Lin Yue smiled and shook Zhou Lirong's hand in return. Her hand was very warm, and the warmth emanating from her palm went straight to Lin Yue's heart.

The heartache that naturally flowed from her eyes reminded Lin Yue of Li Shuhua; in her memory, Li Shuhua had never acted like this before.

When she was little, she would come home with a bloody head from a fight, and all she would say was, "Why do others only bully you and not others? Isn't it your own problem?"

This sentence haunted her throughout her childhood. Before, she didn't understand why her mother did this. Only as she grew up did she slowly realize that her mother was transferring her hatred for her father onto herself.

"Mom, why do you always try to steal my wife?" Song Yunzheng joked. "I can take good care of her."

Zhou Lirong raised her hand and punched her son, "You brat, Mom was just trying to help."

Ultimately, unable to resist Zhou Lirong's persistent pleading, he stayed for dinner before heading back.

The underground parking garage of Courtyard No. 1.

Song Yunzheng led Lin Yue out of the car and walked towards the elevator.

"Yueyue!" A steady, slightly hoarse voice drifted from behind.

The two men froze on the spot, looking in the direction of the sound with confusion. They saw the man get out of a black Mercedes and walk straight towards them.

As the person drew closer, their increasingly clear face gradually overlapped with the face she remembered from her childhood, and Lin Yue froze on the spot.

“Yueyue! It’s your dad.” Lin Qingguo looked at his daughter, his eyes filled with guilt and self-reproach.

Lin Yue suddenly turned and walked towards the elevator, pulling Song Yunzheng so much that he swayed a bit.

"Yueyue!" Lin Qingguo quickly caught up, trying to grab Lin Yue's hand.

"I don't have a father." Lin Yue suddenly stopped and turned around to shout at Lin Qingguo.

Song Yunzheng felt the person beside him trembling slightly, reached out and gently pulled her into his arms, softly comforting her, "Don't be afraid, I'm here."

“Yueyue, Dad knows he’s wronged you and your mother all these years, and he knows you don’t want to see me…” Lin Qingguo said with a pained expression.

"Who told you I live here?" Lin Yue interrupted him rudely, her eyes as cold as ice.

Lin Qingguo paused for a moment, then slowly said, "I went to Qingshuiyuan to find your mother. She told me."

"My mom?" Lin Yue clearly didn't believe him. "How could she tell you this?"

“It was indeed her who told me. When I went to find you, she… was with her boyfriend.”

"Boyfriend?" Lin Yue's eyes widened in disbelief. My mom has a boyfriend? Before, she would urge her to find someone else, but she refused no matter what. Now that she's married, she's already dating someone? An indescribable emotion welled up inside her.

"Speak, what do you want from me?"

Lin Qingguo glanced nervously at Song Yunzheng beside him, intimidated by his cold and stern aura. He stammered, "Because of your sister's matter... Dad knows you've suffered a great injustice, but your sister is still young. She's just an innocent child who did something foolish in a moment of impulse. Can you be magnanimous and forgive her this time?"

Lin Yue couldn't help but sneer, "Heh, this scumbag again. You Jiang family members are really in sync, aren't you? From all angles and with all your might, you've swallowed your pride and taken turns pleading for Jiang Anxin."

“I’m your daughter too. I’m the victim, so why don’t you care about me first? Ask me where I’m hurt? Ask me how I’ve been all these years? Have you ever thought about these questions? Not even for a moment?” Lin Yue let out a heavy sigh, lowered her eyes, and her long eyelashes concealed the disappointment in them.

She knew from a young age that her father didn't want her and didn't love her. The word "father" was as distant to her as a star in the night sky, something she could only look at but never reach.

...