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Sure enough, Lin Tingyue was very happy. Her eyes sparkled like stars in the sky, and she said happily, "So beautiful. Wenyu, you are a real beauty."

Feeling embarrassed, Ye Wenyu politely said to her, "You are the real beauty. Compared to you, I am too ordinary."

Lin Tingyue returned to her seat with a smile and said to Ye Wenyu, "Sister-in-law, you are too modest. If you weren't so beautiful, would my brother be so infatuated with you? Hehehe, hehehe." Lin Tingyue looked at Lin Tingfeng with a smile, and Lin Tingfeng blushed.

Sister-in-law? She called her sister-in-law? Ye Wenyu's smiling face froze, and her heart began to race.

Lin Tingyue felt that she had finally won her elder brother's favor, so she had the courage and relaxed. She said to Lin Tingfeng in a coquettish tone, "Brother, I brought Wenyu home to attend the family banquet. If I hadn't brought her, you wouldn't have had the chance to meet her. I did a good job as a matchmaker, didn't I? How will you thank me?"

Lin Tingfeng smiled slightly.

Lin Tingyue winked at Ye Wenyu and said smugly, "Sister-in-law, you don't know, my brother never smiled before he met you, but today he has smiled several times."

Ye Wenyu thought to herself, "Really? She's that capable." She was still calling her "sister-in-law." Was it really okay to call her that?

At this moment, a sinister voice rang out: "Xiaoyue, don't talk nonsense. 'Sister-in-law' isn't a term anyone can use. How can you call her that? What about the real sister-in-law?"

Upon hearing this, Ye Wenyu was struck dumb. Her smile froze, her face turned pale instantly, and her hand holding the chopsticks trembled.

It was Lin Tingxuan who exposed her lover's identity to her face!

She lowered her head heavily. The food that had just been so delicious now felt like countless pebbles in her mouth. Her face flushed red, and her heart pounded wildly. She wondered if the floor would crack open and she would want to crawl into it!

Her chest felt as if it were filled with lead, so heavy that she felt like a fish out of water, unable to breathe.

These past few days, the happiness of being in love had almost made her forget the humiliation, but now it surged back like a tidal wave. Ye Wenyu's cheeks burned, and she trembled as she thought, "Yes, how could I forget!" Everyone in the Lin family knew that Lin Tingfeng was married and had two children. Her identity was self-evident; everyone knew who she was. This identity would accompany her for the rest of her life, like a pillar of shame, standing in her remaining years. Even if she had the ability to divorce Lin Tingfeng in the future, her shameful past would still make her feel deeply humiliated.

But she didn't expect Lin Tingxuan to be so mean. She thought that with Lin Tingfeng present, everyone would see through her but not say anything, just like Lin Tingyue, who even flattered her by giving her gifts and calling her "sister-in-law" to make her happy. No, she wasn't trying to make her happy; she was trying to make her older brother happy.

Life is like a game, where everyone wears a mask, smiling slightly, speaking intimately, and harboring ulterior motives.

Ye Wenyu was in great pain when she heard a loud "bang" as Lin Tingfeng slammed a bowl down on the table. The sound was as loud as thunder, and his face was ashen, clearly showing his anger.

Lin Tingyue was startled and tried desperately to wink at Lin Tingxuan, but Lin Tingxuan seemed to be blind and deaf, unmoved, and remained sitting there like a stone.

Lin Tingfeng's face was gloomy, and a storm was about to break out.

The air seemed to freeze, and the private room felt like it could catch fire at any moment. After the intense shame, Ye Wenyu began to feel uneasy.

Lin Tingyue immediately stepped in to smooth things over. She stood up and respectfully took out a small, square brocade box. She smiled apologetically at Lin Tingfeng and said, "Big brother, second brother didn't mean that. He really likes Wenyu. He even prepared a gift for us. Wenyu, this is a gift from second brother to welcome you into our Lin family. From now on, we will all be family."

Perhaps because of Lin Tingxuan's reminder, Lin Tingyue no longer dared to call Ye Wenyu "sister-in-law" in such an affectionate way. She said, "Welcome to the Lin family. From now on, we are all family." This subtle change made Ye Wenyu feel even more uneasy.

Ye Wenyu still hadn't recovered from the pain she'd just experienced. On the surface, she tried to appear unaffected, but deep down she shook her head. No, she realized she could never truly be a part of the Lin family!

Lin Tingyue looked at Lin Tingxuan pleadingly, her large, purple eyes filled with anxiety and pain. Lin Tingxuan stood up and sneered, "Is being a member of the Lin family so enjoyable?! Xiaoyue, do you welcome her to become a member of the Lin family—" As Lin Tingxuan said this, he stretched out a long hand and casually pointed at Ye Wenyu.

Ye Wenyu raised her head, her face pale.

Lin Tingxuan said coldly, "Do you think people are willing to be part of the Lin family? Like me, I hate that I was born into the Lin family!" He said the last sentence with great indignation and resentment.

Ye Wenyu was even more confused. She stared blankly at Lin Tingxuan, as if all the blood in her body had stopped flowing.

Lin Tingfeng's cold and authoritative voice rang out: "If you don't want to be a member of the Lin family, no one is stopping you. You can run away from home!"

Lin Tingxuan was stunned for a moment, then fell silent, slowly and lazily sitting back down in his chair.

Ye Wenyu vaguely realized that in the Lin family, it seemed that the eldest brother, Lin Tingfeng, was the one who called the shots.

She glanced at Lin Tingfeng, then at Lin Tingxuan. Under Lin Tingfeng's intimidating words, Lin Tingxuan's face paled considerably. The flush that had previously risen on his face due to anger had completely subsided.

Ye Wenyu thought he would leave hastily because of his pride, but he didn't. He stood up from his chair again, glared angrily at Lin Tingfeng, and said through gritted teeth, "Why should I leave? You are a member of the Lin family, aren't I? Why is it that I'm the one who has to leave, and not you?!"

The atmosphere once again reached a tense standoff.

Lin Tingfeng sneered and said slowly, "Tingxuan, I know you've always resented Father giving me the inheritance, but don't forget, Father has been observing you for many years. You're not cut out for business; you're suited to be an artist."

"I'm suited to be an artist?" Lin Tingxuan trembled upon hearing this. He pointed to himself, then to Lin Tingfeng, and then, like a wooden statue, slowly turned around. He looked at Ye Wenyu, gave a cold laugh, and said to her, "How did he introduce me to you? Did he say that I loved painting since I was little, so when I grew up, he inherited the family business, and I became a painter, and that we brothers were both doing what we liked and were good at?"