Yueqin pulled back, eyes wide at her mother's words, her pout deepening. For the first time, she seemed uncertain. She glanced from Yueyao to Jin Shuren, as though trying to measure the truth of it all. Why are they trying to scam her?
Jin Shuren set down his pen with deliberate care, the quiet sound of it clicking against the desk pulling every gaze back to him.
His arm around Yueyao firmed, an unspoken declaration, before he leaned slightly toward his daughter. His voice was steady, calm, but laced with the weight of an emperor delivering judgment.
"Yueqin," he said, each syllable deliberate, "your mother is not just 'big but she is the reason you have me at all. She is the first, and she is mine before anyone else, including you."
The little girl froze, her round eyes glassy as his words settled. Her lip wobbled, a storm of hurt and incomprehension in her small chest.
