Chapter 146: Tearing Up the Ending, Rewriting the Rules

Yan Tingnan's eyes flickered slightly, like a stone falling into a cold pool, causing ripples to sink to the bottom.

The dim light cut across his profile, creating a boundary between light and shadow.

It was as if I was listening, yet it was as if I wasn't even hearing it.

He remained silent for a long time.

So long that Yan Yunye thought he had been shaken.

But then I saw him slowly take off his gold-rimmed glasses and pinch the bridge of his nose.

When I looked up again, my eyes were now a deep, silent abyss.

"Are you done talking?"

Yan Yunye was taken aback.

"What is her ending in that book?"

Yan Tingnan's voice was steady and calm.

Yan Yunye's lips trembled, unable to speak.

"It's terrible."

His throat was dry, and he managed to squeeze out broken words in a trembling voice.

"Framed and abandoned by everyone, she went to prison, gave birth to a child, and was then sold into a dark alley after her release..."

"In the end, he was so thin that he was just skin and bones, and he died in the cold rain."

He choked up and couldn't speak.

Yan Tingnan's knuckles tightened suddenly, leaving a deep mark on his palm from the temple of the mirror.

His face remained calm.

"Who did this?"

Yan Yunye trembled violently and lowered his head, not daring to look at him.

"I."

"And Wen Wanwan."

Yan Yunye seemed to be choked, and it took him a long time to squeeze out a sound.

"I watched helplessly as she was dragged away, there was nothing I could do..."

"But I'm being controlled!"

The air was deathly still.

Yan Tingnan's jawline tightened for a moment, then relaxed.

absurd.

That was his first reaction.

His worldview, built up over thirty-two years, and his rational thinking made it impossible for him to immediately accept such a statement that transcended reality.

But Yan Yunye's madness didn't seem entirely fake.

His softness.

That bright and lively little fox, who could bite and scratch, was rendered so wretched by a tattered book.

A prison? A dark alley? Dry bones and cold rain?

Every word pierced his heart, causing a suffocating pain that spread silently.

He suddenly remembered the stubbornness in her eyes when they first met, and her unwillingness to admit defeat.

She should have always been flamboyant, always radiant like the blazing sun.

Instead of huddling in a dirty corner and rotting silently.

Screw the plot.

Screw predetermined fate.

His infatuation with Ruan Ruan, his morbid possessiveness, and even the marriage certificate that was only printed today.

These things really happened.

Since the person he loves now is Ruan Ruan, and their relationship has progressed to this point, it's understandable.

That means the plot is controllable and can be changed!

No one can control him, and no one can determine who he will love.

Ruanruan is not an NPC.

She was the wildfire that dared to burn away half of his life of spiritual cultivation, making him willingly fall into the mortal realm.

Yan Tingnan slowly lifted her eyelids to look at Yan Yunye, her eyes revealing a deep, dark sea that seemed bottomless.

"Even if the world were truly a book."

He paused, then gave a slight twitch at the corner of his mouth.

"Who told you I would follow its script?"

Upon hearing this, Yan Yunye's Adam's apple spasmed, and tears and sweat mingled together.

"The plot is irreversible; it was predetermined!"

"Dad, you and Su Ruan are destined for a bad ending."

"I beg you, I can't live without her..."

His voice was broken and hoarse.

"You have everything: power, status, and respect. You don't lack a Su Ruan!"

"But she's all I have left. I'll go crazy if I lose her..."

"Give it to you?"

Yan Tingnan's gaze suddenly sharpened.

"Yan Yunye, what do you take me for? And what is she?"

"Items that can be freely transferred?"

He took a step forward, and the shadow completely enveloped Yan Yunye.

"Not to mention that your argument is utterly absurd."

"Even if that lousy book really exists, I can tear up the ending and rewrite the rules."

"From now on, I'll be in charge of this book."

"Don't even mention Mu Chuji, even if all the gods and Buddhas came, they couldn't change my choice."

A deep-seated ferocity flashed across his eyes, disappearing in an instant.

"Even if that Mu Chuji you mentioned appears, I will make her the most insignificant passerby in the book."

Upon hearing this, Yan Yunye's pupils trembled, filled with surprise and incomprehension.

It was as if he was seeing his adoptive father for the first time.

He is not a high-ranking ruler, but a madman who willingly falls into the game of chess.

"Don't you mind at all?"

His voice was hoarse and broken, carrying his last bit of resentment.

“She’s been using you from beginning to end. She saw the plot and knew that you were the male lead who could change her fate, so she threw herself at you.”

"You want this kind of calculated and purposeful emotion too?"

Upon hearing this, Yan Tingnan curled the corners of her lips slightly.

"use?"

He repeated it, as if savoring an interesting word.

"In my thirty-two years of life, from the infighting within the Yan family to the business world, who around me wasn't someone who wanted to use me?"

"Those who are after money, power, or fame..."

"She wants me to change her fate, so what?"

"If I can be used, it means I still have value."

"And what she gave me was far more than what I gave her."

Yan Tingnan chuckled, a hint of satiated lust in his voice.

"I'm even more glad that she was smart and brave enough to choose to climb the tallest tree that is me, instead of staying in the mud and rotting away with you."

"Since Ruan Ruan chose me, climbed onto me, and became my person."

"I will make sure she lives a long and prosperous life."

Yan Yunye staggered a step and shook his head in disbelief.

"so……"

"Even if her motives weren't pure from the start, you're still happy to let her have her way?"

"It tastes sweet as honey."

Yan Tingnan answered without the slightest hesitation.

"I even have to thank that lousy book."

"Thank it for letting her see the ending in advance, thank it for forcing her to grow fangs and learn to protect herself."

"If it hadn't spoiled the plot beforehand, I might have stuck to that ridiculous self-control and missed the best opportunity for her to come crashing into me."

"The process is not important, the result is what I want."

Yan Yunye's throat made a gurgling sound; he wanted to refute him, but he couldn't utter a single sound.

Yan Ting slowly put her glasses back on, concealing the dark turmoil in her eyes.

The dim light framed his cold, aloof profile.

"As for you."

His voice was low and slow, and each word was clear.

"I promised your biological father, Yang Zechuan, that I would protect you as you grow up safely and teach you to distinguish right from wrong."

"I believe I have fulfilled my responsibilities over these twelve years."

"But I taught you skills, not how to be a person."

"I taught you how to weigh the pros and cons, but I didn't teach you the meaning of respect."

"I taught you how to fight, but I didn't teach you how to let go."

"It's my fault for not correcting your thinking."

Yan Yunye trembled violently, as if those words had pierced his last line of defense.

That name, buried deep in my memory, that name that belonged to my biological father.

Yan Yunye choked up, tears blurring his vision.

"dad……"

Yan Tingnan interrupted him, her tone cold and hard.

“Yang Zechuan’s son shouldn’t be like this.”

"He was a man of great integrity and loyalty, willing to sacrifice himself to protect his comrades."

"For the sake of your biological father, this is the last time I will forgive you."

"Now, you only have two paths in front of you."

Yan Tingnan paused, a hint of disgust flashing in his eyes, and the atmosphere around him suddenly became heavy.

"First, get your bearings right and put away those inappropriate thoughts."

"When you see Su Ruan, respectfully call her 'stepmother'."

"I can still save you some face by sending you to an overseas branch to start from scratch."

"two."

He paused, his eyes suddenly turning cold.

"Keep acting recklessly, argue with me, and make a scene with her."

"I will use ruthless means to make you disappear completely, and from now on, there will be no more Yan Yunye in the Beijing circle."

"select."

The last word fell, like a final judgment.

The hammer fell, and there was no turning back.