The words Ning Yuncheng uttered, almost involuntarily, were meant to defend the woman he adored; that was his immediate thought, causing the words to spill out. Only after speaking did he notice the terrifyingly grim look on his father's face, realizing too late that he had said the wrong thing. Mrs. Ning, meanwhile, was trembling with rage, and for the first time in her life, she mimicked Mr.

Ning, hurling her teacup at her son: “Get out! What kind of nonsense is that, speaking about your sister like that? You’d say such things for the sake of this woman? Who knows what madness will possess you next—you might even try to kill your father and me!” Unwittingly, Mrs.

Ning’s outburst had struck terrifyingly close to the truth. She was incandescent with anger. Though she saw her son instinctively raise his hand to block the cup, the ceramic piece seemed to catch his wrist bone squarely. When the cup shattered on the floor, he instinctively shook his hand, his face clouding with pain.

Mrs. Ning felt a pang of maternal concern, but the memory of Ning Yuncheng’s earlier words reignited her fury. She found the Gu family increasingly intolerable and hurried them out: “Our family dares not arrange an alliance with people like you. Today, we’ll consider you simply having taken a wrong turn.

My daughter has only just returned from abroad; I certainly won't see her off!” Hearing this, Ning Yuncheng instantly panicked, forgetting the pain in his wrist that was screaming for release, and rushed to say, “Mother, how can that be?” “And why not?” Mrs. Ning glared at her son, her anger boiling over. She desperately feared her husband would speak next and finalize the rift, straining the father-son relationship further, or that Mr. Ning’s temper would upset his frail health, given his age.

Thus, she waved her hand dismissively: “If you have the ability, then you marry her yourself. Don’t involve us!” Mrs. Ning regretted the words the moment they left her mouth, wondering if she had been too harsh on her son. She had never spoken to Ning Yuncheng with such a tone.

Just as she hoped her son would soften his stance, giving her an easy way out, Ning Yuncheng, spoiled since childhood, could not bear being scolded by his mother in front of the woman he loved and the woman who might be his future mother-in-law. Filled with humiliation and rage, he shook his hand, steadied Gu Yingxi, and headed for the door: “Fine, leave! Just pretend you never had me as a son, and don’t come begging me to return later!” His attitude nearly made his mother collapse. She had intended to coax him back, but seeing him so determined to abandon his own mother for a woman, she naturally felt slighted.

All thought of stopping him vanished. Fuming, she let Ning Yuncheng drag Gu Yingxi toward the exit. Despite her anger at her son, Mrs. Ning’s deepest resentment was aimed at Gu Yingxi.

Yet, the unexpected reality was that even with Ning Yuncheng defending her, Gu Yingxi was deeply unsettled by Ning Yunhuan’s return, which seemed to have ruined her plans. She felt she had done nothing to deserve being pushed to the margins by Ning Yunhuan. In her anger and mounting sense of injustice, she pulled free of Ning Yuncheng’s arm and spun toward Ning Yunhuan: “Why? You already have Brother Lan Jiu.

I wish you wouldn't fight me for Brother Yin anymore.” In front of Mr. and Mrs. Ning, and with Ning Yuncheng standing right there, Gu Yingxi’s words left many speechless. Gu Xian’s face was mortified; she wished she could claw her daughter.

Before Mr. Ning could speak, his face darkened: “Since you are already involved with the eldest son of the Xie family, stop clinging to our Yuncheng!” Mr. Ning’s pronouncement struck Gu Yingxi like lightning. She froze momentarily, then appeared utterly devastated.

Biting her lip until it was white, her eyes swimming with tears, she swayed several times before looking mournfully at Ning Yuncheng, her lips trembling, unable to speak for a long moment. “Don’t worry!” Ning Yuncheng’s frame shook violently at his beloved’s look: “No one can separate us—not even the Emperor of Heaven!” Ning Yunhuan involuntarily shivered, feeling goosebumps rise as disgust washed over her. Just then, Gu Yingxi delivered her most fatal blow. With a soft thud, she dropped to her knees, just as her mother, Gu Xian, had moments before.

She crawled several steps on her knees across the floor, weeping, “Uncle Gu, please, I beg you, let us be together.” One moment she demanded ‘Brother Yin,’ and the next, she was begging Mr. Ning to sanction her union with Ning Yuncheng. Ning Yunhuan felt the world tilt. She wondered if her own moral compass was too rigid, or if this supposed heroine truly thought such mawkishness was endearing.

Did she imagine herself the world’s greatest romantic, needing to hold both men? And now, she was saying it outright. Mr. Ning’s expression was equally ghastly, as if he had just swallowed a fly, his eyes wide with revulsion, leaving him speechless.

Ning Yuncheng, however, gazed back at Gu Yingxi with a look of deep devotion and profound guilt, both appearing on the verge of tears. This scene was unbearable not only for Ning Yunhuan but also for Mr. and Mrs. Ning, who were infuriated.

Mr. Ning was older, managing a company, and his health was never robust. Ning Yunhuan did not want her father to fall ill over Gu Yingxi. Having spent significant time with the heroine in her previous life, she had built up an immunity to such sickening displays.

Forcing down her revulsion, she coldly ordered them out: “Since your love is so deep, hurry up and take this cuckold Prince away with you.” She had never liked Ning Yuncheng, and this was a perfect chance to remove him, lest he soothe Mrs. Ning’s heart once she left, allowing Gu Yingxi to exploit a weakness in the Ning family. In her past life, she had died, but reborn now, no one would steal what was hers again. Ning Yuncheng had swindled her inheritance previously; in this life, Ning Yunhuan intended to make him taste the despair of having nothing.

“Hold it!” Mr. Ning spoke sharply, only after his daughter had tried to usher them out. “Miss Gu, I suggest you pack your belongings and leave.” Ning Yunhuan’s expression stiffened; she hadn't realized Gu Yingxi had been living there as if she owned the place. She was furious at Ning Yuncheng for inviting such a viper into their home, and frustrated with herself for having forgotten how potent the heroine’s toxicity was during the year she spent married and having children, allowing Gu Yingxi this opportunity.

Thankfully, she had returned before it was too late. As long as she was here, Gu Yingxi could dream all she wanted, but she wouldn't get a single cent from the Ning family! Only after Mr. Ning finished speaking did Gu Yingxi assume a posture of profound insult, collapsing into the arms of the nearby Gu Shaotao.

Ning Yuncheng, face ashen, snorted coldly, looking thoroughly displeased, and stalked upstairs. “Ning family members, I will remember the insult you have heaped upon us today!” Gu Shaotao swept his gaze over Mr. Ning and the others before letting out a cold sneer. “My sister is driven out today, but there will come a day when I drive every last one of you out of this house!”