"Who is your sister?"
As soon as Qin Lian spoke, a suffocating silence settled over the room.
Qin Zhong's frown deepened, his sharp gaze turning colder. Zhao Shuying, who had been trying to play the part of a kind, understanding mother earlier, suddenly looked uncomfortable, her forced warmth cracking under the pressure.
Mu Ruoyu hesitated, her expression stunned, lips trembling, eyes glistening with unshed tears. She looked so fragile, as if the slightest breeze might knock her over.
"Sister… I… I know you hate me," she whispered, her voice soft and vulnerable. "I never wanted this to happen."
"I just… wanted to reunite with my parents. But if you feel like I've stolen everything from you, then I'll leave. I shouldn't have come here in the first place." Her breath hitched as she began to cry.
"I'll marry Xu Yinchen as planned. I… I'll even leave my parents if that's what you want…"
"Mu Ruoyu! What are you saying?!" Zhao Shuying gasped, her face twisting in distress.
She immediately pulled Mu Ruoyu into her arms, holding her like she was a fragile porcelain doll."You're my daughter! Why would you go anywhere else?! If anyone has to leave, it should be—"
She abruptly cut herself off.
Her glare, aimed at Qin Lian, faltered when she finally noticed her expression. There was no sadness. No outrage. No emotional outburst.
Instead, Qin Lian looked… amused.
Qin Lian raised a brow, watching Mu Ruoyu sob like an abandoned kitten. If she were anyone else, she might have believed it.
Might have felt pity. After all, she was the so-called pitiful, vulnerable female lead who had supposedly endured a life of hardship, at least, according to the novel.
Might have even thought Mu Ruoyu was truly a tragic character. But with that face?
Hah. Never.
Her heart turned cold. She could never forgive this face. Not in her previous life. Not in this one. Because she knew exactly how cunning someone with this face could be.
Mu Ruoyu's face… was identical to Tang Lin's.
Her once best friend. The same best friend who had stabbed her in the back and cheated on her with her boyfriend.
This was the face she could never trust again. Never.
Seeing his daughter cry, Qin Zhong's expression darkened instantly. "Qin Lian! I have tolerated your antics enough. I won't allow this rude behavior anymore!"
He stepped forward, shielding Mu Ruoyu. "Mu Ruoyu is my daughter. You cannot speak to her in this tone. Mind your words!"
Qin Lian's gaze remained on Mu Ruoyu, watching as she continued her pitiful act.
Then, she finally looked up. Her calm and detached eyes met Qin Zhong's fiery gaze, as if watching a clown.
A flicker of unease passed through him. He had expected her to scream, cry, throw a tantrum, just like she had that morning.
But there was none of that. She was silent. Unbothered.
And somehow, that made him even more uneasy.
"Did I say anything wrong?" Qin Lian's voice was light, almost teasing.
Qin Zhong opened his mouth, stunned into silence. Before he could speak, she continued.
"I simply asked a question. Who is her sister?" she said, tilting her head slightly. Her tone was lazy, but every word cut like a blade.
"She keeps calling me 'sister' as if we share some deep bond. But we don't. We don't share a drop of blood, not the same parents, not even half."
Her gaze flicked to Mu Ruoyu, who was still trembling like a delicate flower in the wind.
"We were born in the same year, on the same day. But we're not related in any way. Yet the way she keeps calling me 'sister' again and again, anyone who doesn't know might actually believe it. From her tone, they might even assume I'm older."
She clicked her tongue, a flash of mocking disappointment in her eyes.
"But that's clearly not the case. If someone saw us together, they'd probably say… I'm the younger one."
A beat of silence. The atmosphere shifted instantly.
Mu Ruoyu's face turned pale at the sting of her ruthlessly sharp words.
"Anyway, I don't remember ever having a sister like that." Qin Lian said casually, while glancing at Qin Zhong, whose face was red with anger.
"Qin Lian! What is this behavior?!" Zhao Shuying snapped, her voice sharp with disbelief. "How dare you speak to your father like that?"
"Yes, sis-" Mu Ruoyu hesitated mid-sentence, her voice faltering. For the first time, she didn't dare to call Qin Lian 'sister' anymore.
She quickly lowered her gaze, her expression pitiful, fragile, like a porcelain doll about to shatter. "Even though there are no blood ties, father and mother raised you for years. How can you talk to them like this? Have you forgotten filial piety?"
Qin Zhong's expression softened at Mu Ruoyu's words, his heart swelling with pride. Yes, blood ties were the closest thing to a real family.
Unlike a mere outsider.
Qin Lian, however, raised a brow, the corner of her lips curling in amusement."Father?"
She repeated the word slowly, dragging it out as if she were savoring it. Mocking it. Then, she leaned forward slightly, her tone laced with slight sarcasm. "Do I still have the right to call him that?"
Her voice was light, almost playful, but there was an unmistakable sharpness beneath it. She turned her gaze to Zhao Shuying, then looked at Qin Zhong, ignoring Mu Ruoyu completely.
"A moment ago, he stood up for his daughter, and it's clear he loves her very much." She let out a low chuckle, shaking her head.
"If I still call him father…Wouldn't his real daughter feel bad?"
A heavy silence followed.
"Also…" Qin Lian's tone remained casual, but her next words carried the force of a knife. "Didn't 'Father' already cut ties with me this morning?"
"I recall quite clearly that he said raising me was an embarrassment. That he had spent all these years raising someone else's sin. And with my lowly background, I wasn't fit to be his daughter anyway. Isn't that right?"
"And you."Her sharp gaze shifted to Mu Ruoyu, who shrank back under the sudden attention.
"Didn't you abandon the family that raised you for twenty years the moment you found out you had rich biological parents?"
"You didn't even hesitate to leave the Mu family behind." She sighed, shaking her head in fake disappointment."Yet you stand here and talk to me about filial piety? How amusing."
Mu Ruoyu's face was drained of color. Zhao Shuying's fingers twitched, her expression unreadable.
She cleared her throat and continued, "Qin Lian, we're also helpless in this matter. The Mu family arranged your engagement to Xu Yinchen, and as their real daughter, it's only right for you to fulfill that arrangement."
"I know you don't want to marry Xu Yinchen and go to the village, but—"
"I'll go."
Zhao Shuying froze, as if unsure she'd heard correctly. "What… what did you say?" she asked again, disbelief written all over her face.
Qin Lian's lips curved into a slight smile. "I said, I'll marry Xu Yinchen and fulfill the arrangement."
A heavy silence fell over the room.