After another marriage proposal was rejected, Jiang Yu was disheartened. He held his head in his hands. “What exactly do you want? Just tell me. As long as it’s something I can give, I will give it to you.”
Qi Yan’s eyes were red. “I want you to cut off all contact with those women outside and live only with me from now on. Can you do that? If you can’t, why should I marry you?”
Jiang Yu argued, “What women? You’re talking nonsense again.”
Qi Yan’s tears fell. “You’re still lying to me even now. I saw your messages. You keep saying you love me and want to marry me, yet you’re still messing around with other women. Why should I marry you and make myself suffer?”
The more Qi Yan thought about it, the more wronged she felt. “I’m so much younger than you. I don’t even mind that this is your third marriage and that you already have two stepdaughters. Yet you still can’t promise to be loyal to me. Why should I willingly suffer?”
“I’m young and beautiful. If I want to get married, there are plenty of men out there. Why should I tie myself to you? Once I give birth to the child, I’ll hand it over to you. I can still live as a single woman.”
To be honest, this was indeed another thought Qi Yan had. It wasn’t like she couldn’t live without Jiang Yu. On the contrary, if she wasn’t around, who would want to take over Jiang Yu’s mess?
So now Qi Yan was retreating in order to move forward. She insisted on making Jiang Yu cleanly break ties with those women so he could settle down and live with her properly.
Faced with this, Jiang Yu immediately gave in. “Alright, alright, I’ll cut off all those women right away. Little ancestor, please don’t be angry anymore, okay?”
Qi Yan sniffed. “Stay away from me. Just seeing you annoys me. I think it’s so unfair. Just because you have money? You already have me and you’re still flirting with others. I can’t live like this.”
Jiang Yu coaxed her over and over until Qi Yan finally smiled through her tears. Seeing her smile, Jiang Yu seized the chance and immediately took her to get the marriage certificate. Once it was done, even if Qi Yan regretted it, there was nothing she could do.
Seeing Jiang Yu’s little schemes, Qi Yan smiled faintly. Everything was going according to her plan. Whose wish was actually being fulfilled, that remained to be seen.
Jiang Lianyu was about to lose her mind. Her father Jiang Yu had brought home a new stepmother just a few days after divorcing Qin Miao. Looking at that huge belly, Jiang Lianyu was overwhelmed by a sense of crisis.
Sure, her mother Qin Miao had made a mistake, but wasn’t their many years of affection real? Just because Jiang Siyu wasn’t his son, he tossed away everything with Qin Miao?
At that time, Jiang Lianyu had only been in high school for a month, and Qi Yan was due in another month. She had to juggle her schoolwork while enduring Jiang Yu and Qi Yan acting lovey-dovey at home.
She weakly pushed the door open and saw Qi Yan lying on the sofa. Jiang Yu was lying on her stomach, his ear pressed against Qi Yan’s belly, with an expression of anticipation on his face that she had never seen before.
Her heart sank. She wasn’t sure anymore whether choosing to follow Jiang Yu was a good or bad decision. Jiang Yu never treated her badly in daily life, but emotionally, he showed very little care.
Now all his attention was on Qi Yan and the unborn child. If Qi Yan really gave birth to a son, would there still be a place for her in this home?
Jiang Lianyu clenched her backpack straps and slowly walked into the living room. After greeting Jiang Yu and Qi Yan, she quietly returned to her room. Seeing her like that, Jiang Yu frowned and was about to scold her.
Qi Yan held Jiang Yu’s hand. “Why so angry? What if you scare the baby?”
Jiang Yu immediately softened. He helped Qi Yan up. “Let’s go back to the room and rest. Only with enough sleep will the baby be healthy.”
Qi Yan teased, “All you care about is the baby. Have you forgotten about me?”
“How could that be?”
Listening to their sweet words from inside the room felt like self-inflicted torture. Jiang Lianyu lay on the sofa, full of resentment. She stared blankly at the ceiling, her eyes dull and lifeless.
If we’re talking about who’s the biggest eyesore right now, it’s undoubtedly Qi Yan and the child in her belly. But what could she do? To ensure Qi Yan could live comfortably, Jiang Yu had even insisted she stay in the school dorm.
She could only come home at the end of the month. Not coming back wasn’t an option either. If Qi Yan took the opportunity to speak badly of her in front of Jiang Yu, would she have any way to survive?
Jiang Lianyu tossed and turned in bed for a long time before finally falling asleep, and the next morning, she inevitably had heavy dark circles under her eyes. Jiang Yu had also bought a new house and moved out of Qin Miao’s small place.
Naturally, Jiang Lianyu moved with him. The new house had three bedrooms and a living room. Qi Yan still gave her some superficial respect and specially left her a sun-facing room. Jiang Yu praised Qi Yan for that.
In truth, Qi Yan couldn’t stand Jiang Lianyu either, but her top priority now was giving birth. Once the child was born, she had no doubt Jiang Yu would be firmly in her grasp.
Besides, Jiang Lianyu hadn’t done anything to her. She wasn’t heartless enough to deal harshly with a minor. After all, Jiang Lianyu was just a girl and would eventually marry off.
With that in mind, Qi Yan was happy to put on a good front.
Jiang Lianyu pulled open the curtains and saw Jiang Yu helping Qi Yan take a walk downstairs. Her eyes darkened with a hint of malice. Seeing Jiang Yu so happy ignited a fire in her chest.
Having successfully sent Qi Yan to Jiang Yu’s side, Jiang Chan was in a great mood. Lin Jinyu glanced at her. “What made you think of helping Qi Yan? Aren’t you afraid she’ll get too ambitious?”
Jiang Chan replied casually, “The title of Mrs. Jiang isn’t anything special. After my mother passed away, that title lost its importance. My only goal was to make things difficult for Jiang Lianyu and Qin Miao. And it seems Qi Yan is doing quite well, wouldn’t you say?”
Lin Jinyu chuckled. “More than enough. I used to worry you’d go too far. But now that I see you letting them tear each other apart, I feel relieved.”
He ruffled her hair. “It’s fine to get revenge, but hatred isn’t everything. Only when we live well ourselves is that the greatest blow to them.”
“Live your life with a clear conscience. There’s no need to dirty your hands for someone else.”
That was Lin Jinyu’s advice, and Jiang Chan fully understood what he meant.
“Don’t worry. As long as they behave, I won’t do anything. I don’t care about Jiang Yu’s shares. As long as he doesn’t jump around in front of me, I’ll act like he doesn’t exist.”
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