fortune-teller said it was because of you that my eldest son was kidnapped and taken to a scam compound. It was because of you that the kidnappers killed him. You’re nothing but a jinx. You brought death upon my son.”
“Grandmother, how can you believe something like that?”
Yan Yu’s voice trembled with grievance.
“Don’t call me Grandmother!”
Old Madam Yan snapped.
“Now that my son is gone, I might as well tell you the truth. You were brought home by my son and raised by him. You’re not a biological member of the Yan family at all.
“My eldest son couldn’t have children, so he adopted you and raised you as his daughter, hoping you’d take care of him in his old age. That was the only reason I accepted you as my granddaughter.
“If orphanages hadn’t been full of boys with defects back then, why would I ever have allowed my son to adopt a little girl like you?”
At that moment, Yan Huabin strode out of the villa.
He pointed directly at Yan Yu.
“That’s right! You caused my brother’s death! You don’t deserve to be his daughter, and you’re even less qualified to inherit his property!”
“I’m… not Father’s daughter? No… that’s impossible! I’m Father’s daughter!”
Yan Yu refused to believe them.
She tried to rush into the house, but the maid blocked the entrance and refused to let her pass.
Supported by her younger son, Old Madam Yan walked back into the villa without sparing another glance at the cries outside.
Grabbing onto the iron gate, Yan Yu broke down in tears.
A private car stopped behind her.
Moments later, a familiar voice called out,
“Little Yan Yu, are you alright?”
“Uncle Zhang!”
Yan Yu turned toward the middle-aged man getting out of the car.
He was her father’s lawyer and also his longtime friend.
“Why are you here? Is there news about my Father?”
Lawyer Zhang sighed.
“Your Father… still hasn’t been found.”
“I came because your grandmother called me. She wants to remove you from the family registry, so I came to pick you up.”
“You… really aren’t your Father’s biological daughter.”
At that moment, Yan Yu felt as if the sky had collapsed.
She really wasn’t Father’s biological daughter.
“But your Father’s love for you was real.”
Lawyer Zhang spoke gently.
“Even though you weren’t related by blood, he always treated you as if you were his own daughter, didn’t he?”
“Stop crying. Get in the car.”
“There are some things your Father never had the chance to tell you. I’ll tell you in his place.”
Lawyer Zhang helped Yan Yu into the car.
As they drove away from the Yan Family Residence, he continued,
“Little Yan Yu, when you were one year old, your Father opened a safe deposit box for you at the bank.”
“Every year after that, he deposited at least one sum of money into it.”
“He was afraid someone might seize those assets, so he specifically drew up a will stating that if anything ever happened to him, the will would immediately take effect.”
“Everything inside that safe deposit box—the money and everything else—can only be withdrawn by you.”
“However, you’ll only be able to access it after you turn twenty-six.”
“You’re only twenty-one now.”
“So even I can’t help you retrieve it yet.”